Investing and Money Glossary, terms and definitions.

No-Load Fund

A mutual fund with no up-front or back-end sales charge; such charges can reach as high as 8.5 percent. This is not to say that no-load funds do not charge anything; various management and other fees vary widely among funds, and are usually expressed as a percentage of assets. In general, total fees of 1 percent or less annually are considered reasonable. Studies comparing no-load funds to their loaded brethren have found no significant difference in performance.