Fund Evaluator:

MFS Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 Overview

MFS Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 (EMLNX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond fund. MFS launched the fund in 2012.

The investment seeks total return with an emphasis on high current income, but also considering capital appreciation. The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets (i) in debt instruments of issuers that are tied economically to emerging market countries and denominated in local currencies and (ii) in derivative instruments with similar economic characteristics to these instruments. Emerging market countries are countries whose financial and capital markets are in the development phase and include countries located in Latin America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and developing countries of Europe, primarily Eastern Europe. It is non-diversified.

About MFS Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 (EMLNX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 9.20 years: Ward Brown (2011), Neeraj Arora (2023). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 1 primary benchmark: JPM GBI-EM Global Diversified TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. MFS Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 has 277 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 35.0% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

MFS Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. MFS Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 has 88.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is -0.6%. There is -0.1% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 83.5% (-5.1% domestic bond, 88.6% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). MFS Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 has 17.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $416 million in total assets, which is above the $141 million average for the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond 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.

EMLNX 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 Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category. MFS Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 has an expense ratio of 0.79%, which is 31% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. 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 Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 has a portfolio turnover rate of 82%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 92% for the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category.

Recently, in the month of August 2026, MFS Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 returned 0.9%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category had an average return of 1.0%. 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 Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 has a trailing yield of 4.31%, which is below the 6.58% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly.

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 Emerging Markets Debt Lcl Ccy R6 Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 2.7%, 0.5 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 7.6% over the past year (grade of C), 7.4% over the past three years (grade of D) and 3.1% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 3.4% per year over the past 10 years (grade of A).

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