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| | Mutual Fund Fees and Expenses |
 | | The $500 sales load is first deducted from the $10,000 check (and typically paid to a selling broker), and assuming no other front-end fees, the remaining $9,500 is used to purchase fund shares for the investor. |
 | | For example, a contingent deferred sales load might be 5% if an investor holds his or her shares for one year, 4% if the investor holds his or her shares for two years, and so on until the load goes away completely. |
 | | Unlike a sales load, which is generally used to pay brokers, a redemption fee is typically used to defray fund costs associated with a shareholder’s redemption and is paid directly to the fund, not to a broker. |
| www.sec.gov /answers/mffees.htm (1617 words) |
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