Mutual Funds

Load Vs. No-load

Load funds are mutual funds that have sales charges. When an investor purchases shares of a mutual fund the investor pays a fee for the sale (transaction) of the shares. Sales charges are required by law to be no more than 8.5% of the price of the shares bought. A load fund is where the broker receives all his commission with the first funds received from the investor. Therefore the investor must pay the brokers commission completely before any of his funds go toward the purchase of shares.

No-load funds do not charge an upfront fee for the sale transaction. In a no-load fund the broker receives his commission as he receives the investor's funds and shares are purchased with the investor's initial funds.