Fund Evaluator:

MFS Low Volatility Equity R2 Overview

MFS Low Volatility Equity R2 (MLVOX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Large Blend fund. MFS launched the fund in 2013.

The investment seeks capital appreciation. The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities. Equity securities include common stocks, depositary receipts, equity interests in real estate investment trusts (REITs), and other securities that represent an ownership interest (or right to acquire an ownership interest) in a company or other issuer. It may invest the fund's assets in securities of companies of any size. The fund's investment adviser uses an active bottom-up approach to buying and selling investments for the fund.

About MFS Low Volatility Equity R2 (MLVOX)

There are 5 members of the management team with an average tenure of 7.12 years: Jonathan Sage (2015), John (Jed) Stocks (2015), Matthew Krummell (2013), Nathan Bryant (2026), Jenney Zhang (2026). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100% and MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) NR USD index with a weighting of 100%. MFS Low Volatility Equity R2 has 101 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 27.2% 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 Low Volatility Equity R2 is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. MFS Low Volatility Equity R2 has 3.2% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 96.2%. There is 3.2% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). MFS Low Volatility Equity R2 has 0.6% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $306 million in total assets, which is below the $6 billion average for the Large Blend 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.

MLVOX 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 Low Volatility Equity R2 expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Large Blend category. MFS Low Volatility Equity R2 has an expense ratio of 1.14%, which is 40% 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 Low Volatility Equity R2 has a portfolio turnover rate of 23%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 48% for the Large Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, MFS Low Volatility Equity R2 returned 2.7%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Large Blend category had an average return of 0.4%. 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 Low Volatility Equity R2 has a trailing yield of 0.41%, which is below the 0.56% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains 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 Low Volatility Equity R2 Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 6.6%, 2.8 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 11.6% over the past year (grade of F), 11.2% over the past three years (grade of F) and 6.9% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 10.2% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

For more mutual fund grades, analysis and screening tools to help your investment discovery, join AAII for a $2, full-access trial. Learn more here: https://invest.aaii.com/membership.

Otherwise, for more information about MFS Low Volatility Equity R2, including its riskiness, submit your email to unlock the rest of the article.