Products January 27, 2009

Northern Trust Shutters ETF Family

Northern Trust announced Tuesday the scheduled closing of Northern Exchange Traded Shares (NETS) traded on NYSE Arca for February 20.
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A Northern Trust news release said NETS Trust Board of Trustees’ considered current market conditions, the inability of the funds to attract significant market interest since their inception, their future viability, as well as prospects for growth in the funds’ assets in the foreseeable future.

The NETS Trust Board of Trustees’ decision was made after consultation with Northern Trust Investments, N.A., the investment adviser to the 17 funds, which had approximately $33 million in assets as of December 31. The Funds were launched in 2008 and are designed to track international, single-country benchmarks.

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Monday, February 9, is scheduled to be the last day of trading for the shares of the funds, the company said.

Investors holding shares in the funds after the delisting date will receive a cash distribution equal to the net asset value of their shares as determined on February 20, pursuant to the funds’ valuation policies.

Shareholders receiving this cash distribution will not incur transaction fees in connection with this distribution or the cancellation of their shares in the funds, Northern Trust said.

Products January 27, 2009

State Street Unveils Two ETFs

State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) has launched the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term International Treasury Bond ETF (symbol: BWZ) and the SPDR Barclays Capital Mortgage Backed Bond ETF (symbol: MBG).
Reported by

A State Street news release said the new offerings are designed to provide investors with exposure to precise segments of the fixed-income market. The new ETFs began trading on the NYSE Arca Tuesday.

The SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term International Treasury Bond ETF is designed to track the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital 1-3 Year Global Treasury ex-US Capped Index.

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As of December 31, the Index included 229 issues with remaining maturities of one to three years from 21 investment-grade countries outside of the United States. The SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term International Treasury Bond ETF’s expense ratio is 0.35%.

Meanwhile, according to the company, the SPDR Barclays Capital Mortgage Backed Bond ETF is designed to track the price and yield of the Barclays Capital U.S. MBS Index. The MBS Index measures the performance of the U.S. agency mortgage pass-through segment of the U.S. investment grade bond market.

As of December 31, the Index included 1,727 issues and an average credit quality rating of AAA/Aaa. The SPDR Barclays Capital Mortgage Backed Bond ETF’s expense ratio is 0.20%.

Recent market volatility has increased demand for fixed-income ETFs that provide efficient and cost-effective exposure to markets that help investors enhance the diversification of their fixed-income holdings,” said James Ross, senior managing director at State Street Global Advisors.

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