2011-8725. Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change Relating to the Listing and Trading of the Guggenheim Enhanced Core Bond ETF and Guggenheim Enhanced Ultra-Short Bond ETF  

  • Start Preamble April 7, 2011.

    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) [1] and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,[2] notice is hereby given that on March 24, 2011, NYSE Arca, Inc. (“Exchange” or “NYSE Arca”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) the proposed rule change as described in Items I and II below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.

    I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to list and trade the following under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600: Guggenheim Enhanced Core Bond ETF and Guggenheim Enhanced Ultra-Short Bond ETF. The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange, the Commission's Public Reference Room, and http://www.nyse.com.

    II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

    In its filing with the Commission, the self-regulatory organization included statements concerning the purpose of, and basis for, the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of those statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant parts of such statements.

    A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

    1. Purpose

    The Exchange proposes to list and trade the following Managed Fund Shares [3] (“Shares”) under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600: Guggenheim Enhanced Core Bond ETF and Guggenheim Enhanced Ultra-Short Bond ETF (each a “Fund,” and, collectively, “Funds”).[4] The Shares will be offered by the Claymore Exchange-Traded Fund Trust (“Trust”), a statutory trust organized under the laws of the State of Delaware and registered with the Commission as an open-end management investment company.[5]

    The investment adviser for the Funds is Claymore Advisors, LLC (“Investment Adviser”). The Bank of New York Mellon is the custodian and transfer agent for the Funds. Claymore Securities, Inc. is the distributor for the Funds.

    Commentary .06 to Rule 8.600 provides that, if the investment adviser to the Investment Company issuing Managed Fund Shares is affiliated with a broker-dealer, such investment adviser shall erect a “fire wall” between the investment adviser and the broker-dealer with respect to access to information concerning the composition and/or changes to such Investment Company portfolio.[6] In addition, Commentary .06 further requires that personnel who make decisions on the open-end fund's portfolio composition must be subject to procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material nonpublic information regarding the open-end fund's portfolio. The Investment Adviser is affiliated with a broker-dealer and has represented that it has implemented a fire wall with respect to its broker-Start Printed Page 20402dealer affiliate regarding access to information concerning the composition and/or changes to the portfolio. In the event (a) the Investment Adviser becomes newly affiliated with a broker-dealer, or (b) any new adviser or sub-adviser becomes affiliated with a broker-dealer, they will implement a fire wall with respect to such broker-dealer regarding access to information concerning the composition and/or changes to the portfolio.

    Guggenheim Enhanced Core Bond ETF

    According to the Registration Statement, the investment objective of the Guggenheim Enhanced Core Bond ETF is to seek total return, comprised of income and capital appreciation. The Fund will use a quantitative strategy to seek total returns, comprised of income and capital appreciation, and risk-adjusted returns in excess of the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (“Benchmark”) while maintaining a low risk profile versus the Benchmark. The Fund's quantitative strategy attempts to identify relative mispricing among the instruments of a given asset class and estimate future returns which may arise from the correction of these mispricing levels. The quantitative portfolio construction process then attempts to maximize expected returns due to issue-specific mispricing while controlling for interest rate and credit spread (i.e., differences in yield between different debt instruments arising from differences in credit risk) risks. The average duration of the Fund's debt holdings is expected to be generally similar to the average duration of the Benchmark components.

    The Fund primarily will invest in U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade debt securities, rated Baa or higher by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody's”), or equivalently rated by Standard & Poor's Rating Group (“S&P”) or Fitch Investor Services (“Fitch”) or, if unrated, determined by the Investment Adviser to be of comparable quality.[7] The Fund may invest, without limitation, in U.S. dollar-denominated debt securities of foreign issuers. The Fund may also invest in debt securities denominated in foreign currencies. The Investment Adviser may attempt to reduce foreign currency exchange rate risk by entering into contracts with banks, brokers, or dealers to purchase or sell securities or foreign currencies at a future date (“forward contracts”). The Fund may invest no more than 10% in high yield securities (“junk bonds”), which are debt securities that are rated below investment grade by nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, or are unrated securities that the Investment Adviser believes are of comparable quality.

    The Fund may invest in a wide range of fixed income instruments selected from, but not limited to, the following sectors: U.S. Treasury securities, corporate bonds, emerging market debt, and non-dollar denominated sovereign and corporate debt.[8] The Fund may invest up to 10% of its assets in mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) or in other asset-backed securities.[9] This limitation does not apply to securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and/or U.S. government sponsored instrumentalities, such as the Government National Mortgage Administration (“GNMA”), the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“FHLMC”).

    According to the Registration Statement, the Fund may obtain exposure to the securities in which it normally invests by engaging in various investment techniques, including, but not limited to, forward purchase agreements, mortgage dollar roll, and “TBA” mortgage trading.[10] The Fund also may invest directly in exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and other investment companies that provide exposure to fixed income securities similar to those securities in which the Fund may invest in directly.

    The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its net assets in fixed income securities.

    Guggenheim Enhanced Ultra-Short Bond ETF

    According to the Registration Statement, the investment objective of the Guggenheim Enhanced Ultra-Short Bond ETF is to seek maximum current income, consistent with preservation of capital and daily liquidity. The Fund uses a low duration strategy to seek to outperform the 1-3 month Treasury Bill Index in addition to providing returns in excess of those available in U.S. Treasury bills, government repurchase agreements, and money market funds, while providing preservation of capital and daily liquidity. The Fund is not a money market fund and thus does not seek to maintain a stable net asset value of $1.00 per Share.

    The Fund expects, under normal circumstances,[11] to hold a diversified portfolio of fixed income instruments of varying maturities, but that have an average duration of less than 1 year. The Fund primarily will invest in U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade debt securities, rated Baa or higher by Moody's, or equivalently rated by S&P or Fitch or, if unrated, determined by the Investment Adviser to be of comparable quality.[12] The Fund may invest, without limitation, in U.S. dollar-denominated debt securities of foreign issuers. The Fund may also invest in debt securities denominated in Start Printed Page 20403foreign currencies. The Investment Adviser may attempt to reduce foreign currency exchange rate risk by entering into contracts with banks, brokers, or dealers to purchase or sell securities or forward contracts. The Fund may invest no more than 10% in junk bonds. The Fund may also invest in municipal securities.

    The Fund may invest a substantial portion of its assets in short-term instruments such as commercial paper [13] and/or repurchase agreements.[14] The Fund may also invest in a wide range of fixed income instruments selected from, but not limited to, the following sectors: U.S. Treasury securities, corporate bonds, emerging market debt, and non-dollar denominated sovereign and corporate debt.[15] The Fund may invest up to 10% of its assets in MBS or in other asset-backed securities.[16] This limitation does not apply to securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and/or U.S. government sponsored instrumentalities, such as the GNMA, FHA, FNMA, and FHLMC.

    According to the Registration Statement, the Fund may obtain exposure to the securities in which it normally invests by engaging in various investment techniques, including, but not limited to, forward purchase agreements, mortgage dollar roll, and “TBA” mortgage trading. The Fund also may invest directly in ETFs and other investment companies that provide exposure to fixed income securities similar to those securities in which the Fund may invest in directly.

    The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its net assets in fixed income securities.

    Other Investments

    Each Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net assets in: (1) Illiquid securities; and (2) Rule 144A securities. Illiquid securities include securities subject to contractual or other restrictions on resale and other instruments that lack readily available markets. With respect to investment in illiquid securities, if changes in the values of a Fund's securities cause the Fund's holdings of illiquid securities to exceed the 15% limitation (as if liquid securities have become illiquid), the Fund will take such actions as it deems appropriate and practicable to attempt to reduce its holdings of illiquid securities.

    The Funds may invest in Rule 144A securities. Rule 144A securities are securities which, while privately placed, are eligible for purchase and resale pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act. According to the Registration Statement, this rule permits certain qualified institutional buyers, such as the Funds, to trade in privately placed securities even though such securities are not registered under the Securities Act.

    The Funds' portfolio holdings will be disclosed on their Web site (http://www.guggenheimfunds.com) daily after the close of trading on the Exchange and prior to the opening of trading on the Exchange the following day.

