Unit Investment Trust Data
August 2003

Washington, DC, September 29, 2003 - Unit investment trusts, investment companies that hold fixed portfolios of selected stocks or bonds, had total deposits of $875.3 million in August, according to statistics compiled by the Investment Company Institute. For comparison, deposits were $2.0 billion in July 2003 and $706.6 million in August 2002.

Total Deposits by Trust Type
(thousands of dollars)

		August 2003	July 2003	August 2002
Equity		706,423	1,813,311	478,254
Taxable Debt		68,241	49,054	87,594
Tax-Free Debt		100,607	132,635	140,711
Total		875,271	1,995,000	706,559

There were 45 new trusts issuing shares in August 2003. Of that total, 19 were equity trusts, 20 tax-free bond trusts, and six 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 August, with $105.45 million in shareholder deposits.

Data on the market value of unit investment trusts issued and outstanding as of year-end 2002 indicate a total of 8,303 trusts with a value of $36.02 billion. According to reports of sponsors, at year-end 2002 there were 6,690 tax-free bond trusts, with a market value of $17.35 billion; 366 taxable bond trusts, with a market value of $4.02 billion; and 1,247 equity trusts, with a market value of $14.65 billion.