The correct answer is C, $99,000. A breakpoint sale violation occurs when a registered representative fails to inform a customer about available sales charge discounts (breakpoints) for larger mutual fund purchases. These discounts reduce the front-end load as the investment amount increases.
Looking at the breakpoint schedule, a significant reduction occurs at $100,000, where the sales charge drops from 6% to 5%. If a customer invests $99,000, they fall just short of the breakpoint and pay a higher sales charge than necessary.
This raises a red flag because the RR should consider strategies such as:
Informing the client to invest slightly more (e.g., $100,000) to qualify for a lower sales charge
Using a Letter of Intent (LOI) to reach the breakpoint over time
Applying rights of accumulation if applicable
Choices A ($26,000) and B ($55,000) are not suspicious because they are not just below a major breakpoint threshold. Choice D ($101,000) already qualifies for the lower 5% charge.
Thus, $99,000 is most indicative of a potential breakpoint sale violation, making choice C correct.
