State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the asset management business of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), announced recent updates to the composition of its SSGA Gender Diversity Index (Index).

The Index, first launched in March 2016, is a quantitative index driven by the highest percentages of women on boards and in senior leadership positions at a given company within their sectors, and tracks US exchange-listed large capitalization companies that meet those criteria.

After the annual rebalance on July 15, 2017, the Index now consists of a total of 171 constituents. The top ten companies held in the market capitalization weighted Index are Pfizer Inc., Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, Mastercard Incorporated Class A, Amgen Inc., McDonald's Corporation, U.S. Bancorp, CVS Health Corporation and Lockheed Martin Corporation.

“We applaud the new additions to the SSGA Gender Diversity Index for their efforts in confronting the gender diversity challenge by hiring and retaining women in senior leadership,” said Ronald O’Hanley, president and chief executive officer of State Street Global Advisors. “As one of the world’s largest asset managers, we use our voice, our vote and our solutions to promote change, such as better gender diversity, that leads to better performance.”

The SSGA Gender Diversity Index is rebalanced on an annual basis to ensure that the selection of the constituents continues to reflect the underlying Index objective: tracking the performance of US large-capitalization companies that are leaders within their sectors in advancing women through gender diversity on their boards of directors and in senior leadership positions. Pursuant to the rules-based Index methodology, SSGA conducted a comprehensive review of the companies listed in the Index and added 61 new companies that have made their mark in achieving the highest levels of senior leadership gender diversity within their sectors.

“Companies in the Index have demonstrated a track record of employing women in their senior management ranks,” said Lynn Blake, chief investment officer for SSGA’s Global Equity Beta Solutions. “By focusing on US companies that have the highest percentages of women in senior leadership positions relative to their sector peers, we designed this Index to reflect companies that are committed to gender diversity.”

According to a 2015 MSCI1 study that explored global trends in gender diversity on corporate boards between December 2009 and August 2015, companies with at least three female board members, or companies with a higher percentage of women on the board than its country’s average, performed better as measured by return on equity (10.1 percent per year versus 7.4 percent for all other companies).2 Despite these findings, American women account for an average of just 16 percent of the members of executive teams.3

In March 2016, SSGA introduced the SPDR® SSGA Gender Diversity Index ETF (the “Fund”) (Ticker: SHE), which is designed to track the performance of the SSGA Gender Diversity Index. The Fund is distributed by State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC.

About State Street Global Advisors

For nearly four decades, State Street Global Advisors has been committed to helping financial professionals and those who rely on them achieve their investment objectives. We partner with institutions and financial professionals to help them reach their goals through a rigorous, research-driven process spanning both active and index disciplines. We take pride in working closely with our clients to develop precise investment strategies, including our pioneering family of SPDR ETFs. With trillions* in assets under management, our scale and global footprint provide access to markets and asset classes, and allow us to deliver expert insights and investment solutions.

State Street Global Advisors is the investment management arm of State Street Corporation.

* Assets under management were $2.60 trillion as of June 30, 2017. AUM reflects approx. $34 billion (as of June 30, 2017) with respect to which State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC (SSGA FD) serves as marketing agent; SSGA FD and State Street Global Advisors are affiliated.

Important Risk Information:

Investing involves risk including the risk of loss of principal.

Gender diversity risk The returns on a portfolio of securities that excludes companies that are not gender diverse may trail the returns on a portfolio of securities that includes companies that are not gender diverse.

Concentrated investments in a particular sector or industry (technology sector and electronic media companies) tend to be more volatile than the overall market and increases risk that events negatively affecting such sectors or industries could reduce returns, potentially causing the value of the Fund’s shares to decrease.

Equity securities may fluctuate in value in response to the activities of individual companies and general market and economic conditions.

Non-diversified funds that focus on a relatively small number of securities tend to be more volatile than diversified funds and the market as a whole.

Passively managed funds hold a range of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full Index in terms of key risk factors and other characteristics. This may cause the fund to experience tracking errors relative to performance of the index.

ETFs trade like stocks, are subject to investment risk, fluctuate in market value and may trade at prices above or below the ETFs net asset value. Brokerage commissions and ETF expenses will reduce returns.

Distributor: State Street Global Advisors Funds Distributors, LLC, member FINRA, SIPC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of State Street Corporation. References to State Street may include State Street Corporation and its affiliates. Certain State Street affiliates provide services and receive fees from the SPDR ETFs.

Before investing, consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. To obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus which contains this and other information, call 1-866-787-2257 or visit www.spdrs.com. Read it carefully.

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1 The methodology used in MSCI’s study is different than that of the Index, and as such, the results of the study should not be viewed as indicative of the future performance of the Index.

2 Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

3 Lee, Linda-Eling , et al. Women on Boards: Global Trends in Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards, MSCI, November 2015. Accessed on February 17th, 2016 at: https://www.msci.com/documents/10199/04b6f646-d638-4878-9c61-4eb91748a82b