A groundbreaking move in the private-asset market is about to unfold, as State Street Corp. and Apollo Global Management Inc. prepare to launch their much-anticipated exchange-traded fund (ETF). The SPDR SSGA Apollo IG Public & Private Credit ETF (ticker: PRIV) is expected to debut as early as this Thursday, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The PRIV ETF marks a major step toward opening up the multi-trillion-dollar private-credit market to retail investors, providing exposure to both public and private debt instruments. The fund will primarily focus on investment-grade private credit, with private-credit investments expected to make up between 10% and 35% of its total portfolio. Additionally, the ETF’s illiquid investments will be capped at a regulatory-mandated 15%.
This active ETF will have an expense ratio of 0.70%. It is set to include a broad range of credit instruments, such as directly originated loans, private offerings, and deals sourced by Apollo. Apollo will also provide intra-day executable bids on the instruments it sources, ensuring liquidity in a market historically known for its lack of accessibility.
The launch of the PRIV ETF is expected to have a major impact on the ETF industry and the private-asset market. Apollo has been eager to make private, investment-grade debt more liquid, and this collaboration with State Street could pave the way for new products and potentially inject billions of dollars into the ETF market.
Eric Balchunas from Bloomberg Intelligence described the launch as “groundbreaking,” noting that it represents the furthest the ETF industry has pushed into private assets. He also anticipates that this will be the beginning of a new wave of copycat products in the space.
This move is part of a larger trend of innovation within the ETF universe, where the focus is increasingly shifting toward private-credit markets, traditionally only available to institutional investors or high-net-worth individuals. With this ETF, retail investors will now have the chance to gain exposure to these traditionally inaccessible markets.
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