6 9

High Yield Portfolio

Without Waiver 6.60 %
With Waiver 6.67 %
As of 02/29/24
$ 5.06
$0.01 As of 03/27/24
$240M
As of 02/29/24

High Yield Portfolio

$0.01 As of 03/27/24
As of 02/29/24
$ 5.06
$0.01 As of 03/27/24
$240M
As of 02/29/24
  • Overview

    INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

    Seeks total return with an emphasis on high current income, but also considering capital appreciation.

    INVESTMENT FOCUS

    Employs rigorous risk management tools to isolate active bets and neutralize unwanted exposure

    Overweights or underweights the highest and lowest credit tiers on an opportunistic basis

    Well-diversified, core high yield portfolio that focuses on issuers believed to have solid or improving credit fundamentals

    Fund Information

    • Fund Commencement 06/12/85
    • Net Assets ($ M) As of 02/29/24 $240.88
    • Benchmark

      Bloomberg U.S. High-Yield Corporate Bond 2% Issuer Capped Index is a market capitalization-weighted index that measures the performance of non-investment grade, fixed rate debt. Eurobonds and debt issues from countries designated as emerging markets are excluded. This index is the 2% Issuer Cap component of the U.S. Corporate High Yield index.

      Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High-Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index

    Share Class Information

    • Class Inception 06/12/85
    • Net Asset Value (NAV) As of 03/27/24 $5.06
    • Most Recent NAV Change As of 03/27/24 $0.01 | 0.20%
    • CUSIP 55274F471
    • Gross Expense Ratio

      Gross Expense Ratio: The Gross Expense Ratio is the fund's total operating expense ratio from the fund's most recent prospectus.

      0.79%
    • Net Expense Ratio

      Net Expense Ratio: The Net Expense Ratio reflects the reduction of expenses from contractual fee waivers and reimbursements. Elimination of these reductions will result in higher expenses and lower performance.


      These reductions will continue until at least 04/30/24

      0.72%

    MANAGERS

    Top 10 Holdings

    • CCO Holdings LLC 144A 4.75% MAR 01 30
    • FMG Resources August 2006 Pty Ltd 144A 4.375% APR 01 31
    • Global Aircraft Leasing Co Ltd 144A 6.5% SEP 15 24
    • Ziggo Bond Co BV 144A 5.125% FEB 28 30
    • EQM Midstream Partners LP 5.5% JUL 15 28
    • TransDigm Inc 144A 6.875% DEC 15 30
    • TriMas Corp 144A 4.125% APR 15 29
    • BWX Technologies Inc 144A 4.125% APR 15 29
    • SS&C Technologies Inc 144A 5.5% SEP 30 27
    • Parkland Corp 144A 4.625% MAY 01 30

    Important Risk Considerations

    The portfolio may not achieve its objective and/or you could lose money on your investment in the portfolio.

    Bond: Investments in debt instruments may decline in value as the result of, or perception of, declines in the credit quality of the issuer, borrower, counterparty, or other entity responsible for payment, underlying collateral, or changes in economic, political, issuer-specific, or other conditions. Certain types of debt instruments can be more sensitive to these factors and therefore more volatile. In addition, debt instruments entail interest rate risk (as interest rates rise, prices usually fall). Therefore, the portfolio's value may decline during rising rates. Portfolios that consist of debt instruments with longer durations are generally more sensitive to a rise in interest rates than those with shorter durations. At times, and particularly during periods of market turmoil, all or a large portion of segments of the market may not have an active trading market. As a result, it may be difficult to value these investments and it may not be possible to sell a particular investment or type of investment at any particular time or at an acceptable price. The price of an instrument trading at a negative interest rate responds to interest rate changes like other debt instruments; however, an instrument purchased at a negative interest rate is expected to produce a negative return if held to maturity.

    International: Investments in foreign markets can involve greater risk and volatility than U.S. investments because of adverse market, currency, economic, industry, political, regulatory, geopolitical, or other conditions.

    Derivatives: Investments in derivatives can be used to take both long and short positions, be highly volatile, involve leverage (which can magnify losses), and involve risks in addition to the risks of the underlying indicator(s) on which the derivative is based, such as counterparty and liquidity risk.

    High Yield: Investments in below investment grade quality debt instruments can be more volatile and have greater risk of default, or already be in default, than higher-quality debt instruments.

    Please see the prospectus for further information on these and other risk considerations.

  • Performance

    Performance

    Average Annual Total Returns

    Average Annual Total Returns (%)

    These results represent the percent change in net asset value.
    Monthly | Quarterly As of 12/31/23 (*YTD Updated Daily, As of 03/27/24 , subject to revision and not annualized.)

