From: utzoo!decvax!cca!charlie Newsgroups: net.invest Title: Re: No-load mutual funds Article-I.D.: cca.4426 Posted: Wed Mar 9 09:51:46 1983 Received: Thu Mar 10 01:29:27 1983 References: hpda.360 The question was: why would anyone in their right mind buy a load-type mutual fund when no-loads are "just as good". There are two reasons. The first you can hear from any salesman; the best performing funds are load funds. In any given year, this may or may not be true. Given that the vast majority of funds are load, it would not be surprising if this were true (the worst performing funds would also be load) just by chance. I have never seen any evidence that there is a statistically significant difference between loads and no-loads in aggregate. The second is the real reason. It is the same reason some people buy cameras at the local camera shop instead of mail order from New York. What that 8 percent commission pays for is for the salesman to discuss your needs and help you decide what you want. There is certainly a conflict of interest on his part and he will not understand your financial situation as well as you do, but for many people the help is worth the price. If you are sophisticated enough to know the difference between a load and a no-load (don't laugh), the loads probably aren't for you. -- Charlie Kaufman