STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Dated October 31, 2012
This Statement of Additional Information (SAI) is not a
prospectus. With respect to each of the Trusts series portfolios listed below, this SAI should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus dated October 31, 2012, as may be revised from time to time.
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FUND
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TICKER
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SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
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(RLY)
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SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
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(INKM)
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SPDR SSgA Conservative Global Allocation ETF
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(CNSA)
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SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF
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(GAL)
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SPDR SSgA Aggressive Global Allocation ETF
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(AGRA)
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SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF
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(SRLN)
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The SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF, SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF, SPDR SSgA Conservative Global Allocation ETF,
SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF, SPDR SSgA Aggressive Global Allocation ETF and SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF (the Funds) are each an exchange-traded fund which is a series of the Trust, and are discussed in this SAI. SSgA Funds
Management, Inc. is the investment adviser (Adviser) for the Funds. State Street Global Markets, LLC is the principal underwriter (referred to herein as Distributor or Principal Underwriter) for the Funds
shares.
Copies of the Prospectus and the Trusts Annual Report to Shareholders dated June 30, 2012 may be obtained without charge
by writing to State Street Global Markets, LLC, the Trusts principal underwriter (referred to herein as Distributor or Principal Underwriter), State Street Financial Center, One Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts
02111, by visiting the Trusts website at
www.spdrs.com
or by calling 1-866-787-2257. The Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, financial highlights and financial statements of the Funds included in the Trusts
Annual Report to Shareholders for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 are incorporated by reference into this Statement of Additional Information. Funds not included in the Trusts Annual Report to Shareholders for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 2012 had not commenced operations as of June 30, 2012, and therefore did not have any financial information to report for the Trusts June 30, 2012 fiscal year end.
Principal U.S. Listing Exchange for each ETF: NYSE Arca, Inc.
Capitalized terms used herein that are not defined have the same meaning as in the Prospectus, unless otherwise noted. Copies of the Prospectus may be obtained without charge by writing to State Street
Global Markets, LLC, State Street Financial Center, One Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, by visiting the Trusts website at
www.spdrs.com
or by calling 1-866-787-2257.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE TRUST
The Trust is an open-end management investment company, registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act),
consisting of multiple investment series (each a Fund and collectively the Funds). The Trust was organized as a Massachusetts business trust on March 30, 2011. The offering of each Funds shares (Shares)
is registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act). SSgA Funds Management, Inc. serves as the investment adviser for each Fund (the Adviser) and a Fund is sub-advised by a sub-adviser as further
described herein (the Sub-Adviser). To the extent that a reference in this SAI refers to the Adviser, such reference should be read to refer to the Sub-Adviser where the context requires.
Each Fund pursues its respective investment objective indirectly by investing through what is referred to as a master-feeder structure. Under
the master-feeder arrangement, each Fund invests substantially all of its assets in a corresponding master fund, which is a separate mutual fund with an identical investment objective. Except as otherwise designated, each Fund reserves
the right to invest in the types of instruments as its corresponding master fund. However, each Fund has no present intention to pursue its respective investment strategy other than by investing substantially all of its assets in its corresponding
master fund.
Each Fund offers and issues Shares at their net asset value (sometimes referred to herein as NAV) only in
aggregations of a specified number of Shares (each, a Creation Unit). Each Fund generally offers and issues Shares either in exchange for (i) a basket of securities (Deposit Securities) together with the deposit of a
specified cash payment (Cash Component) or (ii) a cash payment equal in value to the Deposit Securities (Deposit Cash) together with the Cash Component. The primary consideration accepted by a Fund (
i.e.
, Deposit
Securities or Deposit Cash) is set forth under Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units later in this SAI. The Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of a cash in lieu amount to be added to the Cash
Component to replace any Deposit Security and reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of Deposit Securities in lieu of Deposit Cash (subject to applicable legal requirements). The Shares have been approved for listing and secondary
trading on a national securities exchange (the Exchange). The Shares will trade on the Exchange at market prices. These prices may differ from the Shares net asset values. The Shares are also redeemable only in Creation Unit
aggregations, and generally in exchange either for (i) portfolio securities and a specified cash payment or (ii) cash (subject to applicable legal requirements). A Creation Unit of each Fund consists of 50,000 Shares.
Shares may be issued in advance of receipt of Deposit Securities subject to various conditions including a requirement to maintain on deposit with the
Trust cash at least equal to a specified percentage of the market value of the missing Deposit Securities as set forth in the Participant Agreement (as defined below). See Purchase and Redemption of Creation Units. The Trust may impose a
transaction fee for each creation or redemption. In all cases, such fees will be limited in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) applicable to management investment companies offering
redeemable securities. In addition to the fixed creation or redemption transaction fee, an additional transaction fee of up to three times the fixed creation or redemption transaction fee and/or an additional variable charge may apply.
INVESTMENT POLICIES
Each Fund may directly, or indirectly through a series of SSgA Master Trust (each such series, a Portfolio) or a Portfolios investment in an exchange traded product (ETP),
invest in any of the instruments or engage in any of the investment practices described below if such investment or activity is consistent with the Funds investment objective and permitted by the Funds stated investment policies.
PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT POLICIES
DIVERSIFICATION
Each Portfolio and Fund is
classified as a diversified investment company under the 1940 Act. Under the 1940 Act, a diversified investment company, as to 75% of its total assets, may not purchase securities of any issuer (other than securities issued or guaranteed
by the U.S. Government, its agents or instrumentalities or securities of other investment companies) if, as a result, more than 5% of its total assets would be invested in the securities of such issuer, or more than 10% of the issuers
outstanding voting securities would be held by the investment company.
CONCENTRATION
The Portfolios and Funds do not intend to concentrate their investments in any particular industry. The Portfolios and Funds look to the Global Industry Classification Standard Level 3 (Industries) in
making industry determinations.
PREFERRED SECURITIES
Each Portfolio may invest in preferred securities. Preferred securities pay fixed or adjustable rate dividends to investors, and have preference over common stock in the payment of dividends
and the liquidation of a companys assets. This means that a company must pay dividends on preferred stock before paying any dividends on its common stock. In order to be payable, distributions on
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preferred securities must be declared by the issuers board of directors. Income payments on typical preferred securities currently outstanding are cumulative, causing dividends and
distributions to accrue even if not declared by the board of directors or otherwise made payable. There is no assurance that dividends or distributions on the preferred securities in which a Portfolio invests will be declared or otherwise made
payable.
The market value of preferred securities may be affected by favorable and unfavorable changes impacting companies in the utilities
and financial services sectors, which are prominent issuers of preferred securities, and by actual and anticipated changes in tax laws.
Because the claim on an issuers earnings represented by preferred securities may become onerous when interest rates fall below the rate payable on
such securities, the issuer may redeem the securities. Thus, in declining interest rate environments in particular, a Portfolios holdings of higher rate-paying fixed rate preferred securities may be reduced and a Portfolio would be unable to
acquire securities paying comparable rates with the redemption proceeds.
CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES
Each Portfolio may invest in convertible securities. Convertible securities are bonds, debentures, notes, preferred stocks or other securities that may be
converted or exchanged (by the holder or by the issuer) into shares of the underlying common stock (or cash or securities of equivalent value) at a stated exchange ratio. A convertible security may also be called for redemption or conversion by the
issuer after a particular date and under certain circumstances (including a specified price) established upon issue. If a convertible security held by a Portfolio is called for redemption or conversion, the Portfolio could be required to tender it
for redemption, convert it into the underlying common stock, or sell it to a third party.
Convertible securities generally have less
potential for gain or loss than common stocks. Convertible securities generally provide yields higher than the underlying common stocks, but generally lower than comparable non-convertible securities. Because of this higher yield, convertible
securities generally sell at a price above their conversion value, which is the current market value of the stock to be received upon conversion. The difference between this conversion value and the price of convertible securities will
vary over time depending on changes in the value of the underlying common stocks and interest rates. When the underlying common stocks decline in value, convertible securities will tend not to decline to the same extent because of the interest or
dividend payments and the repayment of principal at maturity for certain types of convertible securities. However, securities that are convertible other than at the option of the holder generally do not limit the potential for loss to the same
extent as securities convertible at the option of the holder. When the underlying common stocks rise in value, the value of convertible securities may also be expected to increase. At the same time, however, the difference between the market value
of convertible securities and their conversion value will narrow, which means that the value of convertible securities will generally not increase to the same extent as the value of the underlying common stocks. Because convertible securities may
also be interest-rate sensitive, their value may increase as interest rates fall and decrease as interest rates rise. Convertible securities are also subject to credit risk, and are often lower-quality securities.
BONDS
Each Portfolio may invest in bonds. A
bond is an interest-bearing security issued by a company, governmental unit or, in some cases, a non-U.S. entity. The issuer of a bond has a contractual obligation to pay interest at a stated rate on specific dates and to repay principal (the
bonds face value) periodically or on a specified maturity date; provided, however, a zero coupon bond pays no interest to its holder during its life. The value of a zero coupon bond to a fund consists of the difference between such bonds
face value at the time of maturity and the price for which it was acquired, which may be an amount significantly less than its face value (sometimes referred to as a deep discount price).
An issuer may have the right to redeem or call a bond before maturity, in which case the investor may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower
market rates. Most bonds bear interest income at a coupon rate that is fixed for the life of the bond. The value of a fixed rate bond usually rises when market interest rates fall, and falls when market interest rates rise. Accordingly,
a fixed rate bonds yield (income as a percent of the bonds current value) may differ from its coupon rate as its value rises or falls. Fixed rate bonds generally are also subject to inflation risk, which is the risk that the value of the
bond or income from the bond will be worth less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. This could mean that, as inflation increases, the real value of the assets of a fund holding fixed rate bonds can decline, as can
the value of the funds distributions. Other types of bonds bear income at an interest rate that is adjusted periodically. Because of their adjustable interest rates, the value of floating-rate or variable-rate bonds
fluctuates much less in response to market interest rate movements than the value of fixed rate bonds. A Portfolio may treat some of these bonds as having a shorter maturity for purposes of calculating the weighted average maturity of its investment
portfolio. Bonds may be senior or subordinated obligations. Senior obligations generally have the first claim on a corporations earnings and assets and, in the event of liquidation, are paid before subordinated obligations. Bonds may be
unsecured (backed only by the issuers general creditworthiness) or secured (also backed by specified collateral).
In addition, each
Portfolio may invest in corporate bonds. The investment return of corporate bonds reflects interest on the bond and changes in the market value of the bond. The market value of a corporate bond may be affected by the credit rating of the
corporation, the corporations performance and perceptions of the corporation in the market place. There is a risk that the issuers of the securities may not be able to meet their obligations on interest or principal payments at the time called
for by such a security.
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SENIOR LOANS
The Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan Portfolio invests primarily in Senior Loans. Senior Loans consist generally of obligations of companies and other entities (collectively, borrowers) incurred for
the purpose of reorganizing the assets and liabilities of a borrower; acquiring another company; taking over control of a company (leveraged buyout); temporary refinancing; or financing internal growth or other general business purposes. Senior
Loans are often obligations of borrowers who have incurred a significant percentage of debt compared to equity issued and thus are highly leveraged. The Portfolio and Fund do not treat the banks originating or acting as agents for the lenders, or
granting or acting as intermediary in participation interests, in loans held by the Portfolio as the issuers of such loans.
Senior Loans may
be acquired by direct investment as a lender at the inception of the loan or by assignment of a portion of a loan previously made to a different lender or by purchase of a participation interest. If the Portfolio makes a direct investment in a
Senior Loan as one of the lenders, it generally acquires the loan at or below par. This means the Portfolio receives a return at or above the full interest rate for the loan. If the Portfolio acquires its interest in Senior Loans in the
secondary market or acquires a participation interest, the loans may be purchased or sold above, at, or below par, which can result in a yield that is below, equal to, or above the stated interest rate of the loan. At times, the Portfolio may
be able to invest in Senior Loans only through assignments or participations.
When the Portfolio is a purchaser of an assignment, it succeeds
to all the rights and obligations under the loan agreement of the assigning lender and becomes a lender under the loan agreement with the same rights and obligations as the assigning lender. These rights include the ability to vote along with the
other lenders on such matters as enforcing the terms of the loan agreement (
e.g.
, declaring defaults, initiating collection action, etc.). Taking such actions typically requires at least a vote of the lenders holding a majority of
the investment in the loan and may require a vote by lenders holding two-thirds or more of the investment in the loan. Because the Portfolio usually does not hold a majority of the investment in any loan, it will not be able by itself to control
decisions that require a vote by the lenders.
A participation interest represents a fractional interest in a loan held by the lender selling
the Portfolio the participation interest. In the case of participations, the Portfolio will not have any direct contractual relationship with the borrower, the Portfolios rights to consent to modifications of the loan are limited and it
is dependent upon the participating lender to enforce the Portfolios rights upon a default. The Portfolio will have the right to receive payments of principal, interest, and any fees to which it is entitled only from the lender selling
the participation and only upon receipt by the lender of the payments from the borrower.
The Portfolio may be subject to the credit of both
the agent and the lender from whom the Portfolio acquires a participation interest. These credit risks may include delay in receiving payments of principal and interest paid by the borrower to the agent or, in the case of a participation,
offsets by the lenders regulator against payments received from the borrower. In the event of the borrowers bankruptcy, the borrowers obligation to repay the loan may be subject to defenses that the borrower can assert as a
result of improper conduct by the agent.
Historically, the amount of public information available about a specific Senior Loan has been less
extensive than if the loan were registered or exchange-traded.
The loans in which the Portfolio will invest will, in most instances, be
Senior Loans, which are secured and senior to other indebtedness of the borrower. Each Senior Loan will generally be secured by collateral such as accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, real estate, intangible assets such as trademarks,
copyrights and patents, and securities of subsidiaries or affiliates. The value of the collateral generally will be determined by reference to financial statements of the borrower, by an independent appraisal, by obtaining the market value of
such collateral, in the case of cash or securities if readily ascertainable, or by other customary valuation techniques considered appropriate by the Adviser. The value of collateral may decline after the Portfolios investment, and collateral
may be difficult to sell in the event of default. Consequently, the Portfolio may not receive all the payments to which it is entitled. By virtue of their senior position and collateral, Senior Loans typically provide lenders with the
first right to cash flows or proceeds from the sale of a borrowers collateral if the borrower becomes insolvent (subject to the limitations of bankruptcy law, which may provide higher priority to certain claims such as employee salaries,
employee pensions, and taxes). This means Senior Loans are generally repaid before unsecured bank loans, corporate bonds, subordinated debt, trade creditors, and preferred or common stockholders. To the extent that the Portfolio invests in
unsecured loans, if the borrower defaults on such loan, there is no specific collateral on which the lender can foreclose. If the borrower defaults on a subordinated loan, the collateral may not be sufficient to cover both the senior and
subordinated loans.
Senior Loans will usually require, in addition to scheduled payments of interest and principal, the prepayment of the
Senior Loan from free cash flow, as further described below. The degree to which borrowers prepay Senior Loans, whether as a contractual requirement or at their election, may be affected by general business conditions, the financial condition of the
borrower and competitive conditions among loan investors, among others. As such, prepayments cannot be predicted with accuracy. Recent market conditions, including falling default rates among others, have led to increased prepayment frequency and
loan renegotiations. These renegotiations are often on terms more favorable to borrowers. Upon a prepayment, either in part or in full, the actual outstanding debt on which the Portfolio derives interest income will be reduced. However, the
Portfolio may receive a prepayment penalty fee assessed against the prepaying borrower.
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Senior Loans typically pay interest at least quarterly at rates which equal a fixed percentage spread over a base rate such as the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR). For example,
if LIBOR were 0.3% and the borrower was paying a fixed spread of 2.50%, the total interest rate paid by the borrower would be 2.80%. Additionally, many Senior Loans also have a minimum base rate, or floor, which will be used if the actual base rate
is below this minimum base rate. This measure is designed to ensure lenders receive a minimum interest rate in periods of low interest rates. By illustration, if LIBOR were 0.3% and the borrower was paying a fixed spread of 2.50%, the total interest
rate paid by the borrower would be 2.80%. However, if the same Senior Loan had a LIBOR floor of 1.50%, then 1.50% would be used as the base rate notwithstanding that LIBOR was currently at 0.3%, thereby making the interest rate paid the borrower
4.00% (1.50% LIBOR floor base rate plus 2.50% fixed spread). During periods when LIBOR is greater than the LIBOR floor, the LIBOR floor would have no impact on the interest rate paid by the borrower. Not all Senior Loans have LIBOR floors and this
feature is a relatively recent invention which may not persist in future issuances of Senior Loans.
Although a base rate such as LIBOR can
change every day, loan agreements for Senior Loans typically allow the borrower the ability to choose how often the base rate for its loan will reset. A single loan may have multiple reset periods at the same time, with each reset period applicable
to a designated portion of the loan. Such reset periods can range from one day to one year, with most borrowers choosing monthly or quarterly reset periods. During periods of rising interest rates, borrowers will tend to choose longer reset periods,
and during periods of declining interest rates, borrowers will tend to choose shorter reset periods. The fixed spread over the base rate on a Senior Loan typically does not change.
Senior Loans generally are arranged through private negotiations between a borrower and several financial institutions represented by an agent who is usually one of the originating lenders. In larger
transactions, it is common to have several agents; however, generally only one such agent has primary responsibility for ongoing administration of a Senior Loan. Agents are typically paid fees by the borrower for their services.
The agent is primarily responsible for negotiating the loan agreement which establishes the terms and conditions of the Senior Loan and the rights of the
borrower and the lenders. The agent also is responsible for monitoring collateral and for exercising remedies available to the lenders such as foreclosure upon collateral.
Loan agreements may provide for the termination of the agents agency status in the event that it fails to act as required under the relevant loan agreement, becomes insolvent, enters Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) receivership or, if not FDIC insured, enters into bankruptcy. Should such an agent, lender or assignor with respect to an assignment interpositioned between the Portfolio and the borrower become insolvent or
enter FDIC receivership or bankruptcy, any interest in the Senior Loan of such person and any loan payment held by such person for the benefit of the Portfolio should not be included in such persons or entitys bankruptcy estate. If,
however, any such amount were included in such persons or entitys bankruptcy estate, the Portfolio would incur certain costs and delays in realizing payment or could suffer a loss of principal or interest. In this event, the Portfolio
and, therefore, the Fund could experience a decrease in the NAV.
Most borrowers pay their debts from cash flow generated by their
businesses. If a borrowers cash flow is insufficient to pay its debts, it may attempt to restructure its debts rather than sell collateral. Borrowers may try to restructure their debts by filing for protection under the federal
bankruptcy laws or negotiating a work-out. If a borrower becomes involved in a bankruptcy proceeding, access to collateral may be limited by bankruptcy and other laws. Such action by a court could be based, for example, on a
fraudulent conveyance claim to the effect that the borrower did not receive fair consideration for granting the security interest in the loan collateral to the Portfolio. If a court decides that access to collateral is limited or void,
the Portfolio may not recover the full amount of principal and interest that is due.
A borrower must comply with certain restrictive
covenants contained in the loan agreement. In addition to requiring the scheduled payment of principal and interest, these covenants may include restrictions on the payment of dividends and other distributions to the borrowers
shareholders, provisions requiring compliance with specific financial ratios, and limits on total indebtedness. The agreement may also require the prepayment of the loans from excess cash flow. A breach of a covenant that is not waived by
the agent (or lenders directly) is normally an event of default, which provides the agent and lenders the right to call for repayment of the outstanding loan. The typical practice of an agent or a loan investor in relying exclusively or primarily on
reports from the borrower to monitor the borrowers compliance with covenants may involve a risk of fraud by the borrower.
In the
process of buying, selling and holding Senior Loans, the Portfolio may receive and/or pay certain fees. These fees are in addition to interest payments received and may include facility fees, commitment fees, commissions and prepayment penalty fees.
When the Portfolio buys or sells a Senior Loan it may pay a facility fee. On an ongoing basis, the Portfolio may receive a commitment fee based on the undrawn portion of the underlying line of credit portion of a Senior Loan. In certain
circumstances, the Portfolio may receive a prepayment penalty fee upon prepayment of a Senior Loan. Other fees received by the Portfolio may include covenant waiver fees, covenant modification fees or other consent or amendment fees.
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Notwithstanding its intention in certain situations to not receive material, non-public information with
respect to its management of investments in Senior Loans, the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser may from time to time come into possession of material, non-public information about the issuers of loans that may be held in the Portfolios portfolio.
Possession of such information may in some instances occur despite the Advisers and/or Sub-Advisers efforts to avoid such possession, but in other instances the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser may choose to receive such information (for
example, in connection with participation in a creditors committee with respect to a financially distressed issuer). The Advisers and/or Sub-Advisers ability to trade in these Senior Loans for the account of the Portfolio could
potentially be limited by its possession of such information. Such limitations on the Advisers and/or Sub-Advisers ability to trade could have an adverse effect on the Portfolio by, for example, preventing the Portfolio from selling a
Senior Loan that is experiencing a material decline in value. In some instances, these trading restrictions could continue in effect for a substantial period of time.
The loan market, as represented by the S&P/LSTA (Loan Syndications and Trading Association) Leveraged Loan Index, experienced significant growth in terms of number and aggregate volume of loans
outstanding since the inception of the index in 1997. In 1997, the total amount of loans in the market aggregated less than $10 billion. By April of 2000, it had grown to over $100 billion, and by July of 2007 the market had grown to over
$500 billion. The size of the market peaked in November of 2008 at $594 billion. During this period, the demand for loans and the number of investors participating in the loan market also increased significantly.
Since 2008, the aggregate size of the market has contracted, characterized by limited new loan issuance and payoffs of outstanding loans. From the peak
in 2008 through July 2010, the overall size of the loan market contracted by approximately 15%. The number of market participants also decreased during that period. There can be no assurance that the size of the loan market, and the number of
participants, will return to earlier levels.
An increase in demand for Senior Loans may benefit the Portfolio by providing increased
liquidity for such loans and higher sales prices, but it may also adversely affect the rate of interest payable on such loans acquired by the Portfolio and the rights provided to the Portfolio under the terms of the applicable loan agreement, and
may increase the price of loans that the Portfolio wishes to purchase in the secondary market. A decrease in the demand for Senior Loans may adversely affect the price of loans in the Portfolios portfolio, which could cause the
Portfolios and, therefore, the Funds net asset value to decline.
The Portfolio may acquire interests in Senior Loans which are
designed to provide temporary or bridge financing to a borrower pending the sale of identified assets or the arrangement of longer-term loans or the issuance and sale of debt obligations. The Portfolio may also invest in Senior Loans of
borrowers that have obtained bridge loans from other parties. A borrowers use of bridge loans involves a risk that the borrower may be unable to locate permanent financing to replace the bridge loan, which may impair the borrowers
perceived creditworthiness. Bridge loans may have less liquidity than other Senior Loans that were issued to fund corporate purposes on a longer term basis.
Although not anticipated in the normal course, the Portfolio may occasionally acquire warrants and other equity securities as part of a unit combining a Senior Loan and equity securities of a borrower or
its affiliates. The acquisition of such equity securities will only be incidental to the Portfolios purchase of a Senior Loan. The Portfolio may also acquire equity securities or credit securities (including non-dollar denominated equity or
credit securities) issued in exchange for a Senior Loan or issued in connection with the debt restructuring or reorganization of a Borrower, or if such acquisition, in the judgment of the Adviser may enhance the value of a Senior Loan or would
otherwise be consistent with the Portfolios investment policies. Such warrants and equity securities will typically have limited value and there is no assurance that such securities will ever obtain value.
OTHER LOANS
The Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan
Portfolio may invest in secured loans that are not first lien and loans that are unsecured. These loans have the same characteristics as Senior Loans except that such loans are not first in priority of repayment and/or are not secured by collateral.
Accordingly, the risks associated with these loans are higher than the risks for loans with first priority over the collateral. Because these loans are lower in priority and/or unsecured, they are subject to the additional risk that the cash flow of
the borrower may be insufficient to meet scheduled payments after giving effect to the secured obligations of the borrower. In the event of default on such a loan, the first priority lien holder has first claim to the underlying collateral of the
loan. It is possible that no value would remain for the holders of secured loans that are not first lien and loans that are unsecured and therefore result in a loss of investment to the Portfolio.
Secured loans that are not first lien and loans that are unsecured generally have greater price volatility than Senior Loans and may be less liquid.
There is also a possibility that originators will not be able to sell participations in these loans, which would create greater credit risk exposure for the holders of such loans. Secured loans that are not first lien and loans that are unsecured
share the same risks as other below investment grade instruments.
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COLLATERALIZED LOAN OBLIGATIONS (CLOs)
Each Portfolio (except the Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan Portfolio) may invest in CLOs. A CLO is a financing company (generally called a Special Purpose Vehicle or SPV), created to reapportion
the risk and return characteristics of a pool of assets. While the assets underlying CLOs are typically Senior Loans, the assets may also include (i) unsecured loans, (ii) other debt securities that are rated below investment grade,
(iii) debt tranches of other CLOs and (iv) equity securities incidental to investments in Senior Loans. When investing in CLOs, a Portfolio will not invest in equity tranches, which are the lowest tranche. However, a Portfolio may invest
in lower debt tranches of CLOs, which typically experience a lower recovery, greater risk of loss or deferral or non-payment of interest than more senior debt tranches of the CLO. In addition, a Portfolio intends to invest in CLOs consisting
primarily of individual Senior Loans of borrowers and not repackaged CLO obligations from other high risk pools. The underlying Senior Loans purchased by CLOs are generally performing at the time of purchase but may become non-performing, distressed
or defaulted. CLOs with underlying assets of non-performing, distressed or defaulted loans are not contemplated to comprise a significant portion of a Portfolios investments in CLOs. The key feature of the CLO structure is the prioritization
of the cash flows from a pool of debt securities among the several classes of the CLO. The SPV is a company founded solely for the purpose of securitizing payment claims arising out of this diversified asset pool. On this basis, marketable
securities are issued by the SPV which, due to the diversification of the underlying risk, generally represent a lower level of risk than the original assets. The redemption of the securities issued by the SPV typically takes place at maturity out
of the cash flow generated by the collected claims.
Holders of CLOs bear risks of the underlying investments, index or reference obligation
and are subject to counterparty risk.
A Portfolio may have the right to receive payments only from the CLOs, and generally does not have
direct rights against the issuer or the entity that sold the assets to be securitized. While certain CLOs enable the investor to acquire interests in a pool of securities without the brokerage and other expenses associated with directly holding the
same securities, investors in CLOs generally pay their share of the CLOs administrative and other expenses. Although it is difficult to predict whether the prices of indices and securities underlying a CLO will rise or fall, these prices (and,
therefore, the prices of CLOs) will be influenced by the same types of political and economic events that affect issuers of securities and capital markets generally. If the issuer of a CLO uses shorter term financing to purchase longer term
securities, the issuer may be forced to sell its securities at below market prices if it experiences difficulty in obtaining short-term financing, which may adversely affect the value of the CLOs owned by a Portfolio.
Certain CLOs may be thinly traded or have a limited trading market. CLOs are typically privately offered and sold. As a result, investments in CLOs may
be characterized by a Portfolio as illiquid securities. In addition to the general risks associated with debt securities discussed herein, CLOs carry additional risks, including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from
collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the quality of the collateral may decline in value or default; (iii) the possibility that the investments in CLOs are subordinate to other classes or
tranches thereof; and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and may produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results.
HIGH YIELD SECURITIES
Each Portfolio may
invest in high yield debt securities. Investment in high yield securities generally provides greater income and increased opportunity for capital appreciation than investments in higher quality securities, but they also typically entail greater
price volatility and credit risk. These high yield securities are regarded as predominantly speculative with respect to the issuers continuing ability to meet principal and interest payments. Analysis of the creditworthiness of issuers of debt
securities that are high yield may be more complex than for issuers of higher quality debt securities. In addition, high yield securities are often issued by smaller, less creditworthy companies or by highly leveraged (indebted) firms, which are
generally less able than more financially stable firms to make scheduled payments of interest and principal. The risks posed by securities issued under such circumstances are substantial.
Investing in high yield debt securities involves risks that are greater than the risks of investing in higher quality debt securities. These risks include: (i) changes in credit status, including
weaker overall credit conditions of issuers and risks of default; (ii) industry, market and economic risk; and (iii) greater price variability and credit risks of certain high yield securities such as zero coupon and payment-in-kind
securities. While these risks provide the opportunity for maximizing return over time, they may result in greater volatility of the value of a Portfolio and, therefore, a Fund than a fund that invests in higher-rated securities.
Furthermore, the value of high yield securities may be more susceptible to real or perceived adverse economic, company or industry conditions than is the
case for higher quality securities. The market values of certain of these lower-rated and unrated debt securities tend to reflect individual corporate developments to a greater extent than do higher-rated securities which react primarily to
fluctuations in the general level of interest rates, and tend to be more sensitive to economic conditions than are higher-rated securities. Adverse market, credit or economic conditions could make it difficult at certain times to sell certain high
yield securities held by a Portfolio.
The secondary market on which high yield securities are traded may be less liquid than the market for
higher grade securities. Less liquidity in the secondary trading market could adversely affect the price at which a Portfolio could sell a high yield security, and could adversely affect the daily net asset value per share of a Portfolio and,
therefore, a Fund. When secondary markets for high yield securities are less liquid than the market for higher grade securities, it may be more difficult to value the securities because there is less reliable, objective data available.
8
The use of credit ratings as a principal method of selecting high yield securities can involve certain risks. For example, credit ratings evaluate the safety of principal and interest payments,
not the market value risk of high yield securities. Also, credit rating agencies may fail to change credit ratings in a timely fashion to reflect events since the security was last rated.