      Performance data shown represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value fluctuate so your units, when sold, may be worth more or less than the original cost; current performance may be lower or higher than quoted.

      OVERALL
      Out Of Funds
      NA
      OVERALL MORNINGSTAR RATING
      NA
      THREE YEAR
      Out Of Funds
      NA
      FIVE YEAR
      Out Of Funds
      NA
      TEN YEAR
      Out Of Funds
      NA

      Important Performance Information

      Performance results reflect any applicable expense subsidies and waivers in effect during the periods shown. Without such subsidies and waivers the portfolios' performance results would be less favorable. All results assume the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains.

      The returns for the portfolio shown do not reflect the deduction of expenses associated with variable products, such as mortality and expense risk charges, separate account charges, and sales charges imposed by insurance company separate accounts. Such expenses would reduce the overall returns shown. Please refer to the variable product's annual report for performance that reflects the deduction of the fees and charges imposed by insurance company separate accounts.

      Withdrawals of taxable amounts from variable annuity contracts prior to age 59½ may be subject to an additional 10% federal tax penalty as well as income tax. Amounts withdrawn from a variable insurance contract will reduce the death benefit and withdrawals of earnings will be subject to income tax.

      Prior to January 1, 2008, the MFS® Variable Insurance Trust II portfolios were formerly known as the MFS®Sun Life Series Trusts.

      Sales Charges

      Initial Class shares have no sales charge.

      No representation is made, and no assurance can be given, that any investment's results will be comparable to the investment results of any other product with similar investment objectives and policies, including products with the same investment professional or manager. Differences in portfolio size, investments held, contract and portfolio expenses, and other factors can be expected to affect performance.

      A Word About Variable Products

      Issued by insurance companies, variable annuity and variable life insurance contracts allow investors to accumulate money on a tax deferred basis for long-term financial goals. Mortality and expense charges (which compensate the insurance company for insurance risks it assumes under the contract), surrender charges (typically levied if a contract holder cancels it within a certain period following initial purchase), and an annual maintenance charge are among the fees typically associated with these types of variable products.
      Also keep in mind that any income guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company, and that contract owners have options when a contract's payout phase begins. Generally, investors may take their money in a lump sum, make discretionary or systematic distributions, or they can annuitize.
      Please refer investors to your variable annuity or life insurance contract as well as the underlying fund prospectus(es) for more detailed information and other important considerations, which should be read carefully before investing.

      Annual Rate of Return

      Annual Rate of Return (%)

      As of 12/31/23 | Benchmark: Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High-Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index
      annual rate of return table
      2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
      At NAV 2.81 -4.22 13.82 6.69 -3.08 14.81 5.09 3.49 -10.51 12.41
      Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High-Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index 2.46 -4.43 17.13 7.50 -2.08 14.32 7.05 5.26 -11.18 13.44
      At NAV Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High-Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index
      2023 12.41 13.44
      2022 -10.51 -11.18
      2021 3.49 5.26
      2020 5.09 7.05
      2019 14.81 14.32
      2018 -3.08 -2.08
      2017 6.69 7.5
      2016 13.82 17.13
      2015 -4.22 -4.43
      2014 2.81 2.46
      Pricing & Distributions

      Pricing History

      • Market Price (MP): 
      Maximum data displayed is for the most recent 10 years
      Historical MP Lookup
      Enter date for which you wish to obtain a Historical MP for this fund

      Historical MP may not be available for all dates.

      Distribution Rates (%)

      As of 02/29/24

      Charges Distribution Rate
      Not Including Sales Charges 5.72

      30-Day Sec Yields (%)
      The fund's 30-day yield is based on the yield of a fund's investments over a 30-day period and not on the dividend paid by the fund, which may differ.

      As of 02/29/24

      Wavier Yield Value
      Without Waiver 6.60
      With Waiver 6.67

      Distributions
      The Record Date is the date on which a fund declares a distribution. To receive the distribution, an investor must be a shareholder of record on that date.

      The Payable Date is the date on which the distribution is paid to shareholders.

      Dividend Rate per Share is the amount of dividend that a shareholder will receive for each share held. It can be calculated by taking the total amount of dividends paid and dividing it by the total shares outstanding.

      Dividend Reinvestment at NAV is the automatic reinvestment of shareholder dividends in more shares at net asset value.

      Ex-Dividend Date is the date on which a fund goes ex-dividend. The interval between the announcement and the payment of the next dividend. An investor must own the fund before the ex-dividend date to be eligible for the dividend payout.

