why are there loads 
the justification for loads is compensating an intermediary such as a broker financial planner investment advisor or other professionals for their time and expertise in helping you find the mutual fund that s right for you 2 some investors find paying these fees bothersome and no load funds have become so ubiquitous that most fund managers have stopped advertising them as something special that said even no load funds have fees that you have to pay all mutual funds have charges to cover the costs of managing the fund the main one is the expense ratio which is the percentage of assets under management and covers operating and administrative costs the largest portion of this fee is to pay for the work of the fund manager and advisor every investor pays this fee since it comes out of the assets in which each has a stake others like 12b 1 to cover sales and like costs capped at 1 by regulators and redemption charged should you sell your stake within months of investing fees are essential to review against the benefits of a fund too overall though the move to no load funds lower minimum investments and a 60 drop in the average expense ratio since the 1990s has meant that far more of your savings go into your future retirement not the pockets of intermediaries who might add little of value to the fund 4real world examplesthe vanguard group popularized no load funds in the late 1970s converting its 14 funds to no load by going around intermediaries and offering them directly to shareholders 5 its first public index fund now known as vanguard 500 index fund vfiax charges no loads has a minimum investment of 3 000 and an expense ratio of 0 04 a shave off the average index fund ratio of 0 05 in 2023 46 the no load approach was among the reasons vfiax caught on and it holds 1 11 trillion in net assets as of the end of the first quarter of 2024 tracking the s p 500 has given it three five and 10 year returns of 11 44 15 01 and 12 92 respectively t rowe price founded in 1937 began offering its balanced fund rpbax in 1939 and is another of the oldest no load funds this fund provides both potential capital appreciation through stocks and the income stability of bonds it s intended for investors looking for a moderate approach leveraging stocks for higher potential returns while using bonds to mitigate volatility the fund typically allocates about 65 of its assets to stocks and 35 to fixed income securities although these proportions can vary based on economic conditions and the market outlook as of the end of the first quarter of 2024 the fund had an expense ratio of 0 61 and total assets of 4 62 billion 7 at the same time it had trailing returns of 4 38 8 18 and 7 34 for the last three five and 10 years respectively 8