SOVEREIGN DEBT OBLIGATIONS
Each Portfolio (except the Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan Portfolio) may
invest in sovereign debt. Sovereign debt obligations are issued or guaranteed by foreign governments or their agencies. Sovereign debt may be in the form of conventional securities or other types of debt instruments such as loans or loan
participations. Governmental entities responsible for repayment of the debt may be unable or unwilling to repay principal and pay interest when due, and may require renegotiation or reschedule of debt payments. In addition, prospects for repayment
of principal and payment of interest may depend on political as well as economic factors. Although some sovereign debt, such as Brady Bonds, is collateralized by U.S. Government securities, repayment of principal and payment of interest is not
guaranteed by the U.S. Government.
U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS
Each Portfolio may invest in U.S. Government obligations. U.S. Government obligations are a type of bond. U.S. Government obligations include securities issued or guaranteed as to principal and interest
by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities.
One type of U.S. Government obligation, U.S. Treasury obligations, are backed by
the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury and differ only in their interest rates, maturities, and times of issuance. U.S. Treasury bills have initial maturities of one-year or less; U.S. Treasury notes have initial maturities of one to ten
years; and U.S. Treasury bonds generally have initial maturities of greater than ten years.
Other U.S. Government obligations are issued or
guaranteed by agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. Government including, but not limited to, Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Small
Business Administration, the Federal Farm Credit Administration, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLB), Banks for Cooperatives (including the Central Bank for
Cooperatives), the Federal Land Banks, the Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Federal Financing Bank, the Student Loan Marketing
Association, the National Credit Union Administration and the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac). Some obligations issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies and instrumentalities, including, for example, Ginnie Mae
pass-through certificates, are supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury. Other obligations issued by or guaranteed by federal agencies, such as those securities issued by Fannie Mae, are supported by the discretionary authority of
the U.S. Government to purchase certain obligations of the federal agency, while other obligations issued by or guaranteed by federal agencies, such as those of the Federal Home Loan Banks, are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the
U.S. Treasury, while the U.S. Government provides financial support to such U.S. Government-sponsored federal agencies, no assurance can be given that the U.S. Government will always do so, since the U.S. Government is not so obligated by law.
On September 7, 2008, the U.S. Treasury announced a federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, placing the two federal
instrumentalities in conservatorship. Under the takeover, the U.S. Treasury agreed to acquire $1 billion of senior preferred stock of each instrumentality and obtained warrants for the purchase of common stock of each instrumentality (the
Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement or Agreement). Under the Agreement, the U.S. Treasury pledged to provide up to $200 billion per instrumentality as needed, including the contribution of cash capital to the
instrumentalities in the event their liabilities exceed their assets. This was intended to ensure that the instrumentalities maintain a positive net worth and meet their financial obligations, preventing mandatory triggering of receivership. On
December 24, 2009, the U.S. Treasury announced that it was amending the Agreement to allow the $200 billion cap on the U.S. Treasurys funding commitment to increase as necessary to accommodate any cumulative reduction in net worth over
the next three years. As a result of this Agreement, the investments of holders, including applicable Portfolios, of mortgage-backed securities and other obligations issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are protected to the extent of such
commitment.
VARIABLE RATE DEMAND OBLIGATIONS
Each Portfolio may invest in Variable Rate Demand Obligations (VRDO). VRDOs are short-term tax exempt fixed income instruments whose yield is reset on a periodic basis. VRDO securities tend to be issued
with long maturities of up to 30 or 40 years; however, they are considered short-term instruments because they include a put feature which coincides with the periodic yield reset. For example, a VRDO whose yield resets weekly will have a put feature
that is exercisable upon seven days notice. VRDOs are put back to a bank or other entity that serves as a liquidity provider, who then tries to resell the VRDOs or, if unable to resell, holds them in its own inventory. VRDOs are generally supported
by either a Letter of Credit or a Stand-by Bond Purchase Agreement to provide credit enhancement.
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INFLATION-PROTECTED OBLIGATIONS
The Portfolios may invest in inflation-protected public
obligations, commonly known as TIPS, of the U.S. Treasury, as well as TIPS of major governments and emerging market countries, excluding the United States. TIPS are a type of security issued by a government that are designed to provide
inflation protection to investors. TIPS are income-generating instruments whose interest and principal payments are adjusted for inflationa sustained increase in prices that erodes the purchasing power of money. The inflation adjustment, which
is typically applied monthly to the principal of the bond, follows a designated inflation index, such as the Consumer Price Index. A fixed coupon rate is applied to the inflation-adjusted principal so that as inflation rises or falls, both the
principal value and the interest payments will increase or decrease. This can provide investors with a hedge against inflation, as it helps preserve the purchasing power of an investment. Because of this inflation adjustment feature,
inflation-protected bonds typically have lower yields than conventional fixed-rate bonds.
MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH SECURITIES
The Portfolios may each invest a substantial portion of its assets in U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities. The term U.S. agency mortgage
pass-through security refers to a category of pass-through securities backed by pools of mortgages and issued by one of several U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises: the Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. In the basic mortgage
pass-through structure, mortgages with similar issuer, term and coupon characteristics are collected and aggregated into a pool consisting of multiple mortgage loans. The pool is assigned a CUSIP number and undivided interests in the
pool are traded and sold as pass-through securities. The holder of the security is entitled to a pro rata share of principal and interest payments (including unscheduled prepayments) from the pool of mortgage loans.
An investment in a specific pool of pass-through securities requires an analysis of the specific prepayment risk of mortgages within the covered pool
(since mortgagors typically have the option to prepay their loans). The level of prepayments on a pool of mortgage securities is difficult to predict and can impact the subsequent cash flows and value of the mortgage pool. In addition, when trading
specific mortgage pools, precise execution, delivery and settlement arrangements must be negotiated for each transaction. These factors combine to make trading in mortgage pools somewhat cumbersome.
For the foregoing and other reasons, the Portfolios seek to obtain exposure to U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities primarily through the use of
to-be-announced or TBA transactions. TBA refers to a commonly used mechanism for the forward settlement of U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities, and not to a separate type of mortgage-backed security. Most
transactions in mortgage pass-through securities occur through the use of TBA transactions. TBA transactions generally are conducted in accordance with widely-accepted guidelines which establish commonly observed terms and conditions for execution,
settlement and delivery. In a TBA transaction, the buyer and seller decide on general trade parameters, such as agency, settlement date, par amount, and price. The actual pools delivered generally are determined two days prior to settlement date.
Each Portfolio intends to use TBA transactions in several ways. For example, each Portfolio expects that it will regularly enter into TBA agreements and roll over such agreements prior to the settlement date stipulated in such
agreements. This type of TBA transaction is sometimes known as a TBA roll. In a TBA roll a Portfolio generally will sell the obligation to purchase the pools stipulated in the TBA agreement prior to the stipulated settlement
date and will enter into a new TBA agreement for future delivery of pools of mortgage pass-through securities. In addition, a Portfolio may enter into TBA agreements and settle such transactions on the stipulated settlement date by accepting actual
receipt or delivery of the pools of mortgage pass-through securities stipulated in the TBA agreement.
Default by or bankruptcy of a
counterparty to a TBA transaction would expose a Portfolio to possible loss because of adverse market action, expenses or delays in connection with the purchase or sale of the pools of mortgage pass-through securities specified in the TBA
transaction. To minimize this risk, a Portfolio will enter into TBA transactions only with established counterparties (such as major broker-dealers) and the Adviser will monitor the creditworthiness of such counterparties. In addition, a Portfolio
may accept assignments of TBA transactions from Authorized Participants (as defined below) from time to time. A Portfolios use of TBA rolls may cause the Portfolio to experience higher portfolio turnover, higher transaction costs
and to pay higher capital gain distributions to shareholders (which may be taxable) than other funds.
The Portfolios intend to invest cash
pending settlement of any TBA transactions in money market instruments, repurchase agreements, commercial paper (including asset-backed commercial paper) or other high-quality, liquid short-term instruments, which may include money market funds
affiliated with the Adviser.
ASSET-BACKED AND COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES
The Portfolios may invest in asset-backed and commercial mortgaged-backed securities. Asset-backed securities are securities backed by installment contracts, credit-card receivables or other assets.
Commercial mortgage-backed securities are securities backed by commercial real estate properties. Both asset-backed and commercial mortgage-backed securities represent interests in pools of assets in which payments of both interest and
principal on the securities are made on a regular basis. The payments are, in effect,
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passed through to the holder of the securities (net of any fees paid to the issuer or guarantor of the securities). The average life of asset-backed and commercial mortgage-backed
securities varies with the maturities of the underlying instruments and, as a result of prepayments, can often be less than the original maturity of the assets underlying the securities. For this and other reasons, an asset-backed and commercial
mortgage-backed securitys stated maturity may be shortened, and the securitys total return may be difficult to predict precisely.
FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSACTIONS
The Portfolios
(except the Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan Portfolio) may conduct foreign currency transactions on a spot (
i.e.
, cash) or forward basis (
i.e.
, by entering into forward contracts to purchase or sell foreign currencies). Although foreign
exchange dealers generally do not charge a fee for such conversions, they do realize a profit based on the difference between the prices at which they are buying and selling various currencies. Thus, a dealer may offer to sell a foreign currency at
one rate, while offering a lesser rate of exchange should the counterparty desire to resell that currency to the dealer. Forward contracts are customized transactions that require a specific amount of a currency to be delivered at a specific
exchange rate on a specific date or range of dates in the future and can have substantial price volatility. Forward contracts are generally traded in an interbank market directly between currency traders (usually large commercial banks) and their
customers. The parties to a forward contract may agree to offset or terminate the contract before its maturity, or may hold the contract to maturity and complete the contemplated currency exchange. At the discretion of the Adviser, the Portfolios
may enter into forward currency exchange contracts for hedging purposes to help reduce the risks and volatility caused by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, or to gain exposure to certain currencies. When used for hedging purposes, they
tend to limit any potential gain that may be realized if the value of the Portfolios foreign holdings increases because of currency fluctuations.
BUILD AMERICA BONDS
Each Portfolio may invest a portion of its assets in Build America Bonds.
Build America Bonds offer an alternative form of financing to state and local governments whose primary means for accessing the capital markets has historically been through the issuance of tax-free municipal bonds. The Build America Bond program
allows state and local governments to issue taxable bonds for capital projects and to receive a direct federal subsidy payment from the Treasury Department for a portion of their borrowing costs. There are two general types of Build America Bonds.
The first type of Build America Bond provides a federal subsidy through federal tax credits to investors in the bonds in an amount equal to 35 percent of the total coupon interest payable by the issuer on taxable governmental bonds (net of the tax
credit), which represents a federal subsidy to the state or local governmental issuer equal to approximately 25 percent of the total return to the investor (including the coupon interest paid by the issuer and the tax credit). The second type of
Build America Bond provides a federal subsidy through a refundable tax credit paid to state or local governmental issuers by the Treasury Department and the IRS in an amount equal to 35 percent (or 45 percent in the case of Recovery Zone Economic
Development Bonds) of the total coupon interest payable to investors in these taxable bonds.
Issuance of Build America Bonds ceased on
December 31, 2010. The Build America Bonds outstanding continue to be eligible for the federal interest rate subsidy, which continues for the life of the Build America Bonds; however, no bonds issued following expiration of the Build America
Bond program are eligible for the federal tax subsidy.
EXCHANGE-TRADED PRODUCTS
ETPs include exchange traded funds (ETFs) registered under the 1940 Act; exchange traded commodity trusts; and exchange traded notes (ETNs). The Adviser may receive management or
other fees from the ETPs (Affiliated ETPs) in which the Portfolios or Funds may invest, as well as a management fee for managing the Funds. It is possible that a conflict of interest among the Portfolios and Funds and Affiliated ETPs
could affect how the Adviser fulfills its fiduciary duties to the Portfolios and Funds and the Affiliated ETPs. Because the amount of the investment management fees to be retained by the Adviser may differ depending upon the Affiliated ETPs in which
a Portfolio or Fund invests, there is a conflict of interest for the Adviser in selecting the Affiliated ETP. In addition, the Adviser may have an incentive to take into account the effect on an Affiliated ETP in which a Portfolio or Fund may invest
in determining whether, and under what circumstances, to purchase or sell shares in that Affiliated ETP. Although the Adviser takes steps to address the conflicts of interest, it is possible that the conflicts could impact the Portfolios and Funds.
Each Portfolio may invest in new ETPs or ETPs that have not yet established a deep trading market at the time of investment. Shares of such
ETPs may experience limited trading volume and less liquidity, in which case the spread (the difference between bid price and ask price) may be higher.
INVESTMENT COMPANIES
Each Portfolio may invest in the securities of other investment companies,
including affiliated funds, money market funds and closed-end funds, subject to applicable limitations under Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act. Each Fund invests substantially all of its assets in the corresponding Portfolio. Pursuant to
Section 12(d)(1), a fund may invest in the securities of another investment company (the acquired company) provided that the fund, immediately after such purchase or acquisition, does not own in the aggregate: (i) more than 3%
of the total outstanding voting stock of the acquired company; (ii) securities issued by the acquired company having an
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aggregate value in excess of 5% of the value of the total assets of the fund; (iii) securities issued by the acquired company and all other investment companies (other than Treasury stock of
the fund) having an aggregate value in excess of 10% of the value of the total assets of the fund; or (iv) in the case of investment in a closed-end fund, more than 10% of the total outstanding voting stock of the acquired company. A fund may
also invest in the securities of other investment companies if such securities are the only investment securities held by the fund, such as through a master-feeder arrangement. Each Fund currently pursues its respective investment objective through
such an arrangement. To the extent allowed by law, regulation, a Funds investment restrictions and the Trusts exemptive relief, a Fund may invest its assets in securities of investment companies that are affiliated funds and/or money
market funds in excess of the limits discussed above.
To the extent a fund invests in and, thus, is a shareholder of, another investment
company, the funds shareholders will indirectly bear the funds proportionate share of the fees and expenses paid by such other investment company, including advisory fees, in addition to both the management fees payable directly by the
fund to the funds own investment adviser and the other expenses that the fund bears directly in connection with the funds own operations.
EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS
Each Portfolio may invest in other exchange-traded funds (including ETFs
managed by the Adviser). ETFs may be structured as investment companies that are registered under the 1940 Act, typically as open-end funds or unit investment trusts. These ETFs are generally based on specific domestic and foreign market securities
indices. An index-based ETF seeks to provide investment results that match the performance of an index by holding in its portfolio either the contents of the index or a representative sample of the securities in the index. An
enhanced ETF seeks to provide investment results that match a positive or negative multiple of the performance of an underlying index. In seeking to provide such results, an ETF and, in particular, an enhanced ETF, may engage in short
sales of securities included in the underlying index and may invest in derivatives instruments, such as equity index swaps, futures contracts, and options on securities, futures contracts, and stock indices. Alternatively, ETFs may be structured as
grantor trusts or other forms of pooled investment vehicles that are not registered or regulated under the 1940 Act. These ETFs typically hold commodities, precious metals, currency or other non-securities investments. ETFs, like mutual funds, have
expenses associated with their operation, such as advisory and custody fees. When a fund invests in an ETF, in addition to directly bearing expenses associated with its own operations, including the brokerage costs associated with the purchase and
sale of shares of the ETF, the fund will bear a pro rata portion of the ETFs expenses. In addition, it may be more costly to own an ETF than to directly own the securities or other investments held by the ETF because of ETF expenses. The risks
of owning shares of an ETF generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities or other investments held by the ETF, although lack of liquidity in the market for the shares of an ETF could result in the ETFs value being more
volatile than the underlying securities or other investments.
EXCHANGE-TRADED NOTES
Each Portfolio may invest in exchange-traded notes. ETNs are debt obligations of investment banks which are traded on exchanges and the returns of which are linked to the performance of market indexes. In
addition to trading ETNs on exchanges, investors may redeem ETNs directly with the issuer on a weekly basis, typically in a minimum amount of 50,000 units, or hold the ETNs until maturity. ETNs may be riskier than ordinary debt securities and may
have no principal protection. A funds investment in an ETN may be influenced by many unpredictable factors, including highly volatile commodities prices, changes in supply and demand relationships, weather, agriculture, trade, changes in
interest rates, and monetary and other governmental policies, action and inaction. Investing in ETNs is not equivalent to investing directly in index components or the relevant index itself. Because ETNs are debt securities, they possess credit
risk; if the issuer has financial difficulties or goes bankrupt, the investor may not receive the return it was promised.
QUALIFIED PUBLICLY
TRADED PARTNERSHIPS
Regulated investment companies are subject to favorable tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended
(the Internal Revenue Code). To qualify as a regulated investment company, each Fund must derive at least 90% of its gross income for each taxable year from sources generating qualifying income. For these purposes, each Fund
is generally expected to be treated as if it held its share of the corresponding Portfolios investments and realized its share of the corresponding Portfolios income and loss directly. Income derived from direct and certain indirect
investments in commodities is not qualifying income. Thus, income from certain commodities-related investments may cause a Fund not to qualify as a regulated investment company. Each Portfolio may invest up to 25% of its total assets in one or more
ETPs that are qualified publicly traded partnerships (QPTPs) and whose principal activities are the buying and selling of commodities or options, futures, or forwards with respect to commodities. Income from QPTPs is generally qualifying
income. A QPTP is an entity that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, subject to certain requirements. If such an ETP fails to qualify as a QPTP, the income generated from the Portfolios investment in the ETP may not be
qualifying income. The Portfolio will only invest in such an ETP if it intends to qualify as a QPTP, but there is no guarantee that each such ETP will be successful in qualifying as a QPTP. In addition, there is little regulatory guidance concerning
the application of the rules governing qualification as a QPTP, and it is possible that future guidance may adversely affect the qualification of such ETPs as QPTPs. If a Fund fails to qualify as a regulated investment company, the Fund itself will
be subject to tax, which will reduce returns to the Funds shareholders. Such a failure will also alter the treatment of distributions to the Funds shareholders.
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U.S. REGISTERED SECURITIES OF FOREIGN ISSUERS
The Portfolios may purchase publicly traded common stocks and preferred securities of foreign corporations, as well as U.S. registered, dollar-denominated bonds of foreign corporations, governments,
agencies and supra-national entities.
Investing in U.S. registered, dollar-denominated, securities issued by non-U.S. issuers involves some
risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in U.S. companies. These include differences in accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, the possibility of expropriation or confiscatory taxation, adverse changes in
investment or exchange control regulations, political instability which could affect U.S. investments in foreign countries, and potential restrictions of the flow of international capital. Foreign companies may be subject to less governmental
regulation than U.S. issuers. Moreover, individual foreign economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency
and balance of payment positions.
Investments in common stock of foreign corporations may also be in the form of American Depositary Receipts
(ADRs), Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) and European Depositary Receipts (EDRs) (collectively Depositary Receipts). Depositary Receipts are receipts, typically issued by a bank or trust company,
which evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign corporation. For ADRs, the depository is typically a U.S. financial institution and the underlying securities are issued by a foreign issuer. For other Depositary Receipts, the
depository may be a foreign or a U.S. entity, and the underlying securities may have a foreign or a U.S. issuer. Depositary Receipts will not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as their underlying securities. Generally, ADRs, in
registered form, are designed for use in the U.S. securities market, and EDRs, in bearer form, are designated for use in European securities markets. GDRs are tradable both in the United States and in Europe and are designed for use throughout the
world. A Portfolio may invest in unsponsored Depositary Receipts. The issuers of unsponsored Depositary Receipts are not obligated to disclose material information in the United States, and, therefore, there may be less information available
regarding such issuers and there may not be a correlation between such information and the market value of the Depositary Receipts.
REAL
ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS (REITs)
The Portfolios may invest in REITs. REITs pool investors funds for investment primarily in
income producing real estate or real estate loans or interests. A REIT is not taxed on income distributed to shareholders if it complies with several requirements relating to its organization, ownership, assets, and income and a requirement that it
distribute to its shareholders at least 90% of its taxable income (other than net capital gains) for each taxable year. REITs can generally be classified as Equity REITs, Mortgage REITs and Hybrid REITs. Equity REITs, which invest the majority of
their assets directly in real property, derive their income primarily from rents. Equity REITs can also realize capital gains by selling properties that have appreciated in value. Mortgage REITs, which invest the majority of their assets in real
estate mortgages, derive their income primarily from interest payments. Hybrid REITs combine the characteristics of both Equity REITs and Mortgage REITs. A Portfolio will not invest in real estate directly, but only in securities issued by real
estate companies. However, a Portfolio may be subject to risks similar to those associated with the direct ownership of real estate (in addition to securities markets risks). These include declines in the value of real estate, risks related to
general and local economic conditions, dependency on management skill, heavy cash flow dependency, possible lack of availability of mortgage funds, overbuilding, extended vacancies of properties, increased competition, increases in property taxes
and operating expenses, changes in zoning laws, losses due to costs resulting from the clean-up of environmental problems, liability to third parties for damages resulting from environmental problems, casualty or condemnation losses, limitations on
rents, changes in neighborhood values, the appeal of properties to tenants and changes in interest rates. Investments in REITs may subject Portfolio shareholders to duplicate management and administrative fees.
In addition to these risks, Equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the trusts, while Mortgage REITs may
be affected by the quality of any credit extended. Further, Equity and Mortgage REITs are dependent upon management skills and generally may not be diversified. Equity and Mortgage REITs are also subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by
borrowers and self-liquidation. In addition, Equity and Mortgage REITs could possibly fail to qualify for the beneficial tax treatment available to REITs under the Internal Revenue Code, or to maintain their exemptions from registration under the
1940 Act. The above factors may also adversely affect a borrowers or a lessees ability to meet its obligations to the REIT. In the event of a default by a borrower or lessee, the REIT may experience delays in enforcing its rights as a
mortgagee or lessor and may incur substantial costs associated with protecting investments.
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NON-PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT POLICIES
LEVERAGING
While the Portfolios and Funds do not anticipate doing so, each Portfolio and Fund may
borrow money in an amount greater than 5% of the value of their respective total assets. However, a Portfolio or Fund may not borrow money from a bank in an amount greater than 33 1/3% of the value of the Portfolios or Funds total
assets. Borrowing for investment purposes is one form of leverage. Leveraging investments, by purchasing securities with borrowed money, is a speculative technique that increases investment risk, but also increases investment
opportunity. Because substantially all of each Portfolios and Funds assets will fluctuate in value, whereas the interest obligations on borrowings may be fixed, the NAV of a Portfolio or Fund will increase more when such
Portfolios or Funds portfolio assets increase in value and decrease more when the Portfolios or Funds portfolio assets decrease in value than would otherwise be the case. Moreover, interest costs on borrowings may
fluctuate with changing market rates of interest and may partially offset or exceed the returns on the borrowed funds.
REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS
Each Portfolio may invest in repurchase agreements with commercial banks, brokers or dealers to generate income from its excess cash balances
and to invest securities lending cash collateral. A repurchase agreement is an agreement under which a fund acquires a financial instrument (
e.g.
, a security issued by the U.S. Government or an agency thereof, a bankers acceptance or a
certificate of deposit) from a seller, subject to resale to the seller at an agreed upon price and date (normally, the next Business Day as defined below). A repurchase agreement may be considered a loan collateralized by securities. The
resale price reflects an agreed upon interest rate effective for the period the instrument is held by a fund and is unrelated to the interest rate on the underlying instrument.
In these repurchase agreement transactions, the securities acquired by a fund (including accrued interest earned thereon) must have a total value in excess of the value of the repurchase agreement and are
held by the Custodian until repurchased. No more than an aggregate of 15% of a Portfolios net assets will be invested in illiquid securities, including repurchase agreements having maturities longer than seven days and securities subject to
legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or for which there are no readily available market quotations.
The use of repurchase agreements
involves certain risks. For example, if the other party to the agreement defaults on its obligation to repurchase the underlying security at a time when the value of the security has declined, a fund may incur a loss upon disposition of the
security. If the other party to the agreement becomes insolvent and subject to liquidation or reorganization under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or other laws, a court may determine that the underlying security is collateral for a loan by a fund not
within the control of the fund and, therefore, the fund may not be able to substantiate its interest in the underlying security and may be deemed an unsecured creditor of the other party to the agreement.
REVERSE REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS
Each Portfolio
may enter into reverse repurchase agreements, which involve the sale of securities with an agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed-upon price, date and interest payment and have the characteristics of borrowing. The securities purchased
with the funds obtained from the agreement and securities collateralizing the agreement will have maturity dates no later than the repayment date. Generally the effect of such transactions is that a fund can recover all or most of the cash invested
in the portfolio securities involved during the term of the reverse repurchase agreement, while in many cases a fund is able to keep some of the interest income associated with those securities. Such transactions are only advantageous if a fund has
an opportunity to earn a greater rate of interest on the cash derived from these transactions than the interest cost of obtaining the same amount of cash. Opportunities to realize earnings from the use of the proceeds equal to or greater than the
interest required to be paid may not always be available and a Portfolio intends to use the reverse repurchase technique only when the Adviser believes it will be advantageous to the Portfolio and, therefore, the Fund. The use of reverse repurchase
agreements may exaggerate any interim increase or decrease in the value of a Portfolios and, therefore, a Funds assets. A Portfolios exposure to reverse repurchase agreements will be covered by securities having a value equal to or
greater than such commitments. Under the 1940 Act, reverse repurchase agreements are considered borrowings. Although there is no limit on the percentage of fund assets that can be used in connection with reverse repurchase agreements, the Portfolios
do not expect to engage, under normal circumstances, in reverse repurchase agreements with respect to more than 33 1/3% of their respective total assets.
COMMERCIAL PAPER
Each Portfolio may invest in commercial paper. Commercial paper consists of
short-term, promissory notes issued by banks, corporations and other entities to finance short-term credit needs. These securities generally are discounted but sometimes may be interest bearing.
14
OTHER SHORT-TERM INSTRUMENTS
In addition to repurchase agreements, each Portfolio may
invest in short-term instruments, including money market instruments, (including money market funds advised by the Adviser), cash and cash equivalents, on an ongoing basis to provide liquidity or for other reasons. Money market instruments are
generally short-term investments that may include but are not limited to: (i) shares of money market funds (including those advised by the Adviser); (ii) obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or
instrumentalities (including government-sponsored enterprises); (iii) negotiable certificates of deposit (CDs), bankers acceptances, fixed time deposits and other obligations of U.S. and foreign banks (including foreign
branches) and similar institutions; (iv) commercial paper rated at the date of purchase Prime-1 by Moodys Investors Service (Moodys) or A-1 by Standard & Poors
(S&P), or if unrated, of comparable quality as determined by the Adviser; (v) non-convertible corporate debt securities (
e.g.
, bonds and debentures) with remaining maturities at the date of purchase of not more than 397
days and that satisfy the rating requirements set forth in Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act; and (vi) short-term U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of foreign banks (including U.S. branches) that, in the opinion of the Adviser, are of comparable
quality to obligations of U.S. banks which may be purchased by a Portfolio. Any of these instruments may be purchased on a current or a forward-settled basis. Money market instruments also include shares of money market funds. Time deposits are
non-negotiable deposits maintained in banking institutions for specified periods of time at stated interest rates. Bankers acceptances are time drafts drawn on commercial banks by borrowers, usually in connection with international
transactions.
FUTURES CONTRACTS, OPTIONS AND SWAP AGREEMENTS
In order to offer and sell shares on the Exchange, the Trust received an exemptive order permitting the Trust to create and operate the Funds and Portfolios. Pursuant to the conditions imposed by the
exemptive order, neither the Funds nor the Portfolios will invest in options contracts, futures contracts, or swap agreements.
RATINGS
An investment-grade rating means the security or issuer is rated investment-grade by Moodys, S&P, Fitch, or another credit rating
agency designated as a nationally recognized statistical rating organization by the SEC, or is unrated but considered to be of equivalent quality by the Adviser or applicable Sub-Adviser.
Subsequent to purchase by a Portfolio, a rated security may cease to be rated or its investment grade rating may be reduced below an investment grade rating. Bonds rated lower than Baa3 by Moodys or
BBB- by S&P are below investment grade quality and are obligations of issuers that are considered predominantly speculative with respect to the issuers capacity to pay interest and repay principal according to the terms of the obligation
and, therefore, carry greater investment risk, including the possibility of issuer default and bankruptcy and increased market price volatility. Such securities (lower rated securities) are commonly referred to as junk bonds
and are subject to a substantial degree of credit risk. Lower rated securities are often issued by smaller, less creditworthy companies or by highly leveraged (indebted) firms, which are generally less able than more financially stable firms to make
scheduled payments of interest and principal. The risks posed by securities issued under such circumstances are substantial. Bonds rated below investment grade tend to be less marketable than higher-quality bonds because the market for them is less
broad. The market for unrated bonds is even narrower. See HIGH YIELD SECURITIES above for more information relating to the risks associated with investing in lower rated securities.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND RISKS
A discussion of the risks associated with an investment in each Fund is contained in the Prospectus. The discussion below supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, the Prospectus.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
GENERAL
Investment in a Fund should be made with an understanding that the value of the Funds portfolio securities may fluctuate in accordance with changes
in the financial condition of the issuers of the portfolio securities, the value of securities generally and other factors.
An investment in
a Fund should also be made with an understanding of the risks inherent in an investment in securities, including the risk that the financial condition of issuers may become impaired or that the general condition of the securities markets may
deteriorate (either of which may cause a decrease in the value of the portfolio securities and thus in the value of Shares). Securities are susceptible to general market fluctuations and to volatile increases and decreases in value as market
confidence in and perceptions of their issuers change. These investor perceptions are based on various and unpredictable factors including expectations regarding government, economic, monetary and fiscal policies, inflation and interest rates,
economic expansion or contraction, and global or regional political, economic and banking crises.
