MFS Research Bond AMRBFX

Morningstar Rating

Fund Research and Analysis

by David Kathman, CFA

MFS Research Bond is on the mend.

Over the years, this fund has experienced ups and downs that parallel those of its close sibling, MFS Bond MFBFX, but are less extreme on both the upside and the downside. In the bull market of 2003 and 2004, this fund's total returns ranked in the intermediate-term bond category's top quartile, while MFS Bond's ranked in the top decile. Read more

Kudos

The fund has a solid long-term record, including seven straight years of beating the intermediate-term bond category from 2000 through 2006.

Expenses are low relative to other front-load funds in the category. Read more

Risks

The fund's heavy weighting in corporate bonds makes it vulnerable when the market flees from credit risk, as it did in 2007 and 2008. Read more

Strategy

This fund's strategy is very similar to that of its sibling MFS Bond MFBFX in that it's relatively heavy in credit risk. The majority of the portfolio consists of corporate bonds, a good chunk of which are of lower quality and thus higher yield. Read more

Management

Comanager Mike Roberge focuses on big-picture issues such as asset allocation; he has been with the fund since its inception in 1999 and also serves as MFS' chief investment officer. The other two comanagers, Jeffrey Wakelin and Robert Persons, handle day-to-day security selection and risk controls. Read more

Inside Scoop

This fund is closely related to MFS Bond and pursues a similar strategy that's relatively heavy on credit risk. However, that risk is tempered a bit here. Read more

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