You purchased shares of a mutual fund at a price of $20 per share at the beginning of the year and paid a back-end load of 5.75%. If the securities in which the fund invested increased in value by 12% during the year, and the fund's expense ratio was 2.25%, your return if you sold the fund at the end of the year would be closest to

Select one:

a. 4.33%.

b. 3.44%.

c. 2.45%.

d. 6.87%.