SSGA Active Trust
Prospectus
October 31, 2023
SSGA Active Trust
SPDR Blackstone High Income ETF (HYBL)
SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ETF (SRLN)
SPDR DoubleLine Emerging Markets Fixed Income ETF (EMTL)
SPDR DoubleLine Short Duration Total Return Tactical ETF (STOT)
SPDR DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF (TOTL)
SPDR Loomis Sayles Opportunistic Bond ETF (OBND)
SPDR Nuveen Municipal Bond ETF (MBND)
SPDR Nuveen Municipal Bond ESG ETF (MBNE)
SPDR SSGA Fixed Income Sector Rotation ETF (FISR)
SPDR SSGA Global Allocation ETF (GAL)
SPDR SSGA Income Allocation ETF (INKM)
SPDR SSGA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF (RLY)
SPDR SSGA Ultra Short Term Bond ETF (ULST)
SPDR SSGA US Sector Rotation ETF (XLSR)

Principal U.S. Listing Exchange: NYSE Arca, Inc. (except HYBL, EMTL, STOT, OBND, MBND and MBNE are listed on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. Shares in the Funds are not guaranteed or insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other agency of the U.S. Government, nor are shares deposits or obligations of any bank. It is possible to lose money by investing in the Funds.


Table of Contents
Fund Summaries
SPDR Blackstone High Income ETF
1
SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ETF
10
SPDR DoubleLine Emerging Markets Fixed Income ETF
17
SPDR DoubleLine Short Duration Total Return Tactical ETF
26
SPDR DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF
35
SPDR Loomis Sayles Opportunistic Bond ETF
43
SPDR Nuveen Municipal Bond ETF
53
SPDR Nuveen Municipal Bond ESG ETF
58
SPDR SSGA Fixed Income Sector Rotation ETF
63
SPDR SSGA Global Allocation ETF
70
SPDR SSGA Income Allocation ETF
77
SPDR SSGA Multi-Asset Real Return ETF
85
SPDR SSGA Ultra Short Term Bond ETF
94
SPDR SSGA US Sector Rotation ETF
101
Additional Strategies Information
107
Additional Risk Information
108
Management
144
Trademark Licenses/Disclaimers
152
Additional Purchase and Sale Information
153
Distributions
153
Portfolio Holdings Disclosure
154
Additional Tax Information
154
General Information
159
Financial Highlights
159
Where to Learn More About the Funds
Back Cover


Fund Summaries
SPDR® Blackstone High Income ETF
Investment Objective
The SPDR Blackstone High Income ETF (the Fund) seeks to provide risk-adjusted total return and high
current income.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (Fund Shares). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
Management fees
0.70%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees
None
Other expenses
0.00%
Total annual Fund operating expenses
0.70%
Example:
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then sell or hold all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
Year 10
$72
$224
$390
$871
Portfolio Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 133% of the average value of its portfolio.
The Fund's Principal Investment Strategy
Under normal circumstances, Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC (the Sub-Adviser) will invest the Fund's assets primarily in U.S. dollar denominated high yield debt securities. High yield debt securities include high yield corporate bonds, senior loans and debt tranches of U.S. collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). The Fund will invest in CLOs to gain indirect exposure to senior loans. High yield debt securities (commonly known as junk bonds) are securities that are rated at the time of investment BB+ or lower by S&P Global Ratings or Fitch Ratings Inc., Ba1 or lower by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. or equivalent ratings by another nationally recognized statistical rating organization, or if unrated, determined by the Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality. The Fund may invest in debt securities of any maturity. The Fund may invest up to 100% of its net assets in either high yield corporate bonds or senior loans. The Fund's investments in CLOs will not exceed 15% of its net assets (measured at the time of investment).
In pursuing its investment objective, the Fund seeks to outperform a composite benchmark comprising 50% high yield bonds and 50% high yield senior loans with less volatility than the general bond and loan markets over full market cycles. The high yield bond portion of the composite benchmark is represented by the ICE BofA US High Yield Constrained Index, and the senior loan portion is represented by the Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index.
The Fund seeks to maximize performance while minimizing risk (risk-adjusted returns) by investing in high yield corporate bonds, senior loans, and debt tranches of U.S. CLOs using a top-down asset allocation approach coupled with bottom-up security selection. The top-down asset allocation approach evaluates macroeconomic, technical,
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fundamental, and relative value factors to determine allocation weights among the asset classes that the Sub-Adviser believes will result in the best long-term risk-adjusted returns compared to the composite benchmark. The bottom-up security selection process relies on fundamental credit research to dictate security selection within each asset class, seeking to capture credit risk premium by exploiting potential mispricing at the individual security level. When constructing the Fund's portfolio, the Sub-Adviser manages the Fund's asset class, industry, ratings, liquidity and issuer exposures in an effort to optimize the Fund's risk-adjusted returns. The Fund's investment strategy may result in a high portfolio turnover rate.
High Yield Corporate Bonds
With respect to the high yield corporate bond portion of the Fund's portfolio, the Sub-Adviser applies a systematic approach to security selection and portfolio construction. This approach focuses on the credit risk of companies issuing the corporate bonds (i.e., the risk of loss due to the uncertainty in a debtor's ability to meet its financial obligations). Under normal circumstances, the Sub-Adviser utilizes a proprietary model (the Model) that incorporates data including but not limited to fundamental balance-sheet information, real-time information embedded in equity and options markets, and a database of historical defaults. The Model seeks to identify the most liquid, positively mispriced credit issues, while minimizing exposure to systematic credit risks (e.g., macroeconomic risks such as interest rate and currency fluctuations, market volatility, and industry or sector risk). The Sub-Adviser uses a variety of risk-management tools to produce risk measures for investments that are monitored in real-time, providing potential early-warning capabilities. Using information provided by the Model, the Sub-Adviser seeks to construct a high yield corporate bond portfolio that delivers excess returns compared to the ICE BofA US High Yield Constrained Index. The Sub-Adviser also seeks to actively diversify exposure in an attempt to mitigate risk specific to individual issuers or sectors in the Fund's high yield corporate bond portfolio, and seeks to generate returns through its integration of technology, infrastructure, ongoing research, and credit expertise.
Senior Loans and CLOs
With respect to the senior loan portion of the Fund's portfolio, the Sub-Adviser seeks to construct a portfolio of senior loans and CLOs that provide exposure to senior loans utilizing a traditional bottom-up discretionary approach to credit selection that relies on fundamental credit analysis in an effort to minimize the loss of the Fund's capital. The Fund invests predominantly in senior loans that are made to businesses operating in North America, but may also invest in senior loans made to businesses operating outside of North America. The Fund may invest in senior loans directly, either from the borrower as part of a primary issuance or in the secondary market through assignments of portions of senior loans from third parties, or participations in senior loans, which are contractual relationships with an existing lender in a loan facility whereby the Fund purchases the right to receive principal and interest payments on a loan but the existing lender remains the record holder of the loan. Under normal market conditions, it is expected that the Fund's senior loan investments will maintain an average interest rate duration of less than 90 days. Loan interest rate duration is based on the actual remaining time until the applicable reference rate is reset for each individual loan. In addition, when making investments, the Sub-Adviser seeks to maintain appropriate liquidity and price transparency for the Fund.
The Sub-Adviser expects to invest in senior loans, either directly or indirectly through CLOs, possessing the following attributes, which it believes will help generate higher risk-adjusted total returns:
Leading, defensible market positions. The Sub-Adviser intends to invest in senior loans made to companies that it believes have developed strong positions within their respective markets and exhibit the potential to maintain sufficient cash flows and profitability to service their obligations in a range of economic environments. The Sub-Adviser will seek companies that it believes possess advantages in scale, scope, customer loyalty, product pricing, or product quality versus their competitors, thereby minimizing business risk and protecting profitability.
Investing in companies with positive cash flow. The Sub-Adviser intends to invest in senior loans made primarily to established companies which have demonstrated a record of profitability and cash flows over several economic cycles. The Sub-Adviser believes such companies are well-positioned to maintain consistent cash flow to service and repay their obligations and maintain growth in their businesses or market share. The Sub-Adviser does not intend to invest in primarily start-up companies, companies in turnaround situations or companies with speculative business plans.
Proven management teams. The Sub-Adviser intends to focus on investments in senior loans made to companies that have experienced management teams with established track records of success. The Sub-Adviser will typically require companies to have in place proper incentives to align management's goals with the Fund's goals.
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Private equity sponsorship. The Sub-Adviser may seek to invest in senior loans made to issuers sponsored by what it believes to be high-quality private equity firms. The Sub-Adviser believes that a private equity sponsor's willingness to invest significant sums of equity capital into a company is an implicit endorsement of the quality of the investment. Further, private equity sponsors of companies with significant investments at risk have the ability and a strong incentive to contribute additional capital in difficult economic times should operational issues arise.
Diversification, concentration and reliance on other lenders. The Sub-Adviser will seek to invest broadly among companies and industries, thereby potentially reducing the risk of a downturn in any one company or industry having a disproportionate impact on the value of the Fund's portfolio. While the Fund looks to the underlying borrower of a bank loan, rather than the bank originating the loan, for purposes of determining the industry concentration of investments, it is possible that under a different interpretation the Fund may be deemed to concentrate its investments in the financial services industries. Loans, and the collateral securing them, are typically monitored by agents for the lenders, which may be the originating bank or banks. The Fund may be affected by the creditworthiness of the agent bank and other intermediate participants in a senior loan, in addition to the borrower, since rights that may exist under the loan against the borrower if the borrower defaults are typically asserted by or through the agent bank or intermediate participant. Agents are typically large commercial banks, although for senior loans that are not broadly syndicated they can also include thrift institutions, insurance companies or finance companies (or their affiliates). Such companies may be especially susceptible to the effects of changes in interest rates resulting from changes in U.S. or foreign fiscal or monetary policies, governmental regulations affecting capital raising activities or other economic or market fluctuations.
Other Investments
In seeking to achieve risk-adjusted returns, the Fund may also invest in bonds and CLOs rated investment grade as measured at the time of investment. The Fund may also invest in US Treasuries and Notes, and Federal Agency issued securities for cash management purposes. The Fund may invest in derivatives including futures and forward contracts, and swaps (including total return swaps, and interest rate and credit default swaps) to manage yield, interest rate exposure (also known as duration), weighted average maturity, and exposure to credit quality. In addition, the Fund may use government bond futures for hedging purposes. The Fund may also invest in exchange traded funds (ETFs) as a way to gain exposure to certain asset classes and/or securities that are consistent with the principal investment strategy of the Fund. The Fund may invest in certain ETFs that pay fees to the Adviser and its affiliates for management, marketing or other services.
Sale of Fund Investments
If circumstances cause the Sub-Adviser to determine there is a likelihood the value of an existing investment will decline over time, the Fund may, if the Sub-Adviser believes that circumstances require, exit the investment. The circumstances giving rise to the Sub-Adviser's determination may, but will not necessarily, coincide with a downgrade of a senior loan, high yield corporate bond or other security's credit rating.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund. Fund Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk: The Fund's investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions, general market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investment in securities markets. Investment markets can be volatile and prices of investments can change substantially due to various factors including, but not limited to, economic growth or recession, changes in interest rates, inflation, changes in the actual or perceived creditworthiness of issuers, and general market liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Local, regional or global events such as war, military conflicts, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments.
Debt Securities Risk: The values of debt securities may increase or decrease as a result of the following: market fluctuations, changes in interest rates, actual or perceived inability or unwillingness of issuers, guarantors or liquidity providers to make scheduled principal or interest payments, or illiquidity in debt securities markets. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. A rising interest rate environment may cause the value of the Fund's fixed income securities to decrease, an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund's fixed income securities, and increased volatility of the fixed income markets. During periods when interest rates are at low levels, the Fund's yield can be low, and the Fund may have a negative yield (i.e., it may lose money on an
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operating basis). To the extent that interest rates fall, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially faster than originally anticipated. If the principal on a debt obligation is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. Changes in interest rates will likely have a greater effect on the values of debt securities of longer durations. Returns on investments in debt securities could trail the returns on other investment options, including investments in equity securities.
Senior Loan Risk: Investments in Senior Loans are subject to credit risk and general investment risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the borrower of a Senior Loan will be unable and/or unwilling to make timely interest payments and/or repay the principal on its obligation. Default in the payment of interest or principal on a Senior Loan will result in a reduction in the value of the Senior Loan and consequently a reduction in the value of the Fund's investments and a potential decrease in the net asset value (NAV) of the Fund. Senior Loans are also subject to the risk that the value of the collateral securing a Senior Loan may decline, be insufficient to meet the obligations of the borrower or be difficult to liquidate. In addition, the Fund's access to the collateral may be limited by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, loans held by the Fund may not be considered securities and, therefore, purchasers, such as the Fund, may not be entitled to rely on the strong anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Some Senior Loans are subject to the risk that a court, pursuant to fraudulent conveyance or other similar laws, could subordinate the Senior Loans to presently existing or future indebtedness of the borrower or take other action detrimental to lenders, including the Fund, such as invalidation of Senior Loans or causing interest previously paid to be refunded to the borrower. Senior Loans are also subject to high yield securities risks and liquidity risks described above. In addition, bank loans may be subject to extended settlement periods, which may impair the Fund's ability to sell or realize the full value of its loans in the event of a need to liquidate such loans in a compressed period of time. Some of the loans in which the Fund may invest or obtain exposure to may be covenant-lite loans. Covenant-lite loans may contain fewer or no maintenance covenants compared to other loans and may not include terms which allow the lender to monitor the performance of the borrower and declare a default if certain criteria are breached. The Fund may experience delays in enforcing its rights on its holdings of covenant-lite loans.
Below Investment-Grade Securities Risk: Lower-quality debt securities (high yield or junk bonds) are considered predominantly speculative, and can involve a substantially greater risk of default than higher quality debt securities. Issuers of lower-quality debt securities may have substantially greater risk of insolvency or bankruptcy than issuers of higher-quality debt securities. They can be illiquid, and their values can have significant volatility and may decline significantly over short periods of time. Lower-quality debt securities tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general.
Credit Risk: Credit risk is the risk that an issuer or counterparty will fail to pay its obligations to the Fund when they are due. As a result, the Fund's income might be reduced, the value of the Fund's investment might fall, and/or the Fund could lose the entire amount of its investment. Changes in the financial condition of an issuer or counterparty, changes in specific economic, social or political conditions that affect a particular type of security or other instrument or an issuer, and changes in economic, social or political conditions generally can increase the risk of default by an issuer or counterparty, which can affect a security's or other instrument's credit quality or value and an issuer's or counterparty's ability to pay interest and principal when due. The values of lower-quality debt securities, including floating rate loans, tend to be particularly sensitive to these changes. The values of securities also may decline for a number of other reasons that relate directly to the issuer, such as management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer's goods and services, as well as the historical and prospective earnings of the issuer and the value of its assets.
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value, Share Premiums and Discounts Risk: As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund's daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
Affiliated ETF Risk: To the extent the Fund invests in an affiliated underlying ETF, the Fund's investment performance and risks may be directly related to the investment performance and risks of the affiliated ETF. In addition, the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser may have an incentive to take into account the effect on an affiliated ETF in which the Fund may invest in determining whether, and under what circumstances, to purchase or sell shares in that affiliated ETF. Although the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser takes steps to address the conflicts of interest, it is possible that the conflicts could impact the Fund.
4