    The Funds are considered non-diversified under the 1940 Act and can invest a greater portion of assets in securities of individual issuers than a diversified fund. The Funds intend to maintain the level of diversification necessary to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.[17]

    The Shares will conform to the initial and continued listing criteria under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600. The Exchange represents that, for initial and/or continued listing, the Funds will be in compliance with Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act,[18] as provided by NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.3. A minimum of 100,000 Shares of each Fund will be outstanding at the commencement of trading on the Exchange. The Exchange will obtain a representation from the issuer of the Shares that the net asset value (“NAV”) will be calculated daily, and the NAV and the Disclosed Portfolio will be made available to all market participants at the same time.

    The Funds will not invest in non-U.S. equity securities. In addition, the Funds will not invest in options contracts, futures contracts, or swap agreements.

    Creations and Redemptions of Shares

    Investors may create or redeem in Creation Unit size of 100,000 Shares or aggregations thereof (“Creation Unit Aggregation”) through an Authorized Participant, as described in the Registration Statement. In order to purchase Creation Units of a Fund, an investor must generally deposit a designated portfolio of securities (“Deposit Securities”) and/or an amount in cash in lieu of some or all of the Deposit Securities per each Creation Unit Aggregation constituting a substantial replication, or representation, of the securities included in the Fund's portfolio as selected by the Investment Adviser (“Fund Securities”) and generally make a cash payment referred to as the “Cash Component.” The list of the names and the amounts of the Deposit Securities will be made available by the Funds' custodian through the facilities of the Start Printed Page 20404National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) immediately prior to the opening of business each day of the NYSE Arca. The Cash Component represents the difference between the NAV of a Creation Unit and the market value of the Deposit Securities.

    Shares may be redeemed only in Creation Unit size at their NAV on a day the NYSE Arca is open for business. The Funds' custodian will make available immediately prior to the opening of business each day of the NYSE Arca, through the facilities of NSCC, the list of the names and the amounts of the Funds' portfolio securities that will be applicable that day to redemption requests in proper form (“Fund Securities”). Fund Securities received on redemption may not be identical to Deposit Securities which are applicable to purchases of Creation Units.

    Availability of Information

    The Funds' Web site, which will be publicly available prior to the public offering of Shares, will include a form of the Prospectus for the Funds that may be downloaded. The Funds' website will include additional quantitative information updated on a daily basis, including, for the Funds, (1) daily trading volume, the prior business day's reported closing price, NAV and mid-point of the bid/ask spread at the time of calculation of such NAV (“Bid/Ask Price”),[19] and a calculation of the premium and discount of the Bid/Ask Price against the NAV, and (2) data in chart format displaying the frequency distribution of discounts and premiums of the daily Bid/Ask Price against the NAV, within appropriate ranges, for each of the four previous calendar quarters. On each business day, before commencement of trading in Shares in the Core Trading Session on the Exchange, the Funds will disclose on their website the Disclosed Portfolio as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(c)(2) that will form the basis for each Fund's calculation of NAV at the end of the business day.[20]

    On a daily basis, the Investment Adviser will disclose for each portfolio security or other financial instrument of the Funds the following information: Ticker symbol (if applicable), name of security or financial instrument, number of shares or dollar value of financial instruments held in the portfolio, and percentage weighting of the security or financial instrument in the portfolio. The website information will be publicly available at no charge. In addition, price information for the debt securities held by the Funds will be available through major market data vendors.

    In addition, a basket composition file, which includes the security names and share quantities required to be delivered in exchange for Fund shares, together with estimates and actual cash components, will be publicly disseminated daily prior to the opening of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) via NSCC. The basket represents one Creation Unit of each of the Funds. The NAV of each of the Funds will normally be determined as of the close of the regular trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4 p.m. Eastern Time) on each business day.