Holders of common stocks incur more risk
than holders of preferred stocks and debt obligations because common stockholders, as owners of the issuer, have generally inferior rights to receive payments from the issuer in comparison with the rights of creditors of, or holders of debt
obligations or preferred stocks issued by, the issuer. Further, unlike debt securities which typically have a stated
15
principal amount payable at maturity (whose value, however, will be subject to market fluctuations prior thereto), or preferred stocks which typically have a liquidation preference and which may
have stated optional or mandatory redemption provisions, common stocks have neither a fixed principal amount nor a maturity. Common stock values are subject to market fluctuations as long as the common stock remains outstanding.
The principal trading market for some securities may be in the over-the-counter market. The existence of a liquid trading market for certain securities
may depend on whether dealers will make a market in such securities. There can be no assurance that a market will be made or maintained or that any such market will be or remain liquid. The price at which securities may be sold and the value of a
Funds Shares will be adversely affected if trading markets for the Funds portfolio securities are limited or absent or if bid/ask spreads are wide.
NON-PRINCIPAL RISKS
TAX RISKS
As with any investment, you should consider how your investment in Shares of a Fund will be taxed. The tax information in the Prospectus and this SAI is provided as general information. You should consult
your own tax professional about the tax consequences of an investment in Shares of a Fund.
Unless your investment in Shares is made through a
tax-exempt entity or tax-deferred retirement account, such as an individual retirement account, you need to be aware of the possible tax consequences when a Fund makes distributions or you sell Fund Shares.
CONTINUOUS OFFERING
The method by which
Creation Units of Shares are created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. Because new Creation Units of Shares are issued and sold by the Trust on an ongoing basis, at any point a distribution, as such
term is used in the Securities Act, may occur. Broker-dealers and other persons are cautioned that some activities on their part may, depending on the circumstances, result in their being deemed participants in a distribution in a manner which could
render them statutory underwriters and subject them to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the Securities Act.
For example, a
broker-dealer firm or its client may be deemed a statutory underwriter if it takes Creation Units after placing an order with the Distributor, breaks them down into constituent Shares, and sells such Shares directly to customers, or if it chooses to
couple the creation of a supply of new Shares with an active selling effort involving solicitation of secondary market demand for Shares. A determination of whether one is an underwriter for purposes of the Securities Act must take into account all
the facts and circumstances pertaining to the activities of the broker-dealer or its client in the particular case, and the examples mentioned above should not be considered a complete description of all the activities that could lead to a
categorization as an underwriter.
Broker-dealer firms should also note that dealers who are not underwriters but are effecting
transactions in Shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of Shares, are generally required to deliver a prospectus. This is because the prospectus delivery exemption in Section 4(3) of the Securities Act is not available in
respect of such transactions as a result of Section 24(d) of the 1940 Act. Firms that incur a prospectus-delivery obligation with respect to Shares of a Fund are reminded that under Securities Act Rule 153, a prospectus-delivery obligation
under Section 5(b)(2) of the Securities Act owed to an exchange member in connection with a sale on the Exchange is satisfied by the fact that a Funds prospectus is available at the Exchange upon request. The prospectus delivery mechanism
provided in Rule 153 is only available with respect to transactions on an exchange.
16
INVESTMENT RESTRICTIONS
The Trust or the SSgA Master Trust have adopted the following investment restrictions as fundamental policies with respect to each Fund and Portfolio.
These restrictions cannot be changed with respect to a Fund or Portfolio without the approval of the holders of a majority of the Funds or Portfolios outstanding voting securities. For purposes of the 1940 Act, a majority of the
outstanding voting securities of a Fund or a Portfolio means the vote, at an annual or a special meeting of the security holders of the Trust or the SSgA Master Trust, of the lesser of (1) 67% or more of the voting securities of the Fund or
Portfolio present at such meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund or Portfolio are present or represented by proxy, or (2) more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund or
Portfolio. Except with the approval of a majority of the outstanding voting securities, a Fund or Portfolio may not:
1.
|
Purchase securities of an issuer that would cause the Fund or Portfolio to fail to satisfy the diversification requirement for a diversified management company under
the 1940 Act, the rules or regulations thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to time;
|
2.
|
Concentrate investments in a particular industry or group of industries, as concentration is defined under the 1940 Act, the Rules and regulations
thereunder or any exemption therefrom, as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended or interpreted from time to
time;
1
|
3.
|
Make loans to another person except as permitted by the 1940 Act or other governing statute, by the Rules thereunder, or by the SEC or other regulatory agency with
authority over the Funds or Portfolios;
|
4.
|
Issue senior securities or borrow money except as permitted by the 1940 Act or other governing statute, by the Rules thereunder, or by the SEC or other regulatory
agency with authority over the Funds or Portfolios;
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5.
|
Invest directly in real estate unless the real estate is acquired as a result of ownership of securities or other instruments. This restriction shall not preclude a
Fund from investing in companies that deal in real estate or in instruments that are backed or secured by real estate;
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6.
|
Act as an underwriter of another issuers securities, except to the extent the Fund or Portfolio may be deemed to be an underwriter within the meaning of the
Securities Act of 1933 in connection with the Funds or Portfolios purchase and sale of portfolio securities; or
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7.
|
Invest in commodities except as permitted by the 1940 Act or other governing statute, by the Rules thereunder, or by the SEC or other regulatory agency with authority
over the Funds or Portfolios.
|
In addition to the investment restrictions adopted as fundamental policies as set forth above,
each Fund and Portfolio observes the following restrictions, which may be changed by the Board without a shareholder vote. A Fund will not:
1.
|
Invest in the securities of a company for the purpose of exercising management or control, provided that the Trust or the SSgA Master Trust may vote the investment
securities owned by the Fund or Portfolio in accordance with its views;
|
2.
|
Hold illiquid assets in excess of 15% of its net assets. An illiquid asset is any asset which may not be sold or disposed of in the ordinary course of business within
seven days at approximately the value at which the Fund or Portfolio has valued the investment;
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3.
|
With respect to the SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF and Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan Portfolio, invest, under normal circumstances, less than 80% of its net assets
(plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in senior loans or in investments substantially similar to or related to senior loans. Prior to any change this 80% investment policy, the Fund or Portfolio will provide shareholders with
60 days written notice.
|
If a percentage limitation is adhered to at the time of investment or contract, a later increase or
decrease in percentage resulting from any change in value or total or net assets will not result in a violation of such restriction, except that the percentage limitations with respect to the borrowing of money and illiquid securities will be
observed continuously. With respect to the limitation on illiquid securities, in the event that a subsequent change in net assets or other circumstances cause a Fund or Portfolio to exceed its limitation, the Fund or Portfolio will take steps to
bring the aggregate amount of illiquid instruments back within the limitations as soon as reasonably practicable.
1
|
The SEC Staff considers concentration to involve more than 25% of a funds assets to be invested in an industry or group of industries.
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17
EXCHANGE LISTING AND TRADING
A discussion of exchange listing and trading matters associated with an investment in a Fund is contained in the Prospectus under PURCHASE AND SALE
INFORMATION and ADDITIONAL PURCHASE AND SALE INFORMATION. The discussion below supplements, and should be read in conjunction with, such sections of the Prospectus.
The Shares of each Fund are approved for listing and trading on the Exchange, subject to notice of issuance. The Shares trade on the Exchange at prices that may differ to some degree from their net asset
value. There can be no assurance that the requirements of the Exchange necessary to maintain the listing of Shares of a Fund will continue to be met.
The Exchange may, but is not required to, remove the Shares of a Fund from listing if: (1) following the initial twelve-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of the Fund, there are
fewer than 50 beneficial holders of the Shares for 30 or more consecutive trading days; (2) the value of the portfolio of securities on which the Fund is based is no longer calculated or available; (3) the indicative optimized
portfolio value (IOPV) of the Fund is no longer calculated or available; or (4) such other event shall occur or condition exists that, in the opinion of the Exchange, makes further dealings on the Exchange inadvisable. In
addition, the Exchange will remove the Shares from listing and trading upon termination of the Trust or a Fund.
The Trust reserves the right
to adjust the Share price of a Fund in the future to maintain convenient trading ranges for investors. Any adjustments would be accomplished through stock splits or reverse stock splits, which would have no effect on the net assets of the Fund.
As in the case of other publicly traded securities, brokers commissions on transactions will be based on negotiated commission rates at
customary levels.
The base and trading currencies of the Funds is the U.S. dollar. The base currency is the currency in which a Funds
net asset value per Share is calculated and the trading currency is the currency in which Shares of a Fund are listed and traded on the Exchange.
18
MANAGEMENT OF THE TRUST
The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled MANAGEMENT.
Board Responsibilities.
The management and affairs of the Trust and its series, including the Funds described in this SAI, are overseen by the
Trustees. The Board has approved contracts, as described in this SAI, under which certain companies provide essential management services to the Trust.
Like most mutual funds, the day-to-day business of the Trust, including the management of risk, is performed by third party service providers, such as the Adviser, Sub-Advisers, Distributor and
Administrator. The Trustees are responsible for overseeing the Trusts service providers and, thus, have oversight responsibility with respect to risk management performed by those service providers. Risk management seeks to identify and
address risks,
i.e.
, events or circumstances that could have material adverse effects on the business, operations, shareholder services, investment performance or reputation of the Funds. The Funds and their service providers employ a variety
of processes, procedures and controls to identify various of those possible events or circumstances, to lessen the probability of their occurrence and/or to mitigate the effects of such events or circumstances if they do occur. Each service provider
is responsible for one or more discrete aspects of the Trusts business (
e.g.
, a Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of a Funds portfolio investments) and, consequently, for managing the risks associated with
that business. The Board has emphasized to the Funds service providers the importance of maintaining vigorous risk management.
The
Trustees role in risk oversight begins before the inception of a Fund, at which time the Funds Adviser and, if applicable, Sub-Adviser present the Board with information concerning the investment objectives, strategies and risks of the
Fund, as well as proposed investment limitations for the Fund. Additionally, the Funds Adviser and Sub-Adviser provide the Board with an overview of, among other things, their investment philosophies, brokerage practices and compliance
infrastructures. Thereafter, the Board continues its oversight function as various personnel, including the Trusts Chief Compliance Officer, as well as personnel of the Adviser and other service providers, such as the Funds independent
accountants, make periodic reports to the Audit Committee or to the Board with respect to various aspects of risk management. The Board and the Audit Committee oversee efforts by management and service providers to manage risks to which a Fund may
be exposed.
The Board is responsible for overseeing the nature, extent and quality of the services provided to the Funds by the Adviser and
Sub-Adviser and receives information about those services at its regular meetings. In addition, on an annual basis, in connection with its consideration of whether to renew the Advisory Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement with the Adviser and
Sub-Adviser, respectively, the Board meets with the Adviser and Sub-Adviser to review such services. Among other things, the Board regularly considers the Advisers and Sub-Advisers adherence to the Funds investment restrictions and
compliance with various Fund policies and procedures and with applicable securities regulations. The Board also reviews information about each Funds investments.
The Trusts Chief Compliance Officer reports regularly to the Board to review and discuss compliance issues. At least annually, the Trusts Chief Compliance Officer provides the Board with a
report reviewing the adequacy and effectiveness of the Trusts policies and procedures and those of its service providers, including the Adviser and any Sub-Adviser. The report addresses the operation of the policies and procedures of the Trust
and each service provider since the date of the last report; any material changes to the policies and procedures since the date of the last report; any recommendations for material changes to the policies and procedures; and any material compliance
matters since the date of the last report.
The Board receives reports from the Funds service providers regarding operational risks and
risks related to the valuation and liquidity of portfolio securities. Regular reports are made to the Board concerning investments for which market quotations are not readily available. Annually, the independent registered public accounting firm
reviews with the Audit Committee its audit of each Funds financial statements, focusing on major areas of risk encountered by the Funds and noting any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in the Funds internal controls.
Additionally, in connection with its oversight function, the Board oversees Fund managements implementation of disclosure controls and procedures, which are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Trust in its
periodic reports with the SEC are recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the required time periods. The Board also oversees the Trusts internal controls over financial reporting, which comprise policies and procedures designed to
provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of the Trusts financial reporting and the preparation of the Trusts financial statements.
From their review of these reports and discussions with the Adviser and Sub-Adviser, the Chief Compliance Officer, the independent registered public accounting firm and other service providers, the Board
and the Audit Committee learn in detail about the material risks of the Fund, thereby facilitating a dialogue about how management and service providers identify and mitigate those risks.
The Board recognizes that not all risks that may affect a Fund can be identified and/or quantified, that it may not be practical or cost-effective to eliminate or mitigate certain risks, that it may be
necessary to bear certain risks (such as investment-related risks) to achieve a Funds goals, and that the processes, procedures and controls employed to address certain risks may be limited in their
19
effectiveness. Moreover, reports received by the Trustees as to risk management matters are typically summaries of the relevant information. Most of the Funds investment management and
business affairs are carried out by or through the Funds Adviser, Sub-Adviser and other service providers, each of which has an independent interest in risk management but whose policies and the methods by which one or more risk management
functions are carried out may differ from the Funds and each others in the setting of priorities, the resources available or the effectiveness of relevant controls. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, the Boards ability
to monitor and manage risk, as a practical matter, is subject to limitations.
Trustees and Officers.
There are six members of the
Board of Trustees, five of whom are not interested persons of the Trust, as that term is defined in the 1940 Act (Independent Trustees). Frank Nesvet, an Independent Trustee, serves as Chairman of the Board. The Board has determined its
leadership structure is appropriate given the specific characteristics and circumstances of the Trust. The Board made this determination in consideration of, among other things, the fact that the Independent Trustees constitute a super-majority
(greater than 75%) of the Board, the fact that the chairperson of each Committee of the Board is an Independent Trustee, the amount of assets under management in the Trust, and the number of funds (and classes of shares) overseen by the Board. The
Board also believes that its leadership structure facilitates the orderly and efficient flow of information to the Independent Trustees from fund management.
The Board of Trustees has three standing committees: the Audit Committee, Trustee Committee and Pricing and Investment Committee. The Audit Committee and Trustee Committee are each chaired by an
Independent Trustee and composed of all of the Independent Trustees. The Pricing and Investment Committee is composed of Officers of the Trust, investment management personnel of the Adviser and senior operations and administrative personnel of
State Street.
Set forth below are the names, year of birth, position with the Trust, length of term of office, and the principal occupations
during the last five years and other directorships held of each of the persons currently serving as a Trustee or Officer of the Trust.
TRUSTEES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NAME, ADDRESS
AND YEAR OF BIRTH
|
|
POSITION(S)
WITH FUNDS
|
|
TERM OF
OFFICE AND
LENGTH OF
TIME SERVED
|
|
PRINCIPAL
OCCUPATION(S)
DURING PAST
5 YEARS
|
|
NUMBER OF
PORTFOLIOS
IN FUND
COMPLEX
OVERSEEN
BY TRUSTEE
|
|
OTHER
DIRECTORSHIPS
HELD BY TRUSTEE
|
INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
FRANK NESVET
c/o SSgA Active ETF Trust
State Street Financial Center
One Lincoln
Street
Boston, MA 02111-2900
1943
|
|
Independent
Trustee,
Chairman
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Chief Executive
Officer, Libra
Group, Inc.
(1998-present) (a
financial services
consulting
company).
|
|
140
|
|
SPDR Index Shares
Funds (Trustee);
SPDR Series
Trust (Trustee);
SSgA Master
Trust (Trustee).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DAVID M. KELLY
c/o SSgA Active ETF Trust
State Street Financial Center
One
Lincoln Street
Boston, MA 02111-2900
1938
|
|
Independent
Trustee
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Retired.
|
|
140
|
|
Penson Worldwide
Inc. (Director);
CHX Holdings,
Inc. and Chicago
Stock Exchange
(Director);
SPDR Index
Shares Funds
(Trustee); SPDR
Series
Trust
(Trustee); SSgA
Master Trust
(Trustee).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BONNY EUGENIA BOATMAN
c/o SSgA Active ETF Trust
State Street Financial
Center
One Lincoln Street
Boston, MA
02111-2900
1950
|
|
Independent
Trustee
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Retired (2005 -
present);
Managing
Director,
Columbia
Management Group,
Bank of America
(1984-2005).
|
|
140
|
|
SPDR Index
Shares Funds
(Trustee); SPDR
Series Trust
(Trustee); SSgA
Master Trust
(Trustee).
|
20
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NAME, ADDRESS
AND YEAR OF BIRTH
|
|
POSITION(S)
WITH FUNDS
|
|
TERM OF
OFFICE AND
LENGTH OF
TIME SERVED
|
|
PRINCIPAL
OCCUPATION(S)
DURING PAST
5 YEARS
|
|
NUMBER OF
PORTFOLIOS
IN FUND
COMPLEX
OVERSEEN
BY TRUSTEE
|
|
OTHER
DIRECTORSHIPS
HELD BY TRUSTEE
|
DWIGHT D. CHURCHILL
c/o SSgA
Active ETF Trust
State Street Financial Center
One Lincoln Street
Boston, MA 02111-2900
1953
|
|
Independent
Trustee
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Self-employed
consultant since 2010;
Head of Fixed Income
and other Senior
Management
roles,
Fidelity
Investments
(1993-2009).
|
|
140
|
|
SPDR Index Shares
Funds (Trustee);
SPDR Series
Trust (Trustee);
SSgA Master
Trust (Trustee);
Affiliated
Managers
Group,
Inc.
(Director).
|
|
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|
|
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CARL G. VERBONCOEUR
c/o SSgA Active ETF Trust
State Street Financial
Center
One Lincoln Street
Boston, MA
02111-2900
1952
|
|
Independent
Trustee
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Self-employed
consultant since
2009; Chief
Executive
Officer, Rydex
Investments
(2003-2009).
|
|
140
|
|
SPDR Index
Shares Funds
(Trustee); SPDR
Series Trust
(Trustee); SSgA
Master Trust
(Trustee).
|
|
|
|
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|
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INTERESTED TRUSTEE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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JAMES E. ROSS*
SSgA
Funds Management, Inc.
State Street Financial Center
One Lincoln Street
Boston, MA 02111
1965
|
|
Interested
Trustee
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served as
Trustee: since
March 2011
|
|
Chairman and
Director, SSgA
Funds
Management,
Inc. (2005-
present);
President,
SSgA
Funds
Management,
Inc.
(2005-
2012);
Senior Managing
Director, State
Street Global
Advisors (2006-
present);
Principal, State
Street
Global
Advisors (2006-
present).
|
|
170
|
|
SPDR Index Shares
Funds (Trustee);
SPDR Series
Trust (Trustee);
SSgA Master
Trust (Trustee);
Select Sector
SPDR Trust
(Trustee); State
Street
Master
Funds (Trustee);
and State Street
Institutional
Investment Trust
(Trustee).
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*
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Mr. Ross is an Interested Trustee because of his employment with the Adviser and ownership interest in an affiliate of the Adviser.
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21
OFFICERS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NAME, ADDRESS
AND YEAR OF BIRTH
|
|
POSITION(S)
WITH FUNDS
|
|
TERM OF
OFFICE AND
LENGTH OF
TIME SERVED
|
|
PRINCIPAL
OCCUPATION(S)
DURING PAST
5 YEARS
|
ELLEN M. NEEDHAM
SSgA Funds
Management, Inc.
State Street Financial Center
One Lincoln Street
Boston, MA 02111
1967
|
|
President
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
October 2012
|
|
President and Director, SSgA Funds Management, Inc. (June 2012-present); Chief Operating Officer, SSgA Funds Management, Inc. (May 2010-June 2012); Senior Managing Director, SSgA
Funds Management, Inc. (1992-2012)*; Senior Managing Director, State Street Global Advisors (1992-present).*
|
|
|
|
|
MICHAEL P. RILEY
SSgA Funds
Management, Inc.
State Street Financial Center
One Lincoln Street
Boston, MA 02111
1969
|
|
Vice President
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Vice President, State Street Global Advisors and SSgA Funds Management, Inc. (2008-present); Principal, State Street Global Advisors and SSgA Funds Management, Inc.
(2005-2008)
|
|
|
|
|
RYAN M. LOUVAR
State Street
Bank and Trust Company
Four Copley Place, CPH0326
Boston, MA 02116
1972
|
|
Secretary
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Vice President and Senior Managing Counsel, State Street Bank and Trust Company (2005-present).*
|
|
|
|
|
MARK E. TUTTLE
State Street
Bank and Trust Company
Four Copley Place, CPH0326
Boston, MA 02116
1970
|
|
Assistant Secretary
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Vice President and Counsel, State Street Bank and Trust Company (2007-present)*; Assistant Counsel, BISYS Group, Inc. (2005-2007)* (a financial services company).
|
|
|
|
|
SCOTT E. HABEEB
State
Street Bank and Trust Company
Four Copley Place, CPH0326
Boston, MA 02116
1968
|
|
Assistant
Secretary
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Vice President and Counsel, State Street Bank and Trust Company (2007-present)*; Legal Analyst, Verizon Communications (2004-2007).
|
|
|
|
|
CHAD C. HALLETT
State Street
Bank and Trust Company
Four Copley Place, CPH03
Boston, MA 02111
1969
|
|
Treasurer
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Vice President, State Street Bank and Trust Company (2001-present).*
|
|
|
|
|
MATTHEW FLAHERTY
State
Street Bank and Trust Company
Four Copley Place, CPH03
Boston, MA 02111
1971
|
|
Assistant Treasurer
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Assistant Vice President, Street Bank and Trust Company (1994-present).*
|
|
|
|
|
LAURA F. DELL
State Street
Bank and Trust Company
Four Copley Place, CPH03
Boston, MA 02111
1964
|
|
Assistant
Treasurer
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Vice President, State Street Bank and Trust Company (2002-present).*
|
|
|
|
|
JACQUELINE ANGELL
State Street
Bank and Trust Company
20 Churchill Place
London, UK E14 5HJ
1974
|
|
Chief Compliance Officer
|
|
Term: Unlimited
Served: since
March 2011
|
|
Head of UK Compliance, State Street Bank and Trust Company (July 2012-present); Vice President, State Street Global Advisors and SSgA Funds Management, Inc. (2008-June 2012);
Director of Investment Adviser Oversight, Fidelity Investments (2006-2008).
|
*
|
Served in various capacities during noted time period.
|
22
Individual Trustee Qualifications
The Board has concluded that each of the Trustees should serve on the Board because of his or her ability to review and understand information about the Funds provided to him or her by management, to
identify and request other information he or she may deem relevant to the performance of his or her duties, to question management and other service providers regarding material factors bearing on the management and administration of the Funds, and
to exercise his or her business judgment in a manner that serves the best interests of each Funds shareholders. The Board has concluded that each of the Trustees should serve as a Trustee based on his or her own experience, qualifications,
attributes and skills as described below.
The Board has concluded that Mr. Nesvet should serve as Trustee because of the experience he
has gained serving as the Chief Executive Officer of a financial services consulting company, serving on the boards of other investment companies, and serving as chief financial officer of a major financial services company; his knowledge of the
financial services industry, and the experience he has gained serving as Trustee of SPDR Index Shares Funds and SPDR Series Trust since 2000.
The Board has concluded that Mr. Kelly should serve as Trustee because of the experience he gained serving as the President and Chief Executive
Officer of the National Securities Clearing Corporation, his previous and current directorship experience, and the experience he has gained serving as Trustee of SPDR Index Shares Funds and SPDR Series Trust since 2000.
The Board has concluded that Ms. Boatman should serve as Trustee because of the experience she gained serving as Managing Director of the primary
investment division of one of the nations leading financial institutions, her knowledge of the financial services industry and the experience he has gained serving as Trustee of SPDR Index Shares Funds and SPDR Series Trust since April 2010.
The Board has concluded that Mr. Churchill should serve as Trustee because of the experience he gained serving as the Head of the Fixed
Income Division of one of the nations leading mutual fund companies and provider of financial services, his knowledge of the financial services industry and the experience he has gained serving as Trustee of SPDR Index Shares Funds and SPDR
Series Trust since April 2010.
The Board has concluded that Mr. Verboncoeur should serve as Trustee because of the experience he gained
serving as the Chief Executive Officer of a large financial services and investment management company, his knowledge of the financial services industry and his experience serving on the boards of other investment companies, including SPDR Index
Shares Funds and SPDR Series Trust since April 2010.
The Board has concluded that Mr. Ross should serve as Trustee because of the
experience he has gained in his various roles with the Adviser, his knowledge of the financial services industry, and the experience he has gained serving as Trustee of SPDR Index Shares Funds and SPDR Series Trust since 2005 (Mr. Ross did not serve
as Trustee of SPDR Index Shares Funds or SPDR Series Trust from December 2009 until April 2010).
In its periodic assessment of the
effectiveness of the Board, the Board considers the complementary individual skills and experience of the individual Trustees primarily in the broader context of the Boards overall composition so that the Board, as a body, possesses the
appropriate (and appropriately diverse) skills and experience to oversee the business of the Funds.
REMUNERATION OF THE TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS
No officer, director or employee of the Adviser, its parent or subsidiaries receives any compensation from the Trust for serving as an officer
or Trustee of the Trust other than the Chief Compliance Officer, who serves at the pleasure of the Independent Trustees. The Trust, SSgA Master Trust, SPDR Series Trust (SST Trust) and SPDR Index Shares Funds (SIS Trust) pay,
in the aggregate, each Independent Trustee an annual fee of $132,500 plus $7,500 per in-person meeting attended. An Independent Trustee will receive $1,250 for each telephonic or video conference meeting attended. The Chair of the Board receives an
additional annual fee of $37,500 and the Chair of the Audit Committee receives an additional annual fee of $15,000. The Trust also reimburses each Independent Trustee for travel and other out-of-pocket expenses incurred by him/her in connection with
attending such meetings and in connection with attending industry seminars and meetings. Trustee fees are allocated between the Trust, SSgA Master Trust, SST Trust and SIS Trust and each of their respective series in such a manner as deemed
equitable, taking into consideration the relative net assets of the series.
23
The table below shows the compensation that the Independent Trustees received during the Trusts fiscal
year ended June 30, 2012.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NAME OF
INDEPENDENT TRUSTEE
|
|
AGGREGATE
COMPENSATION
FROM THE
TRUST
|
|
PENSION OR
RETIREMENT
BENEFITS
ACCRUED
AS
PART OF TRUST
EXPENSES
|
|
ESTIMATED
ANNUAL
BENEFITS UPON
RETIREMENT
|
|
TOTAL
COMPENSATION
FROM THE TRUST
AND FUND
COMPLEX PAID
TO TRUSTEES
(1)
|
|
Frank Nesvet
|
|
(2)
|
|
N/A
|
|
N/A
|
|
$
|
222,500
|
|
Bonny Boatman
|
|
(2)
|
|
N/A
|
|
N/A
|
|
$
|
185,000
|
|
Dwight Churchill
|
|
(2)
|
|
N/A
|
|
N/A
|
|
$
|
178,750
|
|
David M. Kelly
|
|
(2)
|
|
N/A
|
|
N/A
|
|
$
|
193,750
|
|
Carl Verboncoeur
|
|
(2)
|
|
N/A
|
|
N/A
|
|
$
|
178,750
|
|
(1)
|
The Fund Complex includes the Trust.
|
STANDING COMMITTEES
Audit Committee. The Board has an Audit Committee consisting of all Independent Trustees. Mr. Kelly serves as Chair. The Audit Committee
meets with the Trusts independent auditors to review and approve the scope and results of their professional services; to review the procedures for evaluating the adequacy of the Trusts accounting controls; to consider the range of audit
fees; and to make recommendations to the Board regarding the engagement of the Trusts independent auditors. The Audit Committee meets periodically, as necessary.
Trustee Committee. The Board has established a Trustee Committee consisting of all Independent Trustees. Mr. Nesvet serves as Chair. The responsibilities of the Trustee Committee are to: 1) nominate
Independent Trustees; 2) review on a periodic basis the governance structures and procedures of the Funds; 3) review proposed resolutions and conflicts of interest that may arise in the business of the Funds and may have an impact on the investors
of the Funds; 4) review matters that are referred to the Committee by the Chief Legal Officer or other counsel to the Trust; and 5) provide general oversight of the Funds on behalf of the investors of the Funds. The Trustee Committee meets
periodically, as necessary.
Pricing and Investment Committee. The Board also has established a Pricing and Investment Committee that is
composed of Officers of the Trust, investment management personnel of the Adviser and senior operations and administrative personnel of State Street. The Pricing and Investment Committee is responsible for the valuation and revaluation of any
portfolio investments for which market quotations or prices are not readily available. The Pricing and Investment Committee meets only when necessary. The Board meets periodically, as necessary, to review and ratify fair value pricing determinations
of the Pricing and Investment Committee. The Pricing and Investment Committee reports to the Board on a quarterly basis.
Trustee Ownership
of Securities of the Trust, Adviser and Distributor
As of the date of this SAI, neither the Independent Trustees nor their immediate
family members owned beneficially or of record any securities in the Adviser, Sub-Advisers, Principal Underwriter or any person controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Adviser, Sub-Adviser or Principal Underwriter.
24
The following table sets forth information describing the dollar range of equity securities beneficially
owned by each Trustee in the Trust as of December 31, 2011.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dollar Range of Equity
Securities in the Funds
|
|
Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity
Securities in All Registered Investment
Companies Overseen by Trustee in
Family of Investment
Companies
|
NAME OF INDEPENDENT TRUSTEE
|
|
|
Frank Nesvet
|
|
None
|
|
None
|
Bonny Boatman
|
|
None
|
|
None
|
Dwight Churchill
|
|
None
|
|
None
|
David M. Kelly
|
|
None
|
|
None
|
Carl Verboncoeur
|
|
None
|
|
None
|
|
NAME OF INTERESTED TRUSTEE
|
James E. Ross
|
|
None
|
|
Over $100,000
|
CODES OF ETHICS
The Trust, the Adviser (which includes applicable reporting personnel of the Distributor) and the Sub-Adviser each have adopted a code of ethics as
required by applicable law, which is designed to prevent affiliated persons of the Trust, the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser and the Distributor from engaging in deceptive, manipulative or fraudulent activities in connection with securities held or to be
acquired by the Funds (which may also be held by persons subject to the codes of ethics).
