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.