Iowa Code
Chapter 636 - SURETIES — FIDUCIARIES — TRUSTS — INVESTMENTS
Section 636.23 - Authorized securities.

636.23 Authorized securities.
All proposed investments of trust funds by fiduciaries shall first be reported to the court or a judge for approval and be approved and unless otherwise authorized or directed by the court under authority of which the fiduciary acts, or by the will, trust agreement, or other document which is the source of authority, a trustee, executor, administrator, or guardian shall invest all moneys received by such fiduciary, to be by the fiduciary invested, in securities which at the time of the purchase thereof are included in one or more of the following classes:
1. Federal bonds. Bonds or other interest-bearing obligations of the United States for the payment of which the faith and credit of the United States is pledged.
2. Federal bank bonds. Bonds, notes or other obligations issued by any federal land bank, federal intermediate credit bank, bank for cooperatives, or any or all of the federal farm credit banks, and in bonds issued by any federal home loan bank under the Act of Congress known and cited as the federal Home Loan Bank Act, 12 U.S.C. §1421 – 1449 and the Acts amendatory thereof.
3. State bonds. Bonds or other interest-bearing obligations of any state in the United States for the payment of which the faith and credit of such state is pledged and which state has not defaulted in the payment of any of its bonded debts within the ten preceding years.
4. Municipal bonds. Bonds, or other interest-bearing obligations, which are a direct obligation of a county, township, city, school district, or other municipal corporation or district, having power to levy general taxes in the state of Iowa, and also bonds or other interest-bearing obligations which are a direct obligation of a county, township, city, village, school district, or other municipal corporation or district, having power to levy general taxes in any adjoining state, and having a population of not less than five thousand. However, the total funded indebtedness of a municipality enumerated in this subsection shall not exceed ten percent of the assessed value of the taxable property in the municipality, as ascertained by the last assessment for tax purposes, and the municipality or district shall not have defaulted in the payment of any of its bonded indebtedness within the ten preceding years.
5. Real estate mortgage bonds. Notes or bonds of any individual secured by a first mortgage on improved real estate located in this state, provided the aggregate amount of such notes or bonds secured by such first mortgage, does not exceed fifty percent of the value of the mortgage property as determined by the fiduciary; any such loan may be made in an amount not to exceed seventy-five percentum of the appraised value of the real estate offered as security and for a term not longer than twenty years if the loan is secured by an amortized mortgage, deed of trust, or other such instrument under the terms of which the installment payments are sufficient to amortize the entire principal of the loan within the period ending on the date of its maturity.
6. Corporate mortgages. Notes or bonds of any corporation secured by a first mortgage on improved real estate located in this or any adjoining state upon which no default in payment of principal or interest shall have occurred within five preceding years provided the aggregate amount of such notes or bonds secured by such first mortgage does not exceed fifty percent of the value of the mortgage property as determined by the fiduciary.
7. Railroad bonds. Bonds of any railroad corporation which are secured by a first lien mortgage or trust deed upon not less than one hundred miles of main track in the United States and which mortgage or trust deed has been outstanding not less than fifteen years and upon which bonds issued thereunder there has been no default in the payment of principal or interest since the date of said such trust deed.
8. Bonds guaranteed by railroad. Bonds of any corporation secured by a first lien upon any railroad terminal depot, tunnel, or bridge in the United States used by two or more railroad companies which have guaranteed the payment of principal and interest of such bonds and have otherwise covenanted or agreed to pay the same, provided at least one of said railroad companies meets the following requirements:
a. Has earned net income equal to at least four percent of the par value of its outstanding capital stock for five preceding years, and
b. Has regularly and punctually paid interest and maturing principal on all of its mortgage indebtedness for five preceding years.
c. Has outstanding capital stock of the par value of at least one-third of its total mortgage indebtedness.
