SIE: Breakpoints

Breakpoints

Mutual funds often reward customers for investing larger amounts in a fund or a family of funds. The reward is a discount on a front-end sales charge if customers invest a certain dollar amount, called a breakpoint.

Example: MegaFund charges a 5% sales charge on investments under $25,000 and 4.25% on investments at or above $25,000. The breakpoint in this case would be $25,000.

FINRA offers the following sample breakpoint schedule:

Sample Breakpoint Schedule
Class A Shares (Front-end Sales Load)
Investment Amount	Sales Load
Less than $25,000	5.0%
$25,000 but less than $50,000	4.25%
$50,000 but less than $100,000	3.75%
$100,000 but less than $250,000	3.25%
$250,000 but less than $500,000	2.75%
$500,000 but less than $1 million	2.0%
$1 million or more	0.0%

As an investor continues to add money to a fund, the value of the investor’s contribution to the mutual fund increases. If this value reaches the next breakpoint, the investor is entitled to the lower sales load on the purchase of any additional shares. This is called a right of accumulation (ROA).

In some cases, an investor knows she will be buying additional shares in the future. If an investor plan