SSgA Unveils Credit Bond ETF

A news release said the new offering, designed to provide access to investment grade credit bonds, carries an annual expense ratio of 0.15%. The product seeks to track the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital Intermediate Credit Index.

The Index includes investment grade corporate and non-corporate credit bonds that are dollar denominated and have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to one year and less than 10 years. As of December 31, 2008, the Index included 2,512 issues with an average credit rating of A and dollar-weighted maturity of 5.2 years, the announcement said.

“Developed in response to increasing demand from investors seeking access to intermediate credit securities, a segment of the fixed-income market that has historically offered higher yields than U.S. Treasuries, the SPDR Barclays Capital Intermediate Term Credit Bond ETF is a key addition to our growing family of fixed income SPDR ETFs,” said James Ross, senior managing director at State Street Global Advisors, in the announcement.