State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) is closing three of its Ucits bond exchange traded funds (ETFs) next month.
The SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 5-7 Year US Treasury Bond Ucits ETF, the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 5-7 Year Euro Government Bond Ucits ETF, and the SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 3-7 Year Euro Corporate Bond Ucits ETF will close on 28 February or any date that may be determined by the board.
In an announcement to the London Stock Exchange on Monday, SPDR ETF said the board decided on 7 December to close the funds and de-list their share classes because the net asset value of each is currently less than the minimum amount specified in the prospectus.
The board added it does not believe the NAV will increase materially soon and has deemed the funds uneconomic to operate.
“The board are of the opinion that the proposed terminations are in the best interests of the funds’ shareholders,” it said.
SPDR ETF said shareholders are entitled to redeem their holdings in the funds on the primary market, at the applicable NAV, on any relevant business day up to but excluding 28 February. Secondary market investors may sell their shares on all the relevant stock exchanges at market price up to the last trading date of 27 February.
Mandy Chiu, head of EMEA and APAC SPDR product, said: “Fixed income is core to our strategy. We are committed to strengthening our existing line up as much as developing new products and solutions to our investors. Today’s actions form part of that on-going effort.”
Chiu said globally over the past two years, SPDR ETF has launched 16 funds or share classes and enhanced 53.
Team boost
The announcement comes as SPDR ETF has hired three product developers to its EMEA team: Simon Hutcheson, Luca Zanoni and Antoine Boulet.
Boulet and Zanoni previously worked at Invesco ETF. Boulet was responsible for both existing and new exchange traded product management and development across EMEA, while Zanoni specialised in fixed income product development and management across EMEA.
Hutcheson joins the firm from Citigroup where he was responsible for creating fund structuring solutions across global markets product groups, asset classes and clients.
Chiu said: “We are pleased to welcome Simon, Luca and Antoine on board, each with a proven track record in product development and a unique set of capabilities which will be an integral part of the overall growth story for SPDR in EMEA. We look forward to working with them and leveraging their specialist skillsets.”
