MFS launches a US equity fund that combines quantitative and fundamental analysis
18 MAY, 2026
By Joanna Piwko from RankiaPro Europe
MFS Investment Management has announced the launch of the MFS Meridian Funds – Blended Research U.S. Core Equity Fund, a new active management strategy focused on U.S. equities.
The fund integrates quantitative and fundamental analysis with the aim of generating alpha through stock selection, while maintaining a controlled tracking error against the benchmark index.
A bottom-up strategy with a focus on stock selection
The new fund applies a disciplined, upward, or bottom-up, investment approach that combines MFS's own fundamental analysis with quantitative tools. The manager explains that the strategy seeks to obtain most of the alpha through company selection, while trying to reduce volatility linked to the benchmark index and limit unwanted exposures by sectors and industries.
At the center of the investment process is MFS's Blended Research model, which brings together the opinions of fundamental equity analysts and quantitative models that evaluate companies from different regions and sectors. These assessments are first translated into individual scores and then combined into a single score, which serves as the basis for portfolio construction.
From that aggregate score, the portfolio is configured with the aim of maximizing exposure to the best opportunities detected in specific stocks, while controlling broader market risks, such as beta, sector bias, size, and style. Generally, the fund will hold between 80 and 150 stocks in the portfolio.
Objective: to beat the S&P 500
The objective of the MFS Meridian Funds – Blended Research U.S. Core Equity Fund is to achieve capital appreciation by primarily investing in U.S. stocks, with the aspiration of outperforming the S&P 500 index over a full market cycle. The strategy will be managed with a controlled tracking error.
This launch represents the second strategy of the Meridian Fund range with a tracking error objective that uses the firm's Blended Research approach, following the creation in 2016 of the MFS Meridian Funds – Blended Research European Equity Fund.
The strategy is backed by MFS's global investment platform, which brings together eight international sector teams and more than 300 investment professionals specializing in quantitative analysis, equity and fixed income worldwide.
The fund's main management will be in charge of Matthew Krummel, with the support of Nate Bryant, Jonathan Sage, Jenney Zhang and Jed Stocks. According to the firm, the management team has over 20 years of experience in the sector and a long history within MFS. In addition, Jeffrey Morrison and George Fontaine, institutional portfolio managers, will support communication with clients about investment policy, strategy and positioning of Blended Research solutions.
We believe that some of the strongest investment ideas emerge when both experienced analysts and powerful data models point in the same direction. Quantitative analysis provides us with a systematic view of a company's fundamentals and valuation, while fundamental analysis provides the forward-looking judgment and context that numbers alone cannot provide. In our opinion, the real opportunity arises at the intersection of both approaches.
Matt Weisser, General Manager of MFS in Europe
