An annual charge deducted from an investor's mutual fund assets to pay for distribution and marketing costs for as long as the investor holds the fund. For the most part, this fee is paid to intermediaries for selling a fund's shares to the retail public.Also known as a "12b-1 fee". Unlike the one-time front-end (Class A shares) or back-end (Class B shares) loads, level loads (Class C shares) are applied annually as a fixed percentage of a mutual fund's average net assets. Also, unlike front-end and back-end sales charges, these 12b-1 fees are included in a fund's operating expenses. While the load percentage doesn't change, if the net asset value of the fund increases through capital appreciation, the dollar value of the load will actually become more expensive and continuously erode the fund's return. Total 12b-1 fees are capped by law at 1%. Generally, this fee will be pegged at 0.25%, which allows funds that don't exceed this percentage to be classified as no-load funds. This bit of magic, as well as the dubious necessity for the 12b-1 in a robust mutual fund environment, has put the justification for continued use of level load under considerable consumer and regulatory scrutiny.
A share class of a mutual fund that does not require its investors to pay fees (such as front-end loads). Owning shares in a load-waived fund is a benefit to investors because it allows them to retain all of their investment's return instead of losing a portion of it to fees. In most cases, mutual fund companies will limit the number of load-waived funds available to only certain investors. For example, the purchase of load-waived funds is sometimes restricted to those involved in defined contribution retirement plans and also for investors that invest a substantial amount in the mutual fund company's funds (such as institutional investors). These special mutual fund shares commonly have an "LW" at the end of the fund's name and ticker in order to differentiate them.
A load-adjusted return is how much of a return an investor actually sees, after investment fees charged to buy and sell shares of mutual funds are subtracted from investment returns. If an investor puts $6,000 into a no-load mutual fund and earns a 10% return the first year, he has earned $600 if he decides to cash out. But if the mutual fund charges a 1% front-end load to buy shares, the investor would lose $60 when he purchased, leaving $5,940 to invest. The same 10% return would then earn him only $594. Loads, or fees charged by some mutual funds for buying and selling shares, are like all other investment fees in that they have a significant impact on an investor's returns, especially over the long run. For this reason, many investors advocate sticking to mutual funds that have no loads, no 12b-1 fees and very low expense ratios.
A method of collecting the annual fees from investors in load funds through periodic deductions. These periodic deductions often are taken off of regular investor contributions to the fund to spread out the burden of the load fees over time. With a load spread option, a mutual fund investor is able to contribute a fixed amount of savings to the fund on a periodic basis (e.g. after each employment paycheck) and avoid having to pay a lump-sum load fee each year, since a portion of the fee is paid with each contribution.
A mutual fund that comes with a sales charge or commission. The fund investor pays the load, which goes to compensate a sales intermediary (broker, financial planner, investment advisor, etc.) for his or her time and expertise in selecting an appropriate fund for the investor. The load is either paid up front at the time of purchase (front-end load), when the shares are sold (back-end load), or as long as the fund is held by the investor (level-load). If a fund limits its level load to no more that 0.25% (the maximum is 1%), it can call itself a "no-load" fund in its marketing literature. Front-end and back-end loads are not part of a mutual fund's operating expenses, but level-loads, called 12b-1 fees, are included. The record shows that the performance of load and no-load funds is similar.
The risks associated with ineffective, destructive or underperforming management, which hurts shareholders and the company or fund being managed. This term refers to the risk of the situation in which the company and shareholders would have been better off without the choices made by management. Management risk refers to the chance that company managers will put their own interests ahead of the interest of the company and shareholders. An example of this is the recent scandals with Enron, Worldcom and other large companies, whose managers acted in a manner that eventually bankrupted the companies and destroyed shareholder wealth. Management risk also applies to investment managers, whose decisions and actions may divert from the investors' wishes or reduce the value of an investment portfolio.
A formal name for a company that sells and manages a portfolio of securities. A management investment company is one of the three fundamental types of investment companies, the other two being unit investment trusts and face-amount certificate companies. Management investment companies allow investors to pool their capital with that of other investors in order to purchase professionally-managed groups of diversified securities. A management investment company is headed by a CEO, a team of officers and a board of directors. These company leaders choose the types of investment products the company will offer, define the fund's objectives and select the people who will run each fund. Management investment companies are subject to rules set forth in the Investment Company Act of 1940. Registered management investment companies are also subject to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
A charge levied by an investment manager for managing an investment fund. The management fee is intended to compensate the managers for their time and expertise. It can also include other items such as investor relations expenses and the administration costs of the fund. The management fee is the cost of having your assets professionally managed. The fee pays other people to select which securities your money (along with that of the other investors in the fund) is invested into, to do all the paperwork needed and to provide information about the fund's holdings and performance.Management fee structures vary from fund to fund, but they are typically based on a percentage of assets under management. For example, a mutual fund's management fee could be stated as 0.5% of assets under management.