A unit investment trust (“UIT”) is a type of Investment Company that issues securities, typically called “units,” representing undivided interests in a relatively fixed portfolio of securities. UITs are generally issued by a sponsor that assembles the UIT’s portfolio of securities, deposits the securities in a trust, and sells units of the UIT in a public offering. UIT units are redeemable securities that are issued for a specific term, and entitle an investor to receive his or her proportionate share of the UIT’s net assets on redemption or at termination.
UIT sponsors offer investors a variety of ways to reduce the sales fee charged on a UIT purchase. The two most common methods to reduce the fee are “breakpoints,” which allow investors to reduce the sales fee by increasing the size of their UIT investments, and discounts on “rollovers” and “exchanges.”