There can be no assurance that the codes of ethics
will be effective in preventing such activities. Each code of ethics, filed as exhibits to this registration statement, may be examined at the office of the SEC in Washington, D.C. or on the Internet at the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov.
PROXY VOTING POLICIES
The Board of
Trustees of the SSgA Master Trust believes that the voting of proxies on securities held by each Portfolio is an important element of the overall investment process. As such, the Board of the SSgA Master Trust has delegated the responsibility to
vote such proxies to the Adviser for each Portfolio, other than the Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan Portfolio. The Board of the SSgA Master Trust has delegated the responsibility to vote proxies of the Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan Portfolio to GSO /
Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLC, the Portfolios sub-adviser. The Advisers and GSO / Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLCs proxy voting policies are attached at the end of this SAI. Information regarding how a Portfolio voted
proxies relating to its portfolio securities during the most recent twelve-month period ended June 30 is available: (1) without charge by calling 1-866-787-2257; (2) on the Portfolios website at www.SPDRs.com; and (3) on
the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov.
DISCLOSURE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS POLICY
The Trust and the SSgA Master Trust have each has adopted a policy regarding the disclosure of information about the respective Trusts portfolio
holdings. The respective Board must approve all material amendments to this policy. The Funds or Portfolios portfolio holdings are publicly disseminated each day a Fund or a Portfolio is open for business through financial reporting and
news services including publicly accessible Internet web sites. In addition, a basket composition file, which includes the security names and share quantities to deliver in exchange for Fund/Portfolio Shares, together with estimates and actual cash
components, is publicly disseminated daily prior to the opening of the Exchange via the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC). The basket represents one Creation Unit of a Fund or a Portfolio. Each Trust, the Adviser, the
Sub-Adviser or State Street will not disseminate non-public information concerning either Trust, except: (i) to a party for a legitimate business purpose related to the day-to-day operations of the Funds or the Portfolios, or (ii) to any
other party for a legitimate business or regulatory purpose, upon waiver or exception.
THE INVESTMENT ADVISER
SSgA Funds Management, Inc. acts as investment adviser to the Trust and, subject to the supervision of the Board, is responsible for the investment
management of each Fund. As of August 31, 2012, the Adviser managed approximately $259.06 billion. The Advisers principal address is State Street Financial Center, One Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111. The Adviser, a
Massachusetts corporation, is a wholly owned subsidiary of State Street Corporation, a publicly held bank holding company. State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), consisting of the Adviser and other investment advisory affiliates of State
Street Corporation, is the investment management arm of State Street Corporation.
25
The Adviser serves as investment adviser to each Fund pursuant to an investment advisory agreement (Investment Advisory Agreement) between the Trust and the Adviser. The Investment
Advisory Agreement, with respect to each Fund, continues in effect for two years from its effective date, and thereafter is subject to annual approval by (1) the Board or (2) vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as
defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund, provided that in either event such continuance also is approved by a majority of the Board who are not interested persons (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust by a vote cast in person at a meeting called
for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Investment Advisory Agreement with respect to each Fund is terminable without penalty, on 60 days notice, by the Board or by a vote of the holders of a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of a
Funds outstanding voting securities. The Investment Advisory Agreement is also terminable upon 90 days notice by the Adviser and will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act).
Under the Investment Advisory Agreement, the Adviser, subject to the supervision of the Board and in conformity with the stated investment policies of
each Fund, manages the investment of each Funds assets. The Adviser is responsible for placing purchase and sale orders and providing continuous supervision of the investment portfolio of each Fund. Pursuant to the Investment Advisory
Agreement, the Trust has agreed to indemnify the Adviser for certain liabilities, including certain liabilities arising under the federal securities laws, unless such loss or liability results from (a) willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross
negligence in the performance of its duties; (b) the reckless disregard of its obligations and duties; or (c) a loss resulting from a breach of fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of compensation for services.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Boards approval of the Investment Advisory Agreements regarding the Funds can be found in the Trusts
Annual Report to Shareholders dated June 30, 2012.
For the services provided to the Funds under the Investment Advisory Agreement, each
Fund pays the Adviser monthly fees based on a percentage of each Funds average daily net assets as set forth in each Funds Prospectus. With respect to each Fund, other than the SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF, the management fee is
reduced by the proportional amount of the advisory fee, as well as acquired fund fees and expenses, of the respective Portfolio. With respect to the SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF, the management fee is reduced by the proportional amount of the
advisory fee of the Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan Portfolio. The Adviser pays all expenses of each Fund other than the management fee, distribution fees pursuant to the Distribution and Service Plan, if any, brokerage, taxes, interest, fees and
expenses of the Independent Trustees (including any Trustees counsel fees), litigation expenses and other extraordinary expenses. The Adviser may, from time to time, waive all or a portion of its fee, although it does not currently intend to
do so. The Adviser has agreed to pay all costs associated with the organization of the Trust and each Fund.
For the fiscal period ended
June 30, 2012, the Funds paid the following amounts to the Adviser:
|
|
|
|
|
FUND*
|
|
FISCAL YEAR ENDED
JUNE 30,
2012
|
|
SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
|
|
$
|
715
|
(1)
|
SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
|
|
$
|
1,847
|
(1)
|
SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF
|
|
$
|
0
|
(1)(2)
|
*
|
Funds not listed in the table above had not commenced operations as of June 30, 2012.
|
(1)
|
The Fund commenced operations on April 25, 2012.
|
(2)
|
The Adviser reimbursed the Fund in the amount of $1,407.
|
INVESTMENT SUB-ADVISER SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF
Pursuant
to the Advisory Agreement between the Funds and the Adviser, the Adviser is authorized to engage one or more sub-advisers for the performance of any of the services contemplated to be rendered by the Adviser. The Adviser has retained GSO /
Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLC, as sub-adviser, to be responsible for the day to day management of the SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETFs investments, subject to supervision of the Adviser and the Board while the Adviser will provide
administrative, compliance and general management services to the Fund. GSO / Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GSO Capital Partners LP (collectively with its affiliates, GSO). GSO is the credit
platform of The Blackstone Group L.P. (collectively with its affiliates, Blackstone). Blackstone is a leading manager of private capital and provider of financial advisory services. It is one of the largest independent managers of
private capital in the world, with assets under management of approximately $190.2 billion as of June 30, 2012. As of June 30, 2012, GSOs asset management operations had aggregate assets under management of approximately $50.5
billion across multiple strategies within the leveraged finance marketplace, including Senior Loans, high yield bonds, distressed and mezzanine debt. GSO / Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLCs principal business address is 345 Park Avenue,
31
st
Floor, New York, New York 10154.
A discussion regarding the basis for the Boards approval of the Sub-Advisory Agreement will be available in the Trusts Periodic Report to
Shareholders following commencement of the SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETFs operations.
In accordance with the Sub-Advisory
Agreement between the Adviser and GSO / Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLC, the Adviser will pay GSO / Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLC an annual investment sub-advisory fee equal to a portion of average daily net assets of the SPDR
Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF.
26
PORTFOLIO MANAGERS
The Adviser manages the Funds, and GSO / Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLC manages the SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF, using a team of investment professionals. The professionals primarily
responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of each Fund are:
|
|
|
Fund
|
|
Portfolio Managers
|
SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
|
|
Robert Guiliano, Christopher J. Goolgasian and John A. Gulino
|
SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
|
|
Daniel C. Peirce, Christopher J. Goolgasian and Jeremiah K. Holly
|
SPDR SSgA Conservative Global Allocation ETF
|
|
Ola Folarin, Christopher J. Goolgasian and Lisa Khatri
|
SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF
|
|
Ola Folarin, Christopher J. Goolgasian and Lisa Khatri
|
SPDR SSgA Aggressive Global Allocation ETF
|
|
Ola Folarin, Christopher J. Goolgasian and Timothy Furbush
|
SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF
|
|
Daniel T. McMullen and Lee M. Shaiman
|
All ETFs except SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF
. The following table lists the number and types of accounts
managed by each of the key professionals involved in the day-to-day portfolio management for each Fund and assets under management in those accounts. The total number of accounts and assets have been allocated to each respective manager. Therefore,
some accounts and assets have been counted twice.
Other Accounts Managed as of June 30, 2012
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Portfolio Manager
|
|
Registered
Investment
Company
Accounts
|
|
|
Assets
Managed
(billions)*
|
|
|
Pooled
Investment
Vehicle
Accounts
|
|
|
Assets
Managed
(billions)*
|
|
|
Other
Accounts
|
|
|
Assets
Managed
(billions)**
|
|
|
Total
Assets
Managed
(billions)**
|
|
Robert Guiliano
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
$
|
3.99
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
$
|
0.62
|
|
|
|
312
|
|
|
$
|
59.62
|
|
|
$
|
64.23
|
|
Christopher J. Goolgasian
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
$
|
3.99
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
$
|
0.62
|
|
|
|
312
|
|
|
$
|
59.62
|
|
|
$
|
64.23
|
|
Daniel C. Peirce
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
$
|
3.99
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
$
|
0.62
|
|
|
|
312
|
|
|
$
|
59.62
|
|
|
$
|
64.23
|
|
Ola Folarin
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
$
|
3.99
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
$
|
0.62
|
|
|
|
312
|
|
|
$
|
59.62
|
|
|
$
|
64.23
|
|
Lisa Khatri
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
$
|
3.99
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
$
|
0.62
|
|
|
|
312
|
|
|
$
|
59.62
|
|
|
$
|
64.23
|
|
Timothy Furbush
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
$
|
3.99
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
$
|
0.62
|
|
|
|
312
|
|
|
$
|
59.62
|
|
|
$
|
64.23
|
|
Jeremiah K. Holly
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
$
|
3.99
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
$
|
0.62
|
|
|
|
312
|
|
|
$
|
59.62
|
|
|
$
|
64.23
|
|
John A. Gulino
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
$
|
3.99
|
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
$
|
0.62
|
|
|
|
312
|
|
|
$
|
59.62
|
|
|
$
|
64.23
|
|
*
|
There are no performance fees associated with these portfolios.
|
**
|
Includes 5 accounts with performance based fees of $230.49 million.
|
The following table lists the dollar range of Fund Shares beneficially owned by portfolio managers listed above as of June 30, 2012:
|
|
|
|
|
Portfolio
Manager
|
|
Fund
|
|
Dollar Range of Trust
Shares Beneficially
Owned
|
Robert Guiliano
|
|
None
|
|
None
|
Christopher J. Goolgasian
|
|
SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF
|
|
$10,001 - 50,000
$50,001 -
100,000
$10,001 - 50,000
|
Daniel C. Peirce
|
|
SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
|
|
$10,001 - 50,000
|
Ola Folarin
|
|
None
|
|
None
|
Lisa Khatri
|
|
None
|
|
None
|
Timothy Furbush
|
|
None
|
|
None
|
Jeremiah K. Holly
|
|
SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
|
|
$1 - 10,000
|
John A. Gulino
|
|
None
|
|
None
|
A portfolio manager that has responsibility for managing more than one account may be subject to potential conflicts of
interest because he or she is responsible for other accounts in addition to the Funds. Those conflicts could include preferential treatment of one account over others in terms of: (a) the portfolio managers execution of different
investment strategies for various accounts; or (b) the allocation of resources or of investment opportunities. The Adviser has adopted policies and procedures designed to address these potential material conflicts. For instance, portfolio
managers are normally responsible for all accounts within a certain investment discipline, and do not, absent special circumstances, differentiate among the various accounts when allocating resources. Additionally, the Adviser and its advisory
affiliates have processes and procedures for allocating investment opportunities among portfolios that are designed to provide a fair and equitable allocation among the portfolio managers accounts with the same strategy.
27
Portfolio managers may manage numerous accounts for multiple clients. These accounts may include registered
investment companies, other types of pooled accounts (
e.g.
, collective investment funds), and separate accounts (
i.e.
, accounts managed on behalf of individuals or public or private institutions). Portfolio managers make investment
decisions for each account based on the investment objectives and policies and other relevant investment considerations applicable to that portfolio. A potential conflict of interest may arise as a result of the portfolio managers
responsibility for multiple accounts with similar investment guidelines. Under these circumstances, a potential investment may be suitable for more than one of the portfolio managers accounts, but the quantity of the investment available for
purchase is less than the aggregate amount the accounts would ideally devote to the opportunity. Similar conflicts may arise when multiple accounts seek to dispose of the same investment. The portfolio managers may also manage accounts whose
objectives and policies differ from that of the Funds. These differences may be such that under certain circumstances, trading activity appropriate for one account managed by the portfolio manager may have adverse consequences for another account
managed by the portfolio manager. For example, an account may sell a significant position in a security, which could cause the market price of that security to decrease, while a Fund maintained its position in that security.
A potential conflict may arise when the portfolio managers are responsible for accounts that have different advisory feesthe difference in fees
could create an incentive for the portfolio manager to favor one account over another, for example, in terms of access to investment opportunities. This conflict may be heightened if an account is subject to a performance-based fee. Another
potential conflict may arise when the portfolio manager has an investment in one or more accounts that participate in transactions with other accounts. His or her investment(s) may create an incentive for the portfolio manager to favor one account
over another. The Adviser has adopted policies and procedures reasonably designed to address these potential material conflicts. For instance, portfolio managers are normally responsible for all accounts within a certain investment discipline, and
do not, absent special circumstances, differentiate among the various accounts when allocating resources. Additionally, the Adviser and its advisory affiliates have processes and procedures for allocating investment opportunities among portfolios
that are designed to provide a fair and equitable allocation.
The compensation of the Advisers investment professionals is based on a
number of factors. The first factor considered is external market. Through a compensation survey process, the Adviser seeks to understand what its competitors are paying people to perform similar roles. This data is then used to determine a
competitive baseline in the areas of base pay, bonus, and long term incentive (
i.e.
equity). The second factor taken into consideration is the size of the pool available for this compensation. The Adviser is a part of State Street
Corporation, and therefore works within its corporate environment on determining the overall level of its incentive compensation pool. Once determined, this pool is then allocated to the various locations and departments of the Adviser and its
affiliates. The discretionary determination of the allocation amounts to these locations and departments is influenced by the competitive market data, as well as the overall performance of the group. The pool is then allocated on a discretionary
basis to individual employees based on their individual performance. There is no fixed formula for determining these amounts, nor is anyones compensation directly tied to the investment performance or asset value of a product or strategy. The
same process is followed in determining incentive equity allocations.
SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF.
The following table lists
the number and types of accounts managed by each of the key professionals involved in the day-to-day portfolio management for the SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF and assets under management in those accounts as of June 30, 2012. The
Portfolio Managers, who are also members of the Funds Investment Committee, are primarily responsible for the day-to-day portfolio management of the Fund. The other members of the Funds Investment Committee have oversight
responsibilities for the investments made by the Fund.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Portfolio Manager and Member of the Investment Committee
|
|
Registered
Investment
Company
Accounts
|
|
|
Assets
Managed
(billions)
|
|
|
Pooled
Investment
Vehicle
Accounts
|
|
|
Assets
Managed
(billions)
|
|
|
Other*
Accounts
|
|
|
Assets
Managed
(billions)
|
|
|
Total
Assets
Managed
(billions)
|
|
Daniel T. McMullen
|
|
|
0
|
|
|
$
|
0
|
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
$
|
1.0
|
|
|
|
9
|
|
|
$
|
2.9
|
|
|
$
|
3.9
|
|
Lee M. Shaiman
|
|
|
2
|
|
|
$
|
0.7
|
|
|
|
0
|
|
|
$
|
0
|
|
|
|
0
|
|
|
$
|
0
|
|
|
$
|
0.7
|
|
*
|
Separately Managed Accounts
|
The SPDR
Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF had not commenced operations prior to the date of this SAI and therefore the portfolio managers did not beneficially own any Fund Shares.
Compensation
. The Sub-Advisers financial arrangements with its portfolio managers, its competitive compensation and its career path emphasis at all levels reflect the value senior management
places on key resources. Compensation may include a variety of components and may vary from year to year based on a number of factors. The principal components of compensation include a base salary and a discretionary bonus.
Base Compensation
. Generally, portfolio managers receive base compensation and employee benefits based on their individual seniority and/or
their position with the firm.
28
Discretionary Compensation
. In addition to base compensation, portfolio managers may receive
discretionary compensation. Discretionary compensation is based on individual seniority, contributions to the Sub-Adviser and performance of the client assets that the portfolio manager has primary responsibility for. These compensation guidelines
are structured to closely align the interests of employees with those of the Sub-Adviser and its clients.
Material Conflicts of
Interest
. The Sub-Adviser will be subject to certain conflicts of interest in its management of the Fund. These conflicts will arise primarily from the involvement of the Sub-Adviser, GSO, Blackstone and their affiliates in other activities that
may conflict with those of the Fund. The Sub-Adviser, GSO, Blackstone and their affiliates engage in a broad spectrum of activities. In the ordinary course of their business activities, the Sub-Adviser, GSO, Blackstone and their affiliates may
engage in activities where the interests of certain divisions of the Sub-Adviser, GSO, Blackstone and their affiliates or the interests of their clients may conflict with the interests of the Fund or the shareholders of the Fund. Other present and
future activities of the Sub-Adviser, GSO, Blackstone and their affiliates may give rise to additional conflicts of interest which may have a negative impact on the Fund.
In addressing these conflicts and regulatory, legal and contractual requirements across its various businesses, GSO and its affiliates have implemented certain policies and procedures
(
e.g.
, information walls). For example, GSO and its affiliates may come into possession of material non-public information with respect to companies in which the Fund may be considering making an investment or companies that are
GSOs and its affiliates advisory clients. As a consequence, that information, which could be of benefit to the Fund, could also restrict the Funds activities and the investment opportunity may otherwise be unavailable to the Fund.
Additionally, the terms of confidentiality or other agreements with or related to companies in which any fund managed by GSO has or has considered making an investment or which is otherwise an advisory client of GSO and its affiliates may restrict
or otherwise limit the ability of the Fund to make investments in such companies.
The portfolio managers have interests which may conflict
with the interests of the Fund. There is no guarantee that the policies and procedures adopted by the Sub-Adviser and the Fund will be able to identify or mitigate these conflicts of interest. Some examples of material conflicts of interest include:
Broad and Wide-Ranging Activities
. The portfolio managers, the Sub-Adviser, Blackstone and their affiliates engage in a broad
spectrum of activities. In the ordinary course of their business activities, the portfolio managers, the Sub-Adviser, Blackstone and their affiliates may engage in activities where the interests of certain divisions of the Sub-Adviser, Blackstone
and its affiliates or the interests of their clients may conflict with the interests of the shareholders of the Fund.
Allocation of
Investment Opportunities.
Certain inherent conflicts of interest arise from the fact that the portfolio managers, the Sub-Adviser, Blackstone and their affiliates provide investment management services both to the Fund and other clients,
including, other funds, as well as, client accounts, proprietary accounts and any other investment vehicles that the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates may establish from time to time managed by the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates in which the Fund will
not have an interest (such other clients, funds and accounts, collectively the Other Sub-Adviser Accounts). In addition, Blackstone and its affiliates provide investment management services to other clients, including other funds, and
any other investment vehicles that Blackstone or any of its affiliates may establish from time to time (the Other Blackstone Funds), client accounts, and proprietary accounts in which the Fund will not have an interest (such other
clients, funds and accounts, collectively the Other Blackstone Accounts and together with the Other Sub-Adviser Accounts, the Other Accounts). The respective investment programs of the Fund and the Other Accounts may or may
not be substantially similar. The portfolio managers, the Sub-Adviser, Blackstone and their affiliates may give advice and recommend securities to Other Accounts which may differ from advice given to, or securities recommended or bought for, the
Fund, even though their investment objectives may be the same or similar to those of the Fund.
While the Sub-Adviser will seek to manage
potential conflicts of interest in good faith, the portfolio strategies employed by the portfolio managers, the Sub-Adviser and Blackstone in managing its respective Other Accounts could conflict with the transactions and strategies employed by the
portfolio managers in managing the Fund and may affect the prices and availability of the securities and instruments in which the Fund invests. Conversely, participation in specific investment opportunities may be appropriate, at times, for both the
Fund and Other Accounts. It is the policy of the Sub-Adviser to generally share appropriate investment opportunities (and sale opportunities) with the Other Accounts. In general and except as provided below, this means that such opportunities will
be allocated pro rata among the Fund and the Other Accounts based on available capacity for such investment in each fund, taking into account available cash and the relative capital of the respective funds. Nevertheless, investment and/or
opportunities may be allocated other than on a pro rata basis, if the Sub-Adviser deems in good faith that a different allocation among the Fund and the Other Accounts is appropriate, taking into account, among other considerations
(a) risk-return profile of the proposed investment; (b) the Funds or the Other Accounts objectives, whether such objectives are considered solely in light of the specific investment under consideration or in the context of the
portfolios overall holdings; (c) the potential for the proposed investment to create an imbalance in the Funds and the Other Accounts portfolios; (d) liquidity requirements of the Fund and Other Accounts; (e) tax
consequences; (f) regulatory restrictions; (g) the need to re-size risk in the Funds or Other Accounts portfolios; (h) redemption/withdrawal requests from Other Accounts and anticipated future contributions into the Fund
and Other Accounts; and (i) proximity of an Other Account to the end of its specified term/commitment period.
29
Orders may be combined for all such accounts, and if any order is not filled at the same price, they may be
allocated on an average price basis. Similarly, if an order on behalf of more than one account cannot be fully executed under prevailing market conditions, securities may be allocated among the different accounts on a basis which the Sub-Adviser or
its affiliates consider equitable. From time to time, the Fund and the Other Sub-Adviser Accounts may make investments at different levels of an issuers capital structure or otherwise in different classes of an issuers securities. Such
investments may inherently give rise to conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest between or among the various classes of securities that may be held by such entities. While these conflicts cannot be eliminated, the Sub-Adviser, when
practicable, will cause the Fund and the Other Sub-Adviser Accounts to hold investments in the same levels of an issuers capital structure in the same proportion at each level; provided, however, that neither the Fund nor any Other Sub-Adviser
Account will be required to hold an investment if holding such investment would result in a violation of the provisions of the organizational documents of the Fund or the Other Sub-Adviser Account, as applicable, or constitute a breach of, or
default or debt repayment event with respect to, any credit facility or other debt instrument or obligation.
Allocation of
Personnel.
Although the professional staff of the Sub-Adviser will devote as much time to the management of the Fund as the Sub-Adviser deems appropriate to perform its duties in accordance with the investment advisory agreement and in
accordance with reasonable commercial standards, the professional staff of the Sub-Adviser may have conflicts in allocating its time and services among the Fund and the Sub-Advisers other investment vehicles and accounts. The Sub-Adviser and
its affiliates are not restricted from forming additional investment funds, from entering into other investment advisory relationships or from engaging in other business activities, even though such activities may be in competition with the Fund
and/or may involve substantial time and resources of the Sub-Adviser and its professional staff. These activities could be viewed as creating a conflict of interest in that the time and effort of the members of the Sub-Adviser and their officers and
employees will not be devoted exclusively to the business of the Fund but will be allocated between the business of the Fund and the management of the monies of other clients of the Sub-Adviser.
Pursuit of Differing Strategies.
At times, the portfolio managers may determine that an investment opportunity may be appropriate for only
some of the accounts, clients, entities, funds and/or investment companies for which he or she exercises investment responsibility, or may decide that certain of the accounts, clients, entities, funds and/or investment companies should take
differing positions with respect to a particular security. In these cases, the portfolio manager may place separate transactions for one or more accounts, clients, entities, funds and/or investment companies which may affect the market price of the
security or the execution of the transaction, or both, to the detriment or benefit of one or more other accounts, clients, entities, funds and/or investment companies. For example, a portfolio manager may determine that it would be in the interest
of another account to sell a security that the Fund holds long, potentially resulting in a decrease in the market value of the security held by the Fund.
Investment Banking, Advisory and Other Relationships.
As part of its regular business, Blackstone provides a broad range of investment banking, advisory, and other services. In the regular
course of its investment banking and advisory businesses, Blackstone represents potential purchasers, sellers and other involved parties, including corporations, financial buyers, management, shareholders and institutions, with respect to
transactions that could give rise to investments that are suitable for the Fund. In such a case, a Blackstone client would typically require Blackstone to act exclusively on its behalf, thereby precluding the Fund from participating in such
transactions. Blackstone will be under no obligation to decline any such engagements in order to make an investment opportunity available to the Fund. In connection with its investment banking, advisory and other businesses, Blackstone may come into
possession of information that limits its ability to engage in potential transactions. The Funds activities may be constrained as a result of the inability of Blackstone personnel to use such information and because of such relationships,
there may be certain investments that the Sub-Adviser will decline or be unable to make on behalf of the Fund. For example, employees of Blackstone may be prohibited by law or contract from sharing information with members of the Funds
investment team. Additionally, there may be circumstances in which one or more of certain individuals associated with Blackstone will be precluded from providing services related to the Funds activities because of certain confidential
information available to those individuals or to other parts of Blackstone. In addition, employees of Blackstone or its affiliates may possess information relating to such issuers that is not known to the individuals at the Sub-Adviser responsible
for making investment decisions and performing the other obligations under the investment advisory agreement between the Fund and the Sub-Adviser. Those employees of Blackstone or its affiliates will not be obligated to share any such information
with the Sub-Adviser and may be prohibited by law or contract from doing so. In certain sell-side and fundraising assignments, the seller may permit the Fund to act as a participant in such transaction, which would raise certain conflicts of
interest inherent in such a situation (including as to the negotiation of the purchase price). Blackstone has long-term relationships with a significant number of corporations and their senior management. In determining whether to invest in a
particular transaction on behalf of the Fund, the Sub-Adviser and portfolio managers will consider those relationships, which may result in certain transactions that the Sub-Adviser and portfolio managers will not undertake on behalf of the Fund in
view of such relationships.
Service Providers.
The Funds service providers (including lenders, brokers, attorneys, and
investment banking firms) may be sources of investment opportunities and counterparties therein. To the extent the Sub-Adviser is involved in selecting service providers for the Fund, this may influence the Sub-Adviser in deciding whether to select
such a service provider. Notwithstanding the foregoing, investment transactions for the Fund that require the use of a service provider, will generally be allocated to service providers on the basis of best execution (and possibly to a lesser extent
in consideration of such service providers provision of certain investment-related services that the Sub-Adviser believes to be of benefit to the Fund or other GSO accounts).
30
Variation in Financial and Other Benefits.
A conflict of interest arises where the financial or
other benefits available to portfolio managers differ among the accounts, clients, entities, funds and/or investment companies that he or she manages. If the amount or structure of the management fee and/or a portfolio managers compensation
differs among accounts, clients, entities, funds and/or investment companies (such as where certain funds or accounts pay higher management fees or performance-based management fees), the portfolio manager might be motivated to help certain
accounts, clients, entities, funds and/or investment companies over others. Similarly, the desire to maintain assets under management or to enhance the portfolio managers performance record or to derive other rewards, financial or otherwise,
could influence the portfolio manager in affording preferential treatment to those accounts, clients, entities, funds and/or investment companies that could most significantly benefit the portfolio manager. A portfolio manager may, for example, have
an incentive to allocate favorable or limited opportunity investments or structure the timing of investments to favor such accounts, clients, entities, funds and/or investment companies. Also, the desire of a portfolio manager or the Sub-Adviser to
increase assets under management could influence the portfolio manager to keep a fund open for new investors without regard to potential benefits of closing the fund to new investors. Additionally, the portfolio manager might be motivated to favor
accounts, clients, entities, funds and/or investment companies in which he or she has an ownership interest or in which the investment manager and/or its affiliates have ownership interests. Conversely, if a portfolio manager does not personally
hold an investment in the fund, the portfolio managers conflicts of interest with respect to the Fund may be more acute.
Material,
Non-Public Information.
The Sub-Adviser or certain of its affiliates may come into possession of material non-public information with respect to an issuer. Should this occur, the Sub-Adviser would be restricted from buying or selling
securities or loans of the issuer on behalf of the Fund until such time as the information became public or was no longer deemed material to preclude the Fund from participating in an investment. Disclosure of such information to the personnel
responsible for the affairs of the Fund will be on a need-to-know basis only, and the Fund may not be free to act upon any such information. Therefore, the Fund may not have access to material non-public information in the possession of the
Sub-Adviser which might be relevant to an investment decision to be made by the Fund, and the Fund may initiate a transaction or sell an investment which, if such information had been known to it, may not have been undertaken. Due to these
restrictions, the Fund may not be able to initiate a transaction that it otherwise might have initiated and may not be able to sell an investment that it otherwise might have sold.
Possible Future Activities.
The Sub-Adviser and its affiliates may expand the range of services that it provides over time. Except as provided herein, the Sub-Adviser and its affiliates will
not be restricted in the scope of its business or in the performance of any such services (whether now offered or undertaken in the future) even if such activities could give rise to conflicts of interest, and whether or not such conflicts are
described herein. The Sub-Adviser and its affiliates have, and will continue to develop, relationships with a significant number of companies, financial sponsors and their senior managers, including relationships with clients who may hold or may
have held investments similar to those intended to be made by the Fund. These clients may themselves represent appropriate investment opportunities for the Fund or may compete with the Fund for investment opportunities.
Other Affiliate Transactions.
