"Front-end load" is one of three types of sales charges imposed by mutual funds that charge fees: front-end load, back-end load and no-load. A front-end load is a fee in the form of a commission or charge that an individual pays upon the initial purchase in a mutual fund (or purchase of annuity, security, or life insurance policy), and is usually paid to the broker who sells the fund's shares. This fee lowers the size of an investment because it is deducted from the full amount of the investment. Front-end loads are sometimes used to discourage quick sales of an investment, which, if carried out in large numbers, could severely reduce the amount of cash available to the fund.