investment trust

investment trust
or closed-end trust

Financial organization that pools the funds of its shareholders and invests them in a diversified portfolio of securities.

It differs from a mutual fund, which issues units representing diversified holdings rather than shares in the company itself. Investment trusts have a fixed number of shares for sale; their price depends on the market value of the underlying securities and on the demand for and supply of shares. The first modern investment trusts were formed in England and Scotland as early as 1860. Many early U.S. investment trusts failed with the collapse of the stock market in 1929, but others have since prospered under stricter federal regulation.

* * *

also called  closed-end trust 

      financial organization that pools the funds of its shareholders and invests them in a diversified portfolio of securities. It differs from the mutual fund, or unit trust, which issues units representing the diversified holdings rather than shares in the company itself.

      Investment trusts have a fixed amount of outstanding shares that are bought and sold in the market; the price of these shares therefore depends both on the market value of the underlying securities and on the demand for and supply of investment trust shares. In most modern investment trusts, management has complete discretion over the portfolio, subject to general charter provisions.

      The English and Scottish investment trusts formed as early as 1860 are generally considered the prototype of the modern organizations, although the idea probably had its beginning with the investment trust authorized in Belgium by King William I of The Netherlands in 1822. The early American trusts copied the basic idea of diversification practiced by the British organizations but were less soundly managed. The collapse of the American stock market in 1929 brought enormous losses and many failures to the investment trusts. After a period of confusion throughout the 1930s, strong survivors and new companies became widely accepted and grew rapidly under new federal regulation, particularly the Investment Company Act of 1940.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Investment trust — Investment trusts are companies that invest in the shares of other companies for the purpose of acting as a collective investment.cite web title = Investment Trusts work = Your Money publisher = The Motley Fool date= 13 March 2006 url =… …   Wikipedia

  • investment trust — see trust Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. investment trust …   Law dictionary

  • investment trust — investment company A company that invests the funds provided by shareholders in a wide variety of securities. It makes its profits from the income and capital gains provided by these securities. The investments made are usually restricted to… …   Big dictionary of business and management

  • Investment Trust — Investment Trust, s. Trust …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • investment trust — A closed end fund regulated by the Investment Company Act of 1940. These funds have a fixed number of shares that are traded on the secondary markets , like corporate stock. The market price may exceed the net asset value per share, in which case …   Financial and business terms

  • Investment trust — A closed end fund regulated by the Investment Company Act of 1940. These funds have a fixed number of shares which are traded on the secondary markets similarly to corporate stocks. The market price may exceed the net asset value per share, in… …   Financial and business terms

  • investment trust — noun a financial institution that sells shares to individuals and invests in securities issued by other companies • Syn: ↑investment company, ↑investment firm, ↑fund • Derivationally related forms: ↑fund (for: ↑fund) …   Useful english dictionary

  • investment trust — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms investment trust : singular investment trust plural investment trusts a company whose business is investing the money that it receives from its customers …   English dictionary

  • investment trust company — ➔ company …   Financial and business terms

  • investment trust — investment company A company that invests the funds provided by shareholders in a wide variety of securities. It makes its profits from the income and capital gains provided by these securities. The investments made are usually restricted to… …   Accounting dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”