SS SPDR US SC LOW VOL IDX

Investment objective: The State Street SPDR US Small Cap Low Volatility Index ETF (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the total return performance of a small cap, low volatility index.

Principal investment strategies: In seeking to track the performance of the State Street US Small Cap Low Volatility Index (previously known as the SSGA US Small Cap Low Volatility Index) ? (the Index), the Fund employs a sampling strategy, which means that the Fund is not required to purchase all of the securities represented in the Index. Instead, the Fund may purchase a subset of the securities in the Index in an effort to hold a portfolio of securities with generally the same risk and return characteristics of the Index. The quantity of holdings in the Fund will be based on a number of factors, including asset size of the Fund. Based on its analysis of these factors, SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (SSGA FM or the Adviser), the investment adviser to the Fund, either may invest the Fund's assets in a subset of securities in the Index or may invest the Fund's assets in substantially all of the securities represented in the Index in approximately the same proportions as the Index, as determined by the Adviser to be in the best interest of the Fund in pursuing its objective. Under normal market conditions, the Fund generally invests substantially all, but at least 80%, of its total assets in the securities comprising the Index. In addition, in seeking to track the Index, the Fund may invest in equity securities that are not included in the Index. The Fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents or money market instruments (including money market funds advised by the Adviser) for cash management purposes. In seeking to track the Index, the Fund's assets may be concentrated in an industry or group of industries, but only to the extent that the Index concentrates in a particular industry or group of industries. Futures contracts (a type of derivative instrument) may be used by the Fund in seeking performance that corresponds to the Index and in managing cash flows. The Index is designed to measure the performance of the stocks of U.S. small capitalization companies that exhibit low volatility. Volatility is a statistical measurement of the magnitude of movements in a stock's price over time. In selecting constituents from the Index Universe (defined herein), the Index utilizes a proprietary rules-based process that seeks to increase exposure to stocks in the Index Universe that exhibit low volatility. The initial universe of securities eligible for inclusion in the Index (the Index Universe) is comprised of the 2,000 U.S. stocks listed on a U.S. national securities exchange whose market capitalizations rank from 1,001 to 3,000 that have trailing six-month average daily trading volumes of at least 250,000 shares and free float factors (percentage of common shares outstanding readily available in the market) greater than 50% as of the Index rebalance determination date. Eligible stocks are assigned to a sector and ranked within each sector according to their volatility. A stock's volatility is measured by the standard deviation of monthly total returns to that stock's price over the trailing 5 years as of the Index rebalance determination date. For stocks with less than 5 years of monthly returns, volatility is measured by available monthly returns if the stock has at least 2.5 years of monthly returns or by the average volatility of stocks in the same sector in the Investment Universe if the stock has fewer than 2.5 years of monthly returns. For each sector, stocks with the lowest volatility whose combined free float sector market capitalization equals 30% are selected for inclusion in the Index, including the first stock that brings the combined sector market capitalization above 30%. The Index weights constituent securities such that securities with the lowest volatility receive the highest weights in the Index, subject to liquidity constraints limiting a constituent's weighting in the Index to 5% and to 20 times the constituent's weight within the Index Universe. The Index rebalance determination date is 10 business days prior to the last business day of March. Index rebalancings are effective after the close of the last business day of March. As of August 31, 2025, a significant portion of the Fund comprised companies in the financial and industrial sectors, although this may change from time to time. As of July 31, 2025, there were 405 securities in the Index. The Index was created and is sponsored by State Street Investment Management (the Index Provider), an affiliate of the Fund and of SSGA FM, the Fund's Adviser. The Index Provider establishes and maintains rules which are used to determine the composition of the Index and relative weightings of the securities in the Index. Continue reading...

Source: Fund prospectus, 485BPOS, filed 2025-10-24