Fidelity Investments Canada Ltd. is offering a second low load sales charge option on its funds.

Under Fidelity’s new Low Load 2 option, funds carry a three-year redemption schedule, charging 3% if units are redeemed in the first year, 2.5% in the second year, 2% during the third year, and 0% after that.

The new option also pays trailers of: 0.50% on equity/asset allocation/balanced/income funds and most ClearPath portfolios; and, 0.25% on fixed income/high yield funds, ClearPath 2005/ClearPath Income portfolios and on money market funds. However, the 10% annual free redemption is not available with the new structure.

Fidelity’s original low load option, introduced last January, is based on a two-year schedule; and, the deferred sales charge option has a six-year redemption schedule. Fidelity is the only mutual fund company in Canada to offer a choice of low load options, giving advisors and investors four sales charge options. The firm says that expanding its range of sales charge options is consistent with its “ongoing commitment to lower the cost of investing”.

In January 2005, Fidelity announced: lower fees on units purchased with a front-end sales charge option; auto-conversion of matured DSC units to lower front-end fee units seven years after purchase; and its original low load sales charge option.

Since then, the firm reports that it has conducted over one million auto-conversion transactions to lower fee front-end units in almost 400,000 accounts. Fidelity points out that the new three-year redemption schedule alternative means that units purchased with this option will automatically convert to lower fee fund units four years after the original purchase and will therefore enjoy lower MERs sooner than they would with DSC units.

The new sales charge option will also be available on fund units purchased with the Tax-Efficient Systematic Withdrawal Plan feature, as well as Fidelity Capital Structure Corp.