A Load Fund is a mutual fund that comes with a sales charge or commission. The load is the fee charged by the investment company to compensate the sales intermediary—such as a broker, financial planner, or investment advisor—for his time and expertise in selecting an appropriate fund for the investor.The size of the load varies depending on the type of mutual fund and can range from 0.25% to 8.5% of the total amount invested. For example, if you invest $10,000 in a mutual fund with a 5% front-end load, you will pay $500 up front; your remaining investment will be worth $9,500.Load funds are also sometimes referred to as "no-load" funds if they do not have a sales charge associated with them. No-load funds are more common among index funds and ETFs (exchange traded funds).