MFS Bond A (MFBFX) Fund

Bond Mutual Funds have achieved better result than stock mutual funds for the past decade. Finding the right bond funds to invest is important for investor. MFS Bond fund is considered as one of the top bond mutual funds.

MFS Bond A (MUTF: MFBFX)

The investment aim of this MFS Bond fund is to seek total return with an emphasis on current income. The secondary objective is capital appreciation. This bond mutual fund invests majority of net assets (>80%) in corporate debt instruments. It may also invest in other types of debt instruments, lower quality debt instruments, foreign securities, and emerging market securities.

Fund Details

• Inception Date: 05/08/1974
• Ticker Symbol: MFBFX
• CUSIP: 55272P208
• Beta (3yr): 0.87
• Rank in category (YTD): 10%
• Category: Intermediate-Term Bond
• Distribution: 5.25%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.85%  
• Net Assets: $ 1.97 billion
• Number of Years Up: 33 years
• Number of Years Down: 4 years
• Average Duration: 5.50 years
• Average Maturity: 8.60 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 58.00%

Updated on 2/18/2012

This MFS fund has total net assets of $1.97 billion. The 12-month dividend yield is 5.25%. The investors of this fund have just received their most recent payment of the dividend on January 2012 ($0.06). The fund has annual holdings turnover of 58.00%. This figure is lower compared to the average in the Intermediate-Term Bond category which is 168.03%. Richard Hawkins and Robert Persons are currently managing this fund. Hawkins is the Senior Vice President of MFS (Massachusetts Financial Services). The annual expense ratio is 0.85%.

MFS Bond Mutual Fund

Since its inception in 1974, this bond mutual fund has recorded 33 years of positive return and only 4 years of negative return. The fund got 4-stars rating from Morningstar. The best 1-year total return was achieved in 2009 with 28.37%. The YTD return (2012) is 2.33%. Based on the load adjusted return, this fund has returned 2.77% over the past 1-year and 6.33% over the past 10-year. The average maturity of this top bond mutual fund is 8.60 years and the average duration is 5.40 years.

This intermediate term fund is available for purchase from a wide selection of 101 brokerages such as Schwab Institutional, Morgan Stanley Advisors, Schwab Retail, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, E Trade Financial, Fidelity Retail Funds Network, etc. The initial purchase for brokerage account is $1.000 and $250 for retirement account. The 12b1 fee is 0.25%. The maximum sales charge is 4.75%. This fund is available in many other classes. They are:

• Class B: MFBBX
• Class C: MFBCX
• Class I: MBDIX
• Class R1: MFBGX
• Class R2: MBRRX
• Class R3: MFBHX
• Class R4: MFBJX

The top 10 holdings of this best bond fund as of January 2012 are Crown Americas, BE Aerospace, CCH II, Lyondell Chemical Co, Ashland Inc, Owens Corning, Vale Overseas Ltd, XM Satellite Radio Inc, Lear Corp and Philips Van Heusen Corp. These ten companies represent 9.1% of the total net assets. It also has a total of 310 holdings. The top portfolio structure is High Grade Corporates (61.45%), High Yield Corporates (24.45%) and Emerging Markets Debt (6.72%).

Some of the principal investment risks are Interest Rate Risk, Credit Risk, Foreign and Emerging Markets Risk, Currency Risk, Prepayment/Extension Risk, Inflation-Adjusting Risk, Municipal Risk, Leveraging Risk, etc.

Disclosure: No Position

Other Bond Mutual Funds:

• JPMorgan Core Bond A (PGBOX)