News from CNW Group

Barclays Canada Notice of Year End Distributions for iUnits(TM) Funds

Monday, December 29, 2003

Listing: TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange)

Symbol:   XIU

XIC

XMD

XEG

XFN

XGD

XGV

XGX

XRE

TORONTO, Dec. 29 /CNW/ - Barclays Global Investors Canada Limited (Barclays Canada) announced today the year-end distributions to holders of iUnits funds. The capital gains distributions rate for the iUnits S&P(R)/TSX 60(TM) Index Fund, iUnits S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index Fund, iUnits S&P/TSX Capped Financials Index Fund, iUnits Government of Canada 5-year Bond Fund, iUnits Government of Canada 10-year Bond Fund, and the iUnits S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index Fund have been revised.

In addition, Special Distributions in the form of units for iUnits S&P(R)/TSX 60(TM) Index Fund, iUnits S&P/TSX 60 Capped Index Fund and iUnits S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index Fund have been revised.

Unitholders of record December 31, 2003 will receive cash distributions of net income payable on December 31, 2003. Details are as follows:

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                                                  Capital       Special
                                                   Gains       Dividend
                                     Cash         Distri-       Distri-
                                 Distribution    bution(x)     bution(x)
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iUnits S&P(R)/TSX 60(TM)
 Index Fund (i60)                 $ 0.195650    $ 0.494058    $ 0.009151
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iUnits S&P/TSX 60 Capped
 Index Fund (i60C)                $ 0.217785                  $ 0.010430
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iUnits S&P/TSX MidCap
 Index Fund (iMidCap)             $ 0.143281
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iUnits S&P/TSX Capped Energy
 Index Fund (iEnergy)             $ 0.046499    $ 0.165925    $ 0.035865
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iUnits S&P/TSX Capped Financials
 Index Fund (iFin)                $ 0.194892    $ 0.126417
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iUnits S&P/TSX Capped Gold
 Index Fund (iGold)               $ 0.073911
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iUnits Government of Canada
 5-year Bond Fund (iG5)           $ 0.657131    $ 0.013575
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iUnits Government of Canada
 10-year Bond Fund (iG10)         $ 0.677016    $ 0.810009
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(x) Capital Gains Distributions and Special Dividend Distributions are in
    the form of additional units of the respective fund. Immediately
    following these distributions, the number of units outstanding for
    the respective fund is consolidated so that the number of units held
    by investors is the same as before these distributions. Each
    unitholder to whom an amount is made payable in respect of a taxable
    capital gain will have a corresponding taxable capital gain on or in
    respect of which tax may be payable. Each unitholder to whom an
    amount is made payable in respect of a special dividend will have
    corresponding taxable dividend income on or in respect of which tax
    may be payable. The amount of Capital Gains Distributions and Special
    Dividend Distributions made payable to a unitholder will be added to
    the adjusted cost base of the unitholder's units.
	
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                                                               Capital
                                                   Cash         Gains
               iREIT Fund                      Distribution  Distribution
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
iUnits S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (iREIT)        $ 0.209786    $ 0.041718
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are no year end distributions for the following funds: iUnits S&P/TSX Capped Information Technology Index Fund (iIT), iUnits S&P(R) 500 Index RSP Fund (i500R) and iUnits MSCI(R) International Equity Index RSP Fund (iIntR).

Further information on iUnits distributions and year-end tax reporting can be found at www.iunits.com

About Barclays Canada

Barclays Canada is an indirect subsidiary of Barclays PLC and part of BGI, one of the largest institutional investment managers in the world and the largest manager of index funds. BGI leads the world in ETFs by a large margin, with funds covering a complete range of asset classes. BGI offers more than 90 ETFs, including 12 in the UK, 12 in Canada, and more than 70 in the US. BGI Canada currently manages more than $6 billion in ETFs. The i60 Fund is one of the largest mutual funds in the Canadian equity category and the largest index fund across all categories.

Barclays Canada has not only established itself as the leader in ETFs in Canada, but is also the fourth largest pension manager in the country (Benefits Canada, April 2003), with approximately $36 billion under management. Barclays Canada has offices in Toronto and Montreal.

Investors wishing to obtain additional information on iUnits are encouraged to visit www.iunits.com or call 1-877-Go-iUnit.

/For further information: Howard J. Atkinson, Head of Public Funds, Barclays Global Investors Canada Limited, Tel: (416) 594-4404, Email: howard.atkinson(at)barclaysglobal.com/