State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the investment management arm of State Street, has announced that the SPDR S&P VRDO Municipal Bond ETF (VRD) began trading on the NYSE Arca on September 24, 2009.
Reportedly, the SPDR S&P VRDO Municipal Bond ETF is designed to provide investors with access to municipal variable rate demand obligations (VRDOs). Specifically, it seeks to track the price and yield performance of the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal VRDO Index.
The company has added that VRDOs, which are often issued with maturities of up to 30 or 40 years, are considered short-term instruments because they have a 1-day or 7-day put feature that coincides with the timing of the daily or weekly yield reset.
James Ross, senior managing director at State Street Global Advisors, said: “Developed in response to increasing demand for VRDOs, the SPDR S&P VRDO Municipal Bond ETF provides investors with access to a hard to reach corner of the municipal bond market where the required minimum denomination for issue purchase is $100,000. In offering precise, cost efficient exposure to VRDOs, the SPDR S&P VRDO Municipal Bond ETF provides a wide range of investors with an opportunity to enhance the diversification and tax efficiency of their portfolios.”
