In Reits, property assets are held in trust by a trustee and a separate manager is appointed to manage the Reit. The rental income is used to pay out dividends to unit holders.
Like a Reit, the business trust is created by a trust deed. The trustee has legal ownership of the assets, and is also the manager. The business will be in a sector that provides stable income like utilities.
Reit or Business Trust by MoneySense looks at the two different structures in more detail and also spells out the key differences.
