finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

, a class A share refers to a share classification of

common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

or preferred stock that typically has enhanced benefits with respect to

dividends A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-in ...

, asset sales, or voting rights compared to Class B or

Class C share In finance, a Class B share or Class C share is a designation for a share class of a common or preferred stock that typically has strengthened voting rights or other benefits compared to a Class A share that may have been created. The equity stru ...

s. There may be restrictions on any specific issue of class A shares in exchange for the benefits; for example, preferences with regard to dividends may be traded for ''reduced'' voting rights. They are often convertible into class B (may not be

publicly traded A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (list ...

) shares at a favorable rate. For example, a company might allocate class A shares to its management giving them 7 times face value of class B shares, while class B shares have the same voting right as class A shares. Companies classify stock for many reasons. In some cases this is to give company insiders a greater degree of power over the company and to provide a better defense against events like

hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...

attempts. ''Class A share'' is also a way of pricing sales charges (loads) on

mutual fund A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV i ...

s in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In a class A share, the sales load is up front, typically at most 5.75% of the amount invested. In contrast is the class B share that does not have an upfront charge, but instead has higher ongoing expenses in the form of a higher 12B-1 fee, and a contingent deferred sales charge that only applies if the investor redeems shares before a specified period. The maximum A share sales load is decreased for larger investment amounts as a volume discount.

References

{{reflist Equity securities

See also

References