Cash Transaction Risk: The Fund may sell portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash. In such cases, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.
Collateralized Loan Obligation Risk: The risks of an investment in a collateralized loan obligation depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the collateralized loan obligation in which the Fund invests. Collateralized loan obligations are generally subject to credit, interest rate, valuation, liquidity, prepayment and extension risks. These securities also are subject to risk of default on the underlying asset, particularly during periods of economic downturn. Collateralized loan obligations carry additional risks including, but not limited to, (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest of other payments, (ii) the collateral may decline in value or default, (iii) the Fund may invest in obligations that are subordinate to other classes, and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results. Collateralized loan obligations are divided into two or more classes, called tranches, each with a different credit rating and risk/return profile. Tranches are categorized as senior, mezzanine and subordinated/equity, according to their degree of credit risk. If there are defaults or the collateralized loan obligation's collateral otherwise underperforms, scheduled payments to senior tranches take precedence over those of mezzanine tranches, and scheduled payments to mezzanine tranches take precedence over those of subordinated/equity tranches. Senior and mezzanine tranches are typically rated. The ratings reflect both the credit quality of underlying collateral as well as how much protection a given tranche is afforded by tranches that are subordinate to it.
Exchange-Traded Funds Risk: The Fund is subject to substantially the same risks as those associated with the direct ownership of the securities represented by an underlying ETF in which it invests. In addition, the shares of an underlying ETF may trade at a premium or discount to their intrinsic value (i.e., the market value may differ from the net asset value of an ETF's shares) for a number of reasons. For example, supply and demand for shares of an underlying ETF or market disruptions may cause the market price of the underlying ETF to deviate from the value of the underlying ETF's investments, which may be exacerbated in less liquid markets.
Forward Contracts Risk: A forward contract is a private, customizable agreement to buy or sell a specified currency, security or instrument at a future date at a price set at the time of the contract. Forward contracts settle at the end of the agreement and trade over-the-counter. The risks of forward contracts include, but are not limited to: (1) the success of the Sub-Adviser's ability to predict movements in the prices of individual currencies or securities, fluctuations in markets and movements in interest rates; (2) imperfect or no correlation between the changes in market value of the currencies or securities and the prices of such contracts; and (3) the risk that the counterparty will default on its obligations.
Futures Contract Risk: A futures contract is a standardized agreement that calls for the purchase or sale of a specific asset at a specific price at a specific future time, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. Transactions in futures contracts can create investment leverage and may have significant volatility. It is possible that a futures contract transaction will result in a much greater loss than the principal amount invested, and the Fund may not be able to close out the futures contract at a favorable time or price. There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market on an exchange will exist for any particular futures contract. In the event no such market exists, it might not be possible to effect closing transactions, and the Fund will be unable to terminate its exposure to the futures contract. There is also a risk of imperfect correlation between movements in the prices of the futures contract and movements in the price of the underlying assets. The counterparty to a futures contract may be unable or unwilling to make timely settlement payments, return the Fund's margin, or otherwise honor its obligations.
Income Risk: The Fund's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. Issuers of securities held by the Fund may call or redeem the securities during periods of falling interest rates, and the Fund would likely be required to reinvest in securities paying lower interest rates. If an obligation held by the Fund is prepaid, the Fund may have to reinvest the prepayment in other obligations paying income at lower rates.
Limited Track Record Risk: The Fund has a limited track record and there is no assurance that the Fund will grow quickly. When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume, which could lead to wider bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund could cause elevated transaction costs for the Fund and negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
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Liquidity Risk: Lack of a ready market, stressed market conditions, or restrictions on resale may limit the ability of the Fund to sell a security at an advantageous time or price or at all. Illiquid investments may trade at a discount from comparable, more liquid investments and may be subject to wide fluctuations in market value. If the liquidity of the Fund's holdings deteriorates, it may lead to differences between the market price of Fund Shares and the net asset value of Fund Shares, and could result in the Fund Shares being less liquid. Illiquidity of the Fund's holdings may also limit the ability of the Fund to obtain cash to meet redemptions on a timely basis.  In addition, the Fund, due to limitations on investments in any illiquid investments and/or the difficulty in purchasing and selling such investments, may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain market or sector.
Management Risk: The Fund is actively managed. The Sub-Adviser's judgments about the attractiveness, relative value, or potential appreciation of a particular sector, security, commodity or investment strategy may prove to be incorrect, and may cause the Fund to incur losses. There can be no assurance that the Sub-Adviser's investment techniques and decisions will produce the desired results.
Models and Data Risk: The Sub-Adviser utilizes proprietary quantitative analysis and models to identify investment opportunities. There is a possibility that one or all of the quantitative models may fail to identify profitable opportunities at any time. Furthermore, the models may incorrectly identify opportunities and these misidentified opportunities may lead to substantial losses for the Fund. Models may be predictive in nature and such models may result in an incorrect assessment of future events. Data used in the construction of models may prove to be inaccurate or stale, which may result in losses for the Fund.
Non-Diversification Risk: As a non-diversified fund, the Fund may hold a smaller number of portfolio securities than many other funds. To the extent the Fund invests in a relatively small number of issuers, a decline in the market value of a particular security held by the Fund may affect its value more than if it invested in a larger number of issuers. The value of Fund Shares may be more volatile than the values of shares of more diversified funds.
Non-Senior Loans and Other Debt Securities Risk: Secured loans that are not first lien, loans that are unsecured and debt securities are subject to many of the same risks that affect Senior Loans; however they are often unsecured and/or lower in the issuer's capital structure than Senior Loans, and thus may be exposed to greater risk of default and lower recoveries in the event of a default. This risk can be further heightened in the case of below investment-grade instruments. Additionally, most fixed-income securities are fixed-rate and thus are generally more susceptible than floating rate loans to price volatility related to changes in prevailing interest rates.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk: Non-U.S. securities are subject to political, regulatory, and economic risks not present in domestic investments. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. entity than about a U.S. entity, and many non-U.S. entities are not subject to accounting, auditing, legal and financial report standards comparable to those in the United States. Further, such entities and/or their securities may be subject to risks associated with currency controls; expropriation; changes in tax policy; greater market volatility; differing securities market structures; higher transaction costs; and various administrative difficulties, such as delays in clearing and settling portfolio transactions or in receiving payment of dividends. To the extent underlying securities held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the exchange on which the Fund's shares trade is open, there may be deviations between the current price of an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security on the closed foreign market. These deviations could result in the Fund experiencing premiums or discounts greater than those of ETFs that invest in domestic securities. Securities traded on foreign markets may be less liquid (harder to sell) than securities traded domestically. Foreign governments may impose restrictions on the repatriation of capital to the U.S. In addition, to the extent investments are made in a limited number of countries, events in those countries will have a more significant impact on the Fund. Certain countries have recently experienced (or currently are expected to experience) negative interest rates on certain fixed-income securities, and similar interest rate conditions may be experienced in other regions. Investments in fixed-income securities with very low or negative interest rates may magnify the Fund's susceptibility to interest rate risk and diminish yield and performance, and such investments may be subject to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity.
Portfolio Turnover Risk: Frequent purchases and sales of portfolio securities may result in higher Fund expenses and may result in more significant distributions of short-term capital gains to investors, which are taxed to individuals as ordinary income.
Restricted Securities Risk: The Fund may hold securities that have not been registered for sale to the public under the U.S. federal securities laws. There can be no assurance that a trading market will exist at any time for any particular restricted security. Limitations on the resale of these securities may have an adverse effect on their marketability, and may prevent the Fund from disposing of them promptly at reasonable prices. The Fund may
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have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Also, restricted securities may be difficult to value because market quotations may not be readily available, and the securities may have significant volatility.
Swaps Risk: A swap is a two-party contract that generally obligates the parties to exchange payments based on a specified reference security, basket of securities, security index or index component. Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in securities because swaps may be leveraged and are subject to counterparty risk (e.g., the risk of a counterparty's defaulting on the obligation or bankruptcy), credit risk and pricing risk (i.e., swaps may be difficult to value). It may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate a swap position at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses.
Systematic Strategies Related to Bond Investments Risk: With respect to the bond portion of the Fund's portfolio, to the extent to which the Model or comparable methods or strategies are employed, certain of the Sub-Adviser's securities analysis methods will rely on the assumption that the companies whose securities are purchased or sold, the rating agencies that review these securities, and other publicly available sources of information about these securities, are providing accurate and unbiased data. While the Sub-Adviser is alert to indications that data may be incorrect, there is always a risk that the Sub-Adviser's analysis may be compromised by inaccurate or misleading information. Thus, the Model the Sub-Adviser intends to utilize to manage the Fund's bond investments could lead to unsatisfactory investments. Certain aspects of the Sub-Adviser's investment process with respect to the Model are dependent on complex proprietary software. Analytical, coding and implementation errors present substantial risks to complex models and quantitative investment management strategies and the Sub-Adviser cannot guarantee that its internal controls will be effective in all circumstances. The Sub-Adviser might not be able to effectively implement the Model, and there can be no guarantee that the Fund will achieve the desired results.
U.S. Government Securities Risk: Certain U.S. government securities are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States; others are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury; others are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government to purchase the agency's obligations; and still others are supported only by the credit of the issuing agency, instrumentality, or enterprise. Although U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) may be chartered or sponsored by Congress, they are not funded by Congressional appropriations, and their securities are not issued by the U.S. Treasury, are not supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and involve increased credit risks.
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk: U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other fixed income securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Similar to other issuers, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of the Fund's U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.
Valuation Risk: Some portfolio holdings, potentially a large portion of the Fund's investment portfolio, may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur more often in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including fair valued securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time.
Variable and Floating Rate Securities Risk: During periods of increasing interest rates, changes in the coupon rates of variable or floating rate securities may lag behind the changes in market rates or may have limits on the maximum increases in coupon rates. Alternatively, during periods of declining interest rates, the coupon rates on such securities will typically readjust downward resulting in a lower yield. Floating rate notes are generally subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such securities.
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Fund Performance

The Fund has not yet completed a full calendar year of operations and therefore does not report its performance history. Once the Fund has completed a full calendar year of operations, a bar chart and table will be included that will provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing the variability of the Fund's returns based on net assets and comparing the Fund's performance to an index. When available, updated performance information may be obtained by calling 1-866-787-2257 or visiting the Fund's website: https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Portfolio Management
Investment Adviser and Sub-Adviser
SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (SSGA FM or the Adviser) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund, subject to supervision by the Adviser and oversight by the SSGA Active Trust's Board of Trustees. To the extent that a reference in this Prospectus refers to the Adviser, with respect to the Fund, such reference should also be read to refer to Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC, where the context requires.
Portfolio Managers
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Daniel T. McMullen, Adam Dwinells, Dan Smith, Bonnie Brookshaw, Gordon McKemie and Paul Harrison.
Daniel T. McMullen is a Senior Managing Director of the Sub-Adviser and a Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He joined Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC in 2002.
Adam Dwinells is a Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Systematic Fixed Income of the Sub-Adviser and a Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He joined Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC upon its acquisition of DCI, LLC, a quantitative credit investing firm, in 2020.
Dan Smith is a Senior Managing Director of the Sub-Adviser and a Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He joined Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC in 1997.
Bonnie Brookshaw is a Managing Director of the Sub-Adviser and a Portfolio Manager of the Fund. She joined Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC in 2002.
Gordon McKemie is a Managing Director of the Sub-Adviser and a Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He joined Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC in 2012.
Paul Harrison is a Managing Director of the Sub-Adviser and a Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He joined Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC upon its acquisition of DCI, LLC, a quantitative credit investing firm, in 2020.
Purchase and Sale Information
The Fund will issue (or redeem) Fund Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of Fund Shares known as Creation Units. Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a designated portfolio of in-kind securities and/or cash. Creation Unit transactions may be conducted in exchange for cash only, which may cause the Fund to recognize capital gains and to pay out higher annual capital gain distributions to shareholders than if such transactions had been conducted in-kind.
Individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the Exchange), other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through your broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at net asset value (NAV), Fund Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling Fund Shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund Shares (ask) (the bid-ask spread). Recent information regarding the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Tax Information
The Fund's distributions are expected to be taxed as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Any withdrawals made from a tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
8

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser or its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for certain activities related to the Fund, including educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
9

SPDR® Blackstone Senior Loan ETF
Investment Objective
The investment objective of the SPDR Blackstone Senior Loan ETF (the Fund) is to provide current
income consistent with the preservation of capital.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (Fund Shares). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
Management fees
0.70%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees
None
Other expenses1
0.00%
Total annual Fund operating expenses1
0.70%
1
The Fund's “Other expenses” and “Total annual Fund operating expenses” have been restated to reflect current fees.
Example:
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then sell or hold all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
Year 10
$72
$224
$390
$871
Portfolio Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 125% of the average value of its portfolio.
The Fund's Principal Investment Strategy
In pursuing its investment objective, the Fund seeks to outperform the Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Leveraged Loan Index (the Primary Index) and the Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan 100 Index (the Secondary Index) by normally investing at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in Senior Loans. For purposes of this 80% test, Senior Loans are first lien senior secured floating rate bank loans. A Senior Loan is an advance or commitment of funds made by one or more banks or similar financial institutions, including the Fund, to one or more corporations, partnerships or other business entities and pays interest at a floating or adjusting rate that is determined periodically at a designated premium above a base lending rate. A Senior Loan is senior to all unsecured claims against the borrower and senior or equal to all other secured claims, meaning that, in the event of a bankruptcy, the Senior Loan, together with other first lien claims, is entitled to be the first to be repaid out of proceeds of the assets securing the loans, before other existing claims or interests receive repayment. However, in bankruptcy proceedings, there may be other claims, such as taxes or additional advances that take precedence. The Primary Index is composed of the 100 most liquid Senior Loans in the market, while the Secondary Index is composed of the 100 largest Senior Loans in the market, as measured by the borrowed amounts outstanding. The Fund intends to hold a large percentage of the components of the Primary and Secondary Indexes. It is anticipated that the Fund will invest approximately 50% to 75% of its net assets in Senior Loans that are eligible for inclusion in the Primary and/or Secondary Indexes. Senior Loans included in the Primary and/or Secondary Indexes, and in which the Fund may invest, may include covenant-lite loans, which may contain fewer or no maintenance covenants compared to other loans. Each of the Fund's Senior Loan investments is expected to have no less than $250 million par outstanding.
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The Fund invests predominantly in Senior Loans that are made to businesses operating in North America, but may also invest in Senior Loans made to businesses operating outside of North America. The Fund may invest in Senior Loans directly, either from the borrower as part of a primary issuance or in the secondary market through assignments of portions of Senior Loans from third parties, or participations in Senior Loans, which are contractual relationships with an existing lender in a loan facility whereby the Fund purchases the right to receive principal and interest payments on a loan but the existing lender remains the record holder of the loan. Under normal market conditions, it is expected that the Fund's Senior Loan investments will maintain an average interest rate duration of less than 90 days. Loan interest rate duration is based on the actual remaining time until the applicable reference rate is reset for each individual loan. In addition, when making investments, the Sub-Adviser seeks to maintain appropriate liquidity and price transparency for the Fund.
In selecting securities for the Fund, the Fund's sub-adviser, Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC (the Sub-Adviser), seeks to construct a portfolio of loans that it believes is less volatile than the general loan market. In addition, when making investments, the Sub-Adviser seeks to maintain appropriate liquidity and price transparency for the Fund. On an on-going basis, the Sub-Adviser adds or removes those individual loans that it believes will cause the Fund to outperform or underperform, respectively, the Primary and Secondary Indexes. The Fund's strategy may result in a high portfolio turnover rate.
When identifying prospective investment opportunities in Senior Loans, the Sub-Adviser currently intends to invest principally in Senior Loans that are below investment-grade quality and will rely on fundamental credit analysis in an effort to attempt to minimize the loss of the Fund's capital. While credit ratings assigned by Moody's Investors Service, Inc., S&P Global Ratings and/or Fitch Ratings Inc. (the SROs (statistical rating agencies)) will be considered, such ratings will not be determinative in the Sub-Adviser's process in the selection of specific debt securities (including Senior Loans). The Senior Loans and other securities that the Sub-Adviser is likely to select for investment in by the Fund will typically be rated below investment-grade quality by one or more of the SROs or, if unrated, will typically, in the opinion of the Sub-Adviser, be of similar credit quality. The Sub-Adviser expects to invest in Senior Loans, other loans and bonds of companies, including high yield securities (commonly known as junk bonds) and Rule 144A securities, possessing the following attributes, which it believes will help generate higher risk adjusted total returns:
Leading, defensible market positions. The Sub-Adviser intends to invest in loans made to and bonds issued by companies that it believes have developed strong positions within their respective markets and exhibit the potential to maintain sufficient cash flows and profitability to service their obligations in a range of economic environments. The Sub-Adviser will seek companies that it believes possess advantages in scale, scope, customer loyalty, product pricing, or product quality versus their competitors, thereby minimizing business risk and protecting profitability.
Investing in companies with positive cash flow. The Sub-Adviser intends to invest primarily in loans made to and bonds issued by established companies which have demonstrated a record of profitability and cash flows over several economic cycles. The Sub-Adviser believes such companies are well-positioned to maintain consistent cash flow to service and repay their obligations and maintain growth in their businesses or market share. The Sub-Adviser does not intend to invest in primarily start-up companies, companies in turnaround situations or companies with speculative business plans.
Proven management teams. The Sub-Adviser intends to focus on investments in loans made to and bonds issued by companies that have experienced management teams with established track records of success. The Sub-Adviser will typically require companies to have in place proper incentives to align management's goals with the Fund's goals.
Private equity sponsorship. The Sub-Adviser may seek to invest in loans made to and bonds issued by issuers sponsored by what it believes to be high-quality private equity firms. The Sub-Adviser believes that a private equity sponsor's willingness to invest significant sums of equity capital into a company is an implicit endorsement of the quality of the investment. Further, private equity sponsors of companies with significant investments at risk have the ability and a strong incentive to contribute additional capital in difficult economic times should operational issues arise.
Diversification, concentration and reliance on other lenders. The Sub-Adviser will seek to invest broadly among companies and industries, thereby potentially reducing the risk of a downturn in any one company or industry having a disproportionate impact on the value of the Fund's portfolio. While the Fund looks to the underlying borrower of a bank loan, rather than the bank originating the loan, for purposes of determining the industry concentration of investments, it is possible that under a different interpretation the Fund may be deemed to concentrate its investments in the financial services industries. Loans, and the collateral securing them, are typically monitored by agents for the lenders, which may be the originating bank or banks. The Fund may be
11

affected by the creditworthiness of the agent bank and other intermediate participants in a Senior Loan, in addition to the borrower, since rights that may exist under the loan against the borrower if the borrower defaults are typically asserted by or through the agent bank or intermediate participant. Agents are typically large commercial banks, although for Senior Loans that are not broadly syndicated they can also include thrift institutions, insurance companies or finance companies (or their affiliates). Such companies may be especially susceptible to the effects of changes in interest rates resulting from changes in U.S. or foreign fiscal or monetary policies, governmental regulations affecting capital raising activities or other economic or market fluctuations.
If circumstances cause the Sub-Adviser to determine there is a likelihood the value of an existing investment will decline over time, the Fund may, if the Sub-Adviser believes that circumstances require, exit the investment. The circumstances giving rise to the Sub-Adviser's determination may, but will not necessarily, coincide with a downgrade of the Senior Loan or other security's credit rating.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund. Fund Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk: The Fund's investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions, general market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investment in securities markets. Investment markets can be volatile and prices of investments can change substantially due to various factors including, but not limited to, economic growth or recession, changes in interest rates, inflation, changes in the actual or perceived creditworthiness of issuers, and general market liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Local, regional or global events such as war, military conflicts, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments.
Debt Securities Risk: The values of debt securities may increase or decrease as a result of the following: market fluctuations, changes in interest rates, actual or perceived inability or unwillingness of issuers, guarantors or liquidity providers to make scheduled principal or interest payments, or illiquidity in debt securities markets. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. A rising interest rate environment may cause the value of the Fund's fixed income securities to decrease, an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund's fixed income securities, and increased volatility of the fixed income markets. During periods when interest rates are at low levels, the Fund's yield can be low, and the Fund may have a negative yield (i.e., it may lose money on an operating basis). To the extent that interest rates fall, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially faster than originally anticipated. If the principal on a debt obligation is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. Changes in interest rates will likely have a greater effect on the values of debt securities of longer durations. Returns on investments in debt securities could trail the returns on other investment options, including investments in equity securities.
Senior Loan Risk: Investments in Senior Loans are subject to credit risk and general investment risk. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the borrower of a Senior Loan will be unable and/or unwilling to make timely interest payments and/or repay the principal on its obligation. Default in the payment of interest or principal on a Senior Loan will result in a reduction in the value of the Senior Loan and consequently a reduction in the value of the Fund's investments and a potential decrease in the net asset value (NAV) of the Fund. Senior Loans are also subject to the risk that the value of the collateral securing a Senior Loan may decline, be insufficient to meet the obligations of the borrower or be difficult to liquidate. In addition, the Fund's access to the collateral may be limited by bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. Further, loans held by the Fund may not be considered securities and, therefore, purchasers, such as the Fund, may not be entitled to rely on the strong anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Some Senior Loans are subject to the risk that a court, pursuant to fraudulent conveyance or other similar laws, could subordinate the Senior Loans to presently existing or future indebtedness of the borrower or take other action detrimental to lenders, including the Fund, such as invalidation of Senior Loans or causing interest previously paid to be refunded to the borrower. Senior Loans are also subject to high yield securities risks and liquidity risks described above. In addition, bank loans may be subject to extended settlement periods, which may impair the Fund's ability to sell or realize the full value of its loans in the event of a need to liquidate such loans in a compressed period of time. Some of the loans in which the Fund may invest or obtain exposure to may be covenant-lite loans. Covenant-lite loans may contain fewer or no maintenance covenants
12

