Back End Load

A Back End Load is a deferred sales charge applied on withdrawals from a fund. Mutual funds with a back end load are commonly known as “B-share class” funds. This commission is applied to your withdrawal, and reduces the amount actually received. If you are withdrawing $10,000 you have invested in a fund and have a 5% back end load, you will only receive $9,500. These loads commonly decrease over time, reducing the loss for investors who hold shares of the fund long term. Instead of a 5% back end load fee, if you held the fund for an additional time period you may be charged only a 3% load fee. Sometimes back end loads are reduced to zero if you hold the fund long enough. These reductions compensate you being a long term stakeholder and not rapidly exiting. You should note that funds which reduce back end loads typically charge higher annual operating expenses.

Back End Loads decrease your withdrawn amount, which means they can reduce your earnings and cancel your gains. If you invest $1,000 into a fund, watch it rise to $1,060 and have 6% back end load, your withdrawal would bring you down to $996. Combined with annual operating expenses and other fees, you could suffer a greater loss. You would be forced to hold the fund longer to see increased gains, reduced back end load, or both. However, if your fund takes off while you hold the fund to see the back end reduced you could gain substantially. As an example, if you invested $10,000 into a fund with an initial 6% back end load and held the fund until your back end load decreased to 3%. During this time, it the investment to $12,000. Your withdrawal would be $11,640 before other costs.