Fund Evaluator:

MFS Commodity Strategy R3 Overview

MFS Commodity Strategy R3 (MCSQX) is an actively managed Commodities Commodities Broad Basket fund. MFS launched the fund in 2018.

The investment seeks total return. The fund seeks to achieve the fund's objective by providing exposure to the commodities markets through investing in commodity-linked derivatives rather than investing directly in commodities. Commodities are economic goods that are typically the product of agriculture, mining, or primary industrial processes. Commodities include, but are not limited to, grains, beef, oil, natural gas, grains, beef, and industrial and precious metals.

About MFS Commodity Strategy R3 (MCSQX)

There are 5 members of the management team with an average tenure of 10.20 years: Ben Nastou (2010), Natalie Shapiro (2010), Alexander Mackey (2017), Philipp Burgener (2019), Anthony Rosato (2024). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg US Agg Bond TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Bloomberg Commodity TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. MFS Commodity Strategy R3 has 391 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 151.6% 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 Commodity Strategy R3 is part of the Real Assets global asset class and is within the Commodities fund group. MFS Commodity Strategy R3 has 17.7% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 86.8% (69.2% domestic bond, 17.7% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). MFS Commodity Strategy R3 has -23.6% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $413 million in total assets, which is below the $481 million average for the Commodities Broad Basket 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.

MCSQX 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 Commodity Strategy R3 expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Commodities Broad Basket category. MFS Commodity Strategy R3 has an expense ratio of 1.15%, which is 4% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. 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 Commodity Strategy R3 has a portfolio turnover rate of 35%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 73% for the Commodities Broad Basket category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, MFS Commodity Strategy R3 returned 5.9%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Commodities Broad Basket category had an average return of 6.9%. 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 Commodity Strategy R3 has a trailing yield of 13.40%, which is above the 9.29% category average. The fund normally distributes its income 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 Commodity Strategy R3 Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 19.4%, 3.0 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 33.2% over the past year (grade of D), 12.5% over the past three years (grade of C) and 10.0% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 7.0% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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