The Fund may acquire a Senior Loan, other loan or debt security from a borrower or issuer in which a separate
equity or junior debt investment has been made by other GSO or Blackstone affiliates. When making such investments, the Fund and other GSO or Blackstone affiliates may have conflicting interests. For example, conflicts could arise where the Fund
becomes a lender to a company when an affiliate of the Sub-Adviser owns equity securities of such a company. In this circumstance, for example, if such company goes into bankruptcy, becomes insolvent or is otherwise unable to meet its payment
obligations or comply with its debt covenants, conflicts of interest could arise between the holders of different types of securities as to what actions the company should take. There can be no assurance that the return on the Funds investment
will be equivalent to or better than the returns obtained by the other affiliates.
Further conflicts could arise once the Fund and other
affiliates have made their respective investments. For example, if a company goes into bankruptcy or reorganization, becomes insolvent or otherwise experiences financial distress or is unable to meet its payment obligations or comply with covenants
relating to securities held by the Fund or by the other affiliates, such other affiliates may have an interest that conflicts with the interests of the Fund. If additional financing is necessary as a result of financial or other difficulties, it may
not be in the best interests of the Fund to provide such additional financing. If the other affiliates were to lose their respective investments as a result of such difficulties, the ability of the Sub-Adviser to recommend actions in the best
interests of the Fund might be impaired.
In addition, the 1940 Act limits the Funds ability to enter into certain transactions with
certain of our affiliates. As a result of these restrictions, we may be prohibited from buying or selling any security directly from or to any portfolio company of a private equity fund managed by Blackstone, GSO or one or more of their affiliates.
However, the Fund may under certain circumstances purchase any such portfolio companys loans or securities in the secondary market, which could create a conflict for the Sub-Adviser between its interests in the Fund and the portfolio company,
in that the ability of the Sub-Adviser to recommend actions in the best interest of the Fund might be impaired. The 1940 Act also prohibits certain joint transactions with certain of our affiliates, which could include investments in the
same portfolio company (whether at the same or different times). These limitations may limit the scope of investment opportunities that would otherwise be available to us.
31
Representing Creditors and Debtors.
Blackstone and their affiliates may represent creditors or
debtors in proceedings under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code or prior to such filings. From time to time, Blackstone and their affiliates may serve as advisor to creditor or equity committees. This involvement, for which Blackstone and their
affiliates may be compensated, may limit or preclude the flexibility that the Fund may otherwise have to participate in restructurings. For example, in situations in which a borrower or issuer of loans or fixed-income instruments held by the Fund is
a client or a potential client of the restructuring and reorganization advisory practice, the Sub-Adviser may dispose of such securities or take such other actions reasonably necessary to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act in order to avoid
actual or perceived conflicts of interest with the restructuring and reorganization advisory practice. Further, there may also be instances in which the work of Blackstones restructuring and reorganization advisory practice prevents the
Sub-Adviser from purchasing securities on behalf of the Fund.
The Sub-Adviser and the portfolio managers may also face other potential
conflicts of interest in managing the Fund, and the description above is not a complete description of every conflict of interest that could be deemed to exist in managing both a Fund and the other accounts listed above.
Restrictions Arising under the Securities Laws.
The activities of Blackstone and GSO (including, without limitation, the holding of
securities positions or having one of its employees on the board of directors of a company) could result in securities law restrictions on transactions in securities held by the Fund, affect the prices of such securities or the ability of such
entities to purchase, retain or dispose of such investments, or otherwise create conflicts of interest, any of which could have an adverse impact on the performance of the Fund and thus the return to the shareholders.
Additional Potential Conflicts.
The officers, directors, members, managers, and employees of the Sub-Adviser may trade in securities for
their own accounts, subject to restrictions and reporting requirements as may be required by law or otherwise determined from time to time by the Sub-Adviser.
THE ADMINISTRATOR, CUSTODIAN AND TRANSFER AGENT
State Street, State Street Financial Center, One
Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, serves as Administrator for the Trust pursuant to an administration agreement (Administration Agreement). Under the Administration Agreement, State Street is responsible for certain
administrative services associated with day-to-day operations of the Funds.
Pursuant to the Administration Agreement, the Trust has agreed to
a limitation on damages and to indemnify the Administrator for certain liabilities, including certain liabilities arising under the federal securities laws; provided, however, such indemnity of the Administrator shall not apply in the case of the
Administrators gross negligence or willful misconduct in the performance of its duties. Under the Custodian Agreement and Transfer Agency Agreement, as described below, the Trust has also provided indemnities to State Street for certain
liabilities.
State Street also serves as Custodian for each Fund pursuant to a custodian agreement (Custodian Agreement). As
Custodian, State Street holds each Funds assets, calculates the net asset value of the Shares and calculates net income and realized capital gains or losses. State Street and the Trust will comply with the self-custodian provisions of Rule
17f-2 under the 1940 Act.
State Street also serves as Transfer Agent of each Fund pursuant to a transfer agency agreement (Transfer
Agency Agreement).
Compensation.
As compensation for its services under the Administration Agreement, the Custodian
Agreement, and Transfer Agency Agreement, State Street shall receive a per series fee for its services. In addition, State Street shall receive global safekeeping and transaction fees, which are calculated on a per-country basis, in-kind creation
(purchase) and redemption transaction fees (as described below) and revenue on certain cash balances. State Street may be reimbursed by a Fund for its out-of-pocket expenses. The Investment Advisory Agreement provides that the Adviser will pay
certain operating expenses of the Trust, including the fees due to State Street under each of the Administration Agreement, the Custodian Agreement and the Transfer Agency Agreement.
THE DISTRIBUTOR
State Street Global Markets, LLC is the principal underwriter and Distributor of
Shares. Its principal address is State Street Financial Center, One Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111. Investor information can be obtained by calling 1-866-787-2257. The Distributor has entered into a distribution agreement
(Distribution Agreement) with the Trust pursuant to which it distributes Shares of each Fund. The Distribution Agreement will continue for two years from its effective date and is renewable annually thereafter. Shares will be
continuously offered for sale by the Trust through the Distributor only in Creation Units, as described in the Prospectus and below under PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF CREATION UNITS. Shares in less than Creation Units are not distributed
by the Distributor. The Distributor will deliver the Prospectus to persons purchasing Creation Units and will maintain records of both orders placed with it and confirmations of acceptance furnished by it. The Distributor is a broker-dealer
registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The Distributor has no role in determining the investment policies of the Trust or
which securities are to be purchased or sold by the Trust. The Distributor may assist Authorized Participants (as defined below) in assembling shares to purchase Creation Units or upon redemption, for which it may receive commissions or other fees
from such Authorized Participants. The Distributor also receives compensation from State Street Bank for providing on-line creation and redemption functionality to Authorized Participants through its Fund Connect application.
32
The Adviser or Distributor, or an affiliate of the Adviser or Distributor, may directly or indirectly make
cash payments to certain broker-dealers for participating in activities that are designed to make registered representatives and other professionals more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, including the Funds, or for other activities,
such as participation in marketing activities and presentations, educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems. Payments to a broker-dealer or intermediary may create potential conflicts of
interest between the broker-dealer or intermediary and its clients. These amounts, which may be significant, are paid by the Adviser and/or Distributor from their own resources and not from the assets of the Funds.
Each Fund has adopted a Distribution and Service (Rule 12b-1) Plan (a Plan) pursuant to which payments of up to 0.25% may be made. Under its
terms, the Plan remains in effect from year to year, provided such continuance is approved annually by vote of the Board, including a majority of the Independent Trustees (Trustees who are not interested persons of the Funds (as defined
in the 1940 Act) and have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or any agreement related to the Plan). The Plan may not be amended to increase materially the amount to be spent for the services provided by the
Distributor without approval by the shareholders of the relevant Fund to which the Plan applies, and all material amendments of the Plan also require Board approval (as described above). The Plan may be terminated at any time, without penalty, by
vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees, or, by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of a Fund (as such vote is defined in the 1940 Act). Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor will provide the Board with
periodic reports of any amounts expended under the Plan and the purpose for which such expenditures were made.
Subject to an aggregate
limitation of 0.25% of a Funds average net assets per annum, the fees paid by the Fund under the Plan will be compensation for distribution, investor services or marketing services for the Fund. To the extent the Plan fees aggregate less than
0.25% per annum of the average daily net assets of a Fund, the Fund may also reimburse the Distributor and other persons for their respective costs incurred in printing prospectuses and producing advertising or marketing material prepared at
the request of the Fund. The aggregate payments under the Plan will not exceed, on an annualized basis, 0.25% of average daily net assets of a Fund.
The Distribution Agreement provides that it may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, as to a Fund: (i) by vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees or (ii) by vote
of a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, on at least 60 days written notice to the Distributor. The Distribution Agreement is also terminable upon 60 days notice by the Distributor and will
terminate automatically in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act).
Pursuant to agreements entered into with such persons,
the Distributor will make payments under the Plan to certain broker-dealers or other persons (Investor Services Organizations) that enter into agreements with the Distributor in the form approved by the Board to provide distribution
assistance and shareholder support, account maintenance and educational and promotional services (which may include compensation and sales incentives to the registered brokers or other sales personnel of the broker-dealer or other financial entity
that is a party to an investor services agreement) (Investor Services Agreements). No such Investor Services Agreements will be entered into during the first twelve months of operation. Each Investor Services Agreement will be a
related agreement under the Plan. No Investor Services Agreement will provide for annual fees of more than 0.25% of a Funds average daily net assets per annum attributable to Shares subject to such agreement.
The continuation of the Distribution Agreement, any Investor Services Agreements and any other related agreements is subject to annual approval of the
Board, including by a majority of the Independent Trustees, as described above.
Each of the Investor Services Agreements will provide that it
may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, (i) by vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees or (ii) by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the relevant Fund,
on at least 60 days written notice to the other party. Each of the Distribution Agreement and the Investor Services Agreements is also terminable upon 60 days notice by the Distributor and will terminate automatically in the event of its
assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act). Each Investor Services Agreement is also terminable by the applicable Investor Service Organization upon 60 days notice to the other party thereto.
The allocation among the Funds of fees and expenses payable under the Distribution Agreement and the Investor Services Agreements will be made pro rata
in accordance with the daily net assets of the respective Funds.
The Distributor may also enter into agreements with securities dealers
(Soliciting Dealers) who will solicit purchases of Creation Unit aggregations of Fund Shares. Such Soliciting Dealers may also be Participating Parties (as defined in the Book Entry Only System section below), DTC
Participants (as defined below) and/or Investor Services Organizations.
Pursuant to the Distribution Agreement, the Trust has agreed to
indemnify the Distributor, and may indemnify Soliciting Dealers and Authorized Participants (as described below) entering into agreements with the Distributor, for certain liabilities, including certain liabilities arising under the federal
securities laws, unless such loss or liability results from willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties or the reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the Distribution Agreement or other
agreement, as applicable.
33
BROKERAGE TRANSACTIONS
The policy of the Trust regarding purchases and sales of securities for each Fund is that primary consideration will be given to obtaining the most
favorable prices and efficient executions of transactions. Consistent with this policy, when securities transactions are effected on a stock exchange, the Trusts policy is to pay commissions which are considered fair and reasonable without
necessarily determining that the lowest possible commissions are paid in all circumstances. The Trust believes that a requirement always to seek the lowest possible commission cost could impede effective portfolio management and preclude a Fund and
the Adviser from obtaining a high quality of brokerage and research services. In seeking to determine the reasonableness of brokerage commissions paid in any transaction, the Adviser relies upon its experience and knowledge regarding commissions
generally charged by various brokers and on its judgment in evaluating the brokerage and research services received from the broker effecting the transaction. Such determinations are necessarily subjective and imprecise, as in most cases an exact
dollar value for those services is not ascertainable. The Trust has adopted policies and procedures that prohibit the consideration of sales of a Funds Shares as a factor in the selection of a broker or dealer to execute its portfolio
transactions.
In selecting a broker/dealer for each specific transaction, the Adviser chooses the broker/dealer deemed most capable of
providing the services necessary to obtain the most favorable execution and does not take the sale of Fund Shares into account. The Adviser considers the full range of brokerage services applicable to a particular transaction that may be considered
when making this judgment, which may include, but is not limited to: liquidity, price, commission, timing, aggregated trades, capable floor brokers or traders, competent block trading coverage, ability to position, capital strength and stability,
reliable and accurate communications and settlement processing, use of automation, knowledge of other buyers or sellers, arbitrage skills, administrative ability, underwriting and provision of information on a particular security or market in which
the transaction is to occur. The specific criteria will vary depending upon the nature of the transaction, the market in which it is executed, and the extent to which it is possible to select from among multiple broker/dealers. The Adviser will also
use electronic communication networks (ECNs) when appropriate.
The Adviser does not currently use the Funds assets for, or
participate in, third party soft dollar arrangements, although the Adviser may receive proprietary research from various full service brokers, the cost of which is bundled with the cost of the brokers execution services. The Adviser does not
pay up for the value of any such proprietary research. The Adviser may aggregate trades with clients of SSgA, whose commission dollars may be used to generate soft dollar credits for SSgA. Although the Advisers clients
commissions are not used for third party soft dollars, the Advisers and SSgAs clients may benefit from the soft dollar products/services received by SSgA.
The Adviser assumes general supervision over placing orders on behalf of the Trust for the purchase or sale of portfolio securities. If purchases or sales of portfolio securities of the Trust and one or
more other investment companies or clients supervised by the Adviser are considered at or about the same time, transactions in such securities are allocated among the several investment companies and clients in a manner deemed equitable and
consistent with its fiduciary obligations to all by the Adviser. In some cases, this procedure could have a detrimental effect on the price or volume of the security so far as the Trust is concerned. However, in other cases, it is possible that the
ability to participate in volume transactions and to negotiate lower brokerage commissions will be beneficial to the Trust. The primary consideration is prompt execution of orders at the most favorable net price.
The Funds will not deal with affiliates in principal transactions unless permitted by exemptive order or applicable rule or regulation.
The brokerage commissions paid by the Funds for the fiscal period ended June 30, 2012 are as follows:
|
|
|
|
|
FUND(1)
|
|
FISCAL YEAR ENDED
JUNE 30,
2012
|
|
SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
|
|
$
|
0
|
(2)
|
SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
|
|
$
|
0
|
(2)
|
SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF
|
|
$
|
0
|
(2)
|
(1)
|
Funds not listed in the table above had not commenced operations as of June 30, 2012.
|
(2)
|
The Fund commenced operations on April 25, 2012.
|
Securities of Regular Broker-Dealer. Each Fund is required to identify any securities of its regular brokers and dealers (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act) which it may hold
at the close of its most recent fiscal year. Regular brokers or dealers of the Trust are the ten brokers or dealers that, during the most recent fiscal year: (i) received the greatest dollar amounts of brokerage commissions from the
Trusts portfolio transactions; (ii) engaged as principal in the largest dollar amounts of portfolio transactions of the Trust; or (iii) sold the largest dollar amounts of the Trusts shares.
34
Holdings in Securities of Regular Broker-Dealers as of June 30, 2012.
Portfolio turnover may vary from year to year, as well as within a year. High turnover rates are likely to result in
comparatively greater brokerage expenses or transaction costs. The overall reasonableness of brokerage commissions and transaction costs is evaluated by the Adviser based upon its knowledge of available information as to the general level of
commissions and transaction costs paid by other institutional investors for comparable services.
BOOK ENTRY ONLY SYSTEM
The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled ADDITIONAL PURCHASE AND SALE INFORMATION.
The Depository Trust Company (DTC) acts as securities depositary for the Shares. Shares of each Fund are represented by securities registered
in the name of DTC or its nominee, Cede & Co., and deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC. Except in the limited circumstance provided below, certificates will not be issued for Shares. DTC, a limited-purpose trust company, was created to
hold securities of its participants (the DTC Participants) and to facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions among the DTC Participants in such securities through electronic book-entry changes in accounts of the
DTC Participants, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of securities certificates. DTC Participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations, some of whom
(and/or their representatives) own DTC. More specifically, DTC is owned by a number of its DTC Participants and by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the FINRA. Access to the DTC system is also available to others such as banks,
brokers, dealers and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a DTC Participant, either directly or indirectly (the Indirect Participants).
Beneficial ownership of Shares is limited to DTC Participants, Indirect Participants and persons holding interests through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in
Shares (owners of such beneficial interests are referred to herein as Beneficial Owners) is shown on, and the transfer of ownership is effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants) and on the records
of DTC Participants (with respect to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners that are not DTC Participants). Beneficial Owners will receive from or through the DTC Participant a written confirmation relating to their purchase of Shares.
Conveyance of all notices, statements and other communications to Beneficial Owners is effected as follows.
Pursuant to the Depositary
Agreement between the Trust and DTC, DTC is required to make available to the Trust upon request and for a fee to be charged to the Trust a listing of the Shares of each Fund held by each DTC Participant. The Trust, either directly or through a
third party service, shall inquire of each such DTC Participant as to the number of Beneficial Owners holding Shares, directly or indirectly, through such DTC Participant. The Trust, either directly or through a third party service, shall provide
each such DTC Participant with copies of such notice, statement or other communication, in such form, number and at such place as such DTC Participant may reasonably request, in order that such notice, statement or communication may be transmitted
by such DTC Participant, directly or indirectly, to such Beneficial Owners. In addition, the Trust shall pay to each such DTC Participant and/or third party service a fair and reasonable amount as reimbursement for the expenses attendant to such
transmittal, all subject to applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
Share distributions shall be made to DTC or its nominee,
Cede & Co., as the registered holder of all Shares. DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any such distributions, shall credit immediately DTC Participants accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial
interests in Shares of a Fund as shown on the records of DTC or its nominee. Payments by DTC Participants to Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners of Shares held through such DTC Participants will be governed by standing instructions and
customary practices, as is now the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in a street name, and will be the responsibility of such DTC Participants.
The Trust has no responsibility or liability for any aspects of the records relating to or notices to Beneficial Owners, or payments made on account of
beneficial ownership interests in such Shares, or for maintaining, supervising or reviewing any records relating to such beneficial ownership interests or for any other aspect of the relationship between DTC and the DTC Participants or the
relationship between such DTC Participants and the Indirect Participants and Beneficial Owners owning through such DTC Participants.
DTC may
determine to discontinue providing its service with respect to Shares at any time by giving reasonable notice to the Trust and discharging its responsibilities with respect thereto under applicable law. Under such circumstances, the Trust shall take
action either to find a replacement for DTC to perform its functions at a comparable cost or, if such a replacement is unavailable, to issue and deliver printed certificates representing ownership of Shares, unless the Trust makes other arrangements
with respect thereto satisfactory to the Exchange.
35
CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES
An Authorized Participant (as defined below) may hold of record more than 25% of the outstanding Shares of a Fund. From time to time, Authorized Participants may be a beneficial and/or legal owner of a
Fund, may be affiliated with an index provider, may be deemed to have control of the applicable Fund and/or may be able to affect the outcome of matters presented for a vote of the shareholders of the Fund. Authorized Participants may execute an
irrevocable proxy granting the Distributor or another affiliate of State Street (the Agent) power to vote or abstain from voting such Authorized Participants beneficially or legally owned Shares of a Fund. In such cases, the Agent
shall mirror vote (or abstain from voting) such Shares in the same proportion as all other beneficial owners of the Fund. As of October 5, 2012, to the knowledge of the Trust, the following persons held of record or beneficially through one or
more accounts 25% or more of the outstanding shares of a Fund.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fund
|
|
Name and Address
|
|
Percentage
of
Ownership
|
|
SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
|
|
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC
1 Harborside Financial Center, Plaza II
Jersey City, NJ 07311
|
|
|
36.06
|
%
|
|
|
|
|
|
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.*
101 Hudson Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302
|
|
|
27.50
|
%
|
|
|
|
SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
|
|
Fiduciary - SSB - DTC 0987
1776 Heritage Drive,
5
th
Floor
Quincy, MA 02171
|
|
|
62.29
|
%
|
|
|
|
SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF
|
|
TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc.
4211 South 102nd Street
Omaha, NE
68127
|
|
|
53.83
|
%
|
|
|
|
|
|
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.*
101 Hudson Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302
|
|
|
25.52
|
%
|
*
|
Percentages referenced in this table for Merrill Lynch may also include shares held at ML SFKPG.
|
As of October 5, 2012, to the knowledge of the Trust, in addition to those interestholders set forth above, the following persons held of record or beneficially through one or more accounts 5% or
more of the outstanding shares of the Funds.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fund
|
|
Name and Address
|
|
Percentage
of
Ownership
|
|
SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
|
|
Knight Capital Americas LLC
545 Washington Blvd.
Jersey City, NJ
07310
|
|
|
9.05
|
%
|
|
|
|
SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
|
|
State Street Bank & Trust Company
1776 Heritage Drive
North Quincy, MA 02171
|
|
|
11.22
|
%
|
|
|
|
|
|
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
101 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94104
|
|
|
5.97
|
%
|
|
|
|
SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF
|
|
National Financial Services Corporation
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
|
|
|
5.46
|
%
|
|
|
|
|
|
RBC Capital Markets Corporation
3 World Financial Center
200 Vesey St.
New York, NY 10281
|
|
|
5.28
|
%
|
The Trustees and Officers of the Trust, as a group, own less than 1% of the Trusts voting securities as of the date
of this SAI.
36
PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF CREATION UNITS
Each Fund issues and redeems its Shares on a continuous basis, at net asset value, only in a large specified number of Shares called a Creation
Unit, either principally in-kind for securities included or in cash for the value of such securities. The principal consideration for creations and redemptions for each Fund is set forth in the table below:
|
|
|
|
|
FUND
|
|
CREATION*
|
|
REDEMPTION*
|
SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
|
|
In-Kind
|
|
In-Kind
|
SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
|
|
In-Kind
|
|
In-Kind
|
SPDR SSgA Conservative Global Allocation ETF
|
|
In-Kind
|
|
In-Kind
|
SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF
|
|
In-Kind
|
|
In-Kind
|
SPDR SSgA Aggressive Global Allocation ETF
|
|
In-Kind
|
|
In-Kind
|
SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF
|
|
Cash
|
|
Cash
|
Each Fund issues and redeem Shares only in Creation Units at the net asset value next determined after receipt of an
order on a continuous basis every day except weekends and the following holidays: New Years Day, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day (observed), Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day
and Christmas Day. The net asset value of a Fund is determined once each business day, normally as of the Closing Time. Creation Unit sizes are 50,000 Shares per Creation Unit. The Creation Unit size for a Fund may change. Authorized Participants
(as defined below) will be notified of such change. The consideration for creations and redemptions may change at any time without notice.
GENERAL. To be eligible to place orders with respect purchases (
i.e.
, creations) and redemptions of Creation Units, an entity must be (i) a
Participating Party,
i.e.
, a broker-dealer or other participant in the clearing process through the Continuous Net Settlement System of the NSCC (the Clearing Process), a clearing agency that is registered with the
SEC; or (ii) a DTC Participant (see BOOK ENTRY ONLY SYSTEM). In addition, each Participating Party or DTC Participant (each, an Authorized Participant) must execute a Participant Agreement that has been agreed to by the
Principal Underwriter and the Transfer Agent, and that has been accepted by the Trust, with respect to purchases and redemptions of Creation Units. Each Authorized Participant will agree, pursuant to the terms of an Authorized Participant Agreement
(Participant Agreement), on behalf of itself or any investor on whose behalf it will act, to certain conditions, including that it will pay to the Trust, an amount of cash sufficient to pay the Cash Component together with the
transaction fee (each as described below) and any other applicable fees, taxes and additional variable charge.
All orders, including
non-standard orders, must be placed for one or more Creation Units and in the manner and by the time set forth in the Participant Agreement and/or applicable order form. The date on which an order to purchase Creation Units or an order to redeem
Creation Units is received and accepted is referred to as the Order Placement Date. The order shall be deemed to be received on the Business Day on which the order is placed provided that the order is placed in proper form prior to the
applicable cut-off time. If the order is not placed in proper form as required, the Fund Deposit (as defined below) or Shares, as applicable, are not received in a timely manner by the Settlement Date (typically required by 2:00 p.m. ET) or the
other terms and conditions set forth in the Participant Agreement are not followed by the Authorized Participant, then the order may be deemed to be rejected and the Authorized Participant shall be liable to the Fund for losses, if any, resulting
therefrom. On days when the Exchange or the bond markets close earlier than normal, a Fund may require orders to be placed earlier in the day An order is considered to be in proper form if all procedures set forth in the Participant
Agreement, order form and this SAI are properly followed.
Orders must be transmitted by an Authorized Participant by telephone or other
transmission method acceptable to the Distributor and/or Transfer Agent pursuant to procedures set forth in the Participant Agreement and in accordance with the applicable order form. Those placing orders through an Authorized Participant should
allow sufficient time to permit proper submission of the order by the cut-off time on such Business Day. Economic or market disruptions or changes, or telephone or other communication failure may impede the ability to reach the Distributor or an
Authorized Participant.
An Authorized Participant may require an investor to make certain representations or enter into agreements with
respect to the order (
e.g.
, to provide for payments of cash, when required). Investors should be aware that their particular broker may not have executed a Participant Agreement and that, therefore, orders to purchase Creation Units or to
redeem Creation Units have to be placed by the investors broker through an Authorized Participant that has executed a Participant Agreement. In such cases there may be additional charges to such investor. At any given time, there may be only a
limited number of broker-dealers that have executed a Participant Agreement and only a small number of such Authorized Participants may have international capabilities.
Each Fund may direct an Authorized Participant to deliver Deposit Securities, Deposit Cash and Cash Component directly to the corresponding Portfolio on behalf of the Fund.
PURCHASE (CREATION). The Trust issues and sells Shares of each Fund only in Creation Units on a continuous basis through the Principal Underwriter,
without a sales load (but subject to transaction fees), at their NAV per share next determined after receipt of an order, on any Business Day (as defined below), in proper form pursuant to the terms of the Participant Agreement. A Business
Day with respect to a Fund is, generally, any day on which the NYSE is open for business.
37
FUND DEPOSIT. The consideration for purchase of a Creation Unit of a Fund generally consists of either
(i) the in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of securities (the Deposit Securities) per each Creation Unit and the Cash Component (defined below), computed as described below or (ii) the cash value of the Deposit
Securities (Deposit Cash) and the Cash Component, computed as described below. When accepting purchases of Creation Units for cash, a Fund may incur additional costs associated with the acquisition of Deposit Securities that
would otherwise be provided by an in-kind purchaser.
Together, the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the Cash Component
constitute the Fund Deposit, which represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for a Creation Unit of any Fund. The Cash Component is an amount equal to the difference between the net asset value of the
Shares (per Creation Unit) and the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. If the Cash Component is a positive number (
i.e.
, the net asset value per Creation Unit exceeds the market value of the Deposit
Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such positive amount. If the Cash Component is a negative number (
i.e.
, the net asset value per Creation Unit is less than the market value of the Deposit Securities or
Deposit Cash, as applicable), the Cash Component shall be such negative amount and the creator will be entitled to receive cash in an amount equal to the Cash Component. The Cash Component serves the function of compensating for any differences
between the net asset value per Creation Unit and the market value of the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable. Computation of the Cash Component excludes any stamp duty or other similar fees and expenses payable upon transfer of
beneficial ownership of the Deposit Securities, if applicable, which shall be the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant (as defined below).
The Custodian, through NSCC, makes available on each Business Day, immediately prior to the opening of business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m., Eastern time), the list of the names and the required
number of shares of each Deposit Security or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, to be included in the current Fund Deposit (based on information at the end of the previous Business Day) for a Fund. Such Fund Deposit is subject to
any applicable adjustments as described below, in order to effect purchases of Creation Units of a Fund until such time as the next-announced composition of the Deposit Securities or the required amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, is made
available.
The identity and number of shares of the Deposit Securities or the amount of Deposit Cash, as applicable, required for a Fund
Deposit for each Fund changes as rebalancing adjustments, interest payments and corporate action events are reflected from time to time by the Adviser with a view to the investment objective of the Fund.
The Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash (
i.e.
, a cash in lieu amount) to be added to
the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security, including, without limitation, situations where the Deposit Security: (i) may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery, (ii) may not be eligible for transfer through the
systems of DTC for corporate securities and municipal securities or the Federal Reserve System for U.S. Treasury securities; (iii) may not be eligible for trading by an Authorized Participant (as defined below) or the investor for which it is
acting; (iv) would be restricted under the securities laws or where the delivery of the Deposit Security to the Authorized Participant would result in the disposition of the Deposit Security by the Authorized Participant becoming restricted
under the securities laws, or (v) in certain other situations (collectively, non-standard orders). The Trust also reserves the right to: permit or require the substitution of Deposit Securities in lieu of Deposit Cash. The
adjustments described above will reflect changes, known to the Adviser on the date of announcement to be in effect by the time of delivery of the Fund Deposit, resulting from certain corporate actions.
PROCEDURES FOR PURCHASE OF CREATION UNITS. Fund Deposits must be delivered by an Authorized Participant through the Federal Reserve System (for cash and
U.S. Government securities), through DTC (for corporate securities and municipal securities), through a subcustody agent (for foreign securities) and/or through such other arrangements allowed by the Trust or its agents. With respect to foreign
Deposit Securities, the Custodian shall cause the subcustodian of the Fund to maintain an account into which the Authorized Participant shall deliver, on behalf of itself or the party on whose behalf it is acting, such Deposit Securities. Foreign
Deposit Securities must be delivered to an account maintained at the applicable local subcustodian. The Fund Deposit transfer must be ordered by the Authorized Participant in a timely fashion so as to ensure the delivery (typically required by 2:00
p.m. ET) of the requisite number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, to the account of a Fund or its agents on or before the Settlement Date. The Settlement Date for a Fund is generally the third Business Day after the
Order Placement Date. All questions as to the number of Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash to be delivered, as applicable, and the validity, form and eligibility (including time of receipt) for the deposit of any tendered securities or cash, as
applicable, will be determined by the Trust, whose determination shall be final and binding. The amount of cash represented by the Cash Component must be transferred directly to the Custodian through the Federal Reserve Bank wire transfer system in
a timely manner so as to be received by the Custodian (typically required by 2:00 p.m. ET) on or before the Settlement Date. If the Cash Component and the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, are not received in a timely manner by the
Settlement Date, the creation order may be cancelled in the discretion of the Trust or its agents. Such canceled order may be resubmitted as a new order the following Business Day by the Authorized Participant using a Fund Deposit as newly
constituted to reflect the then current NAV of the Fund. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the third Business Day following the day on which the purchase order is deemed received by the Distributor.