compared to other loans and may not include terms which allow the lender to monitor the performance of the borrower and declare a default if certain criteria are breached. The Fund may experience delays in enforcing its rights on its holdings of covenant-lite loans.
Below Investment-Grade Securities Risk: Lower-quality debt securities (high yield or junk bonds) are considered predominantly speculative, and can involve a substantially greater risk of default than higher quality debt securities. Issuers of lower-quality debt securities may have substantially greater risk of insolvency or bankruptcy than issuers of higher-quality debt securities. They can be illiquid, and their values can have significant volatility and may decline significantly over short periods of time. Lower-quality debt securities tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general.
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value, Share Premiums and Discounts Risk: As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund's daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
Cash Transaction Risk: The Fund may sell portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash. In such cases, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.
Financial Sector Risk: Financial services companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation, which may limit both the amounts and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, the interest rates and fees they can charge, the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. Profitability is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates change or due to increased competition. In addition, deterioration of the credit markets generally may cause an adverse impact in a broad range of markets, including U.S. and international credit and interbank money markets generally, thereby affecting a wide range of financial institutions and markets. Certain events in the financial sector may cause an unusually high degree of volatility in the financial markets, both domestic and foreign, and cause certain financial services companies to incur large losses. Securities of financial services companies may experience a dramatic decline in value when such companies experience substantial declines in the valuations of their assets, take action to raise capital (such as the issuance of debt or equity securities), or cease operations. Credit losses resulting from financial difficulties of borrowers and financial losses associated with investment activities can negatively impact the sector. Insurance companies may be subject to severe price competition. Adverse economic, business or political developments could adversely affect financial institutions engaged in mortgage finance or other lending or investing activities directly or indirectly connected to the value of real estate.
Income Risk: The Fund's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. Issuers of securities held by the Fund may call or redeem the securities during periods of falling interest rates, and the Fund would likely be required to reinvest in securities paying lower interest rates. If an obligation held by the Fund is prepaid, the Fund may have to reinvest the prepayment in other obligations paying income at lower rates.
Liquidity Risk: There is no organized exchange on which loans are traded and reliable market quotations may not be readily available. A majority of the Fund's assets are likely to be invested in loans that are less liquid than securities traded on national exchanges. Illiquidity of the Fund's holdings may limit the ability of the Fund to obtain cash to meet redemptions on a timely basis. Illiquidity of the Fund's holdings may also lead to differences between the market price of Fund Shares and the net asset value of Fund Shares, and could result in the Fund Shares being less liquid. Loans with reduced liquidity involve greater risk than securities with more liquid markets. Available market quotations for such loans may vary over time, and if the credit quality of a loan unexpectedly declines, secondary trading of that loan may decline for a period of time. During periods of infrequent trading, valuing a loan can be more difficult and buying and selling a loan at an acceptable price can be more difficult and delayed. In the event that the Fund voluntarily or involuntarily liquidates portfolio assets during periods of infrequent trading, it may not receive full value for those assets. Therefore, elements of judgment may play a greater role in valuation of loans. To the extent that a secondary market exists for certain loans, the market may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods.
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Management Risk: The Fund is actively managed. The Sub-Adviser's judgments about the attractiveness, relative value, or potential appreciation of a particular sector, security, commodity or investment strategy may prove to be incorrect, and may cause the Fund to incur losses. There can be no assurance that the Sub-Adviser's investment techniques and decisions will produce the desired results.
Non-Senior Loans and Other Debt Securities Risk: Secured loans that are not first lien, loans that are unsecured and debt securities are subject to many of the same risks that affect Senior Loans; however they are often unsecured and/or lower in the issuer's capital structure than Senior Loans, and thus may be exposed to greater risk of default and lower recoveries in the event of a default. This risk can be further heightened in the case of below investment-grade instruments. Additionally, most fixed-income securities are fixed-rate and thus are generally more susceptible than floating rate loans to price volatility related to changes in prevailing interest rates.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk: Non-U.S. securities are subject to political, regulatory, and economic risks not present in domestic investments. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. entity than about a U.S. entity, and many non-U.S. entities are not subject to accounting, auditing, legal and financial report standards comparable to those in the United States. Further, such entities and/or their securities may be subject to risks associated with currency controls; expropriation; changes in tax policy; greater market volatility; differing securities market structures; higher transaction costs; and various administrative difficulties, such as delays in clearing and settling portfolio transactions or in receiving payment of dividends. To the extent underlying securities held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the exchange on which the Fund's shares trade is open, there may be deviations between the current price of an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security on the closed foreign market. These deviations could result in the Fund experiencing premiums or discounts greater than those of ETFs that invest in domestic securities. Securities traded on foreign markets may be less liquid (harder to sell) than securities traded domestically. Foreign governments may impose restrictions on the repatriation of capital to the U.S. In addition, to the extent the Fund buys securities denominated in a foreign currency, there are special risks such as changes in currency exchange rates and the risk that a foreign government could regulate foreign exchange transactions. In addition, to the extent investments are made in a limited number of countries, events in those countries will have a more significant impact on the Fund. Certain countries have recently experienced (or currently are expected to experience) negative interest rates on certain fixed-income securities, and similar interest rate conditions may be experienced in other regions.  Investments in fixed-income securities with very low or negative interest rates may magnify the Fund's susceptibility to interest rate risk and diminish yield and performance, and such investments may be subject to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity.
Portfolio Turnover Risk: Frequent purchases and sales of portfolio securities may result in higher Fund expenses and may result in more significant distributions of short-term capital gains to investors, which are taxed to individuals as ordinary income.
Restricted Securities Risk: The Fund may hold securities that have not been registered for sale to the public under the U.S. federal securities laws. There can be no assurance that a trading market will exist at any time for any particular restricted security. Limitations on the resale of these securities may have an adverse effect on their marketability, and may prevent the Fund from disposing of them promptly at reasonable prices. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Also, restricted securities may be difficult to value because market quotations may not be readily available, and the securities may have significant volatility.
Valuation Risk: Some portfolio holdings, potentially a large portion of the Fund's investment portfolio, may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur more often in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including fair valued securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time.
Variable and Floating Rate Securities Risk: During periods of increasing interest rates, changes in the coupon rates of variable or floating rate securities may lag behind the changes in market rates or may have limits on the maximum increases in coupon rates. Alternatively, during periods of declining interest rates, the coupon rates on
14

such securities will typically readjust downward resulting in a lower yield. Floating rate notes are generally subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such securities.
Fund Performance
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual returns for certain time periods compare with the average annual returns of a relevant broad-based securities index and indexes with characteristics relevant to the Fund. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available by calling 1-866-787-2257 or visiting our website at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Annual Total Returns (years ended 12/31)*
Highest Quarterly Return: 7.72% (Q2, 2020)
Lowest Quarterly Return: -11.57% (Q1, 2020)
*
As of  9/30/2023, the Fund's Calendar Year-To-Date return was 7.56%.
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/22)
The after-tax returns presented in the table below are calculated using highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund Shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. The returns after taxes can exceed the returns before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit for a shareholder from realizing a capital loss on a sale of Fund Shares.
 
One
Year
Five
Years
Since Inception
(04/03/13)
Return Before Taxes
-4.55%
2.32%
2.43%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
-6.65%
0.25%
0.57%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
-2.68%
0.91%
1.04%
Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Leveraged Loan Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes)
-1.78%
1.97%
2.23%
Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan 100 Index. (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses
or taxes)
-0.68%
3.06%
3.08%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
-13.01%
0.02%
1.07%
Portfolio Management
Investment Adviser and Sub-Adviser
SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (SSGA FM or the Adviser) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund, subject to supervision by the Adviser and oversight by the SSGA Active Trust's Board of Trustees. To the extent that a reference in this Prospectus refers to the Adviser, with respect to the Fund, such reference should also be read to refer to Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC, where the context requires.
Portfolio Managers
The professionals at the Sub-Adviser primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Daniel T. McMullen, Gordon McKemie and Bonnie Brookshaw.
Daniel T. McMullen is a Senior Managing Director of the Sub-Adviser and a lead Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He joined Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC in 2002.
Gordon McKemie is a Managing Director of the Sub-Adviser and a Portfolio Manager of the Fund. He joined Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC in 2012.
Bonnie Brookshaw is a Managing Director of the Sub-Adviser and a Portfolio Manager of the Fund. She joined Blackstone Liquid Credit Strategies LLC in 2002.
15

