IRS Split Interest Trust Statistics (based on 5227s filed in 2011)

The IRS has released statistics for charitable remainder unitrusts (CRUT), charitable remainder annuity trusts (CRAT), charitable lead trusts (CLT), and pooled income funds (PIF) based on Form 5227s filed in 2011. This means that the information largely reflects values as of the end of 2010. Some pertinent statistics are summarized in the table below, including the change of each value from 2010’s 5227s to 2011’s 5227s.

Item	Total	Size of end-of-year book value of total assets (in $1,000s)
		Under $500,000	$500,000 under $1,000,000	$1,000,000 under $3,000,000	$3,000,000 under $10,000,000	$10,000,000 or more
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
CRUT Number of returns	93,828	67,211	13,897	9,366	2,642	713
Change from 2010	0.00%	0.99%	-3.70%	-0.97%	-1.12%	-0.28%
CRUT Total net assets	$86,901,148	$11,668,938	$9,713,830	$14,870,406	$13,180,605	$37,467,369
Change from 2010	-5.11%	0.17%	-3.44%	-2.01%	-1.03%	-9.46%
CRAT Number of returns	15,862	12,854	1,652	1,019	275	62
Change from 2010	-6.35%	-5.93%	-10.94%	-5.03%	-3.17%	1.64%
CRAT Total net assets	$7,136,591	$1,411,278	$1,183,074	$1,646,130	$1,357,376	$1,538,732
Change from 2010	-4.78%	-2.38%	-11.29%	-3.00%	-3.23%	-4.77%
CLT Number of returns	6,617	2,864	1,436	1,306	706	305
Change from 2010	0.12%	-4.25%	9.28%	-5.50%	12.24%	4.10%
CLT Total net assets	$20,945,036	$395,042	$984,235	$2,159,982	$3,726,160	$13,679,616
Change from 2010	8.31%	-9.03%	9.01%	-3.38%	17.51%	8.61%
PIF Number of returns	1,402	1,070	116	121	71	24
Change from 2010	-0.57%	-0.83%	-1.69%	-3.20%	12.70%	-4.00%
PIF Total net assets	$1,311,456	$127,767	$82,384	$192,575	$365,321	$543,408
Change from 2010	2.68%	4.41%	7.96%	-4.64%	8.29%	0.78%

 Some observations.

1. Charitable lead trusts are the only gift type of the four that increased in number from 2010 to 2011 and that increase was a miniscule 0.12%.  In essence, the number of CRUTs, CLTs, and PIFs was unchanged, while the number of CRATs shrank a non-negligible 6.35%.
   
   
2. Total net assets held by CLTs increased over 8% from 2010 to 2011, while total net assets of CRATs and CRUTs each slipped about 5% during the same period. This continues a trend we’ve seen in the assets held by CLTs and CRTs for the last couple years.  Surprisingly, PIF total net assets reversed its recent annual declines, increasing 2.68%.
   
   
3. CLTs with a net asset value over $10 million account for over 65% of the total net asset value of all CLTs.  In contrast, this cohort of CRUTs accounts for 43% of all CRUT net asset value, this cohort of CRATs accounts for 22% of all CRAT net asset value, and this cohort of PIFs accounts for 41% of all PIF net asset value.  Although nearly 2/3s of all CLTs have a net asset value under $1 million, the total net asset value of CLTs is concentrated in very large trusts more so than with the other gift types.