Major force

Press, 17 November 1987, Page 41

Major force

Unit trusts, the pooling of individual investment funds so a wide spread of investments can be made, is now a major force in international investments. The need for unit trust investing, which also minimises risk, was first realised by a Dutch company, Robeca, in 1933. It works like this. A reputable custodian will hold the assets of the pool to give security. A skilled professional is appointed to manage these investments and maximise returns. Individual fund-holders could add to, or withdraw from, the fund at any time. Since its inception, unit trust, or equity-fund, investments have spread throughout the world, and offer consistently good performance. "Returns from equity and property investments over the past decade have been very attractive, and while past returns are no guarantee of future per-

formance, there Is evidence that a prudent Investor can achieve higher than inflation returns,” said Howard Gray, client adviser for Egden Wignail. "Unit trusts are excellent vehicles for the small investor to obtain a share in these investments with a minimum of fuss," he said. The Securities Commission is the Government body responsible for registering the unit trust prospectus, the trust deed and monitoring the industry. New to New Zealand, the unit trust industry is not yet subject to Government regulations. These are under discussion. The Unit Trust Association of New Zealand, a professional association of unit trust managers, provide a forum to discuss the industry’s standards. It also represents the interests of the industry to the public.