Purchase and Sale Information
The Fund will issue (or redeem) Fund Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of Fund Shares known as Creation Units. Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a designated portfolio of in-kind securities and/or cash. Creation Unit transactions may be conducted in exchange for cash only, which may cause the Fund to recognize capital gains and to pay out higher annual capital gain distributions to shareholders than if such transactions had been conducted in-kind.
Individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca, Inc., other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through your broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at NAV, Fund Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling Fund Shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund Shares (ask) (the bid-ask spread). Recent information regarding the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Tax Information
The Fund's distributions are expected to be taxed as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Any withdrawals made from a tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser or its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for certain activities related to the Fund, including educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
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SPDR® DoubleLine® Emerging Markets Fixed Income ETF
Investment Objective
The SPDR DoubleLine Emerging Markets Fixed Income ETF (the Fund) seeks to provide high total return
from current income and capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (Fund Shares). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
Management fees
0.65%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees
None
Other expenses1
0.00%
Total annual Fund operating expenses1
0.65%
1
The Fund's “Other expenses” and “Total annual Fund operating expenses” have been restated to reflect current fees.
Example:
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then sell or hold all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
Year 10
$66
$208
$362
$810
Portfolio Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 48% of the average value of its portfolio.
The Fund's Principal Investment Strategy
Under normal circumstances, DoubleLine Capital LP (the Sub-Adviser or DoubleLine) will invest at least 80% of the Fund's net assets (plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes) in emerging market fixed income securities. The Fund will provide shareholders with at least 60 days' notice prior to any change in this 80% investment policy. Fixed income securities are defined as fixed income securities issued or guaranteed by foreign corporations or foreign governments, including securities issued or guaranteed by companies (including hybrid securities), financial institutions, or government entities in emerging market countries; corporate or government bonds; sovereign debt; structured securities; foreign currency transactions; certain derivatives; preferred securities; zero coupon bonds; credit-linked notes; pass through notes; bank loans; and perpetual maturity bonds. Fixed income securities may have fixed or variable interest rates and any maturity. The Fund may also invest in exchange-traded foreign equity securities and depositary receipts. The Fund will generally invest in securities and/or instruments from at least five emerging market countries, with no more than 20% allocated to a single country. An emerging market country is a country that, at the time the Fund invests in the related security or instrument, is classified as an emerging or developing economy by any supranational organization such as the World Bank or the United Nations, or related entities, or is considered an emerging market country for purposes of constructing a major emerging market securities index. A security or instrument is considered to be from an emerging market country if the issuer or guarantor of the security or instrument is either domiciled in an emerging market country or derives a majority of its cash flow or revenue from an emerging market country. Certain fixed income securities held by the Fund may not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (1933 Act), including securities that are typically purchased pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S promulgated under the 1933 Act. These securities are expected to be liquid.
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The Fund may invest in fixed income securities of any credit quality, but seeks to invest no more than 20%, at the time of investment, in fixed income securities that are unrated, rated BB+ or lower by S&P Global Ratings or Ba1 or lower by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. or the equivalent by any other nationally recognized statistical rating organization. Corporate bonds and certain other fixed income securities rated below investment-grade, or such instruments that are unrated and are determined by the Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality, are high yield, high risk bonds, commonly known as junk bonds. The Fund may invest in hybrid securities relating to emerging market countries. A hybrid security may be created by combining an income-producing debt security and the right to receive payment based on the change in the price of an equity security.
The Fund may conduct foreign currency transactions on a spot (i.e., cash) or forward basis (i.e., by entering into forward contracts to purchase or sell foreign currencies). The Fund may also invest in the following derivatives: foreign currency futures; credit default swaps; and options, swaps, futures, and forward contracts on securities. These practices may be used to hedge the Fund's portfolio (e.g., to hedge against currency fluctuations), as well as for investment purposes (e.g., to gain exposure to certain issuers or emerging markets); however, such practices sometimes may reduce returns or increase volatility. All such derivatives will be exchange traded or centrally cleared.
In allocating investments among various emerging market countries, the Sub-Adviser attempts to analyze internal political, market and economic factors. These factors may include public finances, monetary policy, external accounts, financial markets, foreign investment regulations, stability of exchange rate policy, and labor conditions.
In managing the Fund's investments, under normal market conditions, the Sub-Adviser intends to seek to construct an investment portfolio with a weighted average effective duration of no less than two years and no more than eight years. Duration is a measure of the expected life of a fixed income instrument that is used to determine the sensitivity of a security's price to changes in interest rates. Effective duration is a measure of the Fund's portfolio duration adjusted for the anticipated effect of interest rate changes on bond and mortgage pre-payment rates. The effective duration of the Fund's investment portfolio may vary materially from its target, from time to time, and there is no assurance that the effective duration of the Fund's investment portfolio will not exceed its target. The Fund may invest without limit in investments denominated in any currency, but expects to invest a portion of its assets in investments denominated in the U.S. dollar. Securities held by the Fund may be sold at any time. By way of example, sales may occur when the Sub-Adviser perceives deterioration in the credit fundamentals of the issuer, when the Sub-Adviser believes there are negative macro geo-political considerations that may affect the issuer, when the Sub-Adviser determines to take advantage of a better investment opportunity, or the individual security has reached the Sub-Adviser's sell target.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund. Fund Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk: The Fund's investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions, general market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investment in securities markets. Investment markets can be volatile and prices of investments can change substantially due to various factors including, but not limited to, economic growth or recession, changes in interest rates, inflation, changes in the actual or perceived creditworthiness of issuers, and general market liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Local, regional or global events such as war, military conflicts, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments.
Debt Securities Risk: The values of debt securities may increase or decrease as a result of the following: market fluctuations, changes in interest rates, actual or perceived inability or unwillingness of issuers, guarantors or liquidity providers to make scheduled principal or interest payments, or illiquidity in debt securities markets. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. A rising interest rate environment may cause the value of the Fund's fixed income securities to decrease, an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund's fixed income securities, and increased volatility of the fixed income markets. During periods when interest rates are at low levels, the Fund's yield can be low, and the Fund may have a negative yield (i.e., it may lose money on an operating basis). To the extent that interest rates fall, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially faster than originally anticipated. If the principal on a debt obligation is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. Changes in interest rates will likely have a greater effect on the values of debt securities of longer durations. Returns on investments in debt securities could trail the returns on other investment options, including investments in equity securities.
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Emerging Markets Risk: Risks of investing in emerging markets include, among others, greater political and economic instability, greater volatility in currency exchange rates, less developed securities markets, possible trade barriers, currency transfer restrictions, a more limited number of potential buyers and issuers, an emerging market country's dependence on revenue from particular commodities or international aid, less governmental supervision and regulation, unavailability of currency hedging techniques, differences in auditing and financial reporting standards, and less developed legal systems. There is also the potential for unfavorable action such as expropriation, nationalization, embargo, and acts of war. The securities of emerging market companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes than more widely held securities. Market disruptions or substantial market corrections may limit very significantly the liquidity of securities of certain companies in a particular country or geographic region, or of all companies in the country or region. The Fund may be unable to liquidate its positions in such securities at any time, or at a favorable price, in order to meet the Fund's obligations. These risks are generally greater for investments in frontier market countries, which typically have smaller economies or less developed capital markets than traditional emerging market countries.
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value, Share Premiums and Discounts Risk: As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund's daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
Bank Loan Risk: The Fund may invest in secured and unsecured participations in bank loans and assignments of such loans. In making investments in such loans, which are made by banks or other financial intermediaries to borrowers, the Fund will depend primarily upon the creditworthiness of the borrower for payment of principal and interest which will expose the Fund to the credit risk of both the financial institution and the underlying borrower. The market for bank loans may not be highly liquid and the Fund may have difficulty selling them. The Fund may also experience settlement delays with respect to bank loan trades, resulting in the proceeds from the sale of such loans not being readily available to make additional investments or to meet the Fund's redemption obligations. Participations by the Fund in a lender's portion of a bank loan typically will result in the Fund having a contractual relationship only with such lender, not with the borrower. The Fund may have the right to receive payments of principal, interest and any fees to which it is entitled only from the lender selling a loan participation and only upon receipt by such lender of such payments from the borrower. In connection with purchasing participations, the Fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement, nor any rights with respect to any funds acquired by other lenders through set-off against the borrower, and the Fund may not directly benefit from any collateral supporting the loan in which it has purchased the participation. As a result, the Fund may assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the lender selling the participation. Further, loans held by the Fund may not be considered securities and, therefore, purchasers, such as the Fund, may not be entitled to rely on the strong anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Some of the loans in which the Fund may invest or obtain exposure to may be covenant-lite loans. Covenant-lite loans may contain fewer or no maintenance covenants compared to other loans and may not include terms which allow the lender to monitor the performance of the borrower and declare a default if certain criteria are breached. The Fund may experience delays in enforcing its rights on its holdings of covenant-lite loans.
Below Investment-Grade Securities Risk: Lower-quality debt securities (high yield or junk bonds) are considered predominantly speculative, and can involve a substantially greater risk of default than higher quality debt securities. Issuers of lower-quality debt securities may have substantially greater risk of insolvency or bankruptcy than issuers of higher-quality debt securities. They can be illiquid, and their values can have significant volatility and may decline significantly over short periods of time. Lower-quality debt securities tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general.
Cash Transaction Risk: The Fund may sell portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash. In such cases, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.
Currency Risk: The value of the Fund's assets may be affected favorably or unfavorably by currency exchange rates, currency exchange control regulations, and delays, restrictions or prohibitions on the repatriation of foreign currencies. Foreign currency exchange rates may have significant volatility, and changes in the values of foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar may result in substantial declines in the values of the Fund's assets denominated in foreign currencies.
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Currency Hedging Risk: If the Fund enters into currency hedging transactions, any loss generated by those transactions generally should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged investment, and vice versa. While hedging can reduce or eliminate losses, it can also reduce or eliminate gains. Hedges are sometimes subject to imperfect matching between the hedging transaction and the risk sought to be hedged. There can be no assurance that the Fund's hedging transactions will be effective.
Depositary Receipts Risk: Investments in depositary receipts may be less liquid and more volatile than the underlying securities in their primary trading market. If a depositary receipt is denominated in a different currency than its underlying securities, the Fund will be subject to the currency risk of both the investment in the depositary receipt and the underlying security. Holders of depositary receipts may have limited or no rights to take action with respect to the underlying securities or to compel the issuer of the receipts to take action. The prices of depositary receipts may differ from the prices of securities upon which they are based.
Equity Investing Risk: The market prices of equity securities owned by the Fund may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The value of a security may decline for a number of reasons that may directly relate to the issuer and also may decline due to general industry or market conditions that are not specifically related to a particular company. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time.
Forward Contracts Risk: A forward contract is a private, customizable agreement to buy or sell a specified currency, security or instrument at a future date at a price set at the time of the contract. Forward contracts settle at the end of the agreement and trade over-the-counter. The risks of forward contracts include, but are not limited to: (1) the success of the Sub-Adviser's ability to predict movements in the prices of individual currencies or securities, fluctuations in markets and movements in interest rates; (2) imperfect or no correlation between the changes in market value of the currencies or securities and the prices of such contracts; and (3) the risk that the counterparty will default on its obligations.
Futures Contract Risk: A futures contract is a standardized agreement that calls for the purchase or sale of a specific asset at a specific price at a specific future time, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. Transactions in futures contracts can create investment leverage and may have significant volatility. It is possible that a futures contract transaction will result in a much greater loss than the principal amount invested, and the Fund may not be able to close out the futures contract at a favorable time or price. There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market on an exchange will exist for any particular futures contract. In the event no such market exists, it might not be possible to effect closing transactions, and the Fund will be unable to terminate its exposure to the futures contract. There is also a risk of imperfect correlation between movements in the prices of the futures contract and movements in the price of the underlying assets. The counterparty to a futures contract may be unable or unwilling to make timely settlement payments, return the Fund's margin, or otherwise honor its obligations.
Geographic Focus Risk: The performance of a fund that is less diversified across countries or geographic regions will be closely tied to market, currency, economic, political, environmental, or regulatory conditions and developments in the countries or regions in which the fund invests, and may be more volatile than the performance of a more geographically-diversified fund.
Asia: Certain Asian economies have experienced high inflation, high unemployment, currency devaluations and restrictions, and over-extension of credit. Many Asian economies have experienced rapid growth and industrialization, and there is no assurance that this growth rate will be maintained. Economic events in any one Asian country may have a significant economic effect on the entire Asian region, as well as on major trading partners outside Asia. Any adverse event in the Asian markets may have a significant adverse effect on some or all of the economies of the countries in which the Fund invests. Many Asian countries are subject to political risk, including corruption and regional conflict with neighboring countries. In addition, many Asian countries are subject to social and labor risks associated with demands for improved political, economic and social conditions. These risks, among others, may adversely affect the value of the Fund's investments.
Latin America: Latin American economies are generally considered emerging markets and are generally characterized by high interest, inflation, and unemployment rates. Currency devaluations in any one Latin American country can have a significant effect on the entire Latin American region. Because commodities such as oil and gas, minerals, and metals represent a significant percentage of the region's exports, the economies of Latin American countries are particularly sensitive to fluctuations in commodity prices. A relatively small number of Latin American companies represents a large portion of Latin America's total market and thus may be more sensitive to adverse political or economic circumstances and market movements.
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Pacific Region: Many of the Pacific region economies can be exposed to high inflation rates, undeveloped financial services sectors, and heavy reliance on international trade. The region's economies are also dependent on the economies of Asia, Europe and the United States and, in particular, on the price and demand for agricultural products and natural resources. Currency devaluations or restrictions, political and social instability, and deteriorating economic conditions may result in significant downturns and increased volatility in the economies of countries of the Pacific region, as it has in the past.
Income Risk: The Fund's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. Issuers of securities held by the Fund may call or redeem the securities during periods of falling interest rates, and the Fund would likely be required to reinvest in securities paying lower interest rates. If an obligation held by the Fund is prepaid, the Fund may have to reinvest the prepayment in other obligations paying income at lower rates.
Leveraging Risk: Use of leverage by the Fund may have the effect of increasing the volatility of the value of the Fund's portfolio, and may entail risk of loss in excess of the Fund's invested capital. To the extent the Fund uses leverage, the Fund's losses (and gains) may be greater than if the Fund had not used leverage.
Liquidity Risk: Lack of a ready market, stressed market conditions, or restrictions on resale may limit the ability of the Fund to sell a security at an advantageous time or price or at all. Illiquid investments may trade at a discount from comparable, more liquid investments and may be subject to wide fluctuations in market value. If the liquidity of the Fund's holdings deteriorates, it may lead to differences between the market price of Fund Shares and the net asset value of Fund Shares, and could result in the Fund Shares being less liquid. Illiquidity of the Fund's holdings may also limit the ability of the Fund to obtain cash to meet redemptions on a timely basis.  In addition, the Fund, due to limitations on investments in any illiquid investments and/or the difficulty in purchasing and selling such investments, may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain market or sector.
Management Risk: The Fund is actively managed. The Sub-Adviser's judgments about the attractiveness, relative value, or potential appreciation of a particular sector, security, commodity or investment strategy may prove to be incorrect, and may cause the Fund to incur losses. There can be no assurance that the Sub-Adviser's investment techniques and decisions will produce the desired results.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk: Non-U.S. securities (including depositary receipts) are subject to political, regulatory, and economic risks not present in domestic investments. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. entity than about a U.S. entity, and many non-U.S. entities are not subject to accounting, auditing, legal and financial report standards comparable to those in the United States. Further, such entities and/or their securities may be subject to risks associated with currency controls; expropriation; changes in tax policy; greater market volatility; differing securities market structures; higher transaction costs; and various administrative difficulties, such as delays in clearing and settling portfolio transactions or in receiving payment of dividends. To the extent underlying securities held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the exchange on which the Fund's shares trade is open, there may be deviations between the current price of an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security on the closed foreign market. These deviations could result in the Fund experiencing premiums or discounts greater than those of ETFs that invest in domestic securities. Securities traded on foreign markets may be less liquid (harder to sell) than securities traded domestically. Foreign governments may impose restrictions on the repatriation of capital to the U.S. In addition, to the extent the Fund buys securities denominated in a foreign currency, there are special risks such as changes in currency exchange rates and the risk that a foreign government could regulate foreign exchange transactions. In addition, to the extent investments are made in a limited number of countries, events in those countries will have a more significant impact on the Fund. Investments in depositary receipts may be less liquid and more volatile than the underlying shares in their primary trading market. Certain countries have recently experienced (or currently are expected to experience) negative interest rates on certain fixed-income securities, and similar interest rate conditions may be experienced in other regions.  Investments in fixed-income securities with very low or negative interest rates may magnify the Fund's susceptibility to interest rate risk and diminish yield and performance, and such investments may be subject to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity.
Options Risk: The Fund's successful use of options depends on the ability of the Adviser to forecast market movements correctly. When the Fund purchases an option, it runs the risk that it will lose its entire investment in the option in a relatively short period of time, unless the Fund exercises the option or enters into a closing sale transaction before the option's expiration. If the price of the underlying security does not rise (in the case of a call) or fall (in the case of a put) to an extent sufficient to cover the option premium and transaction costs, the Fund will lose part or all of its investment in the option. The effective use of options also depends on the Fund's ability to
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terminate option positions at times when the Adviser deems it desirable to do so. There is no assurance that the Fund will be able to effect closing transactions at any particular time or at an acceptable price. The sale of options by the Fund may create investment leverage.
Pass-Through Securities Risk: Pass-through securities are debt obligations backed by a pool of assets, such as mortgages. In addition to the risks associated with investing in debt securities generally, pass-through securities are subject to changes in the payment patterns of borrowers of the underlying debt. When interest rates fall, borrowers are more likely to refinance or prepay their debt before its stated maturity. This may result in the Fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities, effectively reducing the Fund's income. Conversely, if interest rates rise and borrowers repay their debt more slowly than expected, the time in which pass-through securities are paid off could be extended, reducing the Fund's cash available for reinvestment in higher yielding securities.
Perpetual Bond Risk: Perpetual bonds offer a fixed return with no maturity date. Because they never mature, perpetual bonds can be more volatile than other types of bonds that have a maturity date and may have heightened sensitivity to changes in interest rates. If market interest rates rise significantly, the interest rate paid by a perpetual bond may be much lower than the prevailing interest rate.  Perpetual bonds are also subject to credit risk with respect to the issuer.  In addition, because perpetual bonds may be callable after a set period of time, there is the risk that the issuer may recall the bond.
Preferred Securities Risk: Generally, preferred security holders have no or limited voting rights with respect to the issuing company. In addition, preferred securities are generally senior to common stock, but may be subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a company's capital structure and therefore may be subject to greater credit risk than those debt instruments. In the event an issuer of preferred securities experiences economic difficulties, the issuer's preferred securities may lose substantial value due to the increased likelihood of deferred interest or dividend payments and the fact that the preferred security may be subordinated to other securities of the same issuer. Further, because many preferred securities pay interest or dividends at a fixed rate, their market price can be sensitive to changes in interest rates in a manner similar to bonds — that is, as interest rates rise, the value of the preferred securities held by the Fund are likely to decline. In addition, to the extent preferred securities allow holders to convert the preferred securities into common stock of the issuer, their market price can be sensitive to changes in the value of the issuer's common stock and, therefore, declining common stock values may also cause the value of the Fund's investments to decline. Preferred securities often have call features which allow the issuer to redeem the security at its discretion. The redemption of a preferred security having a higher than average yield may cause a decrease in the Fund's yield.
Restricted Securities Risk: The Fund may hold securities that have not been registered for sale to the public under the U.S. federal securities laws. There can be no assurance that a trading market will exist at any time for any particular restricted security. Limitations on the resale of these securities may have an adverse effect on their marketability, and may prevent the Fund from disposing of them promptly at reasonable prices. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Also, restricted securities may be difficult to value because market quotations may not be readily available, and the securities may have significant volatility.
Sovereign Debt Obligations Risk: Investments in debt securities issued by governments or by government agencies and instrumentalities involve the risk that the governmental entities responsible for repayment may be unable or unwilling to pay interest and repay principal when due. Any restructuring of a sovereign debt obligation held by the Fund will likely have a significant adverse effect on the value of the obligation. In the event of default of sovereign debt, the Fund may be unable to pursue legal action against the sovereign issuer or to realize on collateral securing the debt.
Structured Securities Risk: Structured securities generally include privately-issued and publicly-issued structured securities, including certain publicly-issued structured securities that are not agency securities. An investment in a structured product may decline in value due to changes in the underlying instruments on which the product is based. The cash flow or rate of return on a structured investment may be determined by applying a multiplier to the rate of total return on the underlying investments or referenced indicator. Application of a multiplier is comparable to the use of financial leverage, a speculative technique. Holders of structured products indirectly bear risks associated with the underlying investments, index or reference obligation, and are subject to counterparty risk. Structured products are generally privately offered and sold, and thus, are not registered under the securities laws. Certain structured products may be thinly traded or have a limited trading market and may have the effect of increasing the Fund's illiquidity to the extent that the Fund, at a particular point in time, may be unable to find qualified buyers for these securities. Structured notes are derivative securities for which the amount
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of principal repayment and/or interest payments is based on the movement of one or more factors. Investments in structured notes, including credit-linked notes, involve risks including interest rate risk, credit risk and market risk. Where the Fund's investments in structured notes are based upon the movement of one or more factors, depending on the factor used and the use of multipliers or deflators, changes in interest rates and movement of the factor may cause significant price fluctuations.
Swaps Risk: A swap is a two-party contract that generally obligates the parties to exchange payments based on a specified reference security, basket of securities, security index or index component. Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in securities because swaps may be leveraged and are subject to counterparty risk (e.g., the risk of a counterparty's defaulting on the obligation or bankruptcy), credit risk and pricing risk (i.e., swaps may be difficult to value). It may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate a swap position at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses.
Unconstrained Sector Risk: The Fund may invest a substantial portion of its assets within one or more economic sectors or industries, which may change from time to time. Greater investment focus on one or more sectors or industries increases the potential for volatility and the risk that events negatively affecting such sectors or industries could reduce returns, potentially causing the value of the Fund's Shares to decrease, perhaps significantly.
Valuation Risk: Some portfolio holdings, potentially a large portion of the Fund's investment portfolio, may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur more often in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including fair valued securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time.
Variable and Floating Rate Securities Risk: During periods of increasing interest rates, changes in the coupon rates of variable or floating rate securities may lag behind the changes in market rates or may have limits on the maximum increases in coupon rates. Alternatively, during periods of declining interest rates, the coupon rates on such securities will typically readjust downward resulting in a lower yield. In addition, investment in derivative variable rate securities, such as inverse floaters, whose rates vary inversely with market rates of interest, or range floaters or capped floaters, whose rates are subject to periodic or lifetime caps, or in securities that pay a rate of interest determined by applying a multiple to the variable rate involves special risks as compared to investment in a fixed-rate security and may involve leverage. Floating rate notes are generally subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such securities.
Zero-Coupon Bond Risk: Zero-coupon bonds usually trade at a deep discount from their face or par values and are subject to greater market value fluctuations from changing interest rates than debt obligations of comparable maturities that make current distributions of interest.
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Fund Performance
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual returns for certain time periods compare with the average annual returns of a relevant broad-based securities index and an index with characteristics relevant to the Fund. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available by calling 1-866-787-2257 or visiting our website at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Annual Total Returns (years ended 12/31)*
Highest Quarterly Return: 9.97% (Q2, 2020)
Lowest Quarterly Return: -10.93% (Q1, 2020)
*
As of  9/30/2023, the Fund's Calendar Year-To-Date return was 2.86%.
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/22)
The after-tax returns presented in the table below are calculated using highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund Shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. The returns after taxes can exceed the returns before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit for a shareholder from realizing a capital loss on a sale of Fund Shares.
 
One
Year
Five
Years
Since Inception
(04/13/16)
Return Before Taxes
-14.13%
-0.42%
1.64%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
-15.53%
-2.01%
-0.38%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
-8.35%
-0.91%
0.44%
JP Morgan Corporate Emerging Market Bond Index Broad Diversified (reflects no deduction
for fees, expenses or taxes)
-12.26%
1.08%
2.66%
Bloomberg Global Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
-16.25%
-1.66%
-0.79%
Portfolio Management
Investment Adviser and Sub-Adviser
SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (SSGA FM or the Adviser) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. DoubleLine serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund, subject to supervision by the Adviser and oversight by the SSGA Active Trust's Board of Trustees. To the extent that a reference in this Prospectus refers to the Adviser, with respect to the Fund, such reference should also be read to refer to DoubleLine, where the context requires.
Portfolio Managers
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Luz Padilla, Mark Christensen and Su Fei Koo.
Luz Padilla is a Director and Lead Portfolio Manager at DoubleLine. Ms. Padilla joined DoubleLine in December 2009.
Mark Christensen is a Portfolio Manager at DoubleLine. Mr. Christensen joined DoubleLine in December 2009.
Su Fei Koo is a Portfolio Manager at DoubleLine. Ms. Koo joined DoubleLine in December 2009.
Purchase and Sale Information
The Fund will issue (or redeem) Fund Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of Fund Shares known as Creation Units. Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a designated portfolio of in-kind securities and/or cash. Creation Unit transactions may be conducted in exchange for cash only, which may cause the Fund to recognize capital gains and to pay out higher annual capital gain distributions to shareholders than if such transactions had been conducted in-kind.
Individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through your broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at net asset value (NAV), Fund Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling Fund Shares in the secondary
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market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund Shares (ask) (the bid-ask spread). Recent information regarding the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Tax Information
The Fund's distributions are expected to be taxed as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Any withdrawals made from a tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser or its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for certain activities related to the Fund, including educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
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SPDR® DoubleLine® Short Duration Total Return Tactical ETF
Investment Objective
The SPDR DoubleLine Short Duration Total Return Tactical ETF (the Fund) seeks to maximize current
income with a dollar-weighted average effective duration between one and three years.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (Fund Shares). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
Management fees
0.45%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees
None
Other expenses1
0.00%
Total annual Fund operating expenses1
0.45%
1
The Fund's Other expenses and Total annual Fund operating expenses have been restated to reflect current fees.
Example:
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then sell or hold all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
Year 10
$46
$144
$252
$567
Portfolio Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 34% of the average value of its portfolio.
The Fund's Principal Investment Strategy
Under normal circumstances, DoubleLine Capital LP (the Sub-Adviser or DoubleLine) will invest at least 80% of the Fund's net assets (plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes) in a diversified portfolio of fixed income securities of any credit quality (subject to certain limits described below). The Fund will provide shareholders with at least 60 days' notice prior to any change in this 80% investment policy. Fixed income securities in which the Fund principally invests are defined as securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored corporations; inflation protected public obligations of the U.S. Treasury (TIPS); securities issued or guaranteed by state or local governments or their agencies or instrumentalities (commonly known as municipal bonds) (the Fund may invest up to 20% of its portfolio in municipal bonds); asset-backed securities (ABS) (which include the following: agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), agency and non-agency commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and any other agency and non-agency asset-backed securities (NAABS)); collateralized debt obligations (CDOs); collateralized loan obligations (CLOs); collateralized bond obligations (CBOs); collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs); and Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits (REMICs) and Re-REMICs (which are REMICs that have been resecuritized); stripped securities (i.e., interest rate only and principal only securities); zero coupon securities; foreign (including emerging markets) and domestic corporate bonds; sovereign debt; bank loans; preferred securities; and exchange-traded products, including exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded notes, that invest in fixed income securities. To the extent applicable, debt instruments that comprise fixed income securities may be either fixed rate securities, floating rate securities, or variable rate securities. The Fund may also invest in cash and other short-term instruments, as well as restricted securities.
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The Fund intends to invest at least 25% of its net assets, in the aggregate, in mortgage-backed securities of any maturity or type guaranteed by, or secured by collateral that is guaranteed by, the U.S. government, its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored corporations, and privately issued mortgage-backed securities. The Fund may invest a substantial portion of its assets in U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities. The term U.S. agency mortgage pass-through security refers to a category of pass-through securities backed by pools of mortgages and issued by one of several U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises: Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The Fund may seek to obtain exposure to U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities through the use of to-be-announced or TBA Transactions.TBA refers to a commonly used mechanism for the forward settlement of U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities, and not to a separate type of mortgage-backed security. Transactions in mortgage pass-through securities may occur through the use of TBA Transactions. TBA Transactions generally are conducted in accordance with widely-accepted guidelines which establish commonly observed terms and conditions for execution, settlement and delivery. In a TBA Transaction, the buyer and seller decide on general trade parameters, such as agency, settlement date, par amount, and price. The actual pools delivered generally are determined prior to settlement date.
The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in corporate high yield securities (commonly known as junk bonds). Under normal circumstances, the combined total of corporate, sovereign, non-agency and all other debt rated below investment-grade will not exceed 40% of the Fund's net assets. Below investment-grade securities are instruments that are rated BB+ or lower by S&P or Fitch Inc. or Ba1 or lower by Moody's or equivalent ratings by another registered NRSRO or, if unrated by an NRSRO, of comparable quality in the opinion of the Sub-Adviser. The Sub-Adviser strives to allocate securities broadly by industry and issuer in an attempt to reduce the impact of negative events on an industry or issuer.
The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in securities denominated in foreign currencies, and may invest beyond this limit in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers. The Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in securities and instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries. The Fund generally considers an issuer to be economically tied to an emerging market country if: (i) the issuer is organized under the laws of an emerging country; (ii) the issuer's securities are traded principally in an emerging country; or (iii) during the issuer's most recent fiscal year it derived at least 50% of its revenues, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or profits from goods produced or sold by, investments made in, or services performed in emerging countries, or it had at least 50% of its assets in emerging countries.
The Sub-Adviser monitors the duration of the securities held by the Fund to seek to mitigate exposure to interest rate risk. Under normal circumstances, the Sub-Adviser seeks to maintain an investment portfolio with a weighted average effective duration between 1 and 3 years. The duration of the portfolio may vary materially from its target, from time to time. Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security's price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security's duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates.
The Sub-Adviser actively manages the Fund's asset class exposure using a top-down approach based on analysis of sector fundamentals and rotates Fund assets among sectors in various markets to attempt to maximize return. Individual securities within asset classes are selected using a bottom-up approach. Under normal circumstances, the Sub-Adviser uses a controlled risk approach in managing the Fund's investments. The techniques of this approach attempt to control the principal risk components of the fixed income markets and include consideration of:
• security selection within a given sector;
• relative performance of the various market sectors;
• the shape of the yield curve; and
• fluctuations in the overall level of interest rates.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund. Fund Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk: The Fund's investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions, general market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investment in securities markets. Investment markets can be volatile and prices of investments can change substantially due to various factors including, but not limited to, economic growth or recession, changes in interest rates, inflation, changes in the actual or perceived creditworthiness of issuers, and general market liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Local, regional or global events such as war, military conflicts,
27

