Before investing in mutual funds, it may be helpful to understand common sales charges and other expenses you may incur, as well as discounts that may be available to you. This guide provides information about common mutual fund sales charges and other expenses, and sales charge discounts that vary from fund to fund. This may help you to select your investment and may reduce the cost of your investment.

Funds may have additional fees or features. Review the prospectus from your brokerage firm for the fund you are considering. Discuss any questions you may have with your sales representative.

Sales Charges

Each mutual fund has a specific investment strategy, and you should consider whether this strategy meets your investment objectives. Many mutual funds offer different share classes: Class A, Class B, and Class C. Although each class represents a similar interest in the fund's portfolio, there are different sales charges and expenses depending on the choice of share class.

Class A Shares

Class A shares carry a non-refundable front-end sales charge, or "load," that is deducted from your investment at the time of purchase. The sales charge is a percentage of your total purchase. For example, if you have $1,000 to invest and the sales charge is 5%, $50 will be deducted from your investment. $950 will be used to purchase mutual fund shares.

Many mutual funds offer volume discounts, or breakpoint discounts, to the front-end sales charge assessed on Class A shares at pre-determined investment levels. You should determine if any breakpoints or discounts apply to any investment you are considering.

Class B Shares

Class B shares usually do not carry any front-end sales charges. However, you may pay a contingent deferred sales charge, or "back-end load," if they sell their shares within a defined period of time (usually six years). This charge decreases each year, and eventually reaches zero at the end of a period of time. Since Class B shares carry a contingent deferred sales charge, they are not the same as no-load mutual funds.

All share classes assess annual operating charges, which reduce your annual investment return. The initial operating charges for Class B shares are higher than the annual operating charges for Class A shares. Class B shares convert to Class A shares with lower annual operating charges after a period of time.

Class C Shares

Class C shares might carry a front-end sales charge or a contingent deferred sales charge. However, the annual operating charges for Class C shares are usually higher than Class A shares. They will remain higher as long as you own the investment.

"No-load" funds do not carry up-front sales charges, and usually do not carry contingent deferred sales charges. However, a brokerage firm might charge a transaction fee to purchase or redeem a no-load fund. (Brokerage firms might also charge a transaction fee for mutual funds that carry an up-front or contingent deferred sales charge.) No-load funds also assess annual operating charges that may be higher or lower than the charges assessed by a fund that is not no-load.

Breakpoint Discounts

Many mutual funds offer volume discounts, or breakpoint discounts, to the front-end sales charge assessed on Class A shares at pre-determined investment levels. Many provide breakpoint discounts to investors who make large purchases at one time. The size of the discount depends on the size of the purchase.

As the purchase amount increases, the percentage used to determine the sales charge may decrease. The entire sales charge may be waived for investors who make large purchases of Class A shares. Mutual fund prospectuses contain tables that illustrate breakpoint discounts and the levels at which discounts apply. Breakpoints usually begin at $25,000 or $50,000 depending on the fund family and type of fund.

For example, assume you want to purchase Class A shares in a mutual fund where the first breakpoint is $25,000. The sales charge is 5% if your purchase is under the first breakpoint, and 4.25% if your purchase is equal to or greater than the first breakpoint, but below the second breakpoint. If you invested $24,000 in Class A shares, you would pay a sales charge of 5%, or $1,200. But, if you invested $25,000 you would only pay a sales charge of $1,062.50.

Many funds also give breakpoint discounts based on current holdings from prior purchases through "Rights of Accumulation" (explained below) and future purchases based on a "Letter of Intent" (explained below). Breakpoint discounts are not available for Class B or C shares. If eligible for a breakpoint discount, consider if you are better off with Class A shares, rather than Class B or C shares. Because of higher annual operating charges, your investment return could be lower with Class B or C shares, depending on the circumstances. If you purchase Class A shares just below a breakpoint, consider increasing your investment to receive a sales charge discount.

Rights of Accumulation

Many mutual funds allow you to include the value of previous purchases of the same fund, or another fund within the same family, along with the value of the current purchase in order to qualify for a breakpoint discount. Many funds count the value of holdings in multiple accounts, including accounts at other firms, to qualify for a breakpoint discount.

Many funds will also count the value of holdings in accounts of related parties, such as spouses or children, to qualify for breakpoint discounts. Each fund has different rules that govern when relatives may rely on each other's holdings to qualify for breakpoint discounts.

Review the prospectus from your brokerage firm for the fund you are considering. If you want to use holdings in accounts at other firms, or of related parties, to qualify for a breakpoint discount, you must advise your sales representative about those holdings at the time of purchase. You may need to provide documentation to your sales representative.

Mutual funds follow various rules to determine the value of existing holdings. Some funds use the current net asset value (NAV) of existing investments to determine if an investor qualifies for a breakpoint discount. However, a small number of funds use the historical cost, which is the cost of the initial purchase, to determine eligibility for breakpoint discounts. You may need to provide account records, such as confirmations statements or monthly statements, to qualify for a breakpoint discount based on previous purchases.

You should carefully review the prospectus and statement of additional information available from your brokerage firm to determine whether the mutual fund uses either NAV or historical costs to determine breakpoint eligibility. Discuss any questions you may have with your sales representative.

