The following table sets forth selected financial information for the Trust. The financial information for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001 and for the period April 7, 2000 (date of inception) to December 31, 2000 and at December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001 has been derived from the Trust's audited financial statements included elsewhere herein. The financial information at December 31, 2000 has been derived from the Trust's audited financial statements not included herein. The following statements of changes in net assets and balance sheet data have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The following information should be read in conjunction with and is qualified entirely by the information contained in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," and the financial statements appearing elsewhere herein.
In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Trust as of December 31, 2003 and 2002, and the results of its operations and changes in its net assets for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002 and 2001, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
STATEMENTS OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES DECEMBER 31, 2003 AND 2002 (DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT TRUST INTEREST AMOUNTS)
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (DOLLAR AMOUNTS ARE IN THOUSANDS UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED)
Equity securities are classified as available-for-sale and are reported at their estimated fair value. Unrealized investment gains and losses on securities are recorded in the Statement of Operations. Realized gains and losses on sales of securities are determined on a first-in first-out basis. Cash dividends, if any, collected or received by the Trustee with respect to the Trust Shares will be distributed by the Custodian semi-annually to the Beneficiaries within 90 days after receipt by the Trustee. Alternatively, the Trustee may arrange with the Holding Company for the direct payment by the Holding Company of such cash dividends to the Beneficiaries. All security transactions are recorded on a trade date basis.
Beginning April 7, 2001, one year after the Effective Date, Beneficiaries may withdraw all, but generally, not less than all, of their allocated shares of Common Stock at any time by providing written notice to the Custodian.
The Trust is not, as of the date of this filing, a party to any pending legal proceeding. However, the Trustee, the Holding Company, Metropolitan Life and certain present and former individual directors and officers of Metropolitan Life were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in July 2002 on behalf of a proposed class comprised of the settlement class in the Metropolitan Life sales practices class action settlement approved in December 1999 by the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. After the defendants' motion to transfer the lawsuit to the Western District of Pennsylvania was granted, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint that dropped all claims against the Trustee and the individual directors and officers. In the amended complaint, plaintiffs alleged that the treatment of the cost of the sales practices settlement in connection with the demutualization of Metropolitan Life breached the terms of the settlement. Plaintiffs sought compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys' fees and costs. In October 2003, the court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss the action. Plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In January 2004, the appeal was dismissed.