hidden load

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Hidden load

A sales charge that is not explicitly disclosed or is buried in the fine print of a mutual fund prospectus or life insurance policy and therefore is not immediately apparent.

Hidden Load

A loan or sales charge for purchasing shares in a mutual fund that is not obviously stated in the fund's prospectus. Colloquially, it may also refer to a 12b-1 fee.

hidden load

A mutual fund sales fee that is not readily apparent to investors. The term generally applies to an annual 12b-1 fee that is charged by many mutual funds.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.

References in periodicals archive ?

As such, it needs to explain how a system of "hidden loads" is superior to load charges that are visible to the investor at the time of sale.

Though supposedly a paragon of "accountability" and "transparency," the fund industry, with the SEC's acquiescence, has for decades featured not just funds carrying "hidden loads," but brokerage charges padded to hide direct distribution payments or payments for "research services" via soft dollars that never show up in fund expense ratios, and revenue sharing payola.