Products October 16, 2007

SSgA Adds Three Fixed Income ETFs

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the investment management arm of State Street Corporation, is offering three new fixed income SPDRs, including the first ETF to offer investors exposure to the national short-term municipal bond market.

Reported by

Rebecca Moore

The new funds began trading on the American Stock Exchange October 15. SSgA said the three new municipal bond SPDRs include the:

SPDR Lehman Short Term Municipal Bond ETF, which provides exposure to over 3,600 issues with a nominal maturity of one to five years and an outstanding par value of at least $7 million. The average credit quality of the index is AA1/AAA and none of its bonds are currently subject to Federal taxes or the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
SPDR Lehman California Municipal Bond ETF, which provides exposure to over 3,000 publicly traded California municipal bonds that have at least an outstanding par value of $7 million. The average credit quality of the index is AA1/AAA and none of its bonds are currently subject to Federal taxes, California state income taxes, or the AMT.
SPDR Lehman New York Municipal Bond ETF, which provides exposure to over 2,900 publicly traded New York municipal bonds that have at least an outstanding par value of $7 million. The average credit quality of the index is AA1/AAA and none of its bonds are currently subject to Federal taxes, New York State income taxes, or the AMT.

“In providing convenient, low cost access to the short-term tax exempt bond market and two of the largest municipal bond markets in the nation, these three new SPDRs will help investors enhance the diversification and after-tax returns of their portfolios with the utmost unmatched precision,’ said Anthony Rochte, senior managing director at SSgA, in a press release.

State Street’s family of fixed income ETFs now includes ten funds that provide precise, low-cost access to an array of fixed income segments and maturities.

More information is at www.ssga.com.