Contingent Deferred Sales Charge (CDSC)

Fee, sales charge, or load mutual fund investors must pay when selling Class-B fund shares within a certain number of years after the initial purchase date. This charge is also referred to as a "sales charge" or a "back-end load." Class-B shares in mutual funds that have share classes that determine when investors pay the load or sales charge have a contingent deferred sales charge applied to them for a holding period of five to ten years starting from the time of the original investment. A CDSC is typically expressed in the financial sector as a percentage of the dollar amount invested in a mutual fund. A CDSC may also be referred to as an exit fee or a redemption charge in the financial sector.