38
ISSUANCE OF A CREATION UNIT. Except as provided herein, Creation Units will not be issued until the transfer
of good title to the Trust of the Deposit Securities or payment of Deposit Cash, as applicable, and the payment of the Cash Component have been completed. When the subcustodian has confirmed to the Custodian that the required Deposit Securities (or
the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant subcustodian or subcustodians, the Principal Underwriter and the Adviser shall be notified of such delivery, and the Trust will issue and cause the delivery of the Creation
Units.
In instances where the Trust accepts Deposit Securities for the purchase of a Creation Unit, the Creation Unit may be purchased in
advance of receipt by the Trust of all or a portion of the applicable Deposit Securities as described below. In these circumstances, the initial deposit will have a value greater than the net asset value of the Shares on the date the order is placed
in proper form since in addition to available Deposit Securities, cash must be deposited in an amount equal to the sum of (i) the Cash Component, plus (ii) an additional amount of cash equal to a percentage of the market value as set forth
in the Participant Agreement, of the undelivered Deposit Securities (the Additional Cash Deposit), which shall be maintained in a general non-interest bearing collateral account. An additional amount of cash shall be required to be
deposited with the Trust, pending delivery of the missing Deposit Securities to the extent necessary to maintain the Additional Cash Deposit with the Trust in an amount at least equal to the applicable percentage, as set forth in the Participant
Agreement, of the daily marked to market value of the missing Deposit Securities. The Trust may use such Additional Cash Deposit to buy the missing Deposit Securities at any time. Authorized Participants will be liable to the Trust for all costs,
expenses, dividends, income and taxes associated with missing Deposit Securities, including the costs incurred by the Trust in connection with any such purchases. These costs will be deemed to include the amount by which the actual purchase price of
the Deposit Securities exceeds the market value of such Deposit Securities on the day the purchase order was deemed received by the Principal Underwriter plus the brokerage and related transaction costs associated with such purchases. The Trust will
return any unused portion of the Additional Cash Deposit once all of the missing Deposit Securities have been properly received by the Custodian or purchased by the Trust and deposited into the Trust. In addition, a transaction fee as set forth
below under Creation Transaction Fees will be charged in all cases and an additional variable charge may also be applied. The delivery of Creation Units so created generally will occur no later than the Settlement Date.
ACCEPTANCE OF ORDERS OF CREATION UNITS. The Trust reserves the absolute right to reject an order for Creation Units transmitted in respect of a Fund at
its discretion, including, without limitation, if (a) the order is not in proper form; (b) the Deposit Securities or Deposit Cash, as applicable, delivered by the Participant are not as disseminated through the facilities of the NSCC for
that date by the Custodian; (c) the investor(s), upon obtaining the Shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding Shares of the Fund; (d) acceptance of the Deposit Securities would have certain adverse tax consequences
to the Fund; (e) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; (f) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would otherwise, in the discretion of the Trust or the Adviser, have an adverse effect on the Trust
or the rights of beneficial owners; (g) the acceptance or receipt of the order for a Creation Unit would, in the opinion of counsel to the Trust, be unlawful; or (h) in the event that circumstances outside the control of the Trust, the
Custodian, the Transfer Agent and/or the Adviser make it for all practical purposes not feasible to process orders for Creation Units. Examples of such circumstances include acts of God or public service or utility problems such as fires, floods,
extreme weather conditions and power outages resulting in telephone, telecopy and computer failures; market conditions or activities causing trading halts; systems failures involving computer or other information systems affecting the Trust, the
Principal Underwriter, the Custodian, the Transfer Agent, DTC, NSCC, Federal Reserve System, or any other participant in the creation process, and other extraordinary events. The Trust or its agents shall communicate to Authorized Participant its
rejection of an order. The Trust, the Transfer Agent, the Custodian and the Principal Underwriter are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in the delivery of Fund Deposits nor shall either of them incur any
liability for the failure to give any such notification. The Trust, the Transfer Agent, the Custodian and the Principal Underwriter shall not be liable for the rejection of any purchase order for Creation Units.
All questions as to the number of shares of each security in the Deposit Securities and the validity, form, eligibility and acceptance for deposit of any
securities to be delivered shall be determined by the Trust, and the Trusts determination shall be final and binding.
REDEMPTION.
Shares may be redeemed only in Creation Units at their net asset value next determined after receipt of a redemption request in proper form by a Fund through the Transfer Agent and only on a Business Day. EXCEPT UPON LIQUIDATION OF A FUND, THE TRUST
WILL NOT REDEEM SHARES IN AMOUNTS LESS THAN CREATION UNITS. Investors must accumulate enough Shares in the secondary market to constitute a Creation Unit in order to have such Shares redeemed by the Trust. There can be no assurance, however, that
there will be sufficient liquidity in the public trading market at any time to permit assembly of a Creation Unit. Investors should expect to incur brokerage and other costs in connection with assembling a sufficient number of Shares to constitute a
redeemable Creation Unit.
With respect to each Fund, the Custodian, through the NSCC, makes available immediately prior to the opening of
business on the Exchange (currently 9:30 a.m. Eastern time) on each Business Day, the list of the names and share quantities of each Funds portfolio securities that will be applicable (subject to possible amendment or correction) to redemption
requests received in proper form (as defined below) on that day (Fund Securities). Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities.
39
Redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit are paid either in-kind or in cash or a combination thereof, as
determined by the Trust. With respect to in-kind redemptions of a Fund, redemption proceeds for a Creation Unit will consist of Fund Securities as announced by the Custodian on the Business Day of the request for redemption received in proper
form plus cash in an amount equal to the difference between the net asset value of the Shares being redeemed, as next determined after a receipt of a request in proper form, and the value of the Fund Securities (the Cash Redemption
Amount), less a fixed redemption transaction fee and any applicable additional variable charge as set forth below. In the event that the Fund Securities have a value greater than the net asset value of the Shares, a compensating cash payment
equal to the differential is required to be made by or through an Authorized Participant by the redeeming shareholder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, at the Trusts discretion, an Authorized Participant may receive the corresponding cash value
of the securities in lieu of the in-kind securities value representing one or more Fund Securities.
PROCEDURES FOR REDEMPTION OF CREATION
UNITS. Upon receipt of a redemption request, a Fund will make a corresponding request to the applicable Portfolio. Redemption proceeds from the Portfolio will be delivered to the redeeming Authorized Participant. A Portfolio may deliver redemption
proceeds directly to a redeeming Authorized Participant. After the Trust has deemed an order for redemption received, the Trust will initiate procedures to transfer the requisite Fund Securities and the Cash Redemption Amount to the Authorized
Participant by the Settlement Date. With respect to in-kind redemptions of a Fund, the calculation of the value of the Fund Securities and the Cash Redemption Amount to be delivered upon redemption will be made by the Custodian according to the
procedures set forth under Determination of Net Asset Value, computed on the Business Day on which a redemption order is deemed received by the Trust. Therefore, if a redemption order in proper form is submitted to the Principal
Underwriter by a DTC Participant by the specified time on the Order Placement Date, and the requisite number of Shares of the Fund are delivered to the Custodian no later than the Settlement Date, then the value of the Fund Securities and the Cash
Redemption Amount to be delivered will be determined by the Custodian on such Order Placement Date. If the requisite number of Shares of the Fund are delivered after the Settlement Date, the Fund will not release the underlying securities for
delivery unless collateral is posted in such percentage amount of missing Shares as set forth in the Participant Agreement (marked to market daily).
With respect to in-kind redemptions of a Fund, in connection with taking delivery of shares of Fund Securities upon redemption of Creation Units, a redeeming shareholder or Authorized Participant acting
on behalf of such shareholder must maintain appropriate custody arrangements with a qualified broker-dealer, bank or other custody providers in each jurisdiction in which any of the Fund Securities are customarily traded (or such other arrangements
as allowed by the Trust or its agents), to which account such Fund Securities will be delivered. Deliveries of redemption proceeds generally will be made within three Business Days of the trade date. Due to the schedule of holidays in certain
countries, however, the delivery of in-kind redemption proceeds may take longer than three business days after the day on which the redemption request is received in proper form. The section below entitled Local Market Holiday Schedules
identifies the instances where more than seven days would be needed to deliver redemption proceeds. Pursuant to an order of the SEC, in respect of the Fund, the Trust will make delivery of in-kind redemption proceeds within the number of days stated
in the Local Market Holidays section to be the maximum number of days necessary to deliver redemption proceeds. If neither the redeeming Shareholder nor the Authorized Participant acting on behalf of such redeeming Shareholder has appropriate
arrangements to take delivery of the Fund Securities in the applicable foreign jurisdiction and it is not possible to make other such arrangements, or if it is not possible to effect deliveries of the Fund Securities in such jurisdiction, the Trust
may, in its discretion, exercise its option to redeem such shares in cash, and the redeeming Shareholders will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash.
If it is not possible to make other such arrangements, or if it is not possible to effect deliveries of the Fund Securities, the Trust may in its discretion exercise its option to redeem such Shares in
cash, and the redeeming investor will be required to receive its redemption proceeds in cash. In addition, an investor may request a redemption in cash that the Fund may, in its sole discretion, permit. In either case, the investor will receive a
cash payment equal to the NAV of its Shares based on the NAV of Shares of the relevant Fund next determined after the redemption request is received in proper form (minus a redemption transaction fee and additional charge for requested cash
redemptions specified above, to offset the Trusts brokerage and other transaction costs associated with the disposition of Fund Securities). A Fund may also, in its sole discretion, upon request of a shareholder, provide such redeemer a
portfolio of securities that differs from the exact composition of the Fund Securities but does not differ in net asset value.
An Authorized
Participant submitting a redemption request is deemed to represent to the Trust that it (or its client) (i) owns outright or has full legal authority and legal beneficial right to tender for redemption the requisite number of Shares to be
redeemed and can receive the entire proceeds of the redemption, and (ii) the Shares to be redeemed have not been loaned or pledged to another party nor are they the subject of a repurchase agreement, securities lending agreement or such other
arrangement which would preclude the delivery of such Shares to the Trust. The Trust reserves the right to verify these representations at its discretion, but will typically require verification with respect to a redemption request from a Fund in
connection with higher levels of redemption activity and/or short interest in the Fund. If the Authorized Participant, upon receipt of a verification request, does not provide sufficient verification of its representations as determined by the
Trust, the redemption request will not be considered to have been received in proper form and may be rejected by the Trust.
40
Redemptions of shares for Fund Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable federal and state
securities laws and each Fund (whether or not it otherwise permits cash redemptions) reserves the right to redeem Creation Units for cash to the extent that the Trust could not lawfully deliver specific Fund Securities upon redemptions or could not
do so without first registering the Fund Securities under such laws. An Authorized Participant or an investor for which it is acting subject to a legal restriction with respect to a particular security included in the Fund Securities applicable to
the redemption of Creation Units may be paid an equivalent amount of cash. The Authorized Participant may request the redeeming investor of the Shares to complete an order form or to enter into agreements with respect to such matters as compensating
cash payment. Further, an Authorized Participant that is not a qualified institutional buyer, (QIB) as such term is defined under Rule 144A of the Securities Act, will not be able to receive Fund Securities that are
restricted securities eligible for resale under Rule 144A. An Authorized Participant may be required by the Trust to provide a written confirmation with respect to QIB status in order to receive Fund Securities.
The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed with respect to a Fund (1) for any period during which the Exchange is
closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (2) for any period during which trading on the Exchange is suspended or restricted; (3) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the Shares
of the Fund or determination of the NAV of the Shares is not reasonably practicable; or (4) in such other circumstance as is permitted by the SEC.
REQUIRED EARLY ACCEPTANCE OF ORDERS. Notwithstanding the foregoing, as described in the Participant Agreement and/or applicable order form, certain Funds may require orders to be placed up to one or more
business days prior to the trade date, as described in the Participant Agreement or the applicable order form, in order to receive the trade dates net asset value. Orders to purchase Shares of such Funds that are submitted on the Business Day
immediately preceding a holiday or a day (other than a weekend) that the equity markets in the relevant foreign market are closed will not be accepted. Authorized Participants may be notified that the cut-off time for an order may be earlier on a
particular business day, as described in the Participant Agreement and the applicable order form.
CREATION AND REDEMPTION TRANSACTION
FEES. A transaction fee, as set forth in the table below, is imposed for the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the purchase or redemption of Creation Units, as applicable. Authorized Participants will be required to pay a fixed
creation transaction fee and/or a fixed redemption transaction fee, as applicable, on a given day regardless of the number of Creation Units created or redeemed on that day. A Fund may adjust the transaction fee from time to time. An additional
charge or a variable charge (discussed below) will be applied to certain creation and redemption transactions, including non-standard orders and whole or partial cash purchases or redemptions. With respect to creation orders, Authorized Participants
are responsible for the costs of transferring the securities constituting the Deposit Securities to the account of the Trust and with respect to redemption orders, Authorized Participants are responsible for the costs of transferring the Fund
Securities from the Trust to their account or on their order. Investors who use the services of a broker or other such intermediary may also be charged a fee for such services.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FUND
|
|
TRANSACTION
FEE*, **
|
|
|
MAXIMUM
TRANSACTION
FEE*, **
|
|
SPDR SSgA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
|
|
$
|
100
|
|
|
$
|
400
|
|
SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF
|
|
$
|
100
|
|
|
$
|
400
|
|
SPDR SSgA Conservative Global Allocation ETF
|
|
$
|
100
|
|
|
$
|
400
|
|
SPDR SSgA Global Allocation ETF
|
|
$
|
100
|
|
|
$
|
400
|
|
SPDR SSgA Aggressive Global Allocation ETF
|
|
$
|
100
|
|
|
$
|
400
|
|
SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF
|
|
$
|
50
|
|
|
$
|
200
|
|
*
|
From time to time, any Fund may waive all or a portion of its applicable transaction fee(s). An additional charge of up to three (3) times the standard transaction
fee may be charged to the extent a transaction is outside of the clearing process.
|
**
|
In addition to the transaction fees listed above, the Funds may charge an
additional
variable fee for creations and redemptions in cash to offset brokerage and
impact expenses associated with the cash transaction. The variable transaction fee will be calculated based on historical transaction cost data and the Advisers view of current market conditions; however, the actual variable fee charged for a
given transaction may be lower or higher than the trading expenses incurred by a Fund with respect to that transaction.
|
DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE
The following information
supplements and should be read in conjunction with the sections in the applicable Prospectus entitled PURCHASE AND SALE INFORMATION and ADDITIONAL PURCHASE AND SALE INFORMATION.
Each Fund calculates net asset value using the net asset value of the respective Portfolio. Net asset value per Share for each Portfolio is computed by
dividing the value of the net assets of the Portfolio (
i.e.
, the value of its total assets less total liabilities) by the total number of Shares outstanding, rounded to the nearest cent. Expenses and fees, including the management fees, are
accrued daily and taken into account for purposes of determining net asset value. The net asset value of a Portfolio is calculated by the Custodian and determined at the close of the regular trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m. Eastern
time) on each day that such exchange is open, provided that fixed-income assets (and, accordingly, a Portfolios net asset value) may be valued as of the announced closing time for trading in fixed-income instruments on any day that the
Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) (or applicable exchange or market on which a Portfolios investments are traded) announces an early closing time. Creation/redemption order cut-off times may also be
earlier on such days.
41
In calculating a Portfolios net asset value per Share, the Portfolios investments are generally
valued using market valuations. A market valuation generally means a valuation (i) obtained from an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer), (ii) based on a price quotation or other equivalent indication of value
supplied by an exchange, a pricing service, or a major market maker (or dealer) or (iii) based on amortized cost. In the case of shares of other funds that are not traded on an exchange, a market valuation means such funds published net
asset value per share. The Adviser may use various pricing services, or discontinue the use of any pricing service, as approved by the Board of the SSgA Master Trust from time to time. A price obtained from a pricing service based on such pricing
services valuation matrix may be considered a market valuation. Any assets or liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are converted into U.S. dollars at the current market rates on the date of valuation as quoted by
one or more sources.
In the event that current market valuations are not readily available or such valuations do not reflect current market
value, the SSgA Master Trusts procedures require the Pricing and Investment Committee to determine a securitys fair value if a market price is not readily available. In determining such value the Pricing and Investment Committee may
consider, among other things, (i) price comparisons among multiple sources, (ii) a review of corporate actions and news events, and (iii) a review of relevant financial indicators (
e.g.
, movement in interest rates, market
indices, and prices from the Portfolios index providers). In these cases, the Portfolios net asset value may reflect certain portfolio securities fair values rather than their market prices. Fair value pricing involves subjective
judgments and it is possible that the fair value determination for a security is materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of the security. With respect to securities that are primarily listed on foreign exchanges, the
value of a Portfolios portfolio securities may change on days when you will not be able to purchase or sell your Shares.
DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS
The following information supplements and should be read in conjunction with the section in each Prospectus entitled DISTRIBUTIONS.
GENERAL POLICIES
Dividends from net investment income, if any, are generally declared and paid
quarterly by each Fund (monthly for the SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETF), but may vary from quarter to quarter (or month to month). Distributions of net realized securities gains, if any, generally are declared and paid once a year, but the
Trust may make distributions on a more frequent basis for a Fund to comply with the distribution requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, in all events in a manner consistent with the provisions of the 1940 Act.
Dividends and other distributions on Shares are distributed, as described below, on a pro rata basis to Beneficial Owners of such Shares. Dividend
payments are made through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants to Beneficial Owners then of record with proceeds received from the Trust.
Management of the Trust reserves the right to declare special dividends if, in its reasonable discretion, such action is necessary or advisable to
preserve a Funds eligibility for treatment as a regulated investment company (RIC) under the Internal Revenue Code or to avoid imposition of income or excise taxes at the Fund level.
DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT
Broker dealers, at their
own discretion, may offer a dividend reinvestment service under which Shares are purchased in the secondary market at current market prices. Investors should consult their broker dealer for further information regarding any dividend reinvestment
service offered by such broker dealer.
TAXES
The following is a summary of certain federal income tax considerations generally affecting the Funds and their shareholders that supplements the
discussion in the Prospectus. No attempt is made to present a detailed explanation of the federal, state, local or foreign tax treatment of the Funds or their shareholders, and the discussion here and in the Prospectus is not intended to be a
substitute for careful tax planning.
The following general discussion of certain federal income tax consequences is based on the Internal
Revenue Code and the regulations issued thereunder as in effect on the date of this Statement of Additional Information. New legislation, as well as administrative changes or court decisions, may significantly change the conclusions expressed
herein, and may have a retroactive effect with respect to the transactions contemplated herein.
42
The following information should be read in conjunction with the section in the Prospectus entitled
ADDITIONAL TAX INFORMATION.
Each Fund has elected or will elect and intends to qualify for treatment each year as a separate RIC
under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. As such, each Fund should not be subject to federal income tax on its net investment income and capital gains, if any, to the extent that it timely distributes such income and capital gains to its
shareholders. In order to qualify for treatment as a RIC, each Fund must distribute annually to its shareholders at least the sum of 90% of its net investment income (generally net investment income plus the excess of net short-term capital gains
over net long-term capital losses) and 90% of its net tax exempt interest income, if any, for each tax year to its shareholders (Distribution Requirement) and also must meet several additional requirements. Among these requirements are
the following: (i) at least 90% of a Funds gross income each taxable year must be derived from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or
foreign currencies, or other income derived with respect to its business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies, and net income derived from interests in qualified publicly traded partnerships (the Qualifying Income
Requirement); and (ii) at the end of each quarter of the Funds taxable year, its assets must be diversified so that (a) at least 50% of the market value of its total assets must be represented by cash and cash items, U.S.
government securities, securities of other RICs and other securities, with such other securities limited, in respect to any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Funds total assets or more than 10% of the outstanding
voting securities of such issuer, and (b) not more than 25% of the value of its total assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or securities of other RICs) of any one issuer, the securities (other than
securities of other RICs) of two or more issuers that it controls and that are engaged in the same, similar, or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships (the Diversification
Requirement).
Each Fund is treated as a separate corporation for federal income tax purposes. Each Fund therefore is considered to be a
separate entity in determining its treatment under the rules for RICs described herein and in the Prospectus. Losses in one Fund do not offset gains in any other Fund, and the requirements (other than certain organizational requirements) for
qualifying RIC status are determined at the Fund level rather than at the respective trust level. Each Portfolio expects to be treated as a separate partnership for federal income tax purposes. The Portfolios generally will not themselves be subject
to federal income tax. Instead, each Portfolio will allocate to the corresponding Fund the Funds share of the Portfolios net investment income, net realized capital gains, and any other items of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit.
If a Fund fails to satisfy the Qualifying Income Requirement or the Diversification Requirement in any taxable year, such Fund may be
eligible for relief provisions if the failures are due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect and if a penalty tax is paid with respect to each failure to satisfy the applicable requirements. Additionally, relief is provided for certain
de
minimis
failures of the Diversification Requirement where the Fund corrects the failure within a specified period of time. In order to be eligible for the relief provisions with respect to a failure to meet the Diversification Requirement, a
Fund may be required to dispose of certain assets. If these relief provisions are not available to a Fund and it fails to qualify for treatment as a RIC for a taxable year, all of its taxable income would be subject to tax at regular corporate rates
without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and its distributions (including capital gains distributions) generally would be taxable as ordinary income dividends to its shareholders, subject to the dividends received deduction for
corporate shareholders and, for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2013, to lower tax rates on qualified dividend income received by noncorporate shareholders. To requalify for treatment as a RIC in a subsequent taxable year, the Fund
would be required to satisfy the RIC qualification requirements for that year and to distribute any earnings and profits from any year in which the Fund failed to qualify for tax treatment as a RIC. If a Fund failed to qualify as a RIC for a period
greater than two taxable years, it would generally be required to pay an entity-level tax on certain net built-in gains recognized with respect to certain of its assets upon a disposition of such assets within ten years of qualifying as a RIC in a
subsequent year. The Board reserves the right not to maintain the qualification of a Fund for treatment as a RIC if it determines such course of action to be beneficial to shareholders.
43
A Fund may elect to treat part or all of any qualified late year loss as if it had been incurred
in the succeeding taxable year in determining the Funds taxable income, net capital gain, net short-term capital gain, and earnings and profits. The effect of this election is to treat any such qualified late year loss as if it had
been incurred in the succeeding taxable year in characterizing Fund distributions for any calendar year. A qualified late year loss generally includes net capital loss, net long-term capital loss, or net short-term capital loss incurred
after October 31 of the current taxable year (commonly referred to as post-October losses) and certain other late-year losses.
Capital losses in excess of capital gains (net capital losses) are not permitted to be deducted against a RICs net investment income.
Instead, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, potentially subject to certain limitations, each Fund may carry net capital losses from any taxable year forward to offset its capital gains in future years. A Fund is permitted to carry forward a net
capital loss from any taxable year that began on or before December 22, 2010 to offset its capital gains, if any, for up to eight years following the year of the loss. A Fund is permitted to carry forward indefinitely a net capital loss from
any taxable year that began after December 22, 2010 to offset its capital gains, if any, in years following the year of the loss. To the extent subsequent capital gains are offset by such losses, they would not result in U.S. federal income tax
liability to the Fund and may not be distributed as such to its shareholders. Carryforwards of losses from taxable years that began after December 22, 2010 must be fully utilized before the applicable Fund may utilize carryforwards of losses
from taxable years that began on or before December 22, 2010. Generally, the Funds may not carry forward any losses other than net capital losses.
Each Fund intends to distribute annually to its shareholders substantially all of its investment company taxable income (computed without regard to the deduction for dividends paid), its net tax-exempt
income and any net capital gain (net recognized long-term capital gains in excess of net recognized short-term capital losses, taking into account any capital loss carryovers).
If a Fund meets the Distribution Requirement but retains some or all of its income or gains, it will be subject to federal income tax to the extent any such income or gains are not distributed. A Fund may
designate certain amounts retained as undistributed net capital gain in a notice to its shareholders, who (i) will be required to include in income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as long-term capital gain, their proportionate shares of the
undistributed amount so designated, (ii) will be entitled to credit their proportionate shares of the income tax paid by the Fund on that undistributed amount against their federal income tax liabilities and to claim refunds to the extent such
credits exceed their liabilities and (iii) will be entitled to increase their tax basis, for federal income tax purposes, in their interest in the Fund by an amount equal to the excess of the amount of undistributed net capital gain included in
their respective income over their respective income tax credits.
The Funds will report to shareholders annually the amounts of dividends
paid from ordinary income, the amount of distributions of net capital gain, the portion of dividends which may qualify for the dividends received deduction, and, for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2013, the portion of dividends which
may qualify for treatment as qualified dividend income, if any.
A Fund will be subject to a 4% excise tax on certain undistributed income if
it does not distribute to its shareholders in each calendar year an amount at least equal to 98% of its ordinary income for the calendar year plus 98.2% of its capital gain net income for the twelve months ended October 31 of such year, subject
to an increase for any shortfall in the prior years distribution. Each Fund intends to declare and distribute dividends and distributions in the amounts and at the times necessary to avoid the application of this 4% excise tax.
For taxable years beginning before January 1, 2013, a portion of the dividends received from a Fund may be treated as qualified dividend income
eligible for the reduced maximum rate to individuals of 15% (a 0% rate applies to individuals in lower tax brackets) to the extent of the Funds share of qualified dividend income received by the corresponding Portfolio. Qualified dividend
income includes, in general, subject to certain holding period requirements and other requirements, dividend income from certain U.S. and foreign corporations. Subject to certain limitations, eligible foreign corporations include those incorporated
in possessions of the United States, those incorporated in certain countries with comprehensive tax treaties with the United States and other foreign corporations if the stock with respect to which the dividends are paid is tradable on an
established securities market in the United States. A dividend will not be treated as qualified dividend income to the extent that (i) the shareholder has not held the shares of the applicable Fund on which the dividend was paid for more than
60 days during the 121-day period that begins on the date that is 60 days before the date on which the shares of the Fund become ex-dividend with respect to such dividend (or the Fund fails to satisfy this holding period requirement with respect to
its indirect investment in shares of the underlying dividend-paying stock), (ii) the shareholder is under an obligation (whether pursuant to a short sale or otherwise) to make related payments with respect to substantially similar or related
property, or (iii) the shareholder elects to treat such dividend as investment income under section 163(d)(4)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code. Dividends treated as received by a RIC from a REIT or another RIC may be treated as qualified
dividend income only to the extent the dividend distributions are attributable to qualified dividend income received by such REIT or RIC. It is expected that a Funds allocable share of dividends received by a Portfolio from a REIT and
distributed from a Fund to a shareholder generally will be taxable to the shareholder as ordinary income. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012, dividend income will be taxable at ordinary income tax rates.
Distributions from net short-term capital gains will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income. Distributions from a Funds net capital gain
will be taxable to shareholders at long-term capital gains rates, regardless of how long shareholders have held their Shares in the Fund. For taxable years beginning before January 1, 2013, long-term capital gains are taxed at a maximum rate of
15%.
Although dividends generally will be treated as distributed when paid, any dividend declared by a Fund in October, November or December
and payable to shareholders of record in such a month that is paid during the following January will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as received by shareholders on December 31 of the calendar year in which it was declared.
If a Funds distributions exceed its earnings and profits, all or a portion of the distributions made in the taxable year may be treated
as a return of capital to shareholders. A return of capital distribution generally will not be taxable but will reduce the shareholders cost basis and result in a higher capital gain or lower capital loss when the Shares on which the
distribution was received are sold. After a shareholders basis in the Shares has been reduced to zero, distributions in excess of earnings and profits will be treated as gain from the sale of the shareholders Shares.
44
Distributions that are reinvested in additional Shares of a Fund through the means of a dividend
reinvestment service, if offered by your broker-dealer, will nevertheless be taxable dividends to the same extent as if such dividends had been received in cash.
Beginning in 2013, U.S. individuals with income exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 if married and filing jointly) will be subject to a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax on their net investment income,
which includes taxable interest, dividends, and certain capital gains (including capital gains realized on the sale or exchange of Shares). This 3.8% tax will also apply to all or a portion of the undistributed net investment income of certain
shareholders that are estates and trusts.
Distributions of ordinary income and capital gains may also be subject to foreign, state and local
taxes depending on a shareholders circumstances.
In general, a sale or exchange of Shares results in capital gain or loss, and for
individual shareholders, is taxable at a federal rate dependent upon the length of time the Shares were held. A redemption of a shareholders Fund Shares is normally treated as a sale for tax purposes. Fund Shares held for a period of one year
or less at the time of such sale or exchange will, for tax purposes, generally result in short-term capital gains or losses and those held for more than one year will generally result in long-term capital gains or losses. For taxable years beginning
prior to January 1, 2013, the maximum tax rate on long-term capital gains available to non-corporate shareholders generally is 15%. Absent further legislation, the maximum 15% tax rate on long-term capital gains will increase to 20% for taxable
years beginning after December 31, 2012.
