Mass. Financial to Manage Equity Fund In-House

Massachusetts Financial Services of Boston is bringing the investment management of its emerging-markets fund in-house.

Foreign and Colonial Management Ltd. of London has subadvised the fund since it was opened in October 1995. When that agreement ends Dec. 1, the portfolio will be renamed the MFS Emerging Markets Equity Fund. It had $63.3 million of assets on Sept. 30, the fund company said.

Massachusetts Financial has been building its international capabilities over the past three years, a spokesman said, and is ready to assume active management of the portfolio. Part of the decision was based on the fund's poor performance, he added.

Though class A shares of the fund returned 25.86% year to date through Nov. 11, they lost 2.44% for the three-year period that ended Nov. 11, according to Lipper Inc. of Summit, N.J.

"Clearly we think that the performance wasn't as good as it could have been. We think we could do better," the spokesman said.

The fund will be managed by a team of Massachusetts Financial's analysts under the supervision of David Antonelli, senior vice president and director of international research, the spokesman said.

Massachusetts Financial does not use subadvisers on its other 55 funds. The fund company had $76.3 billion of assets under management in long- and short-term mutual funds on Sept. 30, according to Financial Research Corp. of Boston.

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