      Long-term Capital Gain The gain on the sale of a capital asset where the holding period was more than 12 months and the profit was subject to the long-term capital gains tax. (Source: Barron's Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms)

      Short-term Capital Gain For tax purposes the profit realized from the sale of securities or other capital assets held for less than 12 months. Short-term gains are taxable at ordinary income rates to the extent they are not reduced by offsetting capital losses. (Source: Barron's Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms)

      Updated Daily As of 03/28/24

      Record Date Ex-Date Payable Date Type of Earnings Rate per Share (US$) Reinvestment NAV (US$)
      08/23/23 08/24/23 08/25/23 Dividend 0.28670 4.69
    • Portfolio & Holdings Information

      Portfolio & Holdings Information
      Portfolio characteristic data are based on unaudited net assets.

      The portfolio is actively managed, and current holdings may be different.

      Sector, Holding & Characterstics

      Holding Characteristics
      Average Coupon: Average Coupon is the equivalent exposure weighted coupon of all interest bearing instruments as a percent of the total equivalent exposure of all fixed income holdings, including short term and interest rate derivatives which have coupons. Coupons are netted for securities with a payable and receivable leg. Non-accruing securities are treated as having a coupon equal to zero.

      Average Effective Duration is a measure of how much a bond's price is likely to fluctuate with general changes in interest rates, e.g., if rates rise 1.00%, a bond with a 5-year duration is likely to lose about 5.00% of its value.

      Average Effective Maturity is a weighted average of maturity of the bonds held in a portfolio, taking into account any prepayments, puts, and adjustable coupons which may shorten the maturity. Longer-maturity funds are generally considered more interest-rate sensitive than shorter maturity funds.

      Weighted average yield-to-worst of all portfolio holdings excluding cash & derivatives. Yield-to-worst is the annual estimate of the portfolio yield considering factors such as call provisions, prepayments, and other features that may affect a bond's cash flow; and assumes no default. It is an estimated characteristic at a point in time and is not a measure of portfolio performance.

      As of 02/29/24
      Data table of holding characteristics
      characteristics Fixed Earning
      Number of Issues 338
      Number of Issuers 211
      Average Coupon 5.92
      Average Effective Duration 3.14 yrs
      Average Effective Maturity 4.34 yrs
      Yield To Worst 7.49%

      Performance Statistics

      Alpha is a measure of the portfolio's risk-adjusted performance. When compared to the portfolio's beta, a positive alpha indicates better-than-expected portfolio performance and a negative indicates alpha worse-than-expected portfolio performance.

      Beta is a measure of the volatility of a portfolio relative to the overall market. A beta less than 1.0 indicates lower risk than the market; a beta greater than 1.0 indicates higher risk than the market. It is most reliable as a risk measure when the return fluctuations of the portfolio are highly correlated with the return fluctuations of the index chosen to represent the market.

      Information ratio is a measure of consistency in excess return. It is calculated by taking the annualized excess return over a benchmark and dividing it by the annualized standard deviation of excess return.

      R squared represents the percentage of the portfolio's movements that can be explained by the general movements of the market.  Index portfolios will tend to have values very close to 100.  R squared is not a measure of performance.

      The Sharpe Ratio is a risk-adjusted measure calculated to determine reward per unit of risk. It uses a standard deviation and excess return. The higher the Sharpe Ratio, the better the portfolio's historical risk-adjusted performance.

      Standard Deviation is an indicator of the portfolio's total return volatility, which is based on a minimum of 36 monthly returns. The larger the portfolio's standard deviation, the greater the portfolio's volatility.

      Tracking error is the standard deviation of a portfolio's excess returns. Excess returns are a portfolio's return minus the benchmark's annualized return.

      Treynor Ratio: Treynor Ratio is a risk adjusted measure of performance. It is the ratio of the annualized excess return of the portfolio over the risk free rate for a given period divided by the Beta of the portfolio versus its benchmark for the same period. It measures the amount of excess return over the risk free rate earned per unit of systematic risk (beta) assumed.

      Upside and downside capture is a measure of how well a manager was able to replicate or improve on phases of positive benchmark returns, and how badly the manager was affected by phases of negative benchmark returns. Upside capture ratio for a portfolio is calculated by taking the portfolio's return during periods when the benchmark had a positive return and dividing it by the benchmark return during that same period. Downside capture ratio is calculated by taking the portfolio's return during the periods of negative benchmark performance and dividing it by the benchmark return for that period.

