SSgA Partners with GSO / Blackstone to Bring First Actively Managed Senior Loan ETF to Market

Offers Clients Potential Diversification Opportunities for Fixed Income Portfolios

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– State Street Global Advisors (SSgA)*, the asset management arm of State Street Corporation (NYS: STT) , today announced that the SPDR Blackstone / GSO Senior Loan exchange traded fund (ETF) (Symbol:SRLN) began trading on the NYSE Arca on April 4, 2013. Developed by SSgA and GSO Capital Partners LP, the global credit business of The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYS: BX) , one of the world’s largest alternative asset managers, the SPDR Blackstone / GSO Senior Loan ETF is the first actively managed ETF to provide exposure to senior loans.

“Given the high turnover of senior loans and the critical importance of credit selection, we believe an active strategy provides a key advantage to investors who want access to this corner of the market. Blackstone / GSO’s rigorous approach and disciplined credit analysis made them an obvious choice to help us bring this product to clients and we are excited about the partnership,” said James Ross, senior managing director and global head of SPDR Exchange Traded Funds at SSgA. “The SPDR Blackstone / GSO Senior Loan ETF is the latest example of our commitment to developing ETFs that democratize access to institutional asset classes, strategies and expertise.”

The ETF is designed to seek high current income, preserve capital, and outperform the Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Leveraged Loan Index and the S&P/LSTA U.S. Leveraged Loan 100 Index. Usually rated below investment grade, it is typical in the loan market to expect that 30 to 35 percent of loans will fall out of the index in any given year, so the ability to anticipate and react quickly to changes in the market through an active strategy is potentially advantageous.

“SSgA is a pioneer in the ETF market and we are pleased to join them in bringing the first actively managed senior loan ETF to investors,” said Lee Shaiman, managing director, The Blackstone Group. “Together we bring significant expertise to the asset class in a transparent and accessible product for all investors.”

Potential Benefits of SRLN

• SRLN‘s expense ratio is .90 percent – significantly lower than the average expense ratio of senior loan mutual funds (A Shares: 1.11 percent, C …read more

  Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance