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Investing February 20, 2004
Equities Blaze the UIT Trail in January
February 20, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Leaning on the
back of particularly strong equity inflows, assets poured
into unit investment trusts (UIT) in January 2004.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
UITs, investment companies that hold fixed portfolios of selected stocks or bonds, had total deposits of $1.91 billion in January, up 40.4% from the $1.36 billion in December deposits, according to data complied by the Investment Company Institute (ICI).
Leading the way were equity UITs, which ended January with total deposits of $1.68 billion, up 49.6% from $1.12 billion the month before. This was followed by taxable debt UITs showing $82.9 million in January assets, up 13.5% from December’s $73 million. Meanwhile, tax-free debt UITs were in the minus column of asset flows in January, down to $142 million, losing 11.3% from the $160 million in December.
January recorded 64 new trusts issuing shares for the month. Of that total, 38 were equity trusts, 18 were tax-free bond trusts, and eight 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 January, with $116.9 million in shareholder deposits.