• Burden is the selling fee paid by mutual fund investors to brokers or agents who sell the fund to them.

  • Initial loads occur at the time of purchase and may result in lower net cost ratios.
  • Internal loads occur when investors sell their holdings in funds, but these burden amounts can eventually decrease to zero after 10 years or more.
  • No-load funds are an increasingly popular option that does not require sales from both sides and is usually sold directly by the fund company or one of their partners.