Unit Investment Trusts See Deposits of $2.06 Billion in January

The trusts – which are investment companies that hold fixed portfolios of selected stock and bonds – held $1.96 billion in equity, $160 million in taxable debt, and $860 million in tax-free debt at the end of the month. Seventy-nine new trusts were issued in January, according to  statistics  compiled by the Investment Company Institute (ICI).   Of these, 58 were equity trusts, 19 were tax-free bond trusts, and two were taxable-bond trusts.

Long-term bond trusts with an average weighted maturity over 15 years were the most common offerings on the month, with $84 million in shareholder deposits.

Data taken from the end of 2003 shows that there were, at that time, 7,233 trusts with a total value of $35.83 billion. At the time, there were 5,707 tax-free bond trusts with a market value of $13.5 billion; 320 taxable bond trusts with a value of $3.31 billion; and 1,206 equity trusts valued at $19.02 billion, according to ICI.