- Business
- MFS Active Exchange Traded Funds Trust - MFS Blended Research International Equity ETF is an actively managed exchange-traded fund that seeks capital appreciation through investment in a diversified portfolio of non-U.S. equity securities. Launched on October 22, 2025, and listed on the NYSE under the ticker BRIE, the fund is advised by Massachusetts Financial Services Company, a Boston, Massachusetts-based global investment manager founded in 1924 and operating under the MFS brand, which is part of Sun Life Financial Inc. BRIE employs MFS’s proprietary Blended Research approach, integrating bottom-up fundamental company analysis with quantitative research, security-selection signals and disciplined portfolio construction to identify high-quality companies trading at favorable valuations with potential long-term catalysts. The fund principally provides exposure to developed and emerging equity markets outside the United States and seeks to outperform the MSCI All Country World ex USA Index over a full market cycle while targeting an approximate 2% tracking error; its investable universe includes large- and mid-capitalization issuers across Europe, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Asia-Pacific and emerging markets. Portfolio holdings span financials, information technology, industrials, consumer discretionary, health care, consumer staples, materials, energy, communication services, utilities and real estate; representative holdings have included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., ASML Holding NV, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., SK Hynix Inc., BNP Paribas SA, Rio Tinto PLC, Novartis AG, ING Groep NV, The Toronto-Dominion Bank and UBS Group AG. BRIE is team-managed by MFS’s Quantitative Solutions group and supported by MFS’s Global Investment Platform; Jed Stocks serves as lead portfolio manager. The fund’s principal services comprise transparent, exchange-traded access to active international equity management; diversified developed- and emerging-market equity exposure; fundamental and quantitative security research; benchmark-aware portfolio construction; daily liquidity through NYSE trading; and periodic income and capital-gain distributions. As of July 31, 2026, the portfolio held approximately 160 issues, with significant exposure to emerging markets, Europe excluding the United Kingdom, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and Asia-Pacific markets. MFS introduced BRIE alongside the MFS Blended Research Core Equity ETF in October 2025, marking the first application of its Blended Research platform to ETFs; the launch broadened MFS’s active ETF offering for financial advisers, intermediaries and institutional and individual investors. More recently, MFS expanded its Blended Research active ETF lineup with the launch of the MFS Blended Research Emerging Markets Equity ETF in March 2026 and the MFS Active International Value ETF and MFS Blended Research Small-Mid Cap ETF in June 2026, extending the sponsor’s active equity ETF range.