      Updated Monthly As of 02/29/24
      Benchmark
      Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High-Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index
      Performance Statistics Table
      10 Yr. 5 Yr. 3 Yr.
      Alpha -0.41 -0.32 -0.46
      Beta 0.92 0.91 1.03
      R-squared 97.62 97.25 98.88
      Standard Deviation % 7.08 8.65 8.67
      Sharpe Ratio 0.32 0.18 -0.12
      Tracking Error 1.25 1.64 0.96
      Information Ratio -0.61 -0.40 -0.45
      Treynor Ratio 2.49 1.68 -1.05
      Downside Capture % 96.72 96.79 105.33
      Upside Capture % 91.43 92.77 100.79

      Top 10 Holdings

      As of 02/29/24
      • CCO Holdings LLC 144A 4.75% MAR 01 30
      • FMG Resources August 2006 Pty Ltd 144A 4.375% APR 01 31
      • Global Aircraft Leasing Co Ltd 144A 6.5% SEP 15 24
      • Ziggo Bond Co BV 144A 5.125% FEB 28 30
      • EQM Midstream Partners LP 5.5% JUL 15 28
      • TransDigm Inc 144A 6.875% DEC 15 30
      • TriMas Corp 144A 4.125% APR 15 29
      • BWX Technologies Inc 144A 4.125% APR 15 29
      • SS&C Technologies Inc 144A 5.5% SEP 30 27
      • Parkland Corp 144A 4.625% MAY 01 30
      The portfolio is actively managed, and current holdings may be different.
      Exposures

      Portfolio Structure (%)

      As of 02/29/24
      • High Yield Corporates
        92.85
      • Emerging Markets Debt
        2.89
      • Investment Grade Corporates
        1.26
      • U.S. Treasuries
        0.53
      • U.S. Equities
        0.21
      • U.S. Convertibles
        0.14
      • Non-U.S. Equities
        0.00
      • Collateralized Debt Obligations
        0.00
      • Cash & Cash Equivalents
        1.94
      • Other1
        0.17

      Credit Quality (%)

      For all securities other than those described below, ratings are assigned utilizing ratings from Moody’s, Fitch, and Standard & Poor’s and applying the following hierarchy: If all three agencies provide a rating, the consensus rating is assigned if applicable or the middle rating if not; if two of the three agencies rate a security, the lower of the two is assigned. If none of the 3 Rating Agencies above assign a rating, but the security is rated by DBRS Morningstar, then the DBRS Morningstar rating is assigned. If none of the 4 rating agencies listed above rate the security, but the security is rated by the Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), then the KBRA rating is assigned. Other Not Rated includes other fixed income securities not rated by any rating agency. Ratings are shown in the S&P and Fitch scale (e.g., AAA). All ratings are subject to change. The portfolio itself has not been rated by any rating agency. The credit quality of a particular security or group of securities does not ensure the stability or safety of an overall portfolio. The quality ratings of individual issues/issuers are provided to indicate the credit-worthiness of such issues/issuer and generally range from AAA, Aaa, or AAA (highest) to D, C, or D (lowest) for S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch respectively.

      As of 02/29/24
      • % of Total Net Assets
      • U.S. Government
        0.53
      • BBB
        1.26
      • BB
        42.38
      • B
        38.48
      • CCC
        14.41
      • CC
        0.25
      • C
        0.00
      • Other Not Rated
        2.69
      Important Characteristics Information
      The portfolio is actively managed, and current holdings may be different.

      Portfolio characteristics are based on equivalent exposure, which measures how a portfolio's value would change due to price changes in an asset held either directly or, in the case of a derivative contract, indirectly. The market value of the holding may differ.

      *Short positions, unlike long positions, lose value if the underlying asset gains value.

      1Other. Other consists of: (i) currency derivatives and/or (ii) any derivative offsets.
    • Fees

      Fees

      • 0.72 % Net Expense Ratio

        Net Expense Ratio: The Net Expense Ratio reflects the reduction of expenses from contractual fee waivers and reimbursements. Elimination of these reductions will result in higher expenses and lower performance.


        These reductions will continue until at least 04/30/24

      • 0.79 % Gross Expense Ratio

        Gross Expense Ratio: The Gross Expense Ratio is the fund's total operating expense ratio from the fund's most recent prospectus.

    • Resources

      Resources

      Product Resources

      Full Holdings available approximately 19 or 24 days after month end.

      Product Resources

      This website is a general communication and is provided for informational and/or educational purposes only. None of the content should be viewed as a suggestion that you take or refrain from taking any action nor as a recommendation for any specific investment product, strategy, plan feature or other such purpose. Your use of this website indicates that you agree with the intended purpose. Prior to making any investment or financial decision, you should seek individualized advice from a personal financial, tax, and other professionals who are able to provide advice in the context of your particular financial situation.

      Variable Insurance Portfolios are available solely as underlying investment options issued or administered by life insurance companies. The information provided on this page is to help you consider the objectives, risks, charges, and expenses associated with these underlying investment option(s). Contact your investment or insurance professional for important information about the variable life insurance and variable annuity products that hold these investment options.

      MFS registered investment products are offered through MFS® Fund Distributors, Inc., 111 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02199.
    \
    close video