Defined GNMA Portfolio Series 17

The Trust seeks to provide monthly distributions of interest income and principal by investing in a portfolio primarily consisting of fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities representing pools of mortgages on 1- to 4-family dwellings issued by the Government National Mortgage Association (known as “Ginnie Mae”). The trust may also hold U.S. Treasury securities. The Sponsor generally considered the following factors, among others, in selecting the securities:

• the types of Ginnie Mae securities available
• the prices and yields of the securities relative to other comparable securities, including the extent to which the securities were trading at a premium or discount from their principal value
• the maturities of the securities.

Ginnie Mae was created in 1968 as a government-owned corporation within the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The securities in the portfolio are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. This means that Ginnie Mae guarantees that the principal and interest will be paid on the securities. However, Ginnie Mae does not guarantee price or yield on the securities. The units in the trust are not guaranteed by Ginnie Mae or the U.S.government in any way.

As with all investments, you can lose money by investing in this trust. The Trust also might not perform as well as you expect. This can happen for reasons such as these:

• Security prices will fluctuate. The value of your investment may fall over time.
• The Sponsor does not actively manage the portfolio. The Trust will generally hold, and continue to buy, the securities even if the market value declines.
• The value of the securities will generally fall if interest rates, in general, rise. No one can predict whether interest rates will rise or fall in the future.
• Since mortgage-backed securities represent an interest in mortgage loans made to finance purchases of homes, the Trust will receive scheduled principal payments each month during its life and it is also likely that the Trust will receive unscheduled prepayments of principal prior to a security’s scheduled maturity date. As a result, you might not be able to reinvest these principal payments and prepayments in other investments with the same return as the Trust. In addition, the Trust will not retain its present size and composition.
• The Trust could terminate earlier than anticipated due to unscheduled principal prepayments on the underlying loans.
• While the interest and principal payments are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, neither the units in the Trust nor the market value of the securities are guaranteed.