Unit Investment Trust Data
December 2003

Washington DC, January 23, 2004 -Unit investment trusts, investment companies that hold fixed portfolios of selected stocks or bonds, had total deposits of $1.36 billion in December 2003, according to statistics compiled by the Investment Company Institute. For comparison, deposits were $997.0 million in November 2003 and $847.6 million in December 2002.

Total Deposits by Trust Type
(thousands of dollars)

		December 2003	November 2003	December 2002
Equity		1,122,938	832,126	665,639
Taxable Debt		73,063	52,850	71,441
Tax-Free Debt		160,587	112,017	110,493
Total		1,356,588	996,993	847,573

There were 60 new trusts issuing shares in December 2003. Of that total, 31 were equity trusts and 27 tax-free bond trusts, and 2 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 December, with $123.7 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.