Form 497K MFS MUNICIPAL SERIES

 

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS July 29, 2016

 

MFS® North Carolina Municipal Bond Fund

 

Before you invest, you may want to review the fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund’s prospectus and other information about the fund, including the fund’s statement of additional information, online at funds.mfs.com.  You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-225-2606 or by sending an e-mail request to [email protected].  The fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated July 29, 2016, as may be amended or supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

 

CLASS		TICKER SYMBOL
Class A		MSNCX
Class B		MBNCX
Class C		MCNCX
Class I		MNCLX

 

Summary of Key Information

 

Investment Objective

 

The fund’s investment objective is to seek total return with an emphasis on income exempt from federal income tax and personal income tax, if any, of North Carolina, but also considering capital appreciation.

 

Fees and Expenses

 

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay when you buy and hold shares of the fund.

 

You may qualify for sales charge reductions if you and certain members of your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in MFS Funds. More information about these and other waivers and reductions is available from your financial intermediary and in “Sales Charges and Waivers or Reductions” on page 8 of the fund’s Prospectus and “Waivers of Sales Charges” on page H-1 of the fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

 

Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment):

 

Share Class		A		B		C		I
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price)		4.25	%	None		None		None
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of original purchase price or redemption proceeds, whichever is less)		1.00	%#	4.00	%	1.00	%	None

 

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):

 

Share Class		A		B		C		I
Management Fee		0.45	%	0.45	%	0.45	%	0.45	%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees		0.25	%	1.00	%	1.00	%	None
Other Expenses		0.17	%	0.17	%	0.17	%	0.17	%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses		0.87	%	1.62	%	1.62	%	0.62	%

 

#                 This contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) applies to shares purchased without an initial sales charge and redeemed within 18 months of purchase.

 

MNC-SUM-072916

 

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MFS North Carolina Municipal Bond Fund

 

Example

 

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds.

 

The example assumes that: you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and you redeem your shares at the end of the time periods (unless otherwise indicated); your investment has a 5% return each year; and the fund’s operating expenses remain the same.

 

Although your actual costs will likely be higher or lower, under these assumptions your costs would be:

 

		1 YEAR			3 YEARS			5 YEARS			10 YEARS
Class A Shares		$	510		$	691		$	887		$	1,452
Class B Shares assuming
redemption at end of period		$	565		$	811		$	1,081		$	1,721
no redemption at end of period		$	165		$	511		$	881		$	1,721
Class C Shares assuming
redemption at end of period		$	265		$	511		$	881		$	1,922
no redemption at end of period		$	165		$	511		$	881		$	1,922
Class I Shares		$	63		$	199		$	346		$	774

 

Portfolio Turnover

 

The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when shares are held in a taxable account. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in “Annual Fund Operating Expenses” or in the “Example,” affect the fund’s performance.  During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 9% of the average value of its portfolio.

 

Principal Investment Strategies

 

The fund invests, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets in securities and other investments, the interest on which is exempt from federal income tax and personal income tax, if any, of North Carolina. Interest from the fund’s investments may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. MFS (Massachusetts Financial Services Company, the fund’s investment adviser) may also invest the fund’s assets in taxable instruments, including municipal instruments of other states.

 

MFS normally invests the fund’s assets primarily in municipal instruments.

 

MFS may invest 25% or more of the fund’s assets in municipal instruments that finance similar projects, such as those relating to education, healthcare, housing, utilities, water or sewers. Municipal instruments whose interest is exempt from federal and state personal income tax include instruments issued by U.S. territories and possessions (such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and their political subdivisions and public corporations.

 

MFS primarily invests the fund’s assets in investment grade quality debt instruments, but may also invest in below investment grade quality debt instruments.

 

MFS invests a large percentage of the fund’s assets in municipal instruments of North Carolina.

 

While MFS may use derivatives for any investment purpose, to the extent MFS uses derivatives, MFS expects to use derivatives primarily to increase or decrease exposure to a particular market, segment of the market, or security, to increase or decrease interest rate exposure, or as alternatives to direct investments. Derivatives include futures, forward contracts, options, structured securities, inverse floating rate instruments, and swaps.

 

MFS uses a bottom-up investment approach to buying and selling investments for the fund. Investments are selected primarily based on fundamental analysis of individual instruments and their issuers. Quantitative models that systematically evaluate instruments may also be considered. In structuring the fund, MFS may also consider top-down factors.

 

Principal Risks

 

As with any mutual fund, the fund may not achieve its objective and/or you could lose money on your investment in the fund. An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.

 

The principal risks of investing in the fund are:

 

Debt Market Risk:  Debt markets can be volatile and can decline significantly in response to changes in, or investor perceptions of changes in, market, economic, industry, political, regulatory, geopolitical, and other conditions that affect a particular type of instrument, issuer, or borrower, and/or that affect the debt market generally.

 

Interest Rate Risk:  In general, the price of a debt instrument falls when interest rates rise and rises when interest rates fall. Interest rate risk is generally greater for instruments with longer maturities, or that do not pay current interest.

 

Credit Risk:  The price of a debt instrument depends, in part, on the credit quality of the issuer, borrower, counterparty, or other entity responsible for payment, or underlying collateral or assets and the terms of the instrument. The price of a debt instrument can decline in response to changes in the financial condition of the issuer, borrower, counterparty, or other entity, or underlying collateral or assets, or changes in specific or general market, economic, industry, political, regulatory, geopolitical, and other conditions.

 

The credit quality of, and the ability to pay principal and interest when due by, an issuer of a municipal instrument depends on the credit quality of the entity supporting the municipal instrument, how essential any services supported by the municipal instrument are, the sufficiency of any revenues or taxes that support the municipal instrument, and/or the willingness or ability of the appropriate government entity to approve any appropriations necessary to support the municipal instrument.

