# MFS Charter Income Trust (MCR): Closed-End Fund Facts & Distributions > Markdown mirror of https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/mcr for AI agents. Same live data as the HTML page, regenerated on the same refresh cycle. Not investment advice. - Issuer: MFS · Asset class: Bond - Strategy: Actively Managed · Inception: 1989-07-21 MFS Charter Income Trust is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Massachusetts Financial Services Company. The fund invests in the fixed income markets across the globe. It invests primarily in corporate bonds of U.S. or foreign issuers, U.S. Government securities, foreign government securities, mortgage-backed, and other asset-backed securities of U.S. or foreign issuers, or debt instruments of issuers located in emerging market countries. The fund employs a combination of fundamental and quantitative analysis with bottom-up stock picking approach to create its p... ## Key Facts | Metric | Value | |---|---| | Price | $5.94 | | Expense Ratio | 0.79% | | Market Value | $247.6M | | NAV | Not on file (no daily NAV for closed-end funds) | | Holdings Count | — | | Distribution Yield (TTM) | — | | Annual Distribution (TTM) | — /share | | Distribution Frequency | Monthly | | 52-Week Range | $5.84 – $6.58 | | Beta | 0.64 | ## Latest Distribution - Amount: $0.0437 /share - Ex-date: 2026-06-08 - Pay date: 2026-06-15 ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What does MCR invest in? MFS Charter Income Trust is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Massachusetts Financial Services Company. The fund invests in the fixed income markets across the globe. It invests primarily in corporate bonds of U.S. or foreign issuers, U.S. Government securities, foreign government securities, mortgage-backed, and other asset-backed securities of U.S. or foreign issuers, or debt instruments of issuers located in emerging market countries. The fund employs a combination of fundamental and quantitative analysis with bottom-up stock picking approach to create its portfolio. It seeks to benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against a combination of the Barclays U.S. High-Yield Corporate Bond 2% Issuer Capped Index, MFS Charter Income Trust Blended Index, Barclays U.S. Credit Bond Index, Barclays U.S. Government/Mortgage Bond Index, Citigroup World Government Bond Non-Dollar Hedged Index, and JPMorgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Global. MFS Charter Income Trust was formed on July 20, 1989 and is domiciled in the United States. ### What is the expense ratio of MCR? MFS Charter Income Trust (MCR) charges an expense ratio of 0.79%. This is the annual fee deducted from fund assets to cover management and operations. ### What is the duration of MCR? Effective duration measures MCR's sensitivity to interest-rate changes: a duration of 6 means a 1% rate move shifts NAV by roughly 6% in the opposite direction. MCR's current duration is published on the fund's factsheet on the issuer's website. ### What is the credit quality of MCR? MCR's credit quality breakdown (the share of holdings rated AAA through CCC and below) is published on the fund's factsheet. Higher-quality (investment-grade) funds yield less but carry less default risk than high-yield / junk bond funds. ### What is the yield to maturity of MCR? Yield to maturity (YTM) is the total return you'd earn from MCR if every bond in the portfolio is held to maturity at the current price. MCR's YTM is published on the fund's factsheet on the issuer's website. It differs from the trailing-12-month yield because YTM reflects current bond prices rather than historical income paid. ### How big is MCR? MFS Charter Income Trust (MCR) has a market value of $247.6M: its share price times its shares outstanding. A closed-end fund trades above or below its net asset value, so its net assets differ from this figure. AUM determines bid-ask liquidity and the fund's vulnerability to closure. Funds below ~$50M are at higher risk of liquidation. ### Does MCR pay a dividend? MFS Charter Income Trust (MCR) currently distributes little or no income. Trailing-twelve-month yield is —. Investors looking for income should consider income-focused alternatives. See the Peers tab. ### How often does MCR pay dividends? MFS Charter Income Trust pays dividends Monthly. Each ex-dividend date, record date, and payment date is listed in the dividend history table on this page. ### What is MCR's dividend yield? MCR's trailing-twelve-month yield is —, calculated from the sum of dividends over the past year divided by the current price. ### When is MCR's next ex-dividend date? The most recently announced ex-dividend date for MCR was 2026-06-08. The next ex-date typically follows Monthly; once announced it appears at the top of the dividend history table on this page. ### How much will MCR's expense ratio cost me over 30 years? On a $10,000 investment compounding at 7% gross return, a 0.79% expense ratio quietly compounds against your balance every year. The Fee Compounding Forecast card above projects the dollar drag for any holding period and assumption you pick. The typical result for a 1.0% expense ratio on a 30-year hold is roughly 25% of the final balance lost to fees. ### How does MCR charge its expense ratio? The expense ratio is deducted in tiny daily slices from MCR's net asset value (NAV). You never see a bill. The price quoted on every exchange is already net of fees. There's no "fee day" to avoid; the cost is continuous and built into the trading price. ### Why does MCR cost more than a fund like VOO? MCR is actively managed (current expense ratio 0.79%). Active funds charge more than passive index trackers in exchange for the manager's discretion to over- or under-weight positions. The Cost Verdict card above tells you whether MCR's fee is competitive for the active-management cohort. ### Are there cheaper alternatives to MCR? The Lower-Fee Alternatives card above lists closed-end funds following the same investment strategy as MCR (0.79%) but at a lower expense ratio. Each row shows the fee gap, the peer's AUM as a liquidity sanity-check, and a direct link to that fund's analysis page. Cheaper price doesn't automatically mean better. Verify the peer holds what you actually want. ## More on Dividend Data - Overview (HTML): https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/mcr - Distribution history: https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/mcr/dividend - Holdings & diversification: https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/mcr/diversification - Fees & cheaper alternatives: https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/mcr/expenses - Peer comparison: https://www.dividenddata.com/funds/mcr/peers Data sourced from primary filings and market data providers; see https://www.dividenddata.com/methodology.