acts of terrorism, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments.
Debt Securities Risk: The values of debt securities may increase or decrease as a result of the following: market fluctuations, changes in interest rates, actual or perceived inability or unwillingness of issuers, guarantors or liquidity providers to make scheduled principal or interest payments, or illiquidity in debt securities markets. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. A rising interest rate environment may cause the value of the Fund's fixed income securities to decrease, an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund's fixed income securities, and increased volatility of the fixed income markets. During periods when interest rates are at low levels, the Fund's yield can be low, and the Fund may have a negative yield (i.e., it may lose money on an operating basis). To the extent that interest rates fall, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially faster than originally anticipated. If the principal on a debt obligation is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. Changes in interest rates will likely have a greater effect on the values of debt securities of longer durations. Returns on investments in debt securities could trail the returns on other investment options, including investments in equity securities.
Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk: Asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities (residential and commercial) represent interests in pools of mortgages or other assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. These securities, in most cases, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and there can be no assurance that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies or instrumentalities where it is not obligated to do so. These securities may be subject to liquidity risk as well as the risk of illiquidity and default on the underlying asset or mortgage, particularly during periods of economic downturn. The liquidity of mortgage-related and asset-backed securities may change over time. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. In particular, during periods of falling interest rates, mortgage-backed securities will be called or prepaid, which may result in the Fund having to reinvest proceeds in other investments at a lower interest rate. During periods of rising interest rates, the average life of a mortgage-backed security may extend, which may lock in a below-market interest rate, increase the security's duration, and reduce the value of the security. Enforcing rights against the underlying assets or collateral may be difficult, or the underlying assets or collateral may be insufficient if the issuer defaults. The values of certain types of mortgage-backed securities, such as inverse floaters and interest-only and principal-only securities, may be extremely sensitive to changes in interest rates and prepayment rates. Transactions in mortgage pass through securities may occur through the use of to-be-announced or TBA Transactions. Default by, or bankruptcy of, a counterparty to a TBA Transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses because of an adverse market action, expenses or delays in connection with the purchase or sale of the pools of mortgage pass-through securities specified in the TBA Transaction.
Below Investment-Grade Securities Risk: Lower-quality debt securities (high yield or junk bonds) are considered predominantly speculative, and can involve a substantially greater risk of default than higher quality debt securities. Issuers of lower-quality debt securities may have substantially greater risk of insolvency or bankruptcy than issuers of higher-quality debt securities. They can be illiquid, and their values can have significant volatility and may decline significantly over short periods of time. Lower-quality debt securities tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general.
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value, Share Premiums and Discounts Risk: As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund's daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
Bank Loan Risk: The Fund may invest in secured and unsecured participations in bank loans and assignments of such loans. In making investments in such loans, which are made by banks or other financial intermediaries to borrowers, the Fund will depend primarily upon the creditworthiness of the borrower for payment of principal and interest which will expose the Fund to the credit risk of both the financial institution and the underlying borrower. The market for bank loans may not be highly liquid and the Fund may have difficulty selling them. The Fund may also experience settlement delays with respect to bank loan trades, resulting in the proceeds from the sale of such loans not being readily available to make additional investments or to meet the Fund's redemption obligations. Participations by the Fund in a lender's portion of a bank loan typically will result in the Fund having a contractual
28

relationship only with such lender, not with the borrower. The Fund may have the right to receive payments of principal, interest and any fees to which it is entitled only from the lender selling a loan participation and only upon receipt by such lender of such payments from the borrower. In connection with purchasing participations, the Fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement, nor any rights with respect to any funds acquired by other lenders through set-off against the borrower, and the Fund may not directly benefit from any collateral supporting the loan in which it has purchased the participation. As a result, the Fund may assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the lender selling the participation. Further, loans held by the Fund may not be considered securities and, therefore, purchasers, such as the Fund, may not be entitled to rely on the strong anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Some of the loans in which the Fund may invest or obtain exposure to may be covenant-lite loans. Covenant-lite loans may contain fewer or no maintenance covenants compared to other loans and may not include terms which allow the lender to monitor the performance of the borrower and declare a default if certain criteria are breached. The Fund may experience delays in enforcing its rights on its holdings of covenant-lite loans.
Cash Transaction Risk: The Fund may sell portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash. In such cases, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.
Collateralized Debt Obligations Risk: The risks of an investment in a collateralized debt obligation depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the debt obligation in which the Fund invests. Collateralized debt obligations are generally subject to many of the same risks of investing as debt securities and asset-backed securities, including credit, interest rate, valuation, liquidity, prepayment and extension risks. These securities also are subject to risk of default on the underlying assets, particularly during periods of economic downturn.
Collateralized Loan Obligation Risk: The risks of an investment in a collateralized loan obligation depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the collateralized loan obligation in which the Fund invests. Collateralized loan obligations are generally subject to credit, interest rate, valuation, liquidity, prepayment and extension risks. These securities also are subject to risk of default on the underlying asset, particularly during periods of economic downturn. Collateralized loan obligations carry additional risks including, but not limited to, (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest of other payments, (ii) the collateral may decline in value or default, (iii) the Fund may invest in obligations that are subordinate to other classes, and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results. Collateralized loan obligations are divided into two or more classes, called tranches, each with a different credit rating and risk/return profile. Tranches are categorized as senior, mezzanine and subordinated/equity, according to their degree of credit risk. If there are defaults or the collateralized loan obligation's collateral otherwise underperforms, scheduled payments to senior tranches take precedence over those of mezzanine tranches, and scheduled payments to mezzanine tranches take precedence over those of subordinated/equity tranches. Senior and mezzanine tranches are typically rated. The ratings reflect both the credit quality of underlying collateral as well as how much protection a given tranche is afforded by tranches that are subordinate to it.
Collateralized Bond Obligation Risk: The pool of high yield securities underlying collateralized bond obligations is typically separated into groupings called tranches representing different degrees of credit quality. The higher quality tranches have greater degrees of protection and pay lower interest rates. The lower tranches, with greater risk, pay higher interest rates.
Collateralized Mortgage Obligation Risk: The expected average life of collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) is determined using mathematical models that incorporate prepayment assumptions and other factors that involve estimates of future economic and market conditions. These estimates may vary from actual future results, particularly during periods of extreme market volatility. Further, under certain market conditions, the average weighted life of certain CMOs may not accurately reflect the price volatility of such securities. For example, in periods of supply and demand imbalances in the market for such securities and/or in periods of sharp interest rate movements, the prices of CMOs may fluctuate to a greater extent than would be expected from interest rate movements alone. CMOs issued by private entities are not obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities and are not guaranteed by any government agency, although the securities underlying a CMO may be subject to a guarantee. Therefore, if the collateral securing the CMO, as well as any third party credit support or guarantees, is insufficient to make payments when due, the holder could sustain a loss.
29

Currency Risk: The value of the Fund's assets may be affected favorably or unfavorably by currency exchange rates, currency exchange control regulations, and delays, restrictions or prohibitions on the repatriation of foreign currencies. Foreign currency exchange rates may have significant volatility, and changes in the values of foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar may result in substantial declines in the values of the Fund's assets denominated in foreign currencies.
Emerging Markets Risk: Risks of investing in emerging markets include, among others, greater political and economic instability, greater volatility in currency exchange rates, less developed securities markets, possible trade barriers, currency transfer restrictions, a more limited number of potential buyers and issuers, an emerging market country's dependence on revenue from particular commodities or international aid, less governmental supervision and regulation, unavailability of currency hedging techniques, differences in auditing and financial reporting standards, and less developed legal systems. There is also the potential for unfavorable action such as expropriation, nationalization, embargo, and acts of war. The securities of emerging market companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes than more widely held securities. Market disruptions or substantial market corrections may limit very significantly the liquidity of securities of certain companies in a particular country or geographic region, or of all companies in the country or region. The Fund may be unable to liquidate its positions in such securities at any time, or at a favorable price, in order to meet the Fund's obligations. These risks are generally greater for investments in frontier market countries, which typically have smaller economies or less developed capital markets than traditional emerging market countries.
Exchange Traded Products Risk: The Fund is subject to substantially the same risks as those associated with the direct ownership of the securities represented by the ETPs in which it invests. In addition, the shares of certain ETPs may trade at a premium or discount to their intrinsic value (i.e., the market value may differ from the net asset value of an exchange traded fund's (ETF) shares) for a number of reasons. For example, supply and demand for shares of an ETF or market disruptions may cause the market price of the ETF to deviate from the value of the ETF's investments, which may be exacerbated in less liquid markets. The value of an exchange traded note may also differ from the valuation of its reference market due to changes in the issuer's credit rating.
Income Risk: The Fund's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. Issuers of securities held by the Fund may call or redeem the securities during periods of falling interest rates, and the Fund would likely be required to reinvest in securities paying lower interest rates. If an obligation held by the Fund is prepaid, the Fund may have to reinvest the prepayment in other obligations paying income at lower rates.
Inflation-Indexed Securities Risk: The principal amount of an inflation-indexed security typically increases with inflation and decreases with deflation, as measured by a specified index. It is possible that, in a period of declining inflation rates, the Fund could receive at maturity less than the initial principal amount of an inflation-indexed security. Changes in the values of inflation-indexed securities may be difficult to predict, and it is possible that an investment in such securities will have an effect different from that anticipated by the Sub-Adviser.
Interest Rate Only and Principal Only Securities Risk: Interest rate only and principal only securities are acutely sensitive to interest rate changes and to the rate of principal prepayments. These securities are volatile in price and may have lower liquidity.
Investment in ETNs: The value of an exchanged traded note (ETN) may be influenced by time to maturity, supply and demand, volatility and lack of liquidity, changes in interest rates, and economic, legal, political or geographic events that affect the referenced market. Because ETNs are debt securities, they are subject to credit risk. There are typically no periodic interest payments for ETNs, and the amount of principal payable at maturity may decline, depending in part on the performance of an underlying index or asset. A Fund could lose all or some of the amount invested in an ETN.
Liquidity Risk: Lack of a ready market, stressed market conditions, or restrictions on resale may limit the ability of the Fund to sell a security at an advantageous time or price or at all. Illiquid investments may trade at a discount from comparable, more liquid investments and may be subject to wide fluctuations in market value. If the liquidity
30

of the Fund's holdings deteriorates, it may lead to differences between the market price of Fund Shares and the net asset value of Fund Shares, and could result in the Fund Shares being less liquid. Illiquidity of the Fund's holdings may also limit the ability of the Fund to obtain cash to meet redemptions on a timely basis.  In addition, the Fund, due to limitations on investments in any illiquid investments and/or the difficulty in purchasing and selling such investments, may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain market or sector.
Management Risk: The Fund is actively managed. The Sub-Adviser's judgments about the attractiveness, relative value, or potential appreciation of a particular sector, security, commodity or investment strategy may prove to be incorrect, and may cause the Fund to incur losses. There can be no assurance that the Sub-Adviser's investment techniques and decisions will produce the desired results.
Municipal Obligations Risk: Issuers, including governmental issuers, may be unable to pay their obligations as they come due. The values of municipal obligations may be adversely affected by local political and economic conditions and developments. In addition, the values of municipal obligations that depend on a specific revenue source to fund their payment obligations may fluctuate as a result of actual or anticipated changes in the cash flows generated by the revenue source or changes in the priority of the municipal obligation to receive the cash flows generated by the revenue source. Municipal obligations may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during recessions or similar periods of economic stress. In addition, changes in U.S. federal tax laws or the activity of an issuer may adversely affect the tax-exempt status of municipal obligations. Loss of tax-exempt status may result in a significant decline in the values of such municipal obligations.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk: Non-U.S. securities are subject to political, regulatory, and economic risks not present in domestic investments. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. entity than about a U.S. entity, and many non-U.S. entities are not subject to accounting, auditing, legal and financial report standards comparable to those in the United States. Further, such entities and/or their securities may be subject to risks associated with currency controls; expropriation; changes in tax policy; greater market volatility; differing securities market structures; higher transaction costs; and various administrative difficulties, such as delays in clearing and settling portfolio transactions or in receiving payment of dividends. To the extent underlying securities held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the exchange on which the Fund's shares trade is open, there may be deviations between the current price of an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security on the closed foreign market. These deviations could result in the Fund experiencing premiums or discounts greater than those of ETFs that invest in domestic securities. Securities traded on foreign markets may be less liquid (harder to sell) than securities traded domestically. Foreign governments may impose restrictions on the repatriation of capital to the U.S. In addition, to the extent the Fund buys securities denominated in a foreign currency, there are special risks such as changes in currency exchange rates and the risk that a foreign government could regulate foreign exchange transactions.  In addition, to the extent investments are made in a limited number of countries, events in those countries will have a more significant impact on the Fund. Certain countries have recently experienced (or currently are expected to experience) negative interest rates on certain fixed-income securities, and similar interest rate conditions may be experienced in other regions.  Investments in fixed-income securities with very low or negative interest rates may magnify the Fund's susceptibility to interest rate risk and diminish yield and performance, and such investments may be subject to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity.
Political Risk: A significant restructuring of federal income tax rates or even serious discussion on the topic in Congress could cause municipal bond prices to fall. The demand for municipal securities is strongly influenced by the value of tax-exempt income to investors. Lower income tax rates could reduce the advantage of owning municipals.
Preferred Securities Risk: Generally, preferred security holders have no or limited voting rights with respect to the issuing company. In addition, preferred securities are generally senior to common stock, but may be subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a company's capital structure and therefore may be subject to greater credit risk than those debt instruments. In the event an issuer of preferred securities experiences economic difficulties, the issuer's preferred securities may lose substantial value due to the increased likelihood of deferred interest or dividend payments and the fact that the preferred security may be subordinated to other securities of the same issuer. Further, because many preferred securities pay interest or dividends at a fixed rate, their market price can be sensitive to changes in interest rates in a manner similar to bonds — that is, as interest rates rise, the value of the preferred securities held by the Fund are likely to decline. In addition, to the extent preferred securities allow holders to convert the preferred securities into common stock of the issuer, their market price can be
31

sensitive to changes in the value of the issuer's common stock and, therefore, declining common stock values may also cause the value of the Fund's investments to decline. Preferred securities often have call features which allow the issuer to redeem the security at its discretion. The redemption of a preferred security having a higher than average yield may cause a decrease in the Fund's yield.
Privately Issued Securities Risk: The Fund will invest in privately-issued securities, including those which are normally purchased pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S promulgated under the Securities Act. Privately-issued securities are securities that have not been registered under the Securities Act and as a result are subject to legal restrictions on resale. Privately-issued securities are not traded on established markets and may be illiquid, difficult to value and subject to wide fluctuations in value. Limitations on the resale of these securities may have an adverse effect on their marketability, and may prevent the Fund from disposing of them promptly at reasonable prices.
REMIC Risk: The issuer of a series of mortgage pass-through securities may elect to be treated as a Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit (REMIC). REMICs include governmental and/or private entities that issue a fixed pool of mortgages secured by an interest in real property. REMICs are similar to collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) in that they issue multiple classes of securities but, unlike CMOs, which are required to be structured as debt securities, REMICs may be structured as indirect ownership interests in the underlying assets of the REMICs themselves. The risks associated with an investment in a particular CMO or REMIC class vary substantially depending on the combination of rights associated with that class. An investment in the most subordinated classes of a CMO or REMIC bears a disproportionate share of the risks associated with mortgage-backed security generally, be it credit risk, prepayment or extension risk (the risk of a security's expected maturity being reduced or lengthened in duration due to a change of the timing of payment), interest rate risk, income risk, market risk, liquidity risk or any other risk associated with a debt or equity instrument with similar features to the relevant class. As a result, an investment in the most subordinated classes of a CMO or REMIC is often riskier than an investment in other types of mortgage-backed securities.
Restricted Securities Risk: The Fund may hold securities that have not been registered for sale to the public under the U.S. federal securities laws. There can be no assurance that a trading market will exist at any time for any particular restricted security. Limitations on the resale of these securities may have an adverse effect on their marketability, and may prevent the Fund from disposing of them promptly at reasonable prices. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Also, restricted securities may be difficult to value because market quotations may not be readily available, and the securities may have significant volatility.
Sovereign Debt Obligations Risk: Investments in debt securities issued by governments or by government agencies and instrumentalities involve the risk that the governmental entities responsible for repayment may be unable or unwilling to pay interest and repay principal when due. Any restructuring of a sovereign debt obligation held by the Fund will likely have a significant adverse effect on the value of the obligation. In the event of default of sovereign debt, the Fund may be unable to pursue legal action against the sovereign issuer or to realize on collateral securing the debt.
Unconstrained Sector Risk: The Fund may invest a substantial portion of its assets within one or more economic sectors or industries, which may change from time to time. Greater investment focus on one or more sectors or industries increases the potential for volatility and the risk that events negatively affecting such sectors or industries could reduce returns, potentially causing the value of the Fund's Shares to decrease, perhaps significantly.
U.S. Government Securities Risk: Certain U.S. government securities are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States; others are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury; others are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government to purchase the agency's obligations; and still others are supported only by the credit of the issuing agency, instrumentality, or enterprise. Although U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) may be chartered or sponsored by Congress, they are not funded by Congressional appropriations, and their securities are not issued by the U.S. Treasury, are not supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and involve increased credit risks.
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk: U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other fixed income securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Similar to other issuers, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of the Fund's U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.
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Valuation Risk: Some portfolio holdings, potentially a large portion of the Fund's investment portfolio, may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur more often in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including fair valued securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time.
Variable and Floating Rate Securities Risk: During periods of increasing interest rates, changes in the coupon rates of variable or floating rate securities may lag behind the changes in market rates or may have limits on the maximum increases in coupon rates. Alternatively, during periods of declining interest rates, the coupon rates on such securities will typically readjust downward resulting in a lower yield. Floating rate notes are generally subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such securities.
Zero-Coupon Bond Risk: Zero-coupon bonds usually trade at a deep discount from their face or par values and are subject to greater market value fluctuations from changing interest rates than debt obligations of comparable maturities that make current distributions of interest.
Fund Performance
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual returns for certain time periods compare with the average annual returns of a relevant broad-based securities index and an index with characteristics relevant to the Fund. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available by calling 1-866-787-2257 or visiting our website at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Annual Total Returns (years ended 12/31)*
Highest Quarterly Return: 2.90% (Q2, 2020)
Lowest Quarterly Return: -2.49% (Q1, 2022)
*
As of  9/30/2023, the Fund's Calendar Year-To-Date return was 3.96%.
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/22)
The after-tax returns presented in the table below are calculated using highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund Shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. The returns after taxes can exceed the returns before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit for a shareholder from realizing a capital loss on a sale of Fund Shares.
 
