Mutual Fund Summary Prospectus (497k)

 

SPDR ® Barclays Short Term International Treasury Bond ETF			BWZ

(NYSE Ticker)

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS - OCTOBER 31, 2013

Before you invest in the SPDR Barclays Short Term International Treasury Bond ETF (the “Fund”), you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, which contain more information about the Fund and the risks of investing in the Fund. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information dated October 31, 2013, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus. You can find the Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, as well as other information about the Fund, online at https://www.spdrs.com/product/fund.seam?ticker=BWZ. You may also obtain this information at no charge by calling [phone] or by sending an e-mail request to [e-mail].

 

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The SPDR Barclays Short Term International Treasury Bond ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of an index that tracks the short-term (1-3 year remaining maturity) fixed rate, investment grade debt issued by foreign governments of investment grade countries.

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND

This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund (“Shares”). This table and the example below do not reflect brokerage commissions you may pay on purchases and sales of the Fund’s Shares.

 

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
MANAGEMENT FEES		0.35%
DISTRIBUTION AND SERVICE (12b-1) FEES*		0.00%
OTHER EXPENSES		0.00%
TOTAL ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES		0.35%

 

*	The Fund has adopted a Distribution and Service (12b-1) Plan pursuant to which payments of up to 0.25% of average daily net assets may be made, however, the Board has determined that no such payments will be made through at least October 31, 2014.

EXAMPLE:

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

YEAR 1		YEAR 3		YEAR 5		YEAR 10
$36		$113		$197		$443

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER:

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 71% of the average value of its portfolio.

 

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THE FUND’S PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY

In seeking to track the performance of the Barclays 1-3 Year Global Treasury ex-US Capped 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, 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.

Under normal market conditions, the Fund generally invests substantially all, but at least 80%, of its total assets in the securities comprising the Index or in securities that the Adviser determines have economic characteristics that are substantially identical to the economic characteristics of the securities that comprise the Index. The Fund will provide shareholders with at least 60 days’ notice prior to any material change in this 80% investment policy. In addition, the Fund may invest in debt securities that are not included in the Index, cash and cash equivalents or money market instruments, such as repurchase agreements and money market funds (including money market funds advised by the Adviser). The Fund may also enter into forward currency exchange contracts for hedging purposes. Futures contracts may be used by the Fund in seeking performance that corresponds to its Index and in managing cash flows.

The Index is designed to measure the performance of fixed-rate local currency sovereign debt of investment grade countries outside the United States that have remaining maturities of one to three years. The Index includes government bonds issued by investment grade countries outside the United States, in local currencies, that have remaining maturities of one to three years and are rated investment grade (Baa3/BBB-/BBB- or higher using the middle rating of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., Standard & Poor’s, Inc. and Fitch Inc., respectively). Each of the component securities in the Index is a constituent of the Barclays Global Treasury ex-US Index, screened such that the following countries are included:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, and United Kingdom. In addition, the securities in the Index must be fixed-rate and have certain minimum amounts outstanding, depending upon the currency in which the bonds are denominated. The Index is calculated by Barclays using a modified “market capitalization” methodology. This design ensures that each constituent country within the Index is represented in a proportion consistent with its percentage with respect to the total market capitalization of the Index. Component securities in each constituent country are represented in a proportion consistent with their percentage relative to the other component securities in the constituent country. Under certain conditions, however, the par amount of a component security within the Index may be adjusted to conform to Internal Revenue Code requirements. The securities in the Index are updated monthly, on the last business day of each month. As of September 30, 2013, there were approximately 198 securities in the Index and the modified adjusted duration of securities in the Index was approximately 1.74 years.

The Index is sponsored by Barclays, Inc. (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.

PRINCIPAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN THE FUND

As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund, and you could lose money on an investment in the Fund.

PASSIVE STRATEGY/INDEX RISK:   The Fund is managed with a passive investment strategy, attempting to track the performance of an unmanaged index of securities. This differs from an actively managed fund, which typically seeks to outperform a benchmark index. As a result, the Fund may hold constituent securities of the Index regardless of the current or projected performance of a specific security or a particular industry or market sector. Maintaining investments in securities regardless of market conditions or the performance of individual securities could cause the Fund’s return to be lower than if the Fund employed an active strategy.

 

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INDEX TRACKING RISK:   While the Adviser seeks to track the performance of the Index as closely as possible ( i.e., achieve a high degree of correlation with the Index), the Fund’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of the Index due to operating expenses, transaction costs, cash flows, regulatory requirements and operational inefficiencies. For example, the Adviser anticipates that it may take several business days for additions and deletions to the Index to be reflected in the portfolio composition of the Fund.

DEBT SECURITIES INVESTING RISK:   The value of the debt securities may increase or decrease as a result of the following: market fluctuations, increases in interest rates, inability of issuers to repay principal and interest or illiquidity in debt securities markets; the risk of low rates of return due to reinvestment of securities during periods of falling interest rates or repayment by issuers with higher coupon or interest rates; and/or the risk of low income due to falling interest rates. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. This may result in a reduction in income from debt securities income.

DERIVATIVES RISK:   A derivative is a financial contract the value of which depends on, or is derived from, the value of a financial asset (such as stock, bond or currency), a physical asset (such as gold) or a market index (such as the S&P 500 Index). The Fund may invest in futures contracts and forward foreign currency contracts. Futures contracts generally provide for the future sale by one party and purchase by another party of a specified commodity or security at a specified future time and at a specified price. Forward foreign currency contracts involve an obligation to purchase or sell a specific amount of currency at a future date or date range at a specific price, thereby fixing the exchange rate for a specified time in the future. When used for hedging purposes, forward foreign currency contracts tend to limit any potential gain that may be realized if the value of the Fund’s foreign holdings increases because of currency fluctuations. Compared to conventional securities, derivatives can be more sensitive to changes in interest rates or to sudden fluctuations in market prices and thus a Fund’s losses may be greater if it invests in derivatives than if it invests only in conventional securities.

FOREIGN SECURITIES RISK:   Returns on investments in foreign securities could be more volatile than, or trail the returns on, investments in U.S. securities. Investments in securities issued by entities based outside the U.S. pose distinct risks since political and economic events unique to a country or region will affect those markets and their issuers. Further, such entities and/or their securities may also be affected by currency controls; different accounting, auditing, financial reporting, and legal standards and practices; expropriation; changes in tax policy; greater market volatility; differing securities market structures; higher transaction costs; and various administrative difficulties, such as delays in clearing and settling portfolio transactions or in receiving payment of dividends. Securities traded on foreign markets may be less liquid (harder to sell) than securities traded domestically. These risks may be heightened in connection with investments in developing or emerging countries.

EMERGING MARKETS RISK:   Some foreign markets in which the Fund may invest are considered to be emerging markets. Investment in these emerging markets subjects the Fund to a greater risk of loss than investments in a developed market. This is due to, among other things, greater market volatility, lower trading volume, political and economic instability, high levels of inflation, deflation or currency devaluation, greater risk of market shut down, and more governmental limitations on foreign investment policy than those typically found in a developed market. In addition, the financial stability of issuers (including governments) in emerging market countries may be more precarious than in other countries. As a result, there will tend to be an increased risk of price volatility in the Fund’s investments in emerging market countries, which may be magnified by currency fluctuations relative to the U.S. dollar. Settlement practices for transactions in foreign markets may differ from those in U.S. markets. Such differences include delays beyond periods customary in the United States and practices, such as delivery of securities prior to receipt of payment, which increase the likelihood of a “failed settlement.” Failed settlements can result in losses to the Fund. For these and other reasons, investments in emerging markets are often considered speculative.

NON-DIVERSIFICATION RISK:   The Fund is non-diversified and may invest a larger percentage of its assets in securities of a few issuers or a single issuer than that of a diversified fund. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be disproportionately impacted by the performance of relatively few securities.

 

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FUND PERFORMANCE

The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund’s average annual returns for certain time periods compare with the average annual returns of the Index. The Fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available online at http://www.spdrs.com .				ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN (year ended 12/31)*     Highest Quarterly Return: 9.52% (Q3 2010) Lowest Quarterly Return: -4.93% (Q2 2010)   *  As of September 30, 2013, the Fund’s Calendar Year-To-Date return was -1.89%.

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS  (for periods ending 12/31/12)

The after-tax returns presented in the table below are calculated using highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Shares of the Fund through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. The returns after taxes can exceed the return before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit for a shareholder from realizing a capital loss on a sale of Fund Shares.

 

		ONE YEAR		SINCE INCEPTION (1/15/09)
RETURN BEFORE TAXES		2.10%		3.96%
RETURN AFTER TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS		2.10%		3.50%
RETURN AFTER TAXES ON DISTRIBUTIONS AND SALE OF FUND SHARES		1.37%		3.12%
BARCLAYS 1-3 YEAR GLOBAL TREASURY EX-US CAPPED INDEX (reflects no deductions for fees, expenses or taxes)		2.40%		4.49%

 

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PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

INVESTMENT ADVISER

SSgA FM serves as the investment adviser to the Fund.

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Peter Breault and Mahesh Jayakumar.

PETER R. BREAULT, CFA is a Principal of SSgA FM and a Portfolio Manager in the Fixed Income, Currency and Cash Investments Team. He joined the Adviser in 2012.

MAHESH JAYAKUMAR, CFA, FRM is a Vice President of SSgA FM and a Portfolio Manager in the Fixed Income, Currency and Cash Investments Team. He joined the Adviser in 2008.

PURCHASE AND SALE INFORMATION

The Fund will issue (or redeem) Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of 100,000 Shares known as “Creation Units.” Creation Unit transactions are typically conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of in-kind securities and/or cash constituting a substantial replication, or a representation, of the securities included in the Fund’s benchmark Index.

Individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca, Inc., other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through your broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at net asset value (“NAV”), Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).

TAX INFORMATION

The Fund’s distributions are expected to be taxed as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account.

 

 

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SPDR Series Trust

One Lincoln Street

Boston, MA 02111

 

 

Precise in a world that isn’t. SM		BWZSUMPRO