9. Public utility bonds. Bonds of any corporation supplying either water, electric energy, or artificial manufactured gas or two or more thereof for light, heat, power, water, or other purposes, or furnishing telephone or telegraph service, provided that such bonds are secured by a first mortgage on all property used in the business of the issuing corporation or by a first and refunding mortgage containing provision for retiring all prior liens, and provided further, that the issuing corporation is incorporated within the United States, and if operating entirely outside this state is operating in a state or other jurisdiction having a public utilities commission with regulatory powers, and providing such operating corporation has annual gross earnings of at least one million dollars, seventy-five percent of which gross earnings have come from the sale of water, gas, or electricity, or the rendering of telephone or telegraph service and not more than fifteen percent from any other one kind of business and which corporation has a record on its behalf or for its predecessors or constituent companies, of having officially reported net earnings at least twice its interest charges on all mortgage indebtedness for the period of five years immediately preceding the investment and having outstanding stock the book value of which is not less than two-thirds of its total funded debt, and which corporation shall have all franchises to operate in the territory it serves in which at least seventy-five percent of its gross income is earned, which franchise shall extend at least five years beyond the maturity of such bonds or which have indeterminate permits or agreements with duly constituted public authorities, or in the bonds of any constituent or subsidiary company of any such operating company which are secured by a first mortgage on all property of such constituent or subsidiary company, provided such bonds are to be retired or refunded by a junior mortgage, the bonds of which are eligible hereunder.
10. Savings associations. Shares of federal savings associations organized under the laws of the United States of America.
11. Bonds and debentures guaranteed by the federal government. Bonds, debentures, or other interest-bearing obligations, the payment of which is guaranteed by the United States of America.
12. Stock in federal government instrumentalities. Stock in any association or corporation created or which may be created by authority of the United States and as an instrumentality of the United States, when the purchase of said stock is necessary or required as an incident or condition of obtaining a loan from any association or corporation created or which may be created by authority of the United States and as an instrumentality of the United States.
13. Life, endowment or annuity contracts of legal reserve life insurance companies authorized to do business in Iowa. The purchase of contracts authorized by this subsection shall be limited to executors or the successors to their powers when specifically authorized by will, and to guardians and trustees, in an amount not to exceed twenty-five percent of the value of the ward’s property in possession of the fiduciary. Such contract may be issued on the life or lives of a ward or wards or beneficiary or beneficiaries of a trust fund created by will or trust agreement, or upon the life or lives of persons in whose life or lives such ward or beneficiary has an insurable interest. The proceeds or avails of such contract shall be the sole property of the person or persons whose funds are invested therein.
14. Limitation as to court-approved investments. This section does not prohibit investment of such funds in a savings account or time certificate of deposit of a bank or savings association located within the city or its county of this state and when first approved by the court. However, a city that is the trustee of a cemetery as provided in section 523I.508 may invest perpetual care funds in a savings account or certificates of deposit at a bank located in this state without court approval.
15. When court approval not required. Nothing in this section contained shall be construed as modifying the probate code nor be construed as requiring investments of trust funds by fiduciaries to be reported to any court or judge for approval where the trust agreement or other document under which the fiduciary is acting is not being administered under the jurisdiction of any court or by its terms specifically exempts the fiduciary from reporting any such investments for approval.
16. Investments included — government obligations. Federal bonds, federal bank bonds, and bonds and debentures guaranteed by the federal government which are authorized investments under subsections 1, 2, and 11 include investments in an investment company or investment trust registered under the federal Investment Company Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. §80a-1 et seq., the portfolio of which is limited to the United States government obligations described in subsections 1, 2, and 11 and to repurchase agreements fully collateralized by such United States government obligations, if the investment company or investment trust takes delivery of the collateral either directly or through an authorized custodian.
[C51, §2507; R60, §4115; C73, §251; C97, §364; S13, §364; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §12772; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §682.23]
86 Acts, ch 1032, §2; 89 Acts, ch 296, §85
C93, §636.23
2005 Acts, ch 128, §72; 2012 Acts, ch 1017, §154; 2014 Acts, ch 1092, §194; 2020 Acts, ch 1063, §365
Referred to in §37.24, 468.151, 523I.602, 636.24, 636.25, 636.26
See §633.127, 633A.4302
Institutional funds, investment authority; §540A.103