 

Below investment grade quality debt instruments (commonly referred to as “high yield securities” or “junk bonds”) can involve a substantially greater risk of default or can already be in default, and their values can decline significantly. Below investment grade quality debt instruments are regarded as having predominantly speculative characteristics. Below investment grade quality debt instruments tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general, than higher quality debt instruments.

 

Geographic Focus Risk:  The fund’s performance will be closely tied to the economic and political conditions in North Carolina, and can be more volatile than the performance of a more geographically diversified fund. In addition, the fund’s performance can also be tied to the economic and political conditions of other states and U.S. territories and possessions. These conditions may include constitutional or statutory limits on an issuer’s ability to raise revenues or increase taxes, anticipated or actual budget deficits or other financial difficulties, or changes in the credit quality of municipal issuers in the state, other states, or U.S. territories and possessions.

 

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MFS North Carolina Municipal Bond Fund

 

Municipal Risk:  The price of a municipal instrument can be volatile and significantly affected by adverse tax or court rulings, legislative or political changes, changes in specific or general market and economic conditions, and the financial condition of municipal issuers and insurers. Because many municipal instruments are issued to finance similar projects, conditions in certain industries can significantly affect the fund and the overall municipal market.

 

Prepayment/Extension Risk:  Instruments subject to prepayment and/or extension can reduce the potential for gain for the instrument’s holders if the instrument is prepaid and increase the potential for loss if the maturity of the instrument is extended.

 

Derivatives Risk:  Derivatives can be highly volatile and involve risks in addition to the risks of the underlying indicator(s) on which the derivative is based. Gains or losses from derivatives can be substantially greater than the derivatives’ original cost.  Derivatives can involve leverage.

 

Leveraging Risk:  Leverage involves investment exposure in an amount exceeding the initial investment. Leverage can cause increased volatility by magnifying gains or losses.

 

Counterparty and Third Party Risk:  Transactions involving a counterparty or third party other than the issuer of the instrument are subject to the credit risk of the counterparty or third party, and to the counterparty’s or third party’s ability or willingness to perform in accordance with the terms of the transaction.

 

Liquidity Risk:  It may be difficult to value, and it may not be possible to sell, certain investments, types of investments, and/or investments in certain segments of the market, and the fund may have to sell certain of these investments at a price or time that is not advantageous in order to meet redemptions or other cash needs.

 

Investment Selection Risk:  MFS’ investment analysis and its selection of investments may not produce the intended results and/or can lead to an investment focus that results in the fund underperforming other funds with similar investment strategies and/or underperforming the markets in which the fund invests.

 

Performance Information

 

The bar chart and performance table below are intended to provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund by showing changes in the fund’s performance over time and how the fund’s performance over time compares with that of a broad measure of market performance.

 

The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) does not necessarily indicate how the fund will perform in the future. Updated performance is available online at mfs.com or by calling 1-800-225-2606.

 

Class A Bar Chart.  The bar chart does not take into account any sales charges (loads) that you may be required to pay upon purchase or redemption of the fund’s shares. If these sales charges were included, they would reduce the returns shown.

 

 

The total return for the six-month period ended June 30, 2016, was 3.86%. During the period(s) shown in the bar chart, the highest quarterly return was 6.27% (for the calendar quarter ended September 30, 2009) and the lowest quarterly return was (5.02)% (for the calendar quarter ended December 31, 2010).

 

Performance Table.

 

Average Annual Total Returns

(For the Periods Ended December 31, 2015)

 

Share Class		1 YEAR		5 YEARS		10 YEARS
Returns Before Taxes
B Shares		(1.70	)%	3.78	%	3.49	%
C Shares		1.28	%	4.12	%	3.33	%
I Shares		3.30	%	5.16	%	4.37	%
A Shares		(1.33	)%	3.99	%	3.62	%
Returns After Taxes on Distributions
A Shares		(1.33	)%	3.94	%	3.58	%
Returns After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
A Shares		0.65	%	3.88	%	3.64	%
Index Comparison (Reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)
Barclays Municipal Bond Index		3.30	%	5.35	%	4.72	%

 

After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your own tax situation, and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. The after-tax returns are shown for only one of the fund’s classes of shares, and after-tax returns for the fund’s other classes of shares will vary from the returns shown.

 

Investment Adviser

 

MFS serves as the investment adviser for the fund.

 

Portfolio Manager(s)

 

Portfolio Manager		Since		Title
Michael L. Dawson		1999		Investment Officer of MFS

 

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MFS North Carolina Municipal Bond Fund

 

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

 

You may purchase and redeem shares of the fund each day the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading. You may purchase or redeem shares either by having your financial intermediary process your purchase or redemption, or through MFS Service Center, Inc. (MFSC) by overnight mail (MFSC, c/o Boston Financial Data Services, 30 Dan Road, Canton, MA  02021-2809), by mail ([Fund Name], P.O. Box 55824, Boston, MA 02205-5824), by telephone (1-800-225-2606), or via the Internet at mfs.com (MFS Access).

 

The fund’s initial and subsequent investment minimums generally are as follows:

 

 

Taxes

 

The fund intends to distribute income that is exempt from federal income tax, but may be subject to federal alternative minimum tax.  A portion of the fund’s distributions may be subject to federal income tax.

 

Payments to Broker/Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

 

If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker/dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund, MFS, and/or MFS’ affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for the sale of shares of a fund and/or the servicing of shareholder accounts. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing your broker/dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your financial intermediary or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.

 

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