UITs Still Flying High in May
The strongest performers for the month were equity UITs, which enjoyed a 26.7% bump in assets to $662.1 million, up from $522.3 million in month before, and Tax-Free Debt UITs, which gained a similar 27% hike to May’s $168.3 million, from April’s $132.4 million, according to the Investment Company Institute.
Taxable Debt UITs continued a weak performance dropping to $80.9 million from April’s $90.5 million.
May recorded 55 new trusts issuing shares for the month. Of that total, 18 were equity trusts, 32 were tax-free bond trusts, and five were taxable bond trusts.
In terms of maturity, long-term bond trusts having an average weighted maturity of more than 15 years were the most commonly offered in May, with $175.7 million in shareholder deposits.
UITs offer fixed portfolios of selected stocks or bonds.