State Street’s Private-Credit ETFs Outperformed in 2025. Is That Enough to Interest Investors? 

This was the year that State Street made private public.

In the roughly nine months that the SPDR SSGA IG Public & Private Credit ETF (PRIV) has been trading, it has beaten its benchmark without attracting the level of flows that would make it a runaway success. At about $96 million in assets under management, it’s at a size that the industry considers sustainable. The company’s second such product, the State Street Short Duration IG Public & Private Credit ETF (PRSD), debuted in September and has since reached $90 million in assets.

The funds have had a lot going for them. They are provided by one of the world’s biggest ETF issuers, and the partner on the funds, Apollo Global Management, sources the private-credit investments and helps provide liquidity. But the liquidity demands of the ETF structure mean that their ability to hold private debt is limited, as illiquid investments can only account for 15% of the portfolio. The two State Street ETFs can have anywhere from 10% to 35% in the Apollo-sourced investments, and both currently allocate about 20%. Undoubtedly, that leaves investors craving pure private credit wanting more. But it also isn’t the point, as the two are diversified bond funds.

“They’re both core bond holdings,” said Matthew Bartolini, head of SPDR Americas research. “That’s how investors should be looking at this.”

To Everything, Turn, Turn, Turn

While private-credit ETFs offer unmatched liquidity, interval funds can provide more exposure to the asset class. For advisors and their clients who want to ride first-class on the private-credit train, that might be the ticket (though the ticket counter, or redemption window, is generally only open a few times a year). “If I am going to invest in private credit, I want to see a return profile that compensates clients for that reduced liquidity and potentially higher risk. There is a strong case to include this in a portfolio, as it has potential for returns that contribute to the bottom line and a somewhat diversified risk profile from equities,” said Joe Boughan, founder of Parkmount Financial. “From what I have seen, the interval fund structure is a good middle ground.”

Asset managers have been eager to add private credit this year across product types:

• JPMorgan filed in October for a Total Credit ETF that would allocate up to 15% of assets to private credit.
• Capital Group and KKR partnered on two public and private debt interval funds this year that so far have amassed over $500 million in assets.
• WisdomTree added a tokenized mutual fund, the Private Credit and Alternative Income Digital Fund.

Apples, Oranges, Chickens and Eggs: Comparing PRIV and PRSD to interval funds isn’t fair, given the limitations of each wrapper and what the different funds set out to accomplish, Bartolini said. And what the firm is waiting for are the one-year anniversaries of the two ETFs, at which point they will have the minimum track records that some investors are looking for. Currently, PRIV is ahead of 92% of its peers (funds in Morningstar’s intermediate core-plus category), Bartolini said. “This is a completely new and different approach to core bond allocation … Once we pass that critical one-year juncture, I think we’ll see more interest.”