FYI: Most investors understand the importance of keeping costs down. For this reason, load funds--those that charge a sales fee, typically an initial charge of 5.75% for the A shares of stock funds--acquired quite a stigma among do-it-yourself investors. Most simply wrote these funds off. That’s why the Morningstar 500, found in our publication Morningstar FundInvestor, aimed at individual investors, is overwhelmingly composed of funds without sales charges.
However, the load versus no-load dichotomy that defined the mutual fund universe in the 1990s and early 2000s, with entire fund companies assigned to one camp or the other, no longer applies. These days, many funds that thrifty investors mentally place off-limits may be available for purchase without paying a load.
One way to acquire such funds is by having an account with providers such as Fidelity or Schwab. The funds available on their extensive No Transaction Fee lists include most of the traditional load-fund giants such as American Funds, Franklin Templeton, MFS, and JPMorgan.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.morningstar.com/articles/901026/that-load-fund-might-be-worth-a-second-look.html
