C000017824 Fees and Costs — MFS Total Return Portfolio, Class A
Data updated: 2026-08-27
The net expense ratio is 0.62%: a 0.57% management fee plus 0.07% other expenses, less a 0.02% fee waiver. There are no sales loads or redemption fees. In fiscal 2025 the fund paid $41K in broker commissions, 0.0070% of average net assets, and portfolio turnover was 33%.
C000017824 Fees and Expenses
Annual operating expenses and sales charges of C000017824. Prospectus, as of December 31, 2025.
| Annual operating expenses | |
|---|---|
| Management fee | 0.57% |
| 12b-1 fee | 0.00% |
| Other expenses | 0.07% |
| Gross expense ratio | 0.64% |
| Fee waiver | −0.02% |
| Net expense ratio | 0.62% |
| Sales charges | |
|---|---|
| Max front load | — |
| Max deferred load | — |
| Redemption fee | — |
| Expense limitation in place (N-CEN) | Yes |
| Fees waived or reduced during the year | Yes |
| Waived fees subject to recoupment | No |
C000017824 Costs Over Time
On $10,000 invested in C000017824, assuming 5% a year before costs, total costs come to $395 over 5 years, cutting the return by 0.66% a year. Illustration, not a forecast: it assumes today's net expense ratio throughout (a fee waiver may end).
| $10,000 invested | Sell after 1 year | Sell after 3 years | Sell after 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value before costs | $10,500 | $11,576 | $12,763 |
| Fund expenses (net expense ratio 0.62%) | $65 | $204 | $355 |
| Trading costs (broker commissions) | $1 | $2 | $4 |
| Lost growth on money paid in costs | $0 | $10 | $36 |
| Total costs | $66 | $216 | $395 |
| Value after costs | $10,434 | $11,360 | $12,368 |
| Impact on return, per year | 0.66% | 0.66% | 0.66% |
C000017824 Trading Costs
Brokerage costs reported on SEC Form N-CEN for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025.
- Explicit cost rate (commissions ÷ average net assets): 0.0070%
- Total broker commissions: $41K
- Bought from dealers (principal trades, not a cost): $1.9B
- Portfolio turnover (prospectus): 33%
- Securities on loan, average value: $44.0M
- Net income from securities lending: $44K (0.008% of average net assets)
C000017824 Agency Brokers
Commissions paid.
| Broker | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| J.P. Morgan Securities LLC | $8K | 22.85% |
| BofA Securities, Inc. | $8K | 20.49% |
| Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC | $5K | 13.02% |
| Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC | $3K | 8.11% |
| Jefferies LLC | $3K | 7.23% |
| National Financial Services LLC | $2K | 6.76% |
| BMO Capital Markets Corp. | $2K | 6.38% |
| Citigroup Global Markets Inc. | $2K | 6.16% |
| UBS Securities LLC | $2K | 5.54% |
| Wells Fargo Securities, LLC | $1K | 3.46% |
C000017824 Dealer Counterparties
Securities bought directly from dealers (principal trades).
| Broker | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| UBS Securities LLC | $1.5B | 81.55% |
| J.P. Morgan Securities LLC | $130.2M | 6.93% |
| BofA Securities, Inc. | $84.6M | 4.50% |
| Wells Fargo Securities, LLC | $66.2M | 3.52% |
| Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC | $19.1M | 1.02% |
| Mizuho Securities USA LLC | $16.9M | 0.90% |
| Citigroup Global Markets Inc. | $13.5M | 0.72% |
| BNY Capital Markets, LLC | $7.2M | 0.38% |
| Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC | $6.4M | 0.34% |
| RBC Capital Markets, LLC | $2.9M | 0.16% |
MFS Total Return Portfolio Share Classes
Net expense ratio and maximum front-end load of each share class, cheapest first.
| Ticker | Class | Net expense ratio | Front load |
|---|---|---|---|
| C000017824 | Class A | 0.62% | — |
| C000017826 | Class E | 0.77% | — |
| C000030927 | Class F | 0.82% | — |
| C000017825 | Class B | 0.87% | — |
For information only. Not investment advice: figures are as reported in SEC filings and may contain errors or be out of date. Past performance does not guarantee future results.