One
Year
Five
Years
Since Inception
(04/13/16)
Return Before Taxes
-3.79%
0.84%
1.00%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
-4.77%
-0.06%
0.07%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
-2.24%
0.27%
0.37%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate 1-3 Year Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes)
-3.72%
0.86%
0.81%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
-13.01%
0.02%
0.43%
33

Portfolio Management
Investment Adviser and Sub-Adviser
SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (SSGA FM or the Adviser) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. DoubleLine serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund, subject to supervision by the Adviser and oversight by the SSGA Active Trust's Board of Trustees. To the extent that a reference in this Prospectus refers to the Adviser, with respect to the Fund, such reference should also be read to refer to DoubleLine, where the context requires.
Portfolio Managers
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Jeffrey Gundlach and Jeffrey Sherman.
Jeffrey Gundlach is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of DoubleLine. Mr. Gundlach co-founded DoubleLine in December 2009.
Jeffrey Sherman is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer and a portfolio manager at DoubleLine. Mr. Sherman joined DoubleLine in December 2009.
Purchase and Sale Information
The Fund will issue (or redeem) Fund Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of Fund Shares known as Creation Units. Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a designated portfolio of in-kind securities and/or cash. Creation Unit transactions may be conducted in exchange for cash only, which may cause the Fund to recognize capital gains and to pay out higher annual capital gain distributions to shareholders than if such transactions had been conducted in-kind.
Individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through your broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at net asset value (NAV), Fund Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling Fund Shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund Shares (ask) (the bid-ask spread). Recent information regarding the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Tax Information
The Fund's distributions are expected to be taxed as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Any withdrawals made from a tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser or its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for certain activities related to the Fund, including educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
34

SPDR® DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF
Investment Objective
The SPDR DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF (the Fund) seeks to maximize total return.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (Fund Shares). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
Management fees
0.55%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees
None
Other expenses
0.00%
Total annual Fund operating expenses
0.55%
Example:
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then sell or hold all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
Year 10
$56
$176
$307
$689
Portfolio Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 113% of the average value of its portfolio.
The Fund's Principal Investment Strategy
Under normal circumstances, DoubleLine Capital LP (the Sub-Adviser or DoubleLine) will invest at least 80% of the Fund's net assets in a portfolio of fixed income securities of any credit quality. Fixed income securities in which the Fund principally invests include securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored corporations; inflation protected public obligations of the U.S. Treasury; agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS); agency and non-agency commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS); agency and non-agency asset-backed securities (ABS); domestic corporate bonds; fixed income securities issued by foreign corporations and foreign governments including emerging markets; bank loans (primarily senior loans, including loan participations or assignments whose loan syndication exceeds $300 million); municipal bonds; and other securities (such as perpetual bonds) bearing fixed interest rates of any maturity. The Fund may also invest in collateralized loan obligations, floating rate securities (including floating rate loans), variable rate securities, Rule 144A securities, and repurchase agreements and may enter into reverse repurchase agreements. The Fund may conduct foreign currency transactions on a spot (i.e., cash) or forward basis (i.e., by entering into forward contracts to purchase or sell foreign currencies).
The Fund intends to invest at least 20% of its net assets in mortgage-backed securities of any maturity or type guaranteed by, or secured by collateral that is guaranteed by, the U.S. Government, its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored corporations, or in privately issued mortgage-backed securities. The Fund may invest a substantial portion of its assets in U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities. The term U.S. agency mortgage pass-through security refers to a category of pass-through securities backed by pools of mortgages and issued by one of several U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises: Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The Fund may seek to obtain exposure
35

to U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities through the use of to-be-announced or TBA Transactions. TBA refers to a commonly used mechanism for the forward settlement of U.S. agency mortgage pass-through securities, and not to a separate type of mortgage-backed securities. Transactions in mortgage pass-through securities may occur through the use of TBA Transactions. TBA Transactions generally are conducted in accordance with widely-accepted guidelines which establish commonly observed terms and conditions for execution, settlement and delivery. In a TBA Transaction, the buyer and seller decide on general trade parameters, such as agency, settlement date, par amount, and price. The actual pools delivered generally are determined prior to settlement date.
The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in corporate high yield securities (commonly known as junk bonds). Under normal circumstances, the combined total of corporate, sovereign, non-agency and all other debt rated below investment-grade will not exceed 40% of the Fund's net assets. The Sub-Adviser strives to allocate below investment-grade securities broadly by industry and issuer in an attempt to reduce the impact of negative events on an industry or issuer. Below investment-grade securities are instruments that are rated BB+ or lower by S&P or Fitch Inc. or Ba1 or lower by Moody's or equivalent ratings by another registered NRSRO, or, if unrated by an NRSRO, of comparable quality in the opinion of the Sub-Adviser.
The Fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in securities denominated in foreign currencies, and may invest beyond this limit in U.S. dollar-denominated securities of foreign issuers. The Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in securities and instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries. The Fund generally considers an issuer to be economically tied to an emerging market country if: (i) the issuer is organized under the laws of an emerging country; (ii) the issuer's securities are traded principally in an emerging country; or (iii) during the issuer's most recent fiscal year it derived at least 50% of its revenues, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or profits from goods produced or sold by, investments made in, or services performed in emerging countries, or it had at least 50% of its assets in emerging countries. 
The Sub-Adviser monitors the duration of the securities held by the Fund to seek to mitigate exposure to interest rate risk. Under normal circumstances, the Sub-Adviser seeks to maintain an investment portfolio with a weighted average effective duration of no less than 1 year and no more than 8 years. The duration of the portfolio may vary materially from its target, from time to time. Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security's price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security's duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates.
The Sub-Adviser actively manages the Fund's asset class exposure using a top-down approach based on analysis of sector fundamentals and rotates Fund assets among sectors in various markets to attempt to maximize return. Individual securities within asset classes are selected using a bottom-up approach. Under normal circumstances, the Sub-Adviser uses a controlled risk approach in managing the Fund's investments. The techniques of this approach attempt to control the principal risk components of the fixed income markets and include consideration of:
• Security selection within a given sector;
• Relative performance of the various market sectors;
• The shape of the yield curve; and
• Fluctuations in the overall level of interest rates.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund. Fund Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk: The Fund's investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions, general market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investment in securities markets. Investment markets can be volatile and prices of investments can change substantially due to various factors including, but not limited to, economic growth or recession, changes in interest rates, inflation, changes in the actual or perceived creditworthiness of issuers, and general market liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Local, regional or global events such as war, military conflicts, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments.
Debt Securities Risk: The values of debt securities may increase or decrease as a result of the following: market fluctuations, changes in interest rates, actual or perceived inability or unwillingness of issuers, guarantors or liquidity providers to make scheduled principal or interest payments, or illiquidity in debt securities markets. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally
36

anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. A rising interest rate environment may cause the value of the Fund's fixed income securities to decrease, an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund's fixed income securities, and increased volatility of the fixed income markets. During periods when interest rates are at low levels, the Fund's yield can be low, and the Fund may have a negative yield (i.e., it may lose money on an operating basis). To the extent that interest rates fall, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially faster than originally anticipated. If the principal on a debt obligation is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. Changes in interest rates will likely have a greater effect on the values of debt securities of longer durations. Returns on investments in debt securities could trail the returns on other investment options, including investments in equity securities.
Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk: Asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities (residential and commercial) represent interests in pools of mortgages or other assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. These securities, in most cases, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and there can be no assurance that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies or instrumentalities where it is not obligated to do so. These securities may be subject to liquidity risk as well as the risk of illiquidity and default on the underlying asset or mortgage, particularly during periods of economic downturn. The liquidity of mortgage-related and asset-backed securities may change over time. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. In particular, during periods of falling interest rates, mortgage-backed securities will be called or prepaid, which may result in the Fund having to reinvest proceeds in other investments at a lower interest rate. During periods of rising interest rates, the average life of a mortgage-backed security may extend, which may lock in a below-market interest rate, increase the security's duration, and reduce the value of the security. Enforcing rights against the underlying assets or collateral may be difficult, or the underlying assets or collateral may be insufficient if the issuer defaults. The values of certain types of mortgage-backed securities, such as inverse floaters and interest-only and principal-only securities, may be extremely sensitive to changes in interest rates and prepayment rates. Transactions in mortgage pass through securities may occur through the use of to-be-announced or TBA Transactions. Default by, or bankruptcy of, a counterparty to a TBA Transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses because of an adverse market action, expenses or delays in connection with the purchase or sale of the pools of mortgage pass-through securities specified in the TBA Transaction.
Fluctuation of Net Asset Value, Share Premiums and Discounts Risk: As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund's daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
Bank Loan Risk: The Fund may invest in secured and unsecured participations in bank loans and assignments of such loans. In making investments in such loans, which are made by banks or other financial intermediaries to borrowers, the Fund will depend primarily upon the creditworthiness of the borrower for payment of principal and interest which will expose the Fund to the credit risk of both the financial institution and the underlying borrower. The market for bank loans may not be highly liquid and the Fund may have difficulty selling them. The Fund may also experience settlement delays with respect to bank loan trades, resulting in the proceeds from the sale of such loans not being readily available to make additional investments or to meet the Fund's redemption obligations. Participations by the Fund in a lender's portion of a bank loan typically will result in the Fund having a contractual relationship only with such lender, not with the borrower. The Fund may have the right to receive payments of principal, interest and any fees to which it is entitled only from the lender selling a loan participation and only upon receipt by such lender of such payments from the borrower. In connection with purchasing participations, the Fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement, nor any rights with respect to any funds acquired by other lenders through set-off against the borrower, and the Fund may not directly benefit from any collateral supporting the loan in which it has purchased the participation. As a result, the Fund may assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the lender selling the participation. Further, loans held by the Fund may not be considered securities and, therefore, purchasers, such as the Fund, may not be entitled to rely on the strong anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Some of the loans in which the Fund may invest or obtain exposure to may be covenant-lite loans. Covenant-lite loans may contain fewer or no maintenance covenants compared to other loans and may not include terms which allow the lender to monitor the performance of the borrower and declare a default if certain criteria are breached. The Fund may experience delays in enforcing its rights on its holdings of covenant-lite loans.
37

Below Investment-Grade Securities Risk: Lower-quality debt securities (high yield or junk bonds) are considered predominantly speculative, and can involve a substantially greater risk of default than higher quality debt securities. Issuers of lower-quality debt securities may have substantially greater risk of insolvency or bankruptcy than issuers of higher-quality debt securities. They can be illiquid, and their values can have significant volatility and may decline significantly over short periods of time. Lower-quality debt securities tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general.
Cash Transaction Risk: The Fund may sell portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash. In such cases, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.
Collateralized Loan Obligation Risk: The risks of an investment in a collateralized loan obligation depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the collateralized loan obligation in which the Fund invests. Collateralized loan obligations are generally subject to credit, interest rate, valuation, liquidity, prepayment and extension risks. These securities also are subject to risk of default on the underlying asset, particularly during periods of economic downturn. Collateralized loan obligations carry additional risks including, but not limited to, (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest of other payments, (ii) the collateral may decline in value or default, (iii) the Fund may invest in obligations that are subordinate to other classes, and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results. Collateralized loan obligations are divided into two or more classes, called tranches, each with a different credit rating and risk/return profile. Tranches are categorized as senior, mezzanine and subordinated/equity, according to their degree of credit risk. If there are defaults or the collateralized loan obligation's collateral otherwise underperforms, scheduled payments to senior tranches take precedence over those of mezzanine tranches, and scheduled payments to mezzanine tranches take precedence over those of subordinated/equity tranches. Senior and mezzanine tranches are typically rated. The ratings reflect both the credit quality of underlying collateral as well as how much protection a given tranche is afforded by tranches that are subordinate to it.
Currency Risk: The value of the Fund's assets may be affected favorably or unfavorably by currency exchange rates, currency exchange control regulations, and delays, restrictions or prohibitions on the repatriation of foreign currencies. Foreign currency exchange rates may have significant volatility, and changes in the values of foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar may result in substantial declines in the values of the Fund's assets denominated in foreign currencies.
Emerging Markets Risk: Risks of investing in emerging markets include, among others, greater political and economic instability, greater volatility in currency exchange rates, less developed securities markets, possible trade barriers, currency transfer restrictions, a more limited number of potential buyers and issuers, an emerging market country's dependence on revenue from particular commodities or international aid, less governmental supervision and regulation, unavailability of currency hedging techniques, differences in auditing and financial reporting standards, and less developed legal systems. There is also the potential for unfavorable action such as expropriation, nationalization, embargo, and acts of war. The securities of emerging market companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes than more widely held securities. Market disruptions or substantial market corrections may limit very significantly the liquidity of securities of certain companies in a particular country or geographic region, or of all companies in the country or region. The Fund may be unable to liquidate its positions in such securities at any time, or at a favorable price, in order to meet the Fund's obligations. These risks are generally greater for investments in frontier market countries, which typically have smaller economies or less developed capital markets than traditional emerging market countries.
Forward Contracts Risk: A forward contract is a private, customizable agreement to buy or sell a specified currency, security or instrument at a future date at a price set at the time of the contract. Forward contracts settle at the end of the agreement and trade over-the-counter. The risks of forward contracts include, but are not limited to: (1) the success of the Sub-Adviser's ability to predict movements in the prices of individual currencies or securities, fluctuations in markets and movements in interest rates; (2) imperfect or no correlation between the changes in market value of the currencies or securities and the prices of such contracts; and (3) the risk that the counterparty will default on its obligations.
Income Risk: The Fund's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. Issuers of securities held by the Fund may call or redeem the securities during periods of falling interest rates, and the Fund would likely be required to reinvest in securities paying lower interest rates. If an obligation held by the Fund is prepaid, the Fund may have to reinvest the prepayment in other obligations paying income at lower rates.
38