    Investors can also obtain the Trust's Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), the Funds' Shareholder Reports, and Form N-CSR, and Form N-SAR, filed twice a year. The Trust's SAI and Shareholder Reports are available free upon request from the Trust, and those documents and the Form N-CSR and Form N-SAR may be viewed on-screen or downloaded from the Commission's Web site at http://www.sec.gov. Information regarding market price and trading volume of the Shares is and will be continually available on a real-time basis throughout the day on brokers' computer screens and other electronic services. Information regarding the previous day's closing price and trading volume information will be published daily in the financial section of newspapers. Quotation and last-sale information for the Shares will be available via the Consolidated Tape Association (“CTA”) high-speed line. In addition, the Portfolio Indicative Value, as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(c)(3), will be disseminated by one or more major market data vendors at least every 15 seconds during the Core Trading Session. The dissemination of the Portfolio Indicative Value, together with the Disclosed Portfolio, will allow investors to determine the value of the underlying portfolio of each Fund on a daily basis and to provide a close estimate of that value throughout the trading day.

    Additional information regarding the Trust and the Shares, including investment strategies, risks, creation and redemption procedures, fees, portfolio holdings disclosure policies, distributions, and taxes is included in the Registration Statement.

    Trading Halts

    With respect to trading halts, the Exchange may consider all relevant factors in exercising its discretion to halt or suspend trading in the Shares of the Funds.[21] Trading in Shares of the Funds will be halted if the circuit breaker parameters in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12 have been reached. Trading also may be halted because of market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in the Shares inadvisable. These may include: (1) The extent to which trading is not occurring in the securities and/or the financial instruments comprising the Disclosed Portfolio of the Funds; or (2) whether other unusual conditions or circumstances detrimental to the maintenance of a fair and orderly market are present. Trading in the Shares will be subject to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D), which sets forth circumstances under which Shares of the Funds may be halted.

    Trading Rules

    The Exchange deems the Shares to be equity securities, thus rendering trading in the Shares subject to the Exchange's existing rules governing the trading of equity securities. Shares will trade on the NYSE Arca Marketplace from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time in accordance with NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34 (Opening, Core, and Late Trading Sessions). The Exchange has appropriate rules to facilitate transactions in the Shares during all trading sessions. As provided in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.6, Commentary .03, the minimum price variation (“MPV”) for quoting and entry of orders in equity securities traded on the NYSE Arca Marketplace is $0.01, with the exception of securities that are priced less than $1.00 for which the MPV for order entry is $0.0001.

    Surveillance

    The Exchange intends to utilize its existing surveillance procedures applicable to derivative products (which include Managed Fund Shares) to monitor trading in the Shares. The Exchange represents that these procedures are adequate to properly monitor Exchange trading of the Shares in all trading sessions and to deter and detect violations of Exchange rules and applicable federal securities laws.

    The Exchange's current trading surveillance focuses on detecting Start Printed Page 20405securities trading outside their normal patterns. When such situations are detected, surveillance analysis follows and investigations are opened, where appropriate, to review the behavior of all relevant parties for all relevant trading violations.

    The Exchange may obtain information via the Intermarket Surveillance Group (“ISG”) from other exchanges that are members of ISG or with which the Exchange has entered into a surveillance sharing agreement.[22]

    In addition, the Exchange also has a general policy prohibiting the distribution of material, non-public information by its employees.

    Information Bulletin

    Prior to the commencement of trading, the Exchange will inform its Equity Trading Permit (“ETP”) Holders in an Information Bulletin (“Bulletin”) of the special characteristics and risks associated with trading the Shares. Specifically, the Bulletin will discuss the following: (1) The procedures for purchases and redemptions of Shares in Creation Unit Aggregations (and that Shares are not individually redeemable); (2) NYSE Arca Equities Rule 9.2(a), which imposes a duty of due diligence on its ETP Holders to learn the essential facts relating to every customer prior to trading the Shares; (3) the risks involved in trading the Shares during the Opening and Late Trading Sessions when an updated Portfolio Indicative Value will not be calculated or publicly disseminated; (4) how information regarding the Portfolio Indicative Value is disseminated; (5) the requirement that ETP Holders deliver a prospectus to investors purchasing newly issued Shares prior to or concurrently with the confirmation of a transaction; and (6) trading information.

