State Street’s (NYSE: STT) State Street Global Advisors, the second-largest U.S. issuer of exchange traded funds, launched the SPDR Barclays 0-5 Year TIPS ETF (NYSEArca: SIPE) today.
SIPE “seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Barclays 0-5 Year US Government Inflation-linked Bond Index,” according to the new fund’s web site.
“With rising rates on the horizon, investors are increasingly relying on ETFs to manage duration risk within their fixed-income allocations. The new SPDR Barclays 0-5 Year TIPS ETF seeks to offer these investors a hedge against inflation that’s less sensitive to interest rate changes than longer duration TIPS funds,” according to a statement issued by SSgA.
Although some bond ETFs struggled last year, SIPE debuts against a suddenly favorable backdrop for fixed income funds. Bond ETFs have bucked the trend of departures from equity-based funds. U.S. bond ETFs have raked in $16 billion this month as of Feb. 21, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing TrimTabs Investment Research. [Bond ETFs are Popular Again]
On Thursday, a study published by consulting firm Greenwich Associates and sponsored by SSgA rival iShares noted institutional investors, including large registered investment advisors, insurance companies, pensions, endowments and foundations, plan to increase their usage of fixed income ETFs over the next year. [Institutions Increasing Use of Bond ETFs]