Although there are many different expenses related to managing a mutual fund, typical expenses used when calculating an expense ratio include: administration, management fees, advertising expenses, accounting fees, rent, and staff. The expenses included in the expense ratio do not include loads for sales or brokerage commissions paid for trades. Many experts assert that once a mutual fund is running for a time, its expenses become fairly predictable. Some mutual funds pay a management company to manage the fund, and are paid a flat percentage per year based upon the fund’s net asset value. So as the fund grows, some significant expenses may grow as well. In other cases, the fund’s expenses are relatively fixed, so that as the fund grows in asset value, its expenses may stay the same or decrease.