Junk Bond Fund Debuts

State Street Global Advisors introduced the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term High Yield Bond ETF (SJNK), which owns lower rated corporate debt with durations of less than five years.

SJNK is linked to the Barclays Capital 0-5 Cash Pay Constrained High Yield Index and includes publicly issued U.S. dollar denominated, non-investment-grade, fixed rate, taxable corporate bonds that are rated high-yield (Ba1/BB+/BB+ or below). As of March 5, 2012, there were approximately 351 securities in the Index with an average modified adjusted duration of some 2.06 years.

"Offering equity-like returns with less volatility, demand for high yield bond exposure is on the rise," said James Ross, senior managing director and global head of SPDR Exchange Traded Funds at State Street Global Advisors. "The launch of the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term High Yield Bond ETF provides investors and advisors with an opportunity to gain cost efficient access to short term high yield bonds, a segment of the high yield market that can help to protect against an inevitable rise in interest rates."