Generally mutual funds charge an entry load of 1-2% of the investment amount everytime an investor makes an investment in their fund. Similarly they charge an exit load of 1-2% when the investor redeems his investment within a certain timeframe.
No load funds are those that do not charge either an entry or an exit load.
The two primary types of mutual funds are "no-load" and "load" funds
Shares in load funds are usually sold through separate distributorships
No load mutual funds are mutual funds that are sold directly by the investment company instead of by an investment broker. They work exactly the same as regular mutual funds.
A no-load mutual fund is one that does not charge a fee to investors. Many mutual funds have a "load" or initial fee, often around 5%, that investors must pay in order to buy in to the fund. No-load mutual funds lack this fee, and earn money for their managers in different ways. Most index funds are no-load funds.
No-load mutual funds do not require investors to pay fees or sales commission, and the price of a share in a no-load fund is identical to its net asset value
A load fund is a mutual fund that charges the investor a percentage of the NAV on entry or exit. This charge is decided by the mutual fund provider. The amount is used by the provider for advertising and distribution purposes and is included in the purchase as a sales fee. Additionally, load funds may be differentiated into back-end and front-end funds depending on when the fee is charged. For a back-end fund, the fee is charged when the mutual fund is redeemed and the front load is charged on purchase of the fund. A no-load fund is simply a fund that does not charge any commission or sales charge. This is possible because shares of such funds are distributed directly by the investment company. In the long run, load as well as no-load funds offer similar returns. However, no-load funds do charge a fee if they are redeemed before their maturity.
Yes, You can purchase no load mutual funds online. All of the major companies of which you would have heard (Vanguard, T Rowe Price, Fidelity, etc.) and offer some of the better no load mutual funds all have websites and allow you to purchase online.
Morningstar
The benefits of purchasing no load index funds is to avoid incurring any transaction costs compare to those investors who are buying ETFs who have to pay the brokerage commission.
Financial Analysis Office (FMA)
Articles to learn about the best no load mutual funds can be found from many different resources. Some online resources with these articles include Investopedia and Kiplinger.
Load is a term frequently used in the Mutual fund market. This is the amount of money that the fund house would deduct from our investment as fund charges. There are two loads - Entry & Exit loads. Entry load is the amount they deduct when you buy the fund and exit load is the amount they deduct when you exit the fund. A Load fund is one that charges a specified % as the entry or exit load A No Load fund does not charge any entry or exit load A Low Load fund is one that charges very low % of load when compared to others. Ex: If you want to invest Rs. 10,000/- in a fund that charges a 2% entry load and NAV of Rs. 10/- then you will get 980 units because only Rs. 9,800/- would be invested in your name. The remaining Rs. 200 (2%) is the charges the fund house would deduct from your investment.