Gain or loss on the sale or exchange of Shares in a Fund is measured by the difference between
the amount received and the adjusted tax basis of the Shares. Shareholders should keep records of investments made (including Shares acquired through reinvestment of dividends and distribution) so they can compute the tax basis of their Shares. A
loss realized on a sale or exchange of Shares of a Fund may be disallowed if other substantially identical Shares are acquired (whether through reinvestment of dividends or otherwise) within a sixty-one (61) day period beginning thirty
(30) days before and ending thirty (30) days after the date that the Shares are disposed of. In such a case, the basis of the Shares acquired must be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss. Any loss upon the sale or exchange of Shares
held for six (6) months or less is treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions to the shareholder of long-term capital gain (including any amounts credited to the shareholder as undistributed capital
gains).
In general, a Fund will not recognize gain for federal income tax purposes when it invests in a Portfolio or when it receives
distributions or makes withdrawals from a Portfolio unless cash distributions or withdrawals exceed the Funds adjusted tax basis in its interest in the Portfolio. In general, a Fund will not recognize loss for federal income tax purposes when
it invests in a Portfolio or receives distributions or makes withdrawals from a Portfolio unless it withdraws its entire interest from the Portfolio solely in exchange for cash.
As noted above, each Fund may directly make investments in an ETP, invest in any of the instruments or engage in any of the investment practices described above if such investment activity is consistent
with the Funds investment objective and permitted by the Funds stated investment policies. The Funds, however, intend to make their investments through their respective Portfolios. References made below with respect to investments by a
Portfolio are intended where appropriate to describe certain tax consequences to a Fund if such Fund were to directly invest in such assets.
Dividends and interest received by Portfolios holding foreign securities may give rise to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign countries. Tax
conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If a Fund meets certain requirements, which include a requirement that more than 50% of the value of the Funds total assets at the close of its
respective taxable year consists of stocks or securities of foreign corporations (generally treating assets held indirectly through a Portfolio as though they were held directly by the Fund), then the Fund should be eligible to file an election with
the Internal Revenue Service that may enable its shareholders, in effect, to receive either the benefit of a foreign tax credit, or a tax deduction, with respect to certain foreign and U.S. possessions income taxes paid by the Portfolio, subject to
certain
45
limitations. Pursuant to this election, a Fund would treat those taxes as dividends paid to its shareholders. Each such shareholder would be required to include a proportionate share of those
taxes in gross income as income received from a foreign source and must treat the amount so included as if the shareholder had paid the foreign tax directly. The shareholder may then either deduct the taxes deemed paid by him or her in computing his
or her taxable income or, alternatively, use the foregoing information in calculating any foreign tax credit the shareholder may be entitled to use against such shareholders federal income tax.
Certain of the Portfolios investments may be subject to complex provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (including provisions relating to hedging
transactions, straddles, integrated transactions, foreign currency contracts, forward foreign currency contracts, and notional principal contracts) that, among other things, may affect the character of gains and losses realized by the Portfolios
(e.g., may affect whether gains or losses are ordinary or capital), accelerate recognition of income to the Portfolio and defer losses. These rules will therefore affect the character, amount and timing of distributions to shareholders. These
provisions also may require a Portfolio to mark-to-market certain types of positions in their portfolios (i.e., treat them as if they were closed out) which may cause the Fund to recognize income without the Portfolio receiving cash with which to
make distributions. The Funds and Portfolios intend to monitor their transactions, intend to make the appropriate tax elections, and intend to make appropriate entries in their books and records in order to mitigate the effect of these rules and
preserve the Funds qualification for treatment as RICs.
If a Portfolio acquires any equity interest (under Treasury regulations that
may be promulgated in the future, generally including not only stock but also an option to acquire stock such as is inherent in a convertible bond) in certain foreign corporations (i) that receive at least 75% of their annual gross income from
passive sources (such as interest, dividends, certain rents and royalties, or capital gains) or (ii) where at least 50% of the corporations assets (computed based on average fair market value) either produce or are held for the production
of passive income (passive foreign investment companies or PFICs), the corresponding Fund could be subject to U.S. federal income tax and nondeductible interest charges on excess distributions received from such
companies or on gain from the sale of stock in such companies, even if the Funds allocable share of all income or gain actually received by the Portfolio is timely distributed by the Fund to its shareholders. The Fund would not be able to pass
through to its shareholders any credit or deduction for such a tax. A qualified electing fund election or a mark to market election may generally be available that would ameliorate these adverse tax consequences, but such
elections could require a Portfolio to recognize taxable income or gain without the concurrent receipt of cash. The Funds share of such income would be subject to the distribution requirements applicable to RICs, as described above. In order
to enable a Fund to satisfy the distribution requirements and avoid a tax at the Fund level, a Portfolio may be required to liquidate its interest in securities that it might otherwise have continued to hold, potentially resulting in additional
taxable gain or loss to the Portfolio. Gains from the sale of stock of PFICs may also be treated as ordinary income. In order for a Portfolio to make a qualified electing fund election with respect to a PFIC, the PFIC would have to agree to provide
certain tax information to the Portfolio on an annual basis, which it might not agree to do. The Portfolios may limit and/or manage their holdings in PFICs to limit their tax liability or maximize their returns from these investments.
The Internal Revenue Code currently treats income and gains from trading in commodities as nonqualifying income under the Qualifying Income Requirement
described above. Each Portfolio intends to obtain exposure to commodities through investments that are consistent with the corresponding Funds intention to be taxable as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code. For example, a
Portfolio may invest up to 25% of its total assets in one or more ETPs that are qualified publicly traded partnerships (QPTPs) whose principal activities are the buying and selling of commodities or options, futures, or forwards with
respect to commodities. Income from QPTPs is generally qualifying income. If an ETP fails to qualify as a QPTP, the income generated from the Portfolios investment in the ETP may not comply with Qualifying Income Requirement. The Portfolios
will only invest in such an ETP if it intends to qualify as a QPTP, but there is no guarantee that each such ETP will be successful in qualifying as a QPTP. In addition, there is little regulatory guidance concerning the application of the rules
governing qualification as a QPTP, and it is possible that future guidance may adversely affect the qualification of such ETPs as QPTPs. In order for a Fund to meet the Diversification Requirement, the corresponding Portfolio generally may not
acquire an interest in any QPTP (including a QPTP in which the Portfolio already invests) if more than 25% of the value of the Portfolios total assets after the acquisition would be invested in the securities of QPTPs.
Each Portfolio is required for federal income tax purposes to mark-to-market and recognize as income for each taxable year its net unrealized gains and
losses on certain futures contracts as of the end of the year as well as those actually realized during the year. Gain or loss from futures and options contracts on broad-based indexes required to be marked to market will be 60% long-term and 40%
short-term capital gain or loss. Application of this rule may alter the timing and character of distributions to shareholders. A Portfolio may be required to defer the recognition of losses on futures contracts, options contracts and swaps to the
extent of any unrecognized gains on offsetting positions held by the Portfolio. It is anticipated that certain net gain realized from the closing out of futures or options contracts will be considered gain from the sale of securities and therefore
will be qualifying income for purposes of the Qualifying Income Requirement.
46
Investments by a Portfolio in zero coupon or other discount securities will result in income to the
Portfolio equal to a portion of the excess face value of the securities over their issue price (the original issue discount or OID) each year that the securities are held, even though the Portfolio may receive no cash
interest payments or may receive cash interest payments that are less than the income recognized for tax purposes. In other circumstances, whether pursuant to the terms of a security or as a result of other factors outside the control of the
Portfolio, the Portfolio may recognize income without receiving a commensurate amount of cash. Such income is included in determining the amount of income that the corresponding Fund must distribute to maintain its status as a RIC and to avoid the
payment of federal income tax, including the nondeductible 4% excise tax described above. Where such income is not matched by a corresponding cash receipt by a Portfolio, the Portfolio may be required to borrow money or dispose of other securities
to enable the Fund to make distributions to its shareholders in order to qualify for treatment as a RIC and eliminate taxes at the Fund level, potentially resulting in additional taxable gain or loss to the Portfolio.
Any market discount recognized on a market discount bond is taxable as ordinary income. A market discount bond is a bond acquired in the secondary market
at a price below redemption value, or below adjusted issue price if the bond was issued with original issue discount. Absent an election to include the market discount in income as it accrues, gain on the Portfolios disposition of such an
obligation will be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gain to the extent of the accrued market discount.
Special rules apply if a
Portfolio holds inflation-indexed bonds. Generally, all stated interest on such bonds is taken into income by a Portfolio under its regular method of accounting for interest income. The amount of any positive inflation adjustment for a taxable year,
which results from an increase in the inflation-adjusted principal amount of the bond, is treated as OID. The amount of a Portfolios OID in a taxable year with respect to a bond will increase a Portfolios (and the corresponding
Funds) taxable income for such year without a corresponding receipt of cash, until the bond matures. As a result, the Fund may need to use other sources of cash to satisfy its distribution requirements for its applicable year. The amount of
any negative inflation adjustments, which result from a decrease in the inflation-adjusted principal amount of the bond, reduces the amount of interest (including stated interest, OID, and market discount, if any) otherwise includable in the
Portfolios (and corresponding Funds) taxable income with respect to the bond for the taxable year.
Certain tax-exempt
shareholders, including qualified pension plans, individual retirement accounts, salary deferral arrangements, 401(k)s, and other tax-exempt entities, generally are exempt from federal income taxation except with respect to their unrelated business
taxable income (UBTI). Under current law, a Fund generally serves to block UBTI from being realized by their tax-exempt shareholders. However, notwithstanding the foregoing, tax-exempt shareholders could realize UBTI by virtue
of their investment in a Fund where, for example, (i) the Fund or the corresponding Portfolio invests in REITs that hold residual interests in real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs) or (ii) Shares in the Fund
constitute debt-financed property in the hands of the tax-exempt shareholder within the meaning of section 514(b) of the Internal Revenue Code. Charitable remainder trusts are subject to special rules and should consult their tax
advisors. There are no restrictions preventing a Fund or Portfolio from holding investments in REITs that hold residual interests in REMICs, and a Fund or Portfolio may do so. The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance with respect
to these issues and prospective shareholders, especially charitable remainder trusts, are strongly encouraged to consult with their tax advisors regarding these issues.
Dividends paid by a Fund to shareholders who are nonresident aliens or foreign entities will be subject to a 30% United States withholding tax unless a reduced rate of withholding or a withholding
exemption is provided under applicable treaty law to the extent derived from investment income and short-term capital gain or unless such income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business carried on through a permanent establishment in
the United States. Nonresident shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors concerning the applicability of the United States withholding tax and the proper withholding form(s) to be submitted to a Fund. A non-U.S. shareholder who fails
to provide an appropriate IRS Form W-8 may be subject to backup withholding at the appropriate rate.
Unless certain non-U.S. entities that
hold Fund Shares comply with IRS requirements that will generally require them to report information regarding U.S. persons investing in, or holding accounts with, such entities, a 30% withholding tax may apply to Fund distributions payable to such
entities after December 31, 2013 (or, in certain cases on or after later dates) and redemptions and certain capital gain dividends payable to such entities after December 31, 2016.
Non-U.S. persons are subject to U.S. tax on disposition of a United States real property interest (a USRPI). Gain on such a disposition is sometimes referred to as
FIRPTA gain. The Internal Revenue Code provides a look-through rule for distributions of FIRPTA gain if certain requirements are met. If the look-through rule applies, certain distributions attributable to income received by
a Fund from REITs may be treated as gain from the disposition of a USRPI, causing distributions to be subject to U.S. withholding tax at rates of up to 35%, and requiring non-U.S. investors to file nonresident U.S. income tax returns. Also,
gain may be subject to a 30% branch profits tax in the hands of a non-U.S. shareholder that is treated as a corporation for federal income tax purposes. Under certain circumstances, a Fund may itself qualify as a USRPI, which would result in
similar consequences to certain non-U.S. investors.
A Fund will be required in certain cases to withhold (as backup withholding)
on amounts payable to any shareholder who (1) has provided the Fund either an incorrect tax identification number or no number at all, (2) is subject to backup withholding by the Internal Revenue Service for failure to properly report
payments of interest or dividends, (3) has failed to certify to the Fund that such shareholder is not subject to backup withholding, or (4) has not certified that such shareholder is a U.S. person (including a U.S. resident alien). The
backup withholding rate is currently 28% and is scheduled to increase to 31% in 2013. Backup withholding will not be applied to payments that have been subject to the 30% withholding tax on shareholders who are neither citizens nor permanent
residents of the U.S.
47
An Authorized Participant who exchanges securities for Creation Units generally will recognize a gain or a
loss. The gain or loss will be equal to the difference between the market value of the Creation Units at the time and the sum of the exchangers aggregate basis in the securities surrendered plus the amount of cash paid for such Creation Units.
A person who redeems Creation Units will generally recognize a gain or loss equal to the difference between the exchangers basis in the Creation Units and the sum of the aggregate market value of any securities received plus the amount of any
cash received for such Creation Units. The Internal Revenue Service, however, may assert that a loss realized upon an exchange of securities for Creation Units cannot be deducted currently under the rules governing wash sales, or on the
basis that there has been no significant change in economic position.
Any capital gain or loss realized upon the creation of Creation Units
will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the securities exchanged for such Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Any capital gain or loss realized upon the redemption of Creation Units will generally be treated
as long-term capital gain or loss if the Shares comprising the Creation Units have been held for more than one year. Otherwise, such capital gains or losses will generally be treated as short-term capital gain or loss. Any loss upon a redemption of
Creation Units held for six (6) months or less will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any amounts treated as distributions to the applicable Authorized Participant of long-term capital gain with respect to the Creation
Units (including any amounts credited to the Authorized Participant as undistributed capital gains).
A Fund has the right to reject an order
for Creation Units if the purchaser (or group of purchasers) would, upon obtaining the Shares so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding shares of the Fund and if, pursuant to section 351 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Fund would have a basis
in the deposit securities different from the market value of such securities on the date of deposit. A Fund also has the right to require information necessary to determine beneficial Share ownership for purposes of the 80% determination. If a
Fund does issue Creation Units to a purchaser (or group of purchasers) that would, upon obtaining the Shares so ordered, own 80% or more of the outstanding Shares of the Fund, the purchaser (or group of purchasers) may not recognize gain or loss
upon the exchange of securities for Creation Units.
Persons purchasing or redeeming Creation Units should consult their own tax advisors with
respect to the tax treatment of any creation or redemption transaction.
Under promulgated Treasury regulations, if a shareholder recognizes a
loss on disposition of a Funds Shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder (or certain greater amounts over a combination of years), the shareholder must file with the IRS a
disclosure statement on Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not excepted. Significant penalties may be imposed for
the failure to comply with the reporting requirements. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayers treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult
their tax advisers to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.
The foregoing discussion
is a summary only and is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. Purchasers of Shares should consult their own tax advisors as to the tax consequences of investing in such Shares, including under state, local and other tax laws.
Finally, the foregoing discussion is based on applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, regulations, judicial authority and administrative interpretations in effect on the date hereof. Changes in applicable authority could materially
affect the conclusions discussed above, and such changes often occur.
CAPITAL STOCK AND SHAREHOLDER
REPORTS
Each Fund issues Shares of beneficial interest, no par value per Share. The Board may designate additional funds.
Each Share issued by the Trust has a pro rata interest in the assets of the corresponding Fund. Shares have no preemptive, exchange, subscription or
conversion rights and are freely transferable. Each Share is entitled to participate equally in dividends and distributions declared by the Board with respect to the relevant Fund, and in the net distributable assets of such Fund on liquidation.
Each Share has one vote with respect to matters upon which a shareholder vote is required consistent with the requirements of the 1940 Act
and the rules promulgated thereunder. Shares of all Funds vote together as a single class except that if the matter being voted on affects only a particular Fund it will be voted on only by that Fund and if a matter affects a particular Fund
differently from other Funds, that Fund will vote separately on such matter. Under Massachusetts law, the Trust is not required to hold an annual meeting of shareholders unless required to do so under the 1940 Act. The policy of the Trust is not to
hold an annual meeting of shareholders unless required to do so under the 1940 Act. All Shares of the Trust (regardless of the Fund) have noncumulative voting rights for the election of Trustees. Under Massachusetts law, Trustees of the Trust may be
removed by vote of the shareholders.
48
Under Massachusetts law, shareholders of a business trust may, under certain circumstances, be held
personally liable as partners for obligations of the Trust. However, the Declaration of Trust contains an express disclaimer of shareholder liability for acts or obligations of the Trust, requires that Trust obligations include such disclaimer, and
provides for indemnification and reimbursement of expenses out of the Trusts property for any shareholder held personally liable for the obligations of the Trust. Thus, the risk of a shareholder incurring financial loss on account of
shareholder liability is limited to circumstances in which the Trust itself would be unable to meet its obligations. Given the above limitations on shareholder personal liability, and the nature of each Funds assets and operations, the risk to
shareholders of personal liability is believed to be remote.
Shareholder inquiries may be made by writing to the Trust, c/o the Distributor,
State Street Global Markets, LLC at State Street Financial Center, One Lincoln Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111.
COUNSEL AND INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Bingham McCutchen LLP, 2020 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006, serves as
counsel to the Trust. Ernst & Young, LLP, 200 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA 02116 serves as the independent registered public accounting firm for the Trust. Ernst & Young, LLP performs annual audits of the Funds financial
statements and provides other audit, tax and related services.
LOCAL MARKET HOLIDAY SCHEDULES
The Trust and SSgA Master Trust generally intend to effect deliveries of portfolio securities on a basis of T plus three business
days (
i.e.
, days on which the NYSE is open) in the relevant foreign market of a Fund or Portfolio. The ability of the Trust or SSgA Master Trust to effect in-kind redemptions within three business days of receipt of a redemption request is
subject, among other things, to the condition that, within the time period from the date of the request to the date of delivery of the securities, there are no days that are local market holidays on the relevant business days. For every occurrence
of one or more intervening holidays in the local market that are not holidays observed in the United States, the redemption settlement cycle may be extended by the number of such intervening local holidays. In addition to holidays, other
unforeseeable closings in a foreign market due to emergencies may also prevent the Trust or SSgA Master Trust from delivering securities within three business days.
The securities delivery cycles currently practicable for transferring portfolio securities to redeeming investors, coupled with local market holiday schedules, may require a delivery process longer than
the standard settlement period. In certain circumstances during the calendar year, the settlement period may be greater than seven calendar days. Such periods are listed in the table below, as are instances where more than seven days will be needed
to deliver redemption proceeds. Since certain holidays may occur on different dates in subsequent years, the number of days required to deliver redemption proceeds in any given year may exceed the maximum number of days listed in the table below.
The proclamation of new holidays, the treatment by market participants of certain days as informal holidays (
e.g.
, days on which no or limited securities transactions occur, as a result of substantially shortened trading hours),
the elimination of existing holidays, or changes in local securities delivery practices, could affect the information set forth herein at some time in the future and longer (worse) redemption periods are possible.
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MARKET
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MAX SETL CYCLE
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TRADE DATE(S) W/ SETTLEMENT OF GREATER THAN 7 CALENDAR DAYS
(MAX DAYS IN
PARENTHESIS)
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Australia
|
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7 days
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|
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Austria
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12 days
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12/19/12(8); 12/20/12 (8); 12/21/12 (12)
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Belgium
|
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7 days
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Brazil
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7 days
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Canada
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7 days
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Chile
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|
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10 days
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9/13/13 (10); 9/16/13 (8); 9/17/13 (8)
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China
|
|
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12 days
|
|
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2/7/13 (11); 2/8/13 (11); 2/11/13 (10); 4/26/13 (10); 4/29/13 (8);
4/30/13 (8); 9/26/13 (12); 9/27/13 (12); 9/30/13 (10)
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Columbia
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7 days
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Czech Republic
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12 days
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12/19/12(8); 12/20/12 (8); 12/21/12 (12)
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Denmark
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|
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12 days
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12/19/12(8); 12/20/12 (8); 12/21/12 (12)
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Egypt
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8 days
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4/29/13(8); 4/30/13 (8)
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Euroclear
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7 days
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Finland
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12 days
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|
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12/19/12(8); 12/20/12 (8); 12/21/12 (12)
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France
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7 days
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Germany
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7 days
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Greece
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10 days
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12/20/12 (10); 12/23/12 (8); 4/29/13 (8); 4/30/13 (8)
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Hong Kong
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|
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7 days
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Hungary
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|
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12 days
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|
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12/19/12(8); 12/20/12 (8); 12/21/12 (12)
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49
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MARKET
|
|
MAX SETL CYCLE
|
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TRADE DATE(S) W/ SETTLEMENT OF GREATER THAN 7 CALENDAR DAYS
(MAX DAYS IN
PARENTHESIS)
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India
|
|
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7 days
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Indonesia
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7 days
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Ireland
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|
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7 days
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Israel
|
|
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13 days
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3/21/13 (12); 3/22/13 (12); 3/25/13 (10); 9/16/13 (11); 9/17/13 (13); 9/18/13 (13)
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Italy
|
|
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12 days
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|
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12/19/12(8); 12/20/12 (8); 12/21/12 (12)
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Japan
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|
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11 days
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12/26/12(9); 12/27/12 (11); 12/28/12 (11)
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Korea
|
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7 days
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Luxembourg
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|
|
7 days
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Malaysia
|
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7 days
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Mexico
|
|
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7 days
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Morocco
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7 days
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Netherlands
|
|
|
7 days
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New Zealand
|
|
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7 days
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Norway
|
|
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12 days
|
|
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12/19/12(8); 12/20/12 (8); 12/21/12 (12); 3/25/13 (8); 3/26/13 (8); 3/27/12 (8)
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Pakistan
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|
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7 days
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|
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Peru
|
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7 days
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|
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Philippines
|
|
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7 days
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Poland
|
|
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12 days
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|
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12/19/12(8); 12/20/12 (8); 12/21/12 (12)
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Portugal
|
|
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7 days
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Russia
|
|
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13 days
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|
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12/26/12 (13); 12/27/12 (13); 12/28/12 (13)
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Singapore
|
|
|
7 days
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South Africa
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|
|
7 days
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South Korea
|
|
|
7 days
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Spain
|
|
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12 days
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|
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12/19/12(8); 12/20/12 (8); 12/21/12 (12)
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Sweden
|
|
|
12 days
|
|
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12/19/12(8); 12/20/12 (8); 12/21/12 (12)
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Switzerland
|
|
|
7 days
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Taiwan
|
|
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11 days
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|
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2/7/13 (11); 2/8/13 (11); 2/11/13 (10)
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Thailand
|
|
|
7 days
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Turkey
|
|
|
7 days
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United Kingdom
|
|
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7 days
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50
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PROXY VOTING POLICY
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STATE STREET GLOBAL
ADVISORS
®
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MARCH 2012
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Introduction
SSgA Funds Management, Inc. (SSgA FM) is a registered investment adviser and a wholly owned subsidiary of State Street Corporation, a leading provider of financial services to institutional
investors. As an investment manager, SSgA FM has discretionary proxy voting authority over most of its client accounts, and SSgA FM votes these proxies in the manner that we believe will most likely protect and promote the long term economic value
of client investments and as set forth in the SSgA FM Proxy Voting Guidelines (the Proxy Voting Guidelines).
Proxy Voting
Procedure
Oversight
The
SSgA FM Corporate Governance Team is responsible for implementing the Proxy Voting Guidelines, case-by-case voting items, issuer engagement activities, and research and analysis of governance-related issues impacting shareholder value. The
implementation of the Proxy Voting Guidelines is overseen by the SSgA FM Global Proxy Review Committee (SSgA FM PRC), a committee of investment, compliance and legal professionals, who provide guidance on proxy issues as described in
more detail below. The SSgA FM PRC reports to the SSgA Investment Committee, and may refer certain significant proxy items to that committee. In addition to voting proxies, SSgA:
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1)
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describes its proxy voting procedures to its clients in Part II of its Form ADV;
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2)
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provides the client with this written proxy policy, upon request;
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3)
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discloses to its clients how they may obtain information on how FM voted the clients proxies;
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4)
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matches proxies received with holdings as of record date;
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5)
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generally applies its proxy voting policy consistently and keeps records of votes for each client;
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6)
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documents the reason(s) for voting for all non-routine items; and
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7)
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keeps records of such proxy voting available for inspection by the client or governmental agencies.
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Oversight of the proxy voting process is ultimately the responsibility of the SSgA Investment Committee. The SSgA Investment Committee reviews and
approves amendments to the Proxy Voting Guidelines.
Proxy Voting Process
SSgA FM retains Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), a firm with expertise in proxy voting and corporate governance, to support our proxy voting process. SSgA FM utilizes ISSs
services in three ways: (1) as SSgA FMs proxy voting agent (providing SSgA FM with vote execution and administration services); (2) applying SSgA FMs Proxy Voting Guidelines; and (3) provides research and analysis relating
to general corporate governance issues and specific proxy items.
On most routine proxy voting items (e.g., retention of auditors), ISS will
effect the proxy votes in accordance with the Proxy Voting Guidelines and our standing instructions, which the SSgA FM Corporate Governance Team reviews with ISS on an annual basis or on a case-by-case basis as required. The guidance permits ISS to
apply the Proxy Voting Guidelines without consulting us on each proxy and in a manner that is consistent with our investment view. On matters not directly covered by the Proxy Voting Guidelines, and we conclude there is no likelihood of impacting
shareholder value, ISS may effect proxy votes in accordance with its own recommendations.
A-1
In other cases, the Corporate Governance Team will evaluate the proxy solicitation to determine how to vote
consistent with SSgA FMs investment views and to maximize the value of our client accounts. In general, the Corporate Governance Team will engage in this additional review for:
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(i)
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proxies that involve special circumstances and require additional research and discussion (e.g. a material merger or acquisition, or a material governance issue with
the potential to become a significant precedent in corporate governance); and
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(ii)
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proxies that are not directly addressed by our policies and which are reasonably anticipated to have an impact on the current or potential value of a security or which
we do not consider to be routine.
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In some instances, the SSgA FM Corporate Governance Team may refer significant issues which
are not addressed by our Proxy Voting Guidelines or guidance to ISS to the SSgA FM PRC for a determination of the proxy vote. In addition, in determining whether to refer a proxy vote to the SSgA FM PRC, the SSgA FM Corporate Governance Team will
examine whether there is a material conflict of interest between the interests of our client and those of SSgA FM or its affiliates (as explained in greater detail below under Conflict of Interest). If there is no material conflict, we
examine the proposals that involve special circumstances or are not addressed by our policy or guidance in detail in seeking to determine what vote would be in the best interest of our clients (i.e., to maximize the economic value of our
clients securities).
Conflict of Interest
From time to time, SSgA FM will review a proxy which may present a potential conflict of interest. In general, we do not believe matters that fall within our Proxy Voting Guidelines and are voted
consistently with the Proxy Voting Guidelines present any potential conflicts, since the vote on the matter has effectively been determined without reference to the soliciting entity; however, where matters do not fall within our Proxy Voting
Guidelines or where we believe that voting in accordance with the Proxy Voting Guidelines is unwarranted, we conduct an additional review to determine whether there is a conflict of interest. Although various relationships could be deemed to give
rise to a conflict of interest, SSgA has determined that two categories of relationships present a serious concern to warrant an alternative process: (1) clients of SSgA FM or its affiliates which are among the top 100 clients of State Street
Corporation or its affiliates based upon revenue; and (2) the 10 largest broker-dealers used by SSgA, based upon revenue (a Material Relationship).
In circumstances where either (i) the matter does not fall clearly within the Proxy Voting Guidelines or (ii) SSgA FM determines that voting in accordance with such policies or guidance is not
in the best interests of its clients, the Director of SSgA FMs Corporate Governance Team will determine whether a Material Relationship exists. If so the matter is referred to the SSgA FM PRC. The SSgA FM PRC then reviews the matter and
determines whether a conflict of interest exists, and if so, how to best resolve such conflict. For example, the SSgA FM PRC may (i) determine that the proxy vote does not give rise to a conflict due to the issues presented, (ii) refer the
matter to the SSgA Investment Committee for further evaluation or (iii) retain an independent fiduciary to determine the appropriate vote.
Engagement
SSgA FM conducts issuer
engagement activity to support SSgA FMs voting principles. SSgA FM believes engagement with portfolio companies is often the most active and productive way shareholders can exercise their ownership rights, with the goal of increasing
shareholder value. SSgA FM regularly engages with companies to discuss corporate governance issues and to provide insight about the principles and practices that drive our voting decisions. In our discussions, we highlight the attributes and
practices that we believe enhance the quality of corporate governance at companies. Some engagement topics include takeover defenses, merger transactions, proxy contests, board elections, sustainability issues, executive compensation, equity
compensation plans and other topical issues of interest to our clients as shareholders. Through our discussions, we seek to strengthen the quality of corporate governance with boards and management, which helps protect shareholder value.
The SSgA FM Governance Team is dedicated to providing governance research, analysis, issuer engagement and voting services. The SSgA FM Governance Team
has no fixed set of priorities that dictate engagement practices. Instead, we view engagement practices as being dependent upon facts and circumstances, while giving consideration to the size of our total position of the issuer and/or the potential
negative governance practices, performance profile, and circumstance at hand.
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Nature and Form of Engagement
SSgA FM believes issuer engagement can take many forms and be triggered under numerous circumstances. The following methods represent how SSgA FM defines engagement methods:
Reactive
Reactive engagement is initiated by the issuers and typically represents a majority of SSgA FMs engagement activity. SSgA FM
routinely discusses specific voting issues and items with the issuer community. These are viewed as an opportunity to address not only voting items, but also a wide range of governance items that impact shareholder value.
Recurring
Recurring engagement takes advantage of SSgA FMs strong relationships with many of its largest holdings. SSgA FM maintains regular
face-to-face meetings with these issuers, allowing SSgA FM to reinforce key tenets of good corporate governance and actively advise these issuers around concerns that SSgA FM feels may impact long-term shareholder value.
