A business trust is similar to a real estate investment trust.
Basically, its a model that allows investors to invest in an
asset(s) in return for trust units. A trust will be appointed to
own the assets on behalf of the unit holders. Majority of cashflow
generated by the asset(s) will then be distributed to the unit
holders on a timed basis.
Business trust are flexible as they allow investors to invest in
anything that are capable of generating recurrent earnings such as
e.g( a cruise ship, a hotel, a fleet of taxis etc etc).
MAS and SGX has yet to formalise the guidelines and regulations
behind business trust but it is expected that they will follow a
similar regulation to that of reits.
Yield of business trust would depend on the price which one bought
the units and the ability of the assets to generate good cashflow.
The yield would also depend on the type of asset involved. If the
assets are depreciative in nature, a higher yield may be given to
investors to compensate for the depreciation.