Sales Charge

A sales charge on purchase, sometimes called a "load", is a charge you pay when you buy shares. It is sometimes referred to as the front-end load . You can determine the sales charge (load) on purchases by looking at the fee and expense table in the prospectus or profile.

In some cases, the fund imposes a different sales charge (load) on purchases based on the initial investment (often referred to as "breakpoint pricing"). For example, a fund may impose a sales charge of 3% up to $50,000, but may charge 2% if you invest over $50,000.

No load funds do not charge sales loads. There are no-load funds in every major fund category. Even no-load funds have ongoing expenses such as management fees.