    In addition, the Bulletin will reference that the Funds are subject to various fees and expenses described in the Registration Statement. The Bulletin will discuss any exemptive, no-action, and interpretive relief granted by the Commission from any rules under the Exchange Act. The Bulletin will also disclose that the NAV for the Shares will be calculated after 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time each trading day.

    2. Statutory Basis

    The basis under the Exchange Act for this proposed rule change is the requirement under Section 6(b)(5) [23] that an exchange have rules that are designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable principles of trade, to remove impediments to, and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest. The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change will facilitate the listing and trading of an additional type of actively-managed exchange-traded product that will enhance competition among market participants, to the benefit of investors and the marketplace. The Funds primarily will invest in U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade debt securities, rated Baa or higher by Moody's, or equivalently rated by S&P or Fitch or, if unrated, determined by the Investment Adviser to be of comparable quality. At least 80% of issues of corporate bonds or corporate debt held by each Fund must have $200 million or more par amount outstanding. The Funds will not invest in non-U.S. equity securities.

    In addition, the Funds will not invest in options contracts, futures contracts, or swap agreements. The Funds' portfolio holdings will be disclosed on their website daily after the close of trading on the Exchange and prior to the opening of trading on the Exchange the following day. The Portfolio Indicative Value, as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(c)(3), will be disseminated by one or more major market data vendors at least every 15 seconds during the Core Trading Session. Information regarding market price and trading volume of the Shares is and will be continually available on a real-time basis throughout the day on brokers' computer screens and other electronic services, and quotation and last-sale information will be available via the CTA high-speed line. Trading in Shares of the Funds will be halted if the circuit breaker parameters in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12 have been reached or because of market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in the Shares inadvisable. Trading in the Shares will be subject to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D), which sets forth circumstances under which Shares of the Funds may be halted. The Exchange will obtain a representation from the issuer of the Shares that the NAV will be calculated daily, and the NAV and the Disclosed Portfolio will be made available to all market participants at the same time.

    In addition, the Exchange has in place surveillance procedures that are adequate to properly monitor trading in the Shares. Prior to the commencement of trading, the Exchange will inform its ETP Holders in an Information Bulletin of the special characteristics and risks associated with trading the Shares.

    B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

    C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed Rule Change Received From Members, Participants or Others

    No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the proposed rule change.

    III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for Commission Action

    Within 45 days of the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register or within such longer period (i) as the Commission may designate up to 90 days of such date if it finds such longer period to be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or (ii) as to which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission shall:

    (A) By order approve or disapprove such proposed rule change, or

    (B) Institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved.

    IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:

    Electronic Comments

    Paper Comments

    • Send paper comments in triplicate to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090.
    Start Printed Page 20406

    All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSEArca-2011-11. This file number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. To help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on the Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/​rules/​sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, other than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for Web site viewing and printing in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing will also be available for inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All comments received will be posted without change; the Commission does not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions should refer to File No. SR-NYSEArca-2011-11 and should be submitted on or before May 3, 2011.

    Start Signature

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.[24]

    Cathy H. Ahn,

    Deputy Secretary.

    End Signature End Preamble

    Footnotes

    3.  A Managed Fund Share is a security that represents an interest in an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a) (“1940 Act”) organized as an open-end investment company or similar entity that invests in a portfolio of securities selected by its investment adviser consistent with its investment objectives and policies. In contrast, an open-end investment company that issues Investment Company Units, listed and traded on the Exchange under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3), seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of a specific foreign or domestic stock index, fixed income securities index, or combination thereof.

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    4.  The Commission previously approved listing and trading on the Exchange of the following actively managed funds under Rule 8.600. See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 57801 (May 8, 2008), 73 FR 27878 (May 14, 2008) (SR-NYSEArca-2008-31) (order approving Exchange listing and trading of twelve actively-managed funds of the WisdomTree Trust); 61365 (January 15, 2010), 75 FR 4124 (January 26, 2010) (SR-NYSEArca-2009-114) (order approving listing and trading of Grail McDonnell Fixed Income ETFs); and 60981 (November 10, 2009), 74 FR 59594 (November 18, 2009) (SR-NYSEArca-2009-79) (order approving listing of five fixed income funds of the PIMCO ETF Trust).

