Unit Trust Inflows Rose 13% in March

Unit investment trusts continued to draw new money in March to the tune of $852.5 million of fresh assets, the Investment Company Institute reported.

The new inflows were 13% higher than the month before, when unit trusts took in $754 million. Total assets in unit trusts rose to $3.11 billion through the end of March, a 16% increase from the same period last year.

The trusts represent shares in a fixed portfolio of stocks or bonds which are sold through many bank-affiliated brokerages and trust departments.

Tax-free bond trusts took the lead in March, gathering $391.7 million, up $21.7 million from the previous month. Taxable bond trusts had inflows of $157.1 million, up 31% from February.

Equity trusts drew in $303.7 million in March, up 15% from the month before.

Unit trusts have slowly gained in popularity in the past few years, even as mutual fund sales have slackened, experts say.

David M. Swanson, director of marketing for Boston-based Eaton Vance Distributors, one of the country's largest sellers of unit trusts, says the steady sales may be due to the relative obscurity of unit trusts as an investment alternative.

"Unit trusts aren't in the public eye like mutual funds are," Mr. Swanson said. "You don't pick up the paper and hear negative news about them."

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