Inflation-Indexed Securities Risk: The principal amount of an inflation-indexed security typically increases with inflation and decreases with deflation, as measured by a specified index. It is possible that, in a period of declining inflation rates, the Fund could receive at maturity less than the initial principal amount of an inflation-indexed security. Changes in the values of inflation-indexed securities may be difficult to predict, and it is possible that an investment in such securities will have an effect different from that anticipated by the Sub-Adviser.
Liquidity Risk: Lack of a ready market, stressed market conditions, or restrictions on resale may limit the ability of the Fund to sell a security at an advantageous time or price or at all. Illiquid investments may trade at a discount from comparable, more liquid investments and may be subject to wide fluctuations in market value. If the liquidity of the Fund's holdings deteriorates, it may lead to differences between the market price of Fund Shares and the net asset value of Fund Shares, and could result in the Fund Shares being less liquid. Illiquidity of the Fund's holdings may also limit the ability of the Fund to obtain cash to meet redemptions on a timely basis.  In addition, the Fund, due to limitations on investments in any illiquid investments and/or the difficulty in purchasing and selling such investments, may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain market or sector.
Management Risk: The Fund is actively managed. The Sub-Adviser's judgments about the attractiveness, relative value, or potential appreciation of a particular sector, security, commodity or investment strategy may prove to be incorrect, and may cause the Fund to incur losses. There can be no assurance that the Sub-Adviser's investment techniques and decisions will produce the desired results.
Municipal Obligations Risk: Issuers, including governmental issuers, may be unable to pay their obligations as they come due. The values of municipal obligations may be adversely affected by local political and economic conditions and developments. In addition, the values of municipal obligations that depend on a specific revenue source to fund their payment obligations may fluctuate as a result of actual or anticipated changes in the cash flows generated by the revenue source or changes in the priority of the municipal obligation to receive the cash flows generated by the revenue source. Municipal obligations may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during recessions or similar periods of economic stress. In addition, changes in U.S. federal tax laws or the activity of an issuer may adversely affect the tax-exempt status of municipal obligations. Loss of tax-exempt status may cause interest received and distributed by the Fund to shareholders to be taxable and may result in a significant decline in the values of such municipal obligations.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk: Non-U.S. securities are subject to political, regulatory, and economic risks not present in domestic investments. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. entity than about a U.S. entity, and many non-U.S. entities are not subject to accounting, auditing, legal and financial report standards comparable to those in the United States. Further, such entities and/or their securities may be subject to risks associated with currency controls; expropriation; changes in tax policy; greater market volatility; differing securities market structures; higher transaction costs; and various administrative difficulties, such as delays in clearing and settling portfolio transactions or in receiving payment of dividends. To the extent underlying securities held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the exchange on which the Fund's shares trade is open, there may be deviations between the current price of an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security on the closed foreign market. These deviations could result in the Fund experiencing premiums or discounts greater than those of ETFs that invest in domestic securities. Securities traded on foreign markets may be less liquid (harder to sell) than securities traded domestically. Foreign governments may impose restrictions on the repatriation of capital to the U.S. In addition, to the extent the Fund buys securities denominated in a foreign currency, there are special risks such as changes in currency exchange rates and the risk that a foreign government could regulate foreign exchange transactions.  In addition, to the extent investments are made in a limited number of countries, events in those countries will have a more significant impact on the Fund. Certain countries have recently experienced (or currently are expected to experience) negative interest rates on certain fixed-income securities, and similar interest rate conditions may be experienced in other regions.  Investments in
39

fixed-income securities with very low or negative interest rates may magnify the Fund's susceptibility to interest rate risk and diminish yield and performance, and such investments may be subject to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity.
Perpetual Bond Risk: Perpetual bonds offer a fixed return with no maturity date. Because they never mature, perpetual bonds can be more volatile than other types of bonds that have a maturity date and may have heightened sensitivity to changes in interest rates. If market interest rates rise significantly, the interest rate paid by a perpetual bond may be much lower than the prevailing interest rate.  Perpetual bonds are also subject to credit risk with respect to the issuer.  In addition, because perpetual bonds may be callable after a set period of time, there is the risk that the issuer may recall the bond.
Portfolio Turnover Risk: Frequent purchases and sales of portfolio securities may result in higher Fund expenses and may result in more significant distributions of short-term capital gains to investors, which are taxed to individuals as ordinary income.
Repurchase Agreement Risk: Repurchase agreements may be viewed as loans made by the Fund which are collateralized by the securities subject to repurchase. If the Fund's counterparty should default on its obligations and the Fund is delayed or prevented from recovering the collateral, or if the value of the collateral is insufficient, the Fund may realize a loss.
Restricted Securities Risk: The Fund may hold securities that have not been registered for sale to the public under the U.S. federal securities laws. There can be no assurance that a trading market will exist at any time for any particular restricted security. Limitations on the resale of these securities may have an adverse effect on their marketability, and may prevent the Fund from disposing of them promptly at reasonable prices. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Also, restricted securities may be difficult to value because market quotations may not be readily available, and the securities may have significant volatility.
Reverse Repurchase Agreement Risk: Reverse repurchase agreements involve both counterparty risk and the risk that the value of securities that the Fund is obligated to repurchase under the agreement may decline below the repurchase price. Reverse repurchase agreements involve leverage risk; the Fund may lose money as a result of declines in the values both of the security subject to the reverse repurchase agreement and the instruments in which the Fund invested the proceeds of the reverse repurchase agreement.
Sovereign Debt Obligations Risk: Investments in debt securities issued by governments or by government agencies and instrumentalities involve the risk that the governmental entities responsible for repayment may be unable or unwilling to pay interest and repay principal when due. Any restructuring of a sovereign debt obligation held by the Fund will likely have a significant adverse effect on the value of the obligation. In the event of default of sovereign debt, the Fund may be unable to pursue legal action against the sovereign issuer or to realize on collateral securing the debt.
U.S. Government Securities Risk: Certain U.S. government securities are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States; others are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury; others are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government to purchase the agency's obligations; and still others are supported only by the credit of the issuing agency, instrumentality, or enterprise. Although U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) may be chartered or sponsored by Congress, they are not funded by Congressional appropriations, and their securities are not issued by the U.S. Treasury, are not supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and involve increased credit risks.
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk: U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other fixed income securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Similar to other issuers, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of the Fund's U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.
Valuation Risk: Some portfolio holdings, potentially a large portion of the Fund's investment portfolio, may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur more often in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including fair valued securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value
40

established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time.
Variable and Floating Rate Securities Risk: During periods of increasing interest rates, changes in the coupon rates of variable or floating rate securities may lag behind the changes in market rates or may have limits on the maximum increases in coupon rates. Alternatively, during periods of declining interest rates, the coupon rates on such securities will typically readjust downward resulting in a lower yield. In addition, investment in derivative variable rate securities, such as inverse floaters, whose rates vary inversely with market rates of interest, or range floaters or capped floaters, whose rates are subject to periodic or lifetime caps, or in securities that pay a rate of interest determined by applying a multiple to the variable rate involves special risks as compared to investment in a fixed-rate security and may involve leverage. Floating rate notes are generally subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade frequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such securities.
When-Issued, TBA and Delayed Delivery Securities Risk: The Fund may purchase securities on a when-issued, to-be-announced (TBA) or delayed delivery basis and may purchase securities on a forward commitment basis. The purchase price of the securities is typically fixed at the time of the commitment, but delivery and payment can take place a month or more after the date of the commitment. At the time of delivery of the securities, the value may be more or less than the purchase or sale price. Purchase of securities on a when-issued, TBA, delayed delivery, or forward commitment basis may give rise to investment leverage, and may result in increased volatility of the Fund's net asset value. Default by, or bankruptcy of, a counterparty to a when-issued, TBA or delayed delivery transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses because of an adverse market action, expenses or delays in connection with the purchase or sale of the pools specified in such transaction. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. imposes mandatory margin requirements for certain types of when-issued, delayed delivery or forward commitment transactions, and effective May 22, 2024, such requirements will extend to TBA transactions, with limited exceptions. Such transactions require mandatory collateralization which may increase the cost of such transactions and impose added operational complexity.
Fund Performance
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual returns for certain time periods compare with the average annual returns of a relevant broad-based securities index. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available by calling 1-866-787-2257 or visiting our website at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Annual Total Returns (years ended 12/31)*
Highest Quarterly Return: 3.61% (Q2, 2020)
Lowest Quarterly Return: -5.03% (Q1, 2022)
*
As of  9/30/2023, the Fund's Calendar Year-To-Date return was -0.47%.
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/22)
The after-tax returns presented in the table below are calculated using highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund Shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. The returns after taxes can exceed the returns before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit for a shareholder from realizing a capital loss on a sale of Fund Shares.
 
One
Year
Five
Years
Since Inception
(02/23/15)
Return Before Taxes
-12.03%
-0.52%
0.45%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
-13.61%
-1.89%
-0.92%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
-7.10%
-0.92%
-0.21%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
-13.01%
0.02%
0.76%
41

Portfolio Management
Investment Adviser and Sub-Adviser
SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (SSGA FM or the Adviser) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. DoubleLine serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund, subject to supervision by the Adviser and oversight by the SSGA Active Trust's Board of Trustees. To the extent that a reference in this Prospectus refers to the Adviser, with respect to the Fund, such reference should also be read to refer to DoubleLine, where the context requires.
Portfolio Managers
The professionals at the Sub-Adviser primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Jeffrey Gundlach and Jeffrey Sherman.
Jeffrey Gundlach is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of DoubleLine. Mr. Gundlach co-founded DoubleLine in December 2009.
Jeffrey Sherman is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer and a portfolio manager at DoubleLine. Mr. Sherman joined DoubleLine in December 2009.
Purchase and Sale Information
The Fund will issue (or redeem) Fund Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of Fund Shares known as Creation Units. Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a designated portfolio of in-kind securities and/or cash. Creation Unit transactions may be conducted in exchange for cash only, which may cause the Fund to recognize capital gains and to pay out higher annual capital gain distributions to shareholders than if such transactions had been conducted in-kind.
Individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca, Inc., other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through your broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at net asset value (NAV), Fund Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling Fund Shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund Shares (ask) (the bid-ask spread). Recent information regarding the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Tax Information
The Fund's distributions are expected to be taxed as ordinary income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Any withdrawals made from a tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser or its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for certain activities related to the Fund, including educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
42

SPDR® Loomis Sayles Opportunistic Bond ETF
Investment Objective
The SPDR Loomis Sayles Opportunistic Bond ETF (the Fund) seeks to maximize total return.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (Fund Shares). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
Management fees
0.55%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees
None
Other expenses
0.00%
Total annual Fund operating expenses
0.55%
Example:
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then sell or hold all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
Year 10
$56
$176
$307
$689
Portfolio Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 137% of the average value of its portfolio.
The Fund's Principal Investment Strategy
Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. (the Sub-Adviser) actively manages the Fund's assets utilizing a multi-asset credit strategy that seeks to capture credit risk premiums in markets that it believes can offer strong risk-adjusted return potential over a full market cycle.
Under normal circumstances, the Sub-Adviser will invest at least 80% of the Fund's net assets (plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes), directly, or indirectly through underlying exchanged-traded funds (ETFs), in debt obligations. Debt obligations in which the Fund principally invests include securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies, instrumentalities or sponsored corporations; inflation protected public obligations of the U.S. Treasury; securitized credit securities, such as agency and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities, agency and non-agency commercial mortgage-backed securities, agency and non-agency asset-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations (including collateralized loan obligations) (Securitized Credit Securities); debt obligations issued by domestic or foreign private sector entities, including issuers located in emerging markets; debt obligations issued by foreign governments and their agencies and instrumentalities, including issuers located in emerging markets; debt obligations issued by supranational entities; debt securities issued pursuant to Rule 144A or Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933; structured notes; and bank loans (primarily senior loans). Such debt obligations may be issued at fixed, variable, floating, adjustable or zero coupon rates. The Fund may also invest in hybrid securities that combine debt and equity characteristics, such as preferred securities, convertible preferred securities and contingent convertible securities (CoCos). The Fund may also enter into repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its assets in non-U.S. dollar-denominated debt obligations and any such debt obligations will be hedged back to the U.S. dollar.
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The Fund may also invest in derivatives including: futures and forward contracts; swaps (including credit default swaps, total return swaps, interest rate swaps, and index swaps); options and swaptions; interest rate caps, floors and collars; warrants and other rights; and contracts for differences. Such derivatives may include those derivatives where the underlying assets are based on one or more securities, indices, currencies, interest rates and loans, and may be deliverable or non-deliverable. The Fund may conduct foreign currency transactions on a spot or forward basis. The Fund may use derivatives to hedge the Fund's portfolio (e.g., to hedge against currency fluctuations), as well as for investment purposes (e.g., to gain exposure to certain issuers or markets). The Fund may also invest in ETFs registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act) (including ETFs advised by SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (SSGA FM or the Adviser)) to gain exposure to certain asset classes and/or securities.
The Fund may invest in debt obligations of any credit quality and may invest up to 100% of its net assets in debt instruments that are rated below investment grade or are unrated but determined by the Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality (commonly known as high-yield investments or junk bonds). The Fund may invest up to 60% of its net assets in bank loans and may invest up to 25% of its net assets in Securitized Credit Securities. While the Fund looks to the underlying borrower of a bank loan, rather than the bank originating the loan, for purposes of determining the industry concentration of investments, it is possible that under a different interpretation the Fund may be deemed to concentrate its investments in the financial services industries.
The Sub-Adviser monitors the duration of the securities held by the Fund to seek to mitigate exposure to interest rate risk. Under normal circumstances, the Sub-Adviser seeks to maintain an investment portfolio with a weighted average effective duration of 0 to 7 years. Duration is a measure used to determine the sensitivity of a security's price to changes in interest rates. The longer a security's duration, the more sensitive it will be to changes in interest rates.
In pursuing its investment objective, the Fund seeks to outperform the SPDR Loomis Sayles Opportunistic Bond Composite Index, a composite benchmark comprising 50% investment grade corporate bonds, 25% high yield corporate bonds, and 25% senior loans. The investment grade corporate bond portion of the composite benchmark is represented by the Bloomberg US Corporate Bond Index, the high yield corporate bond portion is represented by the Bloomberg US High Yield 2% Issuer Capped Index, and the senior loan portion is represented by the Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index.
The Sub-Adviser determines asset class allocation by evaluating the current stage of the credit cycle and the attractiveness of the various asset classes. Such evaluation features macroeconomic, asset class and industry analysis driven by real-time market data, economic releases, and trading patterns, coupled with the Sub-Adviser's quantitative economic and market cycle identifying models. In selecting securities for the Fund within a specific asset class, the Sub-Adviser utilizes a security-specific valuation framework driven by the portfolio management team's daily interaction with the Sub-Adviser's sector teams integrating quantitative analysis with the Sub-Adviser's internal fundamental research.
The Sub-Adviser uses a comprehensive risk controlled approach in managing the Fund's investments to seek to control the principal risk components of the fixed income markets. The decision to sell or adjust positions is driven by the relative value of the security, spread, and risk-adjusted return expectations versus current levels. The Sub-Adviser typically sells a security (i) when it is no longer consistent with the Sub-Adviser's view of market trends; (ii) when it is no longer attractive on a relative value basis, given any inherent risks; or (iii) to control for risk.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund. Fund Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk: The Fund's investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions, general market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investment in securities markets. Investment markets can be volatile and prices of investments can change substantially due to various factors including, but not limited to, economic growth or recession, changes in interest rates, inflation, changes in the actual or perceived creditworthiness of issuers, and general market liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Local, regional or global events such as war, military conflicts, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments.
Debt Securities Risk: The values of debt securities may increase or decrease as a result of the following: market fluctuations, changes in interest rates, actual or perceived inability or unwillingness of issuers, guarantors or liquidity providers to make scheduled principal or interest payments, or illiquidity in debt securities markets. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally
44

anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. A rising interest rate environment may cause the value of the Fund's fixed income securities to decrease, an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund's fixed income securities, and increased volatility of the fixed income markets. During periods when interest rates are at low levels, the Fund's yield can be low, and the Fund may have a negative yield (i.e., it may lose money on an operating basis). To the extent that interest rates fall, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially faster than originally anticipated. If the principal on a debt obligation is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. Changes in interest rates will likely have a greater effect on the values of debt securities of longer durations. Returns on investments in debt securities could trail the returns on other investment options, including investments in equity securities.
Below Investment-Grade Securities Risk: Lower-quality debt securities (high yield or junk bonds) are considered predominantly speculative, and can involve a substantially greater risk of default than higher quality debt securities. Issuers of lower-quality debt securities may have substantially greater risk of insolvency or bankruptcy than issuers of higher-quality debt securities. They can be illiquid, and their values can have significant volatility and may decline significantly over short periods of time. Lower-quality debt securities tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general.
Asset-Backed and Mortgage-Backed Securities Risk: Asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities (residential and commercial) represent interests in pools of mortgages or other assets, including consumer loans or receivables held in trust. These securities, in most cases, are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and there can be no assurance that the U.S. government would provide financial support to its agencies or instrumentalities where it is not obligated to do so. These securities may be subject to liquidity risk as well as the risk of illiquidity and default on the underlying asset or mortgage, particularly during periods of economic downturn. The liquidity of mortgage-related and asset-backed securities may change over time. Small movements in interest rates (both increases and decreases) may quickly and significantly reduce the value of certain asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. In particular, during periods of falling interest rates, mortgage-backed securities will be called or prepaid, which may result in the Fund having to reinvest proceeds in other investments at a lower interest rate. During periods of rising interest rates, the average life of a mortgage-backed security may extend, which may lock in a below-market interest rate, increase the security's duration, and reduce the value of the security. Enforcing rights against the underlying assets or collateral may be difficult, or the underlying assets or collateral may be insufficient if the issuer defaults. The values of certain types of mortgage-backed securities, such as inverse floaters and interest-only and principal-only securities, may be extremely sensitive to changes in interest rates and prepayment rates. Transactions in mortgage pass through securities may occur through the use of to-be-announced or TBA Transactions. Default by, or bankruptcy of, a counterparty to a TBA Transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses because of an adverse market action, expenses or delays in connection with the purchase or sale of the pools of mortgage pass-through securities specified in the TBA Transaction.
Bank Loan Risk: The Fund may invest in secured and unsecured participations in bank loans and assignments of such loans. In making investments in such loans, which are made by banks or other financial intermediaries to borrowers, the Fund will depend primarily upon the creditworthiness of the borrower for payment of principal and interest which will expose the Fund to the credit risk of both the financial institution and the underlying borrower. The market for bank loans may not be highly liquid and the Fund may have difficulty selling them. The Fund may also experience settlement delays with respect to bank loan trades, resulting in the proceeds from the sale of such loans not being readily available to make additional investments or to meet the Fund's redemption obligations. Participations by the Fund in a lender's portion of a bank loan typically will result in the Fund having a contractual relationship only with such lender, not with the borrower. The Fund may have the right to receive payments of principal, interest and any fees to which it is entitled only from the lender selling a loan participation and only upon receipt by such lender of such payments from the borrower. In connection with purchasing participations, the Fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement, nor any rights with respect to any funds acquired by other lenders through set-off against the borrower, and the Fund may not directly benefit from any collateral supporting the loan in which it has purchased the participation. As a result, the Fund may assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the lender selling the participation. Further, loans held by the Fund may not be considered securities and, therefore, purchasers, such as the Fund, may not be entitled to rely on the strong anti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. Some of the loans in which the Fund may invest or obtain exposure to may be covenant-lite loans. Covenant-lite loans may contain fewer or no maintenance covenants compared to other loans and may not include terms which allow the lender to monitor the performance of the borrower and declare a default if certain criteria are breached. The Fund may experience delays in enforcing its rights on its holdings of covenant-lite loans.
45

