April 2, 2004 — The Parnassus Fund (PARNX) will drop its sales charge next month.
The fund is eliminating the 3.5% sales charge, or “load,” that it has carried since its inception in 1984. Jerome Dodson, the fund’s portfolio manager, said in a regulatory filing Friday that he believes the move will benefit shareholders by increasing the fund’s returns. Dodson could not immediately be reached for comment.
The $374-million fund has lagged its peers and the Standard & Poor’s 500-index recently. The fund returned 0.1% in the first quarter, versus 2.5% for the average large-cap value fund, and 1.6% for the index.