Letters of Intent

Many mutual funds allow you to qualify for breakpoint discounts by signing a Letter of Intent, which commits you to purchase a specified amount of Class A shares within a defined period of time, usually 13 months. For example, assume a mutual fund with a breakpoint at $50,000. An investor plans to purchase $50,000 worth of Class A shares over a period of 13 months. Each individual purchase does not qualify for a breakpoint discount. The investor can sign a Letter of Intent at the first purchase and receive the breakpoint discount associated with a $50,000 investment on the first and all subsequent purchases.

Some mutual funds offer retroactive Letters of Intent that rely on recent purchases to qualify for a discount. However, if you fail to invest the amount required by the Letter of Intent, the fund is entitled to retroactively charge the correct sales charges based on the amount invested. If you intend to make several purchases in a 13-month period, review the fund prospectus to determine if it would be advantageous to sign a Letter of Intent.

How Your Brokerage Firm and Sales Representative Are Compensated

Brokerage firms may make funds available from many fund families. Sales representatives are free to select from any mutual funds or fund families when making a recommendation to you. The following describes how UVEST and its sales representatives are paid, and possible conflicts of interest that may arise as a result.

When you purchase a mutual fund, the compensation paid to UVEST by the fund company may vary. This may provide a financial incentive for UVEST or TCF Investments to make available or sell one mutual fund or fund family over another.

Mutual fund companies pay UVEST a commission, or re-allowance, calculated as a percentage of your purchase. The percentage used to calculate these payments may vary depending on the size of your purchase and share class. For Class A shares, the percentage decreases as the size of your purchase increases. For Class B and C shares, the percentage stays the same regardless of the size of your purchase. For larger transactions, the percentage may be lower for Class A than Class B or C shares. The percentage used to calculate these payments may also vary depending on the type of fund. For example, the percentage may be higher for equity funds than bond funds. The percentage used to calculate these payments may also vary depending on the fund company. Some fund companies make higher percentage payments than others.

UVEST or TCF Investments may receive other kinds of compensation for selling mutual funds for a particular fund family from the fund companies or their affiliates. It may include annual payments based on the value of your account called "12b-1 fees" (ranging from .25% to 1% and paid from fund assets), and annual payments based on the value of your account called "revenue sharing payments" (ranging from .10% to .15% and paid by fund distributors). It may also include marketing allowances, travel reimbursement associated with training for firm personnel, and other forms of cash and non-cash compensation (paid by fund distributors). These kinds of compensation vary by fund family depending on the amount of past or prospective business from UVEST or TCF Investments, or on the degree of access we give the fund family to our sales representatives. We will provide information about the source and amount of this compensation in connection with your transaction upon request.

TCF Investments pays sales representatives a commission calculated as a percentage of the total sale amount for any purchases they recommend. The percentage used to calculate the commission generally is the same regardless of the size of your purchase (except for very large transactions), the share class you select, the type of fund you select, or the fund family. TCF Investments believes this compensation method helps to minimize any financial incentive for your sales representatives to recommend one mutual fund or fund family over another.

Compensation paid to TCF Investments sales representatives may vary depending on total product sales and the source of customer funds used to purchase a product. This includes a higher percentage used to calculate commissions, bonuses, contest awards, and other cash and non-cash compensation.

Note that not all fund families approved for sale by UVEST registered sales representatives, located in most TCF locations, necessarily receive equal operational, marketing, education, or product support from UVEST, or equal access to its sales representatives. The degree of support and access may influence a sales representative's recommendation of a particular mutual fund or fund family. Although UVEST has selling agreements with many fund families, its sales representatives are only authorized to recommend those mutual funds for which due diligence has been performed, and which are approved by TCF Investments management. Other fund families with which UVEST has selling agreements, including those which are "no-load," may pay lower compensation than the fund families which have been approved by TCF Investments management. The compensation arrangements described above may change without notice. Ask your sales representative about the compensation he or she receives in connection with your mutual fund purchase. See the prospectus for more information about compensation payments.

More Information About Sales Charge Discounts and Your Account

Understanding the differences in share classes may save you money on your investment. Review the mutual fund prospectus and statement of additional information for the fund you are considering for more information about share classes. Discuss any questions you may have with your sales representative. If you want to learn more about mutual fund share classes or breakpoints, review the investor alerts available on the FINRA website.

You should consider the investment objective, risks, and charges and expenses of a mutual fund carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the mutual fund. You may obtain a prospectus from the fund company directly, by phoning TCF Investments at (866) 202-2736, or by writing TCF Investments at 801 Marquette Avenue, Suite 1450, Minneapolis, MN 55402. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

TCF Investments is not an investment advisor. Your investment selections are solely in your discretion and neither TCF Investments nor its sales representatives are responsible for the performance of investments you select.

This information about mutual funds is provided by TCF Investments. If you have any questions about transactions in your brokerage account, contact a registered Sales Representative at TCF Investments. Contact a registered Sales Representative if you think you may be entitled to a breakpoint discount on a fund you purchased through us.

You should consider a mutual fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Contact your UVEST registered sales representative, located in most TCF locations, to request a prospectus, which contains this and other information about a specific mutual fund. Read it carefully before you invest.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value of a mutual fund will fluctuate causing shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost.