State Street Investment Management announced the launch of the State Street® SPDR® UC Investments 90/10 Endowment Strategy Index ETF (“UCBG”), a new asset allocation ETF developed in collaboration with UC Investments (“UC”), the investment arm of the University of California and the index provider for the fund. The launch is backed by a $2.5 billion investment from UC, making it the largest ever U.S.-listed ETF launch.¹

The fund seeks to track the UC Investments 90/10 Endowment Strategy Index, which combines broad U.S. equity exposure with short-duration investment-grade corporate bond exposure. The index allocates 90% of its weight to the S&P 500® Index, representing large-cap U.S. equities, and 10% to the S&P U.S. Investment Grade Corporate Bond 1-3 Year Index, which includes U.S. dollar-denominated investment-grade corporate bonds with maturities between one and three years.

UC and S&P Dow Jones Indices developed the custom index, which was inspired by UC’s $7.9 billion Blue and Gold Endowment Pool, a long-term public markets strategy that since its inception seven years ago, has been the best performing product within UC’s $236 billion investment portfolio.² The strategy reflects UC’s conviction that low-cost, liquid, diversified public markets exposure can deliver compelling long-term returns while avoiding the complexity and illiquidity of traditional endowment models.

By bringing this philosophy into an ETF wrapper, UCBG offers long-term investors access to UC’s approach, which was previously available only within the institution’s portfolio and directly to employees of its 10 campuses and six medical centers through its retirement savings program, the nation’s second-largest public defined contribution program, behind only the federal government.

“At UC Investments, we focus on building long term, cost-effective portfolios to support our hundreds of thousands of UC students, faculty, staff, and alumni for generations to come,” said Jagdeep Singh Bachher, the University of California’s Chief Investment Officer. “This record-breaking ETF launch makes our institutional investment philosophy available to a broader community of investors through the transparency, efficiency and accessibility of the ETF structure, while staying true to the principles that have guided our investment approach.”

The ETF builds on State Street’s longstanding relationship with UC Investments. Today, State Street Investment Management provides asset management services to UC Investments’ $236 billion³ portfolio across pension, endowment, and other assets, while State Street Bank and Trust Company provides custody and other investment services.

“Our relationship with UC Investments spans more than two decades and has always been driven by innovation. With this launch, we are bringing an endowment-inspired strategy to a far broader range of investors, delivered with the low cost and transparency that make ETFs so powerful,” said Ronald O’Hanley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of State Street Corporation.

“This partnership demonstrates what’s possible when a leading asset owner and asset manager work together to turn a successful institutional investment strategy into an accessible solution for investors,” said Yie-Hsin Hung, President and Chief Executive Officer of State Street Investment Management. “It reflects our commitment to helping clients extend their investment priorities to new markets and investor communities.”

Source: State Street Investment Management