Massachusetts Financial Services' assets under management topped $100 billion last week for the first time, a spokesman said.
The Boston company is the 14th-largest manager of open-end mutual funds, with $60 billion of assets. The remaining $40 billion is in variable annuities, offshore funds, institutional accounts, and closed-end mutual funds.
MFS is one of the biggest mutual fund sellers through banks, with 1998 sales of about $3 billion.
Also last week, the company was named one of five "fund groups to watch in 1999" by Financial Research Corp. The Boston consulting firm said MFS had the fourth-best fund sales performance from January through November, with $9.8 billion of inflows.
And it was the eighth-fastest-growing firm from November 1997 through November 1998 among fund companies with at least $5 billion of assets under management. Its growth rate was 38%.
The other four firms cited by Financial Research were Alliance Capital, Janus, Goldman, Sachs & Co., and Charles Schwab & Co.