State Street Adds Bond ETFs

May 30, 2007

SAN DIEGO (ETFguide.com) - As the universe of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) expands, gaining affordable exposure to bonds keeps getting easier. 

Today, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) launched five fixed income ETFs on the American Stock Exchange (Amex). The funds are based upon one Barclays and four Lehman bond indices and will carry expense ratios that range from 0.13 to 0.18 percent.
 

Bond investors will no doubt be cheering too. Expenses for State Street's bond funds are lower versus the category average of all bond ETFs, which is currently at 0.20 percent.

"Our new family of fixed income SPDRs is designed to help investors create and manage well-diversified, cost-effective portfolios," said Anthony Rochte, senior managing director of State Street Global Advisors. "Spanning the spectrum of short, intermediate, and long-term maturities and providing new access to T-Bills and the 10-plus-year segment of the market, the fixed income SPDRs are a compelling addition to our ETF offering."
 

Here's a quick summary of each new fund:

SPDR Lehman 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (AMEX: BIL)
The Lehman Brothers 1-3 Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index includes all publicly issued zero-coupon U.S. Treasury Bills that have a remaining maturity of less than 3 months and more than 1 month, are rated investment grade, and have $250 million or more of outstanding face value. 

SPDR Barclays TIPS ETF (AMEX: IPE)
The Barclays US Government Inflation-Linked Index includes publicly issued, U.S. Treasury inflation protected securities that have at least 1 year remaining to maturity on index rebalancing date, with an issue size equal to or exceeding $500 million.

SPDR Lehman Aggregate Bond ETF (AMEX: LAG)
The Lehman Brothers U.S. Aggregate Index provides a measure of the performance of the U.S. dollar denominated investment grade bond market.

SPDR Lehman Intermediate Term Treasury ETF (AMEX: ITE)
The Lehman Brothers Intermediate U.S. Treasury Index includes all publicly issued U.S. Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to 1 year and less than 10 years, are rated investment grade, and have $250 million or more of outstanding face value. 

SPDR Lehman Long Term Treasury ETF (AMEX: TLO)
The Lehman Brothers Long U.S. Treasury Index includes all publicly issued, U.S. Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of 10 or more years, are rated investment grade, and have $250 million or more in outstanding face value. 
 

Including today's launch, State Street currently manages more than $100 billion in 58 U.S. listed ETFs.