Dynamic
Using screening tools designed to capture a mix of SSgA FMs largest exposures to issuers demonstrating severe negative governance
profiles, SSgA FM will actively seek direct dialogue with the board and management. In these cases, the dynamic engagement process represents the most meaningful chance for SSgA FM to protect long-term shareholder value from excessive risk due to
governance related risks.
SSgA FM believes active engagement is best conducted individually and directly with company management or board
members. Collaborative engagement, where multiple shareholders communicate with company representatives, such as shareholder conference calls, can serve as a potential forum for issues that are not identified by SSgA FM as requiring active
engagement.
When Does SSgA FM Engage Issuers?
SSgA FM uses various methods to monitor its investments to determine which issuers require dynamic engagement. A blend of quantitative and qualitative research and data is used to identify potential
engagement opportunities. SSgA FM sources internal and external research and screening tools to support the engagement process.
Voting and
Engagement
SSgA FM believes engagement and voting activity have a direct relationship. Issuer engagement seeks to address significant
shareholder concerns and governance issues. Logically, successful issuer engagement should reduce the need to vote against management. The integration and exercise of both these rights leads to a meaningful shareholder tool that seeks to achieve
enhanced shareholder value on behalf of SSgA FM clients.
Developed and Non-Developed Markets
SSgA FM engagement philosophy applies across all global markets. We have found the opportunity and effectiveness of engagement activity directly
correlates to the level of ownership and voting rights provided by local market laws. From market to market, engagement activity may take different forms in order to best achieve long term engagement goals.
Engagement in developed markets is a mature process for SSgA FM. In some cases, engagement activity is institutionalized into local best practices, such
as the UK Stewardship Code overseen by Financial Reporting Commission (FRC). In the UK, disclosure standards are high, allowing shareholders simple access to the key components of governance, such as board and by-law structure, remuneration policies
and practices, sustainability data and reporting, among others. Further, shareholder rights are relatively high allowing for SSgA FM to engage on a variety of issues.
In many non-OECD markets we often supplement direct company engagement with participation in shareholder advocacy groups that seek change at a market level. This type of top-down approach
should have a positive long-term impact by addressing shortcomings in local market laws on disclosure and shareholder rights.
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Summary of Proxy Voting Guidelines
Directors and Boards
The election of directors is one of the most important fiduciary
duties SSgA FM performs as a shareholder. SSgA FM believes that well-governed companies can protect and pursue shareholder interests better and withstand the challenges of an uncertain economic environment. As such, SSgA FM seeks to vote director
elections, in a way, which we as a fiduciary, believe will maximize the monetary value of each portfolios holdings.
The role of the
board, in SSgA FMs view, is to carry out its responsibilities in the best long-term interest of the company and its shareholders. A strong and effective board oversees management, provides guidance on strategic matters, selects the CEO and
other senior executives, creates a succession plan, and performs risk oversight and performance assessment of the CEO and management. In contrast, management implements the business strategy and runs the companys day-to-day operations. As part
of SSgA FMs engagement process, SSgA FM routinely discusses the importance of the board with issuers.
SSgA FM believes the quality of a
board is a measure of director independence and company governance practices. In voting to elect nominees, SSgA FM considers many factors. SSgA FM believes independent directors are crucial to good corporate governance and help management establish
sound corporate governance policies and practices. A sufficiently independent board will most effectively monitor management, maintain appropriate governance practices, and perform oversight functions necessary to protect shareholder interests.
Accounting and Audit Related Issues
SSgA FM believes audit committees are critical and necessary as part of the boards risk oversight role. We expect auditors to provide assurance as of a companys financial condition. Having
trust in the accuracy of financial statements is important for shareholders to make decisions. Subsequently, SSgA FM believes that it is imperative for audit committees to select outside auditors who are independent from management.
SSgA FM believes the audit committee is responsible for appointing, compensating, retaining and overseeing the issuers outside audit firm. In
addition, SSgA FM believes the audit committee should approve audit and non-audit services performed by outside audit firms.
Capital
Structure, Reorganization and Mergers
Though SSgA FM does not seek involvement in the day-to-day operations of an organization, SSgA FM
recognizes the need for oversight and input into management decisions that may affect a companys value. Altering the capital structure of a company is a critical decision for management, and in making such a critical decision, SSgA FM believes
the company should have a well explained business rationale that is consistent with corporate strategy and should not overly dilute its shareholders.
The organizational structure of a company or proposed modifications to a company, may improve the effectiveness of a companys operations, thereby enhancing shareholder value. M&A issues may
result in a substantial economic impact to a corporation. SSgA FM evaluates mergers and acquisitions on a case-by-case basis. SSgA FM considers the adequacy of the consideration and the impact of the corporate governance provisions to shareholders.
In all cases, SSgA FM uses its discretion in order to maximize shareholder value.
Occasionally, companies add anti-takeover provisions that
reduce the chances of a potential acquirer making an offer or reducing the likelihood of a successful offer. SSgA FM does not support proposals that reduce shareholders rights, entrench management or reduce the likelihood of shareholders
right to vote on reasonable offers.
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Compensation
SSgA FM considers the boards responsibility to include setting the appropriate level of executive compensation. Despite the differences among the types of plans and the awards possible, there is a
simple underlying philosophy that guides SSgA FMs analysis of executive compensation; there should be a direct relationship between executive compensation and company performance over the long term.
General/Routine
Although SSgA FM does
not seek involvement in the day-to-day operations of an organization, SSgA FM recognizes the need for conscientious oversight and input into management decisions that may affect a companys value. SSgA FM supports proposals that encourage
economically advantageous corporate practices and governance, while leaving decisions that are deemed to be routine or constitute ordinary business to management and the board of directors.
Environmental and Social Issues
Proposals relating to social and environmental issues,
typically initiated by shareholders, generally request that the company disclose or amend certain business practices. Often, proposals may address concerns with which SSgA FM philosophically agrees, but absent a compelling economic impact on
shareholder value, SSgA FM will typically abstain from voting on these proposals.
International Statement
SSgA FM reviews proxies of non-US issuers consistent with our Principles and Proxy Voting Guidelines; however, SSgA FM also endeavors to show sensitivity
to local market practices when voting non-US proxies. This may lead to contrasting votes as corporate governance standards, disclosure requirements and voting mechanics differ from market to market. SSgA will vote issues in the context of our Proxy
Voting Guidelines, as well as local market standards, where appropriate.
SSgA FM votes in all markets where it is feasible; however, SSgA FM
may refrain from voting meetings when power of attorney documentation is required, where voting will have a material impact on our ability to trade the security, or where issuer-specific special documentation is required or various market or issuer
certifications are required. SSgA FM is unable to vote proxies when certain custodians, used by our clients, do not offer proxy voting in a jurisdiction or when they charge a meeting specific fee in excess of the typical custody service agreement.
SSgA FM Proxy Voting Guidelines
State Street Global Advisors Funds Management (SSgA FM) seeks to vote proxies for which it has discretionary authority in the best interests SSgA FM clients. This means that SSgA FM will make
voting decisions in the manner SSgA believes will most likely protect and promote the long term economic value of client accounts. Absent unusual circumstances or specific client instructions, SSgA FM votes proxies on a particular matter in the same
way for all clients, regardless of their investment style or strategies. SSgA FM takes the view that voting in a manner consistent with maximizing the monetary value of our clients holdings will benefit our direct clients (e.g. fund
shareholders).
I. DIRECTOR RELATED ITEMS
Director related proposals concern issues submitted to shareholders that deal with the composition of the board or impact the members of a corporations board of directors. In deciding which director
nominee to support, SSgA FM considers numerous factors.
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Director Elections
SSgAs director election policy focuses on companies governance profile to identify if a company demonstrates appropriate governance practices or if it exhibits negative governance practices.
Factors SSgA considers when evaluating governance practices include, but are not limited to the following:
If a company demonstrates
appropriate governance practices
, SSgA believes a director should be classified as independent based on the relevant listing standards or local market practice standards. In such cases, the composition of the key oversight committees of a board
should meet the minimum standards of independence. Accordingly, SSgA will vote against a nominee at a company with appropriate governance practices if the director is classified as non-independent under relevant listing standards or local market
practice AND serves on a key committee of the board (compensation, audit, nominating or committees required to be fully independent by local market standards).
Conversely,
if a company demonstrates negative governance practices
, SSgA believes the classification standards for director independence should be elevated. In such circumstances, we will evaluate
all director nominees based on the following classification standards:
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Is the nominee an employee of or related to an employee of the issuer or its auditor,
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Does the nominee provides professional services to the issuer,
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Has the nominee attended an appropriate number of board meetings, or
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Has the nominee received non-board related compensation from the issuer.
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Where companies demonstrate negative governance practices,
these stricter standards will apply not only to directors who are a member of a key committee but to all directors on the board as market
practice permits. Accordingly, SSgA will vote against a nominee (with the exception of the CEO) where the board has inappropriate governance practices and is considered not independent based on the above independence criteria.
Additionally, SSgA may withhold votes based on the following:
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CEOs of public companies who sit on more than three public company boards.
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Nominees who sit on more than six public company boards.
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SSgA may withhold votes from all director nominees at companies that have ignored a shareholder proposal which received a majority of the shares outstanding at the last
annual or special meeting, unless management submits the proposal(s) on the ballot as a binding management proposal, recommending shareholders vote for the particular proposal(s).
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SSgA may withhold votes from compensation committee members where there is a weak relationship between executive pay and performance over a five-year period.
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SSgA will withhold votes from audit committee members if non-audit fees exceed 50% of total fees paid to the auditors.
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SSgA will withhold votes from directors who appear to have been remiss in their duties.
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Director Related Proposals
SSgA FM generally votes for the following director related
proposals:
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Discharge of board members duties, in the absence of pending litigation, governmental investigation, charges of fraud or other indications of significant concern.
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Proposals to restore shareholders ability to remove directors with or without cause.
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Proposals that permit shareholders to elect directors to fill board vacancies.
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Shareholder proposals seeking disclosure regarding the company, board, or compensation committees use of compensation consultants, such as company name, business
relationship(s) and fees paid.
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SSgA FM generally votes against the following director related proposals:
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Requirements that candidates for directorships own large amounts of stock before being eligible to be elected.
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Proposals that relate to the transaction of other business as properly comes before the meeting, which extend blank check powers to those acting
as proxy.
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Shareholder proposals requiring two candidates per board seat.
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Majority Voting
SSgA FM will generally support a majority vote standard based on votes
cast for the election of directors.
SSgA FM will generally vote to support amendments to bylaws that would require simple majority of voting
shares (i.e. shares cast) to pass or repeal certain provisions.
Annual Elections
SSgA FM generally supports the establishment of annual elections of the board of directors. Consideration is given to the overall level of board
independence and the independence of the key committees as well as whether there is a shareholders rights plan.
Cumulative Voting
SSgA FM does not support cumulative voting structures for the election of directors.
Separation Chair/CEO
SSgA FM analyzes
proposals for the separation of Chair/CEO on a case-by-case basis taking into consideration numerous factors, including but not limited to, a companys performance and the overall governance structure of the company.
Proxy Access
SSgA will consider
proposals relating to Proxy Access on a case-by-case basis:
SSgA will evaluate the companys specific circumstances, the impact of the
proposal on the target company and its potential effect on shareholder value.
Considerations include but are not limited to the following:
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The ownership thresholds and holding duration proposed in the resolution;
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The binding nature of the proposal;
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The number of directors that shareholders may be nominate each year;
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Company governance structure;
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Shareholder rights; and
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Age/Term Limits
Generally, SSgA FM will vote against limits to tenure.
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Approve Remuneration of Directors
Generally, SSgA FM will support directors compensation, provided the amounts are not excessive relative to other issuers in the market or industry. In making our determination, we review whether the
compensation is overly dilutive to existing shareholders.
Indemnification
Generally, SSgA FM supports proposals to limit directors liability and/or expand indemnification and liability protection if he or she has not acted in bad faith, gross negligence or reckless
disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office.
Classified Boards
SSgA FM generally supports annual elections for the board of directors. In certain cases, SSgA FM will support a classified board structure, if the board
is composed of 80 percent of independent directors, the boards key committees (auditing, nominating and compensation) are composed of independent directors, and SSgA FM will consider other governance factors, including antitakeover devices.
Confidential Voting
SSgA FM
will support confidential voting.
Board Size
SSgA FM will support proposals seeking to fix the board size or designate a range for the board size and will vote against proposals that give management the ability to alter the size of the board outside
of a specified range without shareholder approval.
II. AUDIT RELATED ITEMS
Ratifying Auditors and Approving Auditor Compensation
SSgA FM supports the approval of
auditors and auditor compensation provided that the issuer has properly disclosed audit and non-audit fees relative to market practice and the audit fees are not deemed excessive. SSgA FM deems audit fees to be excessive if the non-audit fees for
the prior year constituted 50% or more of the total fees paid to the auditor. SSgA FM will support the disclosure of auditor and consulting relationships when the same or related entities are conducting both activities and will support the
establishment of a selection committee responsible for the final approval of significant management consultant contract awards where existing firms are already acting in an auditing function.
In circumstances where other fees include fees related to initial public offerings, bankruptcy emergence, and spin-offs, and the company makes public disclosure of the amount and nature of
those fees which are determined to be an exception to the standard non-audit fee category, then such fees may be excluded from the non-audit fees considered in determining the ratio of non-audit to audit/audit-related fees/fax compliance
and preparation for purposes of determining whether non-audit fees are excessive.
SSgA FM will support the discharge of
auditors and requirements that auditors attend the annual meeting of shareholders.
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Common for non-US issuers; request from the issuer to discharge from liability the directors or auditors with respect to actions taken by them during
the previous year.
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Accept Financial Statements Consolidated Financial Statements and Statutory Reports
It is the auditors responsibility to provide assurance as of the companys financial condition. Accordingly, in the absence of pending
litigation, governmental investigation, charges of fraud or other indicia of significant concern, SSgA FM will accept the financial statement, allocation of income and/or statutory report.
III. CAPITAL STRUCTURE
Capital structure proposals include requests by management for
approval of amendments to the certificate of incorporation that will alter the capital structure of the company. The most common request is for an increase in the number of authorized shares of common stock, usually in conjunction with a stock split
or dividend. Typically, requests that are not unreasonably dilutive or enhance the rights of common shareholders are supported. In considering authorized share proposals, the typical threshold for approval is 100% over current authorized shares.
However, the threshold may be increased if the company offers a specific need or purpose (merger, stock splits, growth purposes, etc.). All proposals are evaluated on a case-by-case basis taking into account the companys specific financial
situation.
Increase in Authorized Common Shares
In general, SSgA FM supports share increases for general corporate purposes up to 100% of current authorized stock.
SSgA FM supports increases for specific corporate purposes up to 100% of the specific need plus 50% of current authorized common stock for U.S. firms and plus 100% of current authorized stock for
international firms.
When applying the thresholds, SSgA FM will also consider the nature of the specific need, such as mergers and
acquisitions and stock splits.
Increase in Authorized Preferred Shares
SSgA FM votes on a case-by-case basis on proposals to increase the number of preferred shares.
Generally, SSgA FM will vote for the authorization of preferred stock in cases where the company specifies the voting, dividend, conversion, and other
rights of such stock and the terms of the preferred stock appear reasonable.
SSgA FM will support proposals to create declawed
blank check preferred stock (stock that cannot be used as a takeover defense).
However, SSgA FM will vote against proposals to increase the
number of blank check preferred stock authorized for issuance when no shares have been issued or reserved for a specific purpose.
Preemptive Rights and Non-Preemptive Rights
In general, SSgA FM supports issuance authority requests up to 100% of current share capital with preemptive rights. Requests for the authority to remove preemptive rights will be supported for share
issuances that are less than a certain percentage (ranging from 5-20%, based on market practice) of the outstanding shares, unless even such a small amount could have a material dilutive effect on existing shareholders (e.g. illiquid markets).
For Hong Kong, SSgA FM does not support issuances that do not place limits on discounts or do not provide the authority to refresh the share
issuance amounts without prior shareholder approval.
Unequal Voting Rights
SSgA FM will not support proposals authorizing the creation of new classes of common stock with superior voting rights and will vote against new classes of preferred stock with unspecified voting,
conversion, dividend distribution, and other rights. In addition, SSgA FM will not support capitalization changes that add blank check classes of stock (i.e. classes of stock with undefined voting rights) or classes that dilute the
voting interests of existing shareholders.
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However, SSgA FM will support capitalization changes that eliminate other classes of stock and/or unequal
voting rights.
Dividends and Share Repurchase Programs
SSgA FM generally supports dividend payouts that are greater than or equal to country and industry standards; we generally support a dividend which constitutes 30% or more of net income. SSgA FM may vote
against the dividend payouts if the dividend payout ratio has been consistently below 30% without adequate explanation; or, the payout is excessive given the companys financial position.
Generally, SSgA FM votes for the authorization of share repurchase programs, unless the issuer does not clearly state the business purpose for the
program, a definitive number of shares to be repurchased, and the time frame for the repurchase.
IV. MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Mergers and the reorganization structure of a company often involve proposals relating to reincorporation, restructurings, mergers,
liquidations, and other major changes to the corporation. Proposals that are in the best interests of the shareholders, demonstrated by enhancing share value or improving the effectiveness of the companys operations, will be supported. In
general, provisions that are not viewed as economically sound or are thought to be destructive to shareholders rights are not supported.
SSgA FM will generally support transactions that maximize shareholder value. Some of the considerations include, but are not limited to the following:
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Board oversight of the process for the recommended transaction, including, director and/or management conflicts of interest
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Offers made at a premium and where there are no other higher bidders
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Offers in which the secondary market price is substantially lower than the net asset value
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SSgA
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FM may vote against a transaction considering the following:
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Offers with potentially damaging consequences for minority shareholders because of illiquid stock, especially in some non-US markets
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Offers where we believe there is a reasonable prospect for an enhanced bid or other bidders
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At the time of voting, the current market price of the security exceeds the bid price
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V. ANTI-TAKEOVER MEASURES
Typically, proposals relating to requests by management to amend
the certificate of incorporation or bylaws to add or delete a provision are deemed to have an antitakeover effect. The majority of these proposals deal with managements attempt to add some provision that makes a hostile takeover more difficult
or will protect incumbent management in the event of a change in control of the company.
Proposals that reduce shareholders rights or
have the effect of entrenching incumbent management will not be supported. Proposals that enhance the right of shareholders to make their own choices as to the desirability of a merger or other proposal are supported.
Shareholder Rights Plans
SSgA FM will
support mandates requiring shareholder approval of a shareholder rights plans (poison pill) and repeals of various anti-takeover related provisions.
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In general, SSgA FM will vote against the
adoption or renewal of a US issuers
shareholder
rights plan (poison pill).
SSgA FM will support the
adoption or renewal of a non-US issuers
shareholder rights plans
(poison pill) if the following conditions are met: (i) minimum trigger, flip-in or flip-over of 20%, (ii) maximum term of three years, (iii) no dead hand, slow hand, no hand or similar
feature that limits the ability of a future board to redeem the pill, and (iv) inclusion of a shareholder redemption feature (qualifying offer clause), permitting ten percent of the shares to call a special meeting or seek a written consent to
vote on rescinding the pill if the board refuses to redeem the pill 90 days after a qualifying offer is announced.
SSgA FM will vote for an
amendment
to a shareholder rights plan (poison pill) where the terms of the new plans are more favorable to shareholders ability to accept unsolicited offers (i.e. if one of the following conditions are met: (i) minimum
trigger, flip-in or flip-over of 20%, (ii) maximum term of three years, (iii) no dead hand, slow hand, no hand or similar feature that limits the ability of a future board to redeem the pill, and
(iv) inclusion of a shareholder redemption feature (qualifying offer clause), permitting ten percent of the shares to call a special meeting or seek a written consent to vote on rescinding the pill if the board refuses to redeem the pill 90
days after a qualifying offer is announced).
Special Meetings
SSgA will vote
for
shareholder proposals related to special meetings at companies that do not provide shareholders the right to call for a special meeting in their by-laws if:
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The company also does not allow shareholders to act by written consent, OR
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The company allows shareholders to act by written consent but the ownership threshold for acting by written consent is set above 25% of outstanding shares.
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SSgA will vote
for
shareholder proposals related to special meetings at companies that give shareholders (with a minimum
10% ownership threshold) the right to call for a special meeting in their by-laws if:
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The current ownership threshold to call for a special meeting is above 25% of outstanding shares.
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SSgA will vote for management proposals related to special meetings.
Written Consent
SSgA will vote
for
shareholder proposals on written consent at
companies if:
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The company does not have provisions in their by-laws giving shareholders the right to call for a special meeting, OR
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The company allows shareholders the right to call for a special meeting but the current ownership threshold to call for a special meeting is above 25% of outstanding
shares, AND
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The company has a poor governance profile.
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SSgA will vote management proposals on written consent on a case-by-case basis.
Super-Majority
SSgA FM will generally vote against amendments to by-laws requiring
super-majority shareholder votes to pass or repeal certain provisions. SSgA FM will vote for the reduction or elimination of super-majority vote requirements, unless management of the issuer was concurrently seeking to or had previously made such a
reduction or elimination.
VI. REMUNERATION
Despite the differences among the types of plans and the awards possible there is a simple underlying philosophy that guides the analysis of all compensation plans; namely, are the terms of the plan
designed to provide an incentive for executives and/or employees to align their interests with those of the shareholders and thus work toward enhancing shareholder value. Plans which benefit participants only when the shareholders also benefit are
those most likely to be supported.
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Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation and Frequency
SSgA FM supports management proposals on executive compensation where there is a strong relationship between executive pay and performance over a
five-year period.
SSgA FM supports an annual advisory vote on executive compensation.
Approve Remuneration Report
SSgA FM
will generally support remuneration reports that are judged to be in-line with local market practices. SSgA FM will generally vote against the approval of the remuneration report if the company fails to disclose information regarding any element of
CEO remuneration including but not limited to, base salary, annual bonuses, and special bonuses relative to market practice.
If the
companys schemes allows for retesting of performance criteria over extended time period or for retesting if the original performance criteria was not met during the initial time period, SSgA FM may vote against the remuneration report.
Employee Equity Award Plans
SSgA FM considers numerous criteria when examining equity award proposals. Generally, SSgA FM does not vote against plans for lack of performance or
vesting criteria. Rather, the main criteria that will result in a vote against an equity award plans plan are:
Excessive voting power
dilution
: To assess the dilutive effect, we divide the number of shares required to fully fund the proposed plan, the number of authorized but unissued shares and the issued but unexercised shares by the fully diluted share count. SSgA reviews
that number in light of certain factors, including the industry of the issuer.
Other criteria include the following:
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Number of participants or eligible employees;
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The variety of awards possible
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The period of time covered by the plan
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There
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are numerous factors that we view as negative, and together, may result in a vote against a proposal:
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Grants to individuals or very small groups of participants;
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Gun-jumping grants which anticipate shareholder approval of a plan or amendment;
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The power of the board to exchange underwater options without shareholder approval this pertains to the ability of a company to reprice options, not the
actual act of repricing described above;
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Below market rate loans to officers to exercise their options;
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The ability to grant options at less than fair market value;
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Acceleration of vesting automatically upon a change in control;
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Excessive compensation (i.e. compensation plans which are deemed by SSgA FM to be overly dilutive).
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Historical option grants
: Excessive historical option grants over the past three years. Plans that provide for historical grant patterns of
greater than eight to twelve percent are generally not supported.
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Repricing:
SSgA FM will vote against any plan where repricing is expressly permitted. If a company
has a history of repricing underwater options, the plan will not be supported.
Share Repurchases
: If a company makes a clear
connection between a share repurchase program and its intent to offset dilution created from option plans and the company fully discloses the amount of shares being repurchased, the voting dilution calculation may be adjusted to account for the
impact of the buy back.
Companies who do not (i) clearly state the intentions of any proposed share buy-back plan or (ii) do not
disclose a definitive number of the shares to be bought back and, (iii) the time frame during which the shares will be bought back will not have any such repurchase plan factored into the dilution calculation.
162(m) Plan Amendments
: If a plan would not normally meet SSgA FM criteria described above, but is primarily being amended to add specific
performance criteria to be used with awards designed to qualify for performance-based exception from the tax deductibility limitations of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, then SSgA FM will support the proposal to amend the plan.
Employee Stock Option Plans
SSgA FM generally votes for stock purchase plans with an exercise price of not less than 85% of fair market value. However, SSgA FM takes market practice
into consideration.
Compensation Related Items
SSgA FM will generally support the following proposals:
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Expansions to reporting of financial or compensation-related information, within reason
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Proposals requiring the disclosure of executive retirement benefits if the issuer does not have an independent compensation committee
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SSgA FM will generally vote against the following proposals:
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Retirement bonuses for non-executive directors and auditors
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VII. MISCELLANEOUS/ROUTINE ITEMS
SSgA FM generally supports the following
miscellaneous/routine governance items:
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Reimbursement of all appropriate proxy solicitation expenses associated with the election when voting in conjunction with support of a dissident slate
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Opting out of business combination provision
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Proposals that remove restrictions on the right of shareholders to act independently of management
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Liquidation of the company if the company will file for bankruptcy if the proposal is not approved
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Shareholder proposals to put option repricings to a shareholder vote
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General updating of or corrective amendments to charter and by-laws not otherwise specifically addressed herein, unless such amendments would reasonably be expected to
diminish shareholder rights (e.g. extension of directors term limits, amending shareholder vote requirement to amend the charter documents, insufficient information provided as to the reason behind the amendment)
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Change in corporation name
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Mandates that amendments to bylaws or charters have shareholder approval
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Management proposals to change the date, time, and/or location of the annual meeting unless the proposed change is unreasonable
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Repeals, prohibitions or adoption of anti-greenmail provisions
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Management proposals to implement a reverse stock split when the number of authorized shares will be proportionately reduced and proposals to implement a reverse stock
split to avoid delisting
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Exclusive forum provisions
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SSgA
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FM generally does not support the following miscellaneous/routine governance items:
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Proposals asking companies to adopt full tenure holding periods for their executives
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Reincorporation to a location that we believe has more negative attributes than its current location of incorporation
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Shareholder proposals to change the date, time, and/or location of the annual meeting unless the current scheduling or location is unreasonable
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Proposals to approve other business when it appears as voting item
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Proposals giving the board exclusive authority to amend the bylaws
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Proposals to reduce quorum requirements for shareholder meetings below a majority of the shares outstanding unless there are compelling reasons to support the proposal
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VIII. ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Proposals relating to social and environmental issues, typically initiated by shareholders, generally request that the company disclose or amend certain business practices. Where it appears there is a
potential effect on shareholder or economic value of a company that is related to a specific environmental or social issue, SSgA FM evaluates the shareholder proposal addressing the issue on a case-by-case basis. Absent a compelling economic impact
on shareholder value, SSgA FM will typically abstain from voting on these proposals.
Record Keeping
In accordance with applicable law, FM shall retain the following documents for not less than five years from the end of the year in which the proxies were
voted, the first two years in FMs office:
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1)
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FMs Proxy Voting Policy and any additional procedures created pursuant to such Policy;
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2)
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a copy of each proxy statement FM receives regarding securities held by its clients (note: this requirement may be satisfied by a third party who has agreed in writing
to do so or by obtaining a copy of the proxy statement from the EDGAR database);
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3)
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a record of each vote cast by FM (note: this requirement may be satisfied by a third party who has agreed in writing to do so);
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4)
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a copy of any document created by FM that was material in making its voting decision or that memorializes the basis for such decision; and
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5)
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a copy of each written request from a client, and response to the client, for information on how FM voted the clients proxies.
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More Information
Any client who wishes
to receive information on how its proxies were voted should contact its SSgA FM relationship manager.
A-14
GSO / BLACKSTONE DEBT FUNDS MANAGEMENT LLC
PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Introduction
As an investment adviser registered under the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the Advisers Act), GSO / Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLC (the Sub-Adviser) has a duty to monitor corporate events and to vote proxies, as well as a duty to cast votes in the best
interest of clients and not subrogate client interests to its own interests. Rule 206(4)-6 under the Advisers Act places specific requirements on registered investment advisers with proxy voting authority.
Proxy Policies
Due to the nature of the SPDR Blackstone/GSO Senior Loan ETFs (the Fund) investment strategy, equity securities will generally not be a large portion of the investments of the Fund.
Nevertheless, the Sub-Advisers policies and procedures are reasonably designed to ensure that the Sub-Adviser votes proxies in the best interest of the Fund and addresses how it will resolve any conflict of interest that may arise when voting
proxies and, in so doing, to maximize the value of the investments made by the Fund, taking into consideration the Funds investment horizons and other relevant factors. It will review on a case-by-case basis each proposal submitted for a
shareholder vote to determine its impact on the portfolio securities held by its clients. Although the Sub-Adviser will generally vote against proposals that may have a negative impact on its clients portfolio securities, it may vote for such
a proposal if there exists compelling long-term reasons to do so.
Decisions on how to vote a proxy generally are made by the
Sub-Adviser. The investment committee and the members of the investment team covering the applicable security often have the most intimate knowledge of both a companys operations and the potential impact of a proxy votes outcome.
Decisions are based on a number of factors which may vary depending on a proxys subject matter, but are guided by the general policies described in the proxy policy. In addition, the Sub-Adviser may determine not to vote a proxy after
consideration of the votes expected benefit to clients and the cost of voting the proxy. To ensure that its vote is not the product of a conflict of interest, the Adviser will require the members of the investment committee to disclose any
personal conflicts of interest they may have with respect to overseeing a Funds investment in a particular company.
Proxy Voting Records
You may obtain information, without charge, regarding how we voted proxies with respect to our portfolio securities by making a written request for proxy voting information to: Chief Compliance Officer,
GSO / Blackstone Debt Funds Management LLC, 345 Park Avenue, 31
st
Floor, New York, NY 10154.
ACTSAI