A sales fee charged when selling shares of a mutual fund.
A back-end load is a sales charge (also called a "deferred sales charge") applied when you sell shares of a mutual fund. Back-end loads incentivize long-term holding; the longer you hold, the lower the fee (often declining to zero after 5+ years). Back-end loads reduce the amount of proceeds you receive when selling. Many funds have moved away from back-end loads toward other fee structures due to fee transparency regulations. When evaluating funds, always check expense ratios and loads; low-cost index funds typically have no loads at all.