BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--State Street Global Advisors (SSgA)*, the asset management business of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), today announced that 27 fixed income SPDR® Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have received risk-based capital (RBC) designations from the Securities Valuation Office (SVO) of the National Association of Insurance Companies (NAIC).
The Securities Valuation Office of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) assigns credit quality designations to securities held by state-regulated insurance companies. NAIC Designations are opinions of credit quality that range from NAIC 1, being the highest quality, to NAIC 6, being the lowest quality. NAIC Designations allow fixed income ETFs to be reported as bonds and are used to set Risk Based Capital (RBC) requirements.
Twenty-one of the 27 fixed income SPDR ETFs that were evaluated received an NAIC 1 rating, two SPDR ETFs received an NAIC 2 designation, two SPDR ETFs received an NAIC 3 designation, and two high-yield bond SPDR ETFs received an NAIC 4 designation. With the addition of these 27 fixed income SPDR ETFs, the total number of NAIC rated ETFs is nearly doubled to include 63 funds.
“Insurance companies are steadily increasing their use of SPDR ETFs as awareness of their value proposition grows,” said James Ross, senior managing director and global head of SPDR Exchange Traded Funds at State Street Global Advisors. “The NAIC designations awarded to our fixed income SPDRs are instrumental to helping insurers manage their RBC capital requirements.”
For a list of SPDR ETF NAIC designations, see attachment.
State Street manages more than $300** billion in SPDR ETF assets worldwide (as of June 29, 2012) and is one of the largest ETF providers globally.
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 Corporation, one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors.
*SPDR ETFs are managed by SSgA Funds Management, Inc., a registered investment adviser and wholly owned subsidiary of State Street Bank& Trust Company.
**This AUM includes the assets of the SPDR Gold Trust (approx $65.7 billion as of June 30, 2012), for which State Street Glob al Markets, LLC, an affiliate of State Street Global Markets serves as the marketing agent.
NAIC designations are assigned to securities held by state-regulated insurance companies by the Securities Valuation Office (SVO) of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Designations are opinions of credit quality, and range from the highest quality of 1 to the lowest of 6. A higher quality designation results in less capital requirements to support the issuers' investments. Unlike the ratings of nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, NAIC designations are not produced to aid the investment decision making process and therefore are not suitable for use by anyone other than NAIC members.
CORP-0546
NAIC Designations
| SPDR ETF | Ticker | NAIC Rating | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF | BIL | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond ETF | LAG | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Intermediate Term Corporate Bond ETF | ITR | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Intermediate Term Treasury ETF | ITE | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital International Corporate Bond ETF | IBND | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital International Treasury Bond ETF | BWX | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF | FLRN | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Long Term Corporate Bond ETF | LWC | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Long Term Treasury ETF | TLO | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Mortgage Backed Bond ETF | MBG | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term Corporate Bond ETF | SCPB | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term International Treasury Bond ETF | BWZ | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term Treasury ETF | SST | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital TIPS ETF | IPE | 1 | ||
| SPDR DB International Government Inflation-Protected Bond ETF | WIP | 1 | ||
| SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital Build America Bond ETF | BABS | 1 | ||
| SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital California Municipal Bond ETF | CXA | 1 | ||
| SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital Municipal Bond ETF | TFI | 1 | ||
| SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital New York Municipal Bond ETF | INY | 1 | ||
| SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital Short Term Municipal Bond ETF | SHM | 1 | ||
| SPDR Nuveen S&P VRDO Municipal Bond ETF | VRD | 1 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Emerging Markets Local Bond ETF | EBND | 2 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Issuer Scored Corporate Bond ETF | CBND | 2 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Convertible Securities ETF | CWB | 3 | ||
| SPDR Nuveen S&P High Yield Municipal Bond ETF | HYMB | 3 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF | JNK | 4 | ||
| SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term High Yield Bond ETF | SJNK | 4 |