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    5.  The Trust is registered under the 1940 Act. On July 26, 2010, the Trust filed with the Commission Form N-1A under the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a) (“Securities Act”) relating to the Funds (File Nos. 333-134551 and 811-21906) (“Registration Statement”). The description of the operation of the Trust and the Funds herein is based on the Registration Statement.

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    6.  An investment adviser to an open-end fund is required to be registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”). As a result, the investment adviser is subject to the provisions of Rule 204A-1 under the Advisers Act relating to codes of ethics. This Rule requires investment advisers to adopt a code of ethics that reflects the fiduciary nature of the relationship to clients as well as compliance with other applicable securities laws. Accordingly, procedures designed to prevent the communication and misuse of non-public information by an investment adviser must be consistent with Rule 204A-1 under the Advisers Act. The Exchange represents that the Investment Adviser and related personnel, are subject to Advisers Act Rule 204A-1. In addition, Rule 206(4)-7 under the Advisers Act makes it unlawful for an investment adviser to provide investment advice to clients unless such investment adviser has (i) Adopted and implemented written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violation, by the investment adviser and its supervised persons, of the Advisers Act and the Commission rules adopted thereunder; (ii) implemented, at a minimum, an annual review regarding the adequacy of the policies and procedures established pursuant to subparagraph (i) above and the effectiveness of their implementation; and (iii) designated an individual (who is a supervised person) responsible for administering the policies and procedures adopted under subparagraph (i) above.

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    7.  The Investment Adviser's analysis is comprised of multiple elements including collateral and counterparty risk, structural analysis, quantitative analysis, and relative value/market value at risk analysis. Evaluation is also applied to collateral, historical market data, and proprietary statistical models to evaluate specific transactions. This analysis is applied against the macroeconomic outlook, geopolitical issues as well as considerations that more directly affect the company's industry to determine an internally assigned credit rating.

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    8.  The Fund will invest only in securities that the Investment Adviser deems to be sufficiently liquid. While corporate bonds and emerging market debt generally must have $200 million or more par amount outstanding and significant par value traded to be considered as an eligible investment, at least 80% of issues of corporate bonds or corporate debt held by the Fund must have $200 million or more par amount outstanding. The strategy follows an active quantitative investment process that seeks excess returns to the Benchmark. The strategy selects securities using a rigorous portfolio construction approach to tightly control independent risk exposures such as fixed income sector weights, sector specific yield curves, credit spreads, prepayment risks, and others. Within those risk constraints, the strategy utilizes relative value estimates to select individual securities that can provide risk adjusted outperformance relative to the Benchmark.

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    9.  The Fund may invest in MBS or other asset-backed securities issued or guaranteed by private issuers. The MBS in which the Fund may invest may also include residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”), collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”), and commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”). The asset-backed securities in which the Fund may invest include collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”). CDOs include collateralized bond obligations (“CBOs”), collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) and other similarly structured securities. A CBO is a trust which is backed by a diversified pool of high risk, below investment grade fixed income securities. A CLO is a trust typically collateralized by a pool of loans, which may include, among others, domestic and foreign senior secured loans, senior unsecured loans, and subordinate corporate loans, including loans that may be rated below investment grade or equivalent unrated loans.

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    10.  A mortgage dollar roll involves the sale of a MBS by one of the Funds and its agreement to repurchase the instrument (or one which is substantially similar) at a specified time and price. A TBA transaction is a method of trading MBS. In a TBA transaction, the buyer and seller agree upon general trade parameters such as agency, settlement date, par amount, and price. The actual pools delivered generally are determined two days prior to the settlement date.

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    11.  The term “under normal market circumstances” includes, but is not limited to, the absence of extreme volatility or trading halts in the fixed income markets or the financial markets generally; operational issues causing dissemination of inaccurate market information; or force majeure type events such as systems failure, natural or man-made disaster, act of God, armed conflict, act of terrorism, riot or labor disruption, or any similar intervening circumstance.

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    12.  See note 7, supra.

