Load Fund

From Qbank. I got the right answer but did it wrong, don’t know why…

An investor is contemplating buying a load fund versus a no load mutual fund. She is trying to figure out the actual amount she will have to spend on the load fund. The shares have a net asset value (NAV) of $34.50 and a load of 5.2%. Determine which type of fund will always have a share price equal to the NAV and the price she will pay for the load fund.

Fund Offering Price A) open-end $36.39 B) open-end $34.50 C) close-end $36.39

Your answer: A was correct!

The share price of an open-end fund will always equal the NAV, since the investment company is obligated to redeem shares at any time at current market value.

Offering price = $34.50 / (1 – 0.052) = $36.39.

Word for word from Schweser, “All mutual funds charge a fee for the ongoing management of the portfolio assets, which is expressed as a percenage of net asset value of the fund.”

So, based on that, I figured the price would be 34.5*(1.052)=36.29 (so I guessed the 36.39 answer). Why do they divide the load out?

Mathematically, you have the same answer.

But 34.5*(1 + 0.052) =/= 34.5/(1 - 0.052), so the ten cent difference worked on this question only by choosing the closest answer, but my reasoning isn’t right.