Notes to Financial Statements
(1) Business and Organization
MFS Conservative Allocation Fund, MFS Moderate Allocation Fund, MFS Growth Allocation Fund, and MFS Aggressive Growth Allocation Fund (the funds) are each a diversified series of MFS Series Trust X (the trust). The trust is organized as a Massachusetts business trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company.
Each fund is an investment company and accordingly follows the investment company accounting and reporting guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 Financial Services - Investment Companies.
(2) Significant Accounting Policies
General — The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. In the preparation of these financial statements, management has evaluated subsequent events occurring after the date of each fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities through the date that the financial statements were issued.
Each fund is a “fund of funds”, which invests the majority of its assets in other MFS mutual funds (hereafter referred to as “underlying affiliated funds” or “underlying funds”), which may have different fiscal year ends than the funds. The underlying funds, in turn, may engage in a number of investment techniques and practices, which involve certain risks. Certain underlying funds invest their portfolio in high-yield securities rated below investment grade. Investments in below investment grade quality securities can involve a substantially greater risk of default or can already be in default, and their values can decline significantly. Below investment grade quality securities tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general, than higher quality debt instruments. Certain underlying funds invest a significant portion of their assets in asset-backed and/or mortgage-backed securities. For these securities, the value of the debt instrument also depends on the credit quality and adequacy of the underlying assets or collateral as well as whether there is a security interest in the underlying assets or collateral. Enforcing rights, if any, against the underlying assets or collateral may be difficult. U.S. Government securities not supported as to the payment of principal or interest by the U.S. Treasury, such as those issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, are subject to greater credit risk than are U.S. Government securities supported by the U.S. Treasury, such as those issued by Ginnie Mae. Certain underlying funds invest in foreign securities, including securities of emerging market issuers. Investments in foreign securities are vulnerable to the effects of changes in the relative values of the local currency and the U.S. dollar and to the effects of changes in each country’s market, economic, industrial, political, regulatory, geopolitical, environmental, public health, and other conditions. Investments in emerging markets can involve additional and greater risks than the risks associated with investments in developed foreign markets. Emerging markets can have less developed markets, greater custody and operational risk, less developed legal, regulatory, accounting, and auditing systems, greater government involvement in the economy, greater risk of new or inconsistent government treatment of or restrictions on issuers and instruments, and greater political, social, and economic instability than developed markets.
The accounting policies of the underlying funds in which each fund invests are outlined in the underlying funds’ shareholder reports, which are available without charge by calling 1-800-225-2606, at mfs.com and on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) web site at http://www.sec.gov. The underlying funds' shareholder reports are not covered by this report.
Investment Valuations — Open-end investment companies (underlying funds) are generally valued at their net asset value per share. The investments of underlying funds managed by the adviser are valued as described below. For purposes of this policy disclosure, “fund” also refers to the underlying funds in which the fund-of-funds invests.
Subject to its oversight, the fund's Board of Trustees has delegated primary responsibility for determining or causing to be determined the value of each fund’s investments to MFS as the fund's adviser, pursuant to each fund’s valuation policy and procedures which have been adopted by the adviser and approved by the Board. In accordance with Rule 2a-5 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Board of Trustees designated the adviser as the “valuation designee” of each fund. If the adviser, as valuation designee, determines that reliable market quotations are not readily available for an investment, the investment is valued at fair value as determined in good faith by the adviser in accordance with the adviser’s fair valuation policy and procedures.
Under each fund's valuation policy and procedures, equity securities, including restricted equity securities and equity securities sold short, are generally valued at the last sale or official closing price on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily bid quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Equity securities sold short, for which there were no sales reported that day, are generally valued at the last quoted daily ask quotation on their primary market or exchange as provided by a third-party pricing service. Debt instruments and floating rate loans, including restricted debt instruments, are generally valued at an evaluated or composite bid as provided by a third-party pricing service. Debt instruments sold short are generally valued at an evaluated or composite mean as provided by a third-party pricing service. Short-term instruments with a maturity at issuance of 60 days or less may be valued at amortized cost, which approximates market value. Exchange-traded options
