Fund Evaluator:
MFS Diversified Income R4 (DIFGX)Best Performing in Global Moderately Conservative Allocation Over the Last Year
| 14.9% | Victory Cornerstone Moderately Cnsrv (UCMCX) |
| 14.7% | Fidelity Advisor Asset Manager 40% Z (FIKYX) |
| 14.6% | Fidelity Asset Manager 40% (FFANX) |
| 13.6% | TOPS® Managed Risk Balanced ETF 2 () |
| 12.7% | Invesco Select Risk: Mod Cnsv Inv Y (CAAYX) |
Fund Details
MFS Diversified Income R4 Overview
MFS Diversified Income R4 (DIFGX) is an actively managed Allocation Global Moderately Conservative Allocation fund. MFS launched the fund in 2008.
The investment seeks total return with an emphasis on current income, but also considering capital appreciation. The fund normally invests its assets primarily in a broad range of debt instruments and equity securities of U.S. and foreign issuers, including real estate-related investments and emerging market securities. MFS focuses the fund’s debt investments on investment grade quality corporate bonds, U.S. government securities, below investment grade quality debt instruments of developed market issuers, and debt instruments of emerging market issuers. MFS may invest up to 100% of these investments in below investment grade quality debt instruments.
About MFS Diversified Income R4 (DIFGX)
There are 10 members of the management team with an average tenure of 9.53 years: Jonathan Sage (2006), David Cole (2006), Neeraj Arora (2019), Robert Almeida (2018), Alexander Mackey (2021), Michael Skatrud (2018), Jake Stone (2023), John Mitchell (2023), Gaetan Poirier (2026), Richard Gable (2006). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.
The fund has 7 primary benchmarks: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100%, MSCI ACWI High Dividend Yield NR USD index with a weighting of 20%, JPM EMBI Global TR USD index with a weighting of 15%, MSCI US REIT NR USD index with a weighting of 15%, Bloomberg US Credit TR USD index with a weighting of 15%, Bloomberg US HY 2% Issuer Cap TR USD index with a weighting of 25% and Bloomberg US Govt/Mortgage TR USD index with a weighting of 10%. MFS Diversified Income R4 has 1474 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 34.0% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.
MFS Diversified Income R4 is part of the Allocation global asset class and is within the Allocation fund group. MFS Diversified Income R4 has 33.4% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 23.4%. There is 12.2% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.3% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 67.7% (46.4% domestic bond, 21.2% foreign bond and 0.1% convertible bond). MFS Diversified Income R4 has -3.7% of the portfolio in cash.
Assets Under Management
The fund has $1 million in total assets, which is below the $304 million average for the Global Moderately Conservative Allocation category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.
DIFGX Performance and Fees
The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The MFS Diversified Income R4 expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Global Moderately Conservative Allocation category. MFS Diversified Income R4 has an expense ratio of 0.64%, which is 35% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.
High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. MFS Diversified Income R4 has a portfolio turnover rate of 43%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 52% for the Global Moderately Conservative Allocation category.
Recently, in the month of June 2026, MFS Diversified Income R4 returned 0.5%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Global Moderately Conservative Allocation category had an average return of 0.2%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.
MFS Diversified Income R4 has a trailing yield of 5.70%, which is above the 3.06% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains semi-annually.
It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.
MFS Diversified Income R4 Grades
Year to date, the fund has returned 5.5%, 0.1 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 10.4% over the past year (grade of D), 8.8% over the past three years (grade of F) and 3.8% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 5.1% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).
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DIFGX Trailing NAV Total Returns Data as of 6/30/26
| Last Month |
Last Quarter |
Ann'l. 1Yr |
Ann'l. 3Yr |
Ann'l. 5Yr |
Ann'l. 10Yr |
|
| DIFGX Return (NAV) | 0.5% | 4.1% | 10.4% | 8.8% | 3.8% | 5.1% |
| DIFGX Grade | A | F | D | F | D | F |
| +/- Category | 0.3% | -2.0% | -1.3% | -1.1% | -0.3% | -0.7% |
| Global Moderately Conservative Allocation Avg | 0.2% | 6.1% | 11.7% | 9.8% | 4.1% | 5.7% |
| DIFGX Tax Cost Ratio | na | na | 2.3% | 2.0% | 1.9% | 1.7% |
DIFGX Annual NAV Total ReturnsData as of 6/30/26
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| DIFGX Return (NAV) | 5.5% | 9.6% | 5.4% | 9.5% | -12.8% | 9.6% | 2.4% | 17.7% | -3.5% | 8.8% | 8.8% |
| DIFGX Grade | C | F | F | D | B | A | F | A | A | F | A |
| +/- Category | -0.1% | -2.0% | -1.9% | -0.8% | 0.8% | 2.0% | -6.5% | 2.7% | 1.4% | -2.0% | 2.7% |
| Global Moderately Conservative Allocation Avg | 5.6% | 11.6% | 7.3% | 10.3% | -13.5% | 7.5% | 8.9% | 15.0% | -4.9% | 10.8% | 6.1% |
| Risk Measures | |
| Standard Deviation: | 7.0% |
| Total Risk Index: | 0.58 - Below Average |
| Category Risk Index: | 0.95 - Below Average |
| Category Risk Grade: | B (36% Rank) |
| Beta: | 0.71 |
| R-Squared: | 89% |
| Leveraged Fund: | No |
| Inverse Fund: | No |
| Portfolio Characteristics | |
| Equity Investment Style: | Large-Cap Value |
| Bond Investment Style: | High Quality Moderate Sensitivity |
| Yield: | 5.7% |
| Dividend Distribution: | Monthly |
| Cap Gains Distribution: | Semi-Annually |
| Total Assets: | $1795 Mil |
| Fund Total Assets: | $ 2 Mil |
| Share Class Type: | Retirement |
| Portfolio Turnover: | 43% |
Management Team
| Number of Managers: 10 | |||
| Longest Tenure: 20.1 years | |||
| Average Tenure: 9.5 years | |||
| Managers (Year): Sage Jonathan (2006), Gable Richard (2006), Cole David (2006), Almeida Robert (2018), Skatrud Michael (2018), Arora Neeraj (2019), Mackey Alexander (2021), Mitchell John (2023), Stone Jake (2023), Poirier Gaetan (2026) | |||
Portfolio Composition (as of 5/31/26)
| # of Holdings: | 1474 |
| % in Top 10 Holdings: | 34.0% |
| Fund is Non-Diversified: | No |
| % in Foreign Issues: | 33.4% |
Portfolio Allocation |
|
| Domestic Stock: | 23.4% |
| Foreign Stock: | 12.2% |
| Preferred Stock: | 0.3% |
| Domestic Bond: | 46.4% |
| Foreign Bond: | 21.2% |
| Convertible Bond: | 0.1% |
| Other: | 0.0% |
| Cash: | -3.7% |
Purchase Information
| Fund Family: | MFS |
| Phone Number: | 800-225-2606 |
| Website: | http://www.mfs.com |
| Status: | Open |
| Inception Date: | July 1, 2008 |
| Min. Initial Purchase: | $ 0 |
| Min. Initial IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |
| True No-Load: | Yes |
| Front Load Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Deferred Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| Redemption Charge Maximum: | 0.00% |
| 12b-1 Fee: | na |
Expenses and Fees | |
| Expense Ratio (%): | 0.64% ( Rating : Above Avg ) |
| Category Average Expense Ratio (%): | 0.99% |
| Share Class: | MFS Diversified Income I |
| Min. Subsequent Purchase: | $ 0 |
| Min. Subsequent IRA Purchase: | $ 0 |