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    13.  Commercial paper consists of short-term, promissory notes issued by banks, corporations and other entities to finance short-term credit needs. These securities generally are discounted but sometimes may be interest bearing. As of year end 2010, $1.058 trillion commercial paper was outstanding, and, as of February 28, 2011, $1.123 trillion commercial paper was outstanding. The daily average commercial paper market issuance in 2010 was $84.343 billion, with 65% having a maturity of 1-4 days, 8% having a maturity of 5-9 days, 4% having a maturity of 10-20 days, 11% having a maturity of 21-40 days, 4% having a maturity of 41-80 days, and 8% having a maturity of 81 days or more. As of March 16, 2011, the daily average commercial paper market issuance was $78.780 billion, with 58% having a maturity of 1-4 days, 9% having a maturity of 5-9 days, 5% having a maturity of 10-20 days, 12% having a maturity of 21-40 days, 5% having a maturity of 41-80 days, and 11% having a maturity of 81days or more. (Source: Federal Reserve).

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    14.  The Fund may invest a substantial portion of its assets in short-term instruments such as repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements are fixed-income securities in the form of agreements backed by collateral. These agreements, which may be viewed as a type of secured lending by the Fund, typically involve the acquisition by the Fund of securities from the selling institution (such as a bank or a broker-dealer), coupled with the agreement that the selling institution will repurchase the underlying securities at a specified price and at a fixed time in the future (or on demand). The underlying securities which serve as collateral for the repurchase agreements entered into by the Fund may include U.S. government securities, corporate obligations, and convertible securities, and are marked-to-market daily in order to maintain full collateralization (typically purchase price plus accrued interest).

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    15.  The Fund will invest only in securities that the Investment Adviser deems to be sufficiently liquid. While corporate bonds and emerging market debt generally must have $200 million or more par amount outstanding and significant par value traded to be considered as an eligible investment, at least 80% of issues of corporate bonds or corporate debt held by the Fund must have $200 million or more par amount outstanding.

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    16.  The Fund may invest in MBS or other asset-backed securities issued or guaranteed by private issuers. The MBS in which the Fund may invest may also include RMBS, CMOs and CMBS. The asset-backed securities in which the Fund may invest include CDOs.

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    17.  26 U.S.C. 851. As a RIC, each Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of its taxable investment income and capital gains that it distributes to its shareholders. To qualify for treatment as a RIC, a company must annually distribute at least 90% of its net investment company taxable income (which includes dividends, interest, and net short-term capital gains) and meet several other requirements relating to the nature of its income and the diversification of its assets. If a Fund fails to qualify for any taxable year as a RIC, all of its taxable income will be subject to tax at regular corporate income tax rates without any deduction for distributions to shareholders, and such distributions generally will be taxable to shareholders as ordinary dividends to the extent of a Fund's current and accumulated earnings and profits. In addition, in order to requalify for taxation as a RIC, a Fund may be required to recognize unrealized gains, pay substantial taxes and interest, and make certain distributions.

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    19.  The Bid/Ask Price of the Funds will be determined using the highest bid and the lowest offer on the Exchange as of the time of calculation of each Fund's NAV. The records relating to Bid/Ask Prices will be retained by the Funds and its service providers.

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    20.  Under accounting procedures followed by the Funds, trades made on the prior business day (“T”) will be booked and reflected in NAV on the current business day (“T+1”). Accordingly, the Funds will be able to disclose at the beginning of the business day the portfolio that will form the basis for the NAV calculation at the end of the business day.

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    21.  See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12, Commentary .04.

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    22.  For a list of the current members of ISG, see http://www.isgportal.org. The Exchange notes that not all components of the Disclosed Portfolio for the Funds may trade on markets that are members of ISG or with which the Exchange has in place a comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement.

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    [FR Doc. 2011-8725 Filed 4-11-11; 8:45 am]

    BILLING CODE 8011-01-P

Document Information

Published:
04/12/2011
Department:
Securities and Exchange Commission
Entry Type:
Notice
Document Number:
2011-8725
Pages:
20401-20406 (6 pages)
Docket Numbers:
Release No. 34-64224, File No. SR-NYSEArca-2011-11
EOCitation:
of 2011-04-07
PDF File:
2011-8725.pdf