SPHY

About SPHY

In seeking to track the performance of the ICE BofA US High Yield 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 and in securities that the Adviser determines have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of the securities that comprise the Index. In addition, in seeking to track the Index, the Fund may invest in debt 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. The Fund may use derivatives, including credit default swaps and credit default index swaps, to obtain investment exposure that the Adviser expects to correlate closely with the Index, or a portion of the Index, and in managing cash flows.The Index is designed to measure the performance of U.S. dollar denominated below investment grade (commonly referred to as “junk”) corporate debt publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market. The Index includes securities rated below investment grade (based on an average of Moody's Investors Service, Inc., Fitch Ratings Inc., and S&P Global Ratings) with at least 18 months remaining to final maturity at the time of issuance and at least one year remaining term to final maturity as of the Index's rebalancing date. In addition, individual securities of qualifying issuers must have a fixed coupon schedule and a minimum amount outstanding of $250 million. Qualifying corporate issuers must have risk exposure to an FX-G10 or Western European country, or a territory of the United States or a Western European country. As of July 31, 2024, the FX-G10 includes all Eurozone members, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden. Securities included in the Index may include securities that are subject to restrictions on resale under the U.S. federal securities laws (“restricted securities”).The Index is market capitalization weighted, and is rebalanced on the last calendar day of the month based on information available up to and including the third business day before the last business day of the month. As of August 31, 2024, a significant portion of the Fund comprised companies in the consumer cyclical sector, although this may change from time to time. As of July 31, 2024, there were approximately 1,858 securities in the Index.The Index is sponsored by ICE Data Indices, LLC (the “Index Provider”), which is not affiliated with the Fund or the Adviser. The Index Provider determines the composition of the Index, relative weightings of the securities in the Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Index.