BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--State Street Global Advisors (SSgA)*, the asset management business of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), today announced the launch of the SPDR® Barclays Capital Issuer Scored Corporate Bond Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) (Symbol: CBND). The new ETF provides access to a new corporate bond indexing methodology. SSgA will soon launch its Issuer Scored Corporate Index Strategy to further enhance the firm’s fixed income offering, which includes more than $3811 billion in assets globally.
Designed to provide an alternative to market value weighted index strategies, the SPDR Barclays Capital Issuer Scored Corporate Bond ETF (Symbol: CBND) seeks to track the performance of the Barclays Capital Issuer Scored Corporate Index. The Index includes publicly issued US dollar-denominated corporate issues that are rated investment grade and have $250 million or more of par amount outstanding. Individual issuers in the Index are weighted using the following quantitative measures: return on assets, interest coverage and current ratio. Rebalancing based on these ratios occurs every six months on the last business day of March and September.
“Despite some compression in spreads over the past year, corporate credit remains a very attractive asset class for investors,” said Kevin Anderson, global chief investment officer for Fixed Income and Currency at State Street Global Advisors. “The SPDR Barclays Capital Issuer Scored Corporate Bond ETF and forthcoming SSgA Issuer Scored Corporate Index Strategy strengthen our fixed income offering by providing investors and advisors with solutions that address the concerns some have with the allocation of capital in existing corporate credit index strategies.”
The SPDR Barclays Capital Issuer Scored Corporate Bond ETF began trading on the NYSE Arca on April 7, 2011, and the SSgA Issuer Scored Corporate Index Strategy will soon be available to eligible institutional investors.
“The launch of the SPDR Barclays Capital Issuer Scored Corporate Bond ETF marks the start of a new chapter in fixed income investing,” said James Ross, senior managing director and global head of SPDR Exchange Traded Funds at State Street Global Advisors. “A testament to our commitment to developing innovative SPDR ETFs, CBND can help investors diversify their fixed income holdings with an indexing strategy that provides an effective, transparent means of capturing the sources of corporate bond returns.”
About SPDR Exchange Traded Funds
SPDR ETFs are a comprehensive family spanning an array of international and domestic asset classes. SPDR ETFs are managed by SSgA Funds Management, Inc., a registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of State Street Bank and Trust Company. The funds provide professional investors with the flexibility to select investments that are precisely aligned to their investment strategy. Recognized as the industry pioneer, State Street created the first ETF in 1993 (SPDR S&P 500® – Ticker SPY). Since then, we’ve sustained our place as an industry innovator through the introduction of many ground-breaking products, including first-to-market launches with gold, international real estate, international fixed income and sector ETFs. For more information, visit www.spdrs.com.
About State Street Global Advisors
State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) is a global leader in asset management. The firm is relied on by sophisticated investors worldwide for its disciplined investment process, powerful global investment platform and access to every major asset class, capitalization range and style. SSgA is the asset management business of State Street, one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors.
1 As of 12/31/2010
*SPDR ETFs are managed by SSgA Funds Management, Inc., a registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of State Street Bank & Trust Company.
**Source: SSgA Global Strategy & Research. This AUM includes the assets of the SPDR Gold Trust (approx. $58 billion as of December 31, 2010), for which State Street Global Markets, LLC, an affiliate of State Street Global Advisors serves as the marketing agent.
Important Risk Information:
ETFs trade like stocks, are subject to investment risk, fluctuate in market value and may trade at prices above or below the ETFs net asset value. Brokerage commissions and ETF expenses will reduce returns.
Bond funds contain interest rate risk (as interest rates rise bond prices usually fall); the risk of issuer default; issuer credit risk; liquidity risk; and inflation risk.
Foreign investments involve greater risks than U.S. investments, including political and economic risks and the risk of currency fluctuations.
“SPDR” is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services, LLC (“S&P”) and has been licensed for use by State Street Corporation. No financial product offered by State Street or its affiliates is sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P.
Distributor: State Street Global Markets, LLC, member FINRA, SIPC, a wholly owned subsidiary of State Street Corporation. References to State Street may include State Street Corporation and its affiliates. Certain State Street affiliates provide services and receive fees from the SPDR ETFs.
Before investing, consider the funds investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. To obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus which contains this and other information, call 1-866-787-2257 or visit www.spdrs.com. Read it carefully.
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