Fluctuation of Net Asset Value, Share Premiums and Discounts Risk: As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund's daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
Affiliated ETF Risk: To the extent the Fund invests in an affiliated underlying ETF, the Fund's investment performance and risks may be directly related to the investment performance and risks of the affiliated ETF. In addition, the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser may have an incentive to take into account the effect on an affiliated ETF in which the Fund may invest in determining whether, and under what circumstances, to purchase or sell shares in that affiliated ETF. Although the Adviser and/or Sub-Adviser takes steps to address the conflicts of interest, it is possible that the conflicts could impact the Fund.
Cash Transaction Risk: The Fund may sell portfolio securities to meet some or all of a redemption request with cash. In such cases, the Fund may incur taxable gains or losses that it might not have incurred had it made redemptions entirely in-kind. As a result, the Fund may pay out higher annual capital gain distributions than if the in-kind redemption process was used.
Collateralized Debt Obligations Risk: The risks of an investment in a collateralized debt obligation depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the debt obligation in which the Fund invests. Collateralized debt obligations are generally subject to many of the same risks of investing as debt securities and asset-backed securities, including credit, interest rate, valuation, liquidity, prepayment and extension risks. These securities also are subject to risk of default on the underlying assets, particularly during periods of economic downturn.
Collateralized Loan Obligation Risk: The risks of an investment in a collateralized loan obligation depend largely on the type of the collateral securities and the class of the collateralized loan obligation in which the Fund invests. Collateralized loan obligations are generally subject to credit, interest rate, valuation, liquidity, prepayment and extension risks. These securities also are subject to risk of default on the underlying asset, particularly during periods of economic downturn. Collateralized loan obligations carry additional risks including, but not limited to, (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest of other payments, (ii) the collateral may decline in value or default, (iii) the Fund may invest in obligations that are subordinate to other classes, and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results. Collateralized loan obligations are divided into two or more classes, called tranches, each with a different credit rating and risk/return profile. Tranches are categorized as senior, mezzanine and subordinated/equity, according to their degree of credit risk. If there are defaults or the collateralized loan obligation's collateral otherwise underperforms, scheduled payments to senior tranches take precedence over those of mezzanine tranches, and scheduled payments to mezzanine tranches take precedence over those of subordinated/equity tranches. Senior and mezzanine tranches are typically rated. The ratings reflect both the credit quality of underlying collateral as well as how much protection a given tranche is afforded by tranches that are subordinate to it.
Contracts for Difference Risk: A contract for difference (CFD) is a privately negotiated contract between two parties, buyer and seller, stipulating that the seller will pay to or receive from the buyer the difference between the nominal value of the underlying instrument at the opening of the contract and that instrument's value at the end of the contract. A CFD offers exposure to price changes in an underlying security without ownership of such security, typically by providing investors the ability to trade on margin. CFDs are subject to illiquidity risk because the liquidity of contracts for difference is based on the liquidity of the underlying instrument. CFD's are also subject to the risk that the counterparty to the CFDs transaction may be unable or unwilling to make payments or to otherwise honor its financial obligations under the terms of the contract. If the Fund buys a long CFD and the underlying security is worth less at the end of the contract, the Fund would be required to make a payment to the seller and would suffer a loss.
Convertible Securities Risk: Convertible securities may be subordinate to other debt securities issued by the same issuer. Issuers of convertible securities are often not as strong financially as issuers with higher credit ratings. Convertible securities typically provide yields lower than comparable non-convertible securities. Their values may be more volatile than those of non-convertible securities, reflecting changes in the values of the securities into which they are convertible. The Fund may invest in contingent convertible securities (CoCos),
46

which subject the Fund to the risk of the occurrence of a triggering event which, depending on the underlying circumstances, may result in the issuer converting the security to an equity interest or writing down the principal value of such securities (either partially or in full).
Currency Risk: The value of the Fund's assets may be affected favorably or unfavorably by currency exchange rates, currency exchange control regulations, and delays, restrictions or prohibitions on the repatriation of foreign currencies.
Emerging Markets Risk: Risks of investing in emerging markets include, among others, greater political and economic instability, greater volatility in currency exchange rates, less developed securities markets, possible trade barriers, currency transfer restrictions, a more limited number of potential buyers and issuers, an emerging market country's dependence on revenue from particular commodities or international aid, less governmental supervision and regulation, unavailability of currency hedging techniques, differences in auditing and financial reporting standards, and less developed legal systems. There is also the potential for unfavorable action such as expropriation, nationalization, embargo, and acts of war. The securities of emerging market companies may trade less frequently and in smaller volumes than more widely held securities. Market disruptions or substantial market corrections may limit very significantly the liquidity of securities of certain companies in a particular country or geographic region, or of all companies in the country or region. The Fund may be unable to liquidate its positions in such securities at any time, or at a favorable price, in order to meet the Fund's obligations. These risks are generally greater for investments in frontier market countries, which typically have smaller economies or less developed capital markets than traditional emerging market countries.
Exchange-Traded Funds Risk: The Fund is subject to substantially the same risks as those associated with the direct ownership of the securities represented by an underlying ETF in which it invests. In addition, the shares of an underlying ETF may trade at a premium or discount to their intrinsic value (i.e., the market value may differ from the net asset value of an ETF's shares) for a number of reasons. For example, supply and demand for shares of an underlying ETF or market disruptions may cause the market price of the underlying ETF to deviate from the value of the underlying ETF's investments, which may be exacerbated in less liquid markets.
Financial Sector Risk: Financial services companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation, which may limit both the amounts and types of loans and other financial commitments they can make, the interest rates and fees they can charge, the scope of their activities, the prices they can charge and the amount of capital they must maintain. Profitability is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates change or due to increased competition. In addition, deterioration of the credit markets generally may cause an adverse impact in a broad range of markets, including U.S. and international credit and interbank money markets generally, thereby affecting a wide range of financial institutions and markets. Certain events in the financial sector may cause an unusually high degree of volatility in the financial markets, both domestic and foreign, and cause certain financial services companies to incur large losses. Securities of financial services companies may experience a dramatic decline in value when such companies experience substantial declines in the valuations of their assets, take action to raise capital (such as the issuance of debt or equity securities), or cease operations. Credit losses resulting from financial difficulties of borrowers and financial losses associated with investment activities can negatively impact the sector. Insurance companies may be subject to severe price competition. Adverse economic, business or political developments could adversely affect financial institutions engaged in mortgage finance or other lending or investing activities directly or indirectly connected to the value of real estate.
Forward Contracts Risk: A forward contract is a private, customizable agreement to buy or sell a specified currency, security or instrument at a future date at a price set at the time of the contract. Forward contracts settle at the end of the agreement and trade over-the-counter. The risks of forward contracts include, but are not limited to: (1) the success of the Sub-Adviser's ability to predict movements in the prices of individual currencies or securities, fluctuations in markets and movements in interest rates; (2) imperfect or no correlation between the changes in market value of the currencies or securities and the prices of such contracts; and (3) the risk that the counterparty will default on its obligations.
Futures Contract Risk: A futures contract is a standardized agreement that calls for the purchase or sale of a specific asset at a specific price at a specific future time, or cash settlement of the terms of the contract. Transactions in futures contracts can create investment leverage and may have significant volatility. It is possible that a futures contract transaction will result in a much greater loss than the principal amount invested, and the Fund may not be able to close out the futures contract at a favorable time or price. There is no assurance that a liquid secondary market on an exchange will exist for any particular futures contract. In the event no such market exists, it might not be possible to effect closing transactions, and the Fund will be unable to terminate its exposure to the futures contract. There is also a risk of imperfect correlation between movements in the prices of the futures contract and movements in the price of the underlying assets. The counterparty to a futures contract may be unable or unwilling to make timely settlement payments, return the Fund's margin, or otherwise honor its obligations.
Income Risk: The Fund's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. Issuers of securities held by the Fund may call or redeem the securities during periods of falling interest rates, and the Fund would likely be required to reinvest in securities paying lower interest rates. If an obligation held by the Fund is prepaid, the Fund may have to reinvest the prepayment in other obligations paying income at lower rates.
Inflation-Indexed Securities Risk: The principal amount of an inflation-indexed security typically increases with inflation and decreases with deflation, as measured by a specified index. It is possible that, in a period of declining inflation rates, the Fund could receive at maturity less than the initial principal amount of an inflation-indexed security. Changes in the values of inflation-indexed securities may be difficult to predict, and it is possible that an investment in such securities will have an effect different from that anticipated by the Sub-Adviser.
47

Liquidity Risk: Lack of a ready market, stressed market conditions, or restrictions on resale may limit the ability of the Fund to sell a security at an advantageous time or price or at all. Illiquid investments may trade at a discount from comparable, more liquid investments and may be subject to wide fluctuations in market value. If the liquidity of the Fund's holdings deteriorates, it may lead to differences between the market price of Fund Shares and the net asset value of Fund Shares, and could result in the Fund Shares being less liquid. Illiquidity of the Fund's holdings may also limit the ability of the Fund to obtain cash to meet redemptions on a timely basis.  In addition, the Fund, due to limitations on investments in any illiquid investments and/or the difficulty in purchasing and selling such investments, may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain market or sector.
Limited Track Record Risk: The Fund has a limited track record and there is no assurance that the Fund will grow quickly. When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume, which could lead to wider bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund could cause elevated transaction costs for the Fund and negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Management Risk: The Fund is actively managed. The Sub-Adviser's judgments about the attractiveness, relative value, or potential appreciation of a particular sector, security, commodity or investment strategy may prove to be incorrect, and may cause the Fund to incur losses. There can be no assurance that the Sub-Adviser's investment techniques and decisions will produce the desired results.
Models and Data Risk: The Sub-Adviser utilizes proprietary quantitative analysis and models to identify investment opportunities. There is a possibility that one or all of the quantitative models may fail to identify profitable opportunities at any time. Furthermore, the models may incorrectly identify opportunities and these misidentified opportunities may lead to substantial losses for the Fund. Models may be predictive in nature and such models may result in an incorrect assessment of future events. Data used in the construction of models may prove to be inaccurate or stale, which may result in losses for the Fund.
Non-Diversification Risk: As a non-diversified fund, the Fund may hold a smaller number of portfolio securities than many other funds. To the extent the Fund invests in a relatively small number of issuers, a decline in the market value of a particular security held by the Fund may affect its value more than if it invested in a larger number of issuers. The value of Fund Shares may be more volatile than the values of shares of more diversified funds.
Non-U.S. Securities Risk: Non-U.S. securities are subject to political, regulatory, and economic risks not present in domestic investments. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. entity than about a U.S. entity, and many non-U.S. entities are not subject to accounting, auditing, legal and financial report standards comparable to those in the United States. Further, such entities and/or their securities may be subject to risks associated with currency controls; expropriation; changes in tax policy; greater market volatility; differing securities market structures; higher transaction costs; and various administrative difficulties, such as delays in clearing and settling portfolio transactions or in receiving payment of dividends. To the extent underlying securities held by the Fund trade on foreign exchanges that are closed when the exchange on which the Fund's shares trade is open, there may be deviations between the current price of an underlying security and the last quoted price for the underlying security on the closed foreign market. These deviations could result in the Fund experiencing premiums or discounts greater than those of ETFs that invest in domestic securities. Securities traded on foreign markets may be less liquid (harder to sell) than securities traded domestically. Foreign governments may impose restrictions on the repatriation of capital to the U.S. In addition, to the extent investments are made in a limited number of countries, events in those countries will have a more significant impact on the Fund. Certain countries have recently experienced (or currently are expected to experience) negative interest rates on certain fixed-income securities, and similar interest rate conditions may be experienced in other regions. Investments in fixed-income securities with very low or negative interest rates may magnify the Fund's susceptibility to interest rate risk and diminish yield and performance, and such investments may be subject to heightened volatility and reduced liquidity.
Options Risk: The Fund's successful use of options depends on the ability of the Adviser to forecast market movements correctly. When the Fund purchases an option, it runs the risk that it will lose its entire investment in the option in a relatively short period of time, unless the Fund exercises the option or enters into a closing sale transaction before the option's expiration. If the price of the underlying security does not rise (in the case of a call) or fall (in the case of a put) to an extent sufficient to cover the option premium and transaction costs, the Fund will lose part or all of its investment in the option. The effective use of options also depends on the Fund's ability to
48

terminate option positions at times when the Adviser deems it desirable to do so. There is no assurance that the Fund will be able to effect closing transactions at any particular time or at an acceptable price. The sale of options by the Fund may create investment leverage.
Portfolio Turnover Risk: Frequent purchases and sales of portfolio securities may result in higher Fund expenses and may result in more significant distributions of short-term capital gains to investors, which are taxed to individuals as ordinary income.
Preferred Securities Risk: Generally, preferred security holders have no or limited voting rights with respect to the issuing company. In addition, preferred securities are generally senior to common stock, but may be subordinated to bonds and other debt instruments in a company's capital structure and therefore may be subject to greater credit risk than those debt instruments. In the event an issuer of preferred securities experiences economic difficulties, the issuer's preferred securities may lose substantial value due to the increased likelihood of deferred interest or dividend payments and the fact that the preferred security may be subordinated to other securities of the same issuer. Further, because many preferred securities pay interest or dividends at a fixed rate, their market price can be sensitive to changes in interest rates in a manner similar to bonds — that is, as interest rates rise, the value of the preferred securities held by the Fund are likely to decline. In addition, to the extent preferred securities allow holders to convert the preferred securities into common stock of the issuer, their market price can be sensitive to changes in the value of the issuer's common stock and, therefore, declining common stock values may also cause the value of the Fund's investments to decline. Preferred securities often have call features which allow the issuer to redeem the security at its discretion. The redemption of a preferred security having a higher than average yield may cause a decrease in the Fund's yield.
Repurchase Agreement Risk: Repurchase agreements may be viewed as loans made by the Fund which are collateralized by the securities subject to repurchase. If the Fund's counterparty should default on its obligations and the Fund is delayed or prevented from recovering the collateral, or if the value of the collateral is insufficient, the Fund may realize a loss.
Restricted Securities Risk: The Fund may hold securities that have not been registered for sale to the public under the U.S. federal securities laws. There can be no assurance that a trading market will exist at any time for any particular restricted security. Limitations on the resale of these securities may have an adverse effect on their marketability, and may prevent the Fund from disposing of them promptly at reasonable prices. The Fund may have to bear the expense of registering the securities for resale and the risk of substantial delays in effecting the registration. Also, restricted securities may be difficult to value because market quotations may not be readily available, and the securities may have significant volatility.
Reverse Repurchase Agreement Risk: Reverse repurchase agreements involve both counterparty risk and the risk that the value of securities that the Fund is obligated to repurchase under the agreement may decline below the repurchase price. Reverse repurchase agreements involve leverage risk; the Fund may lose money as a result of declines in the values both of the security subject to the reverse repurchase agreement and the instruments in which the Fund invested the proceeds of the reverse repurchase agreement.
Rights or Warrants Risk: A warrant gives the holder a right to purchase, at any time during a specified period, a predetermined number of shares of common stock at a fixed price. Rights are similar to warrants but typically have a shorter duration and are issued by a company to existing stockholders to provide those holders the right to purchase additional shares of stock at a later date. Warrants and rights may lack a liquid secondary market for resale. The prices of warrants and rights may fluctuate as a result of changes in the value of the underlying security or obligation or due to speculation in the market for the warrants or rights or other factors. Prices of warrants and rights do not necessarily move in tandem with the prices of their underlying securities; their prices may have significant volatility and it is possible that the Fund will lose its entire investment in a warrant or right. The Fund's failure to exercise a warrant or subscription right to purchase common shares in an issuer might result in the dilution of the Fund's interest in the issuing company.
Sovereign Debt Obligations Risk: Investments in debt securities issued by governments or by government agencies and instrumentalities involve the risk that the governmental entities responsible for repayment may be unable or unwilling to pay interest and repay principal when due. Any restructuring of a sovereign debt obligation held by the Fund will likely have a significant adverse effect on the value of the obligation. In the event of default of sovereign debt, the Fund may be unable to pursue legal action against the sovereign issuer or to realize on collateral securing the debt.
49

Structured Notes Risk: Structured notes, a type of derivative instrument, are generally privately negotiated debt obligations where the principal and/or interest is determined by reference to the performance of a specific asset, benchmark asset, market or interest rate. Structured notes involve risks including interest rate risk, credit risk and market risk. Structured notes may be volatile, and the possibility of default by the financial institution or counterparty may be greater for these instruments than for other types of derivative instruments.
Swaps Risk: A swap is a two-party contract that generally obligates the parties to exchange payments based on a specified reference security, basket of securities, security index or index component. Swaps can involve greater risks than direct investment in securities because swaps may be leveraged and are subject to counterparty risk (e.g., the risk of a counterparty's defaulting on the obligation or bankruptcy), credit risk and pricing risk (i.e., swaps may be difficult to value). It may not be possible for the Fund to liquidate a swap position at an advantageous time or price, which may result in significant losses.
U.S. Government Securities Risk: Certain U.S. government securities are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States; others are supported by the right of the issuer to borrow from the U.S. Treasury; others are supported by the discretionary authority of the U.S. government to purchase the agency's obligations; and still others are supported only by the credit of the issuing agency, instrumentality, or enterprise. Although U.S. government-sponsored enterprises such as the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) may be chartered or sponsored by Congress, they are not funded by Congressional appropriations, and their securities are not issued by the U.S. Treasury, are not supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and involve increased credit risks.
U.S. Treasury Obligations Risk: U.S. Treasury obligations may differ from other fixed income securities in their interest rates, maturities, times of issuance and other characteristics. Similar to other issuers, changes to the financial condition or credit rating of the U.S. government may cause the value of the Fund's U.S. Treasury obligations to decline.
Valuation Risk: Some portfolio holdings, potentially a large portion of the Fund's investment portfolio, may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur more often in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including fair valued securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time.
Variable and Floating Rate Securities Risk: During periods of increasing interest rates, changes in the coupon rates of variable or floating rate securities may lag behind the changes in market rates or may have limits on the maximum increases in coupon rates. Alternatively, during periods of declining interest rates, the coupon rates on such securities will typically readjust downward resulting in a lower yield. In addition, investment in derivative variable rate securities, such as inverse floaters, whose rates vary inversely with market rates of interest, or range floaters or capped floaters, whose rates are subject to periodic or lifetime caps, or in securities that pay a rate of interest determined by applying a multiple to the variable rate involves special risks as compared to investment in a fixed-rate security and may involve leverage. Floating rate notes are generally subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale, may trade infrequently, and their value may be impaired when the Fund needs to liquidate such loans.
Zero-Coupon Bond Risk: Zero-coupon bonds usually trade at a deep discount from their face or par values and are subject to greater market value fluctuations from changing interest rates than debt obligations of comparable maturities that make current distributions of interest.
Fund Performance
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual returns for certain time periods compare with the average annual returns of a relevant broad-based securities index and an index with characteristics relevant to the Fund. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
Updated performance information is available by calling 1-866-787-2257 or visiting our website at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
50

Annual Total Returns (years ended 12/31)*
Highest Quarterly Return: 3.07% (Q4, 2022)
Lowest Quarterly Return: -7.47% (Q2, 2022)
*
As of  9/30/2023, the Fund's Calendar Year-To-Date return was 2.63%.
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/22)
The after-tax returns presented in the table below are calculated using highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund Shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. The returns after taxes can exceed the returns before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit for a shareholder from realizing a capital loss on a sale of Fund Shares.
 
One
Year
Since Inception
09/28/21
Return Before Taxes
-11.23%
-8.96%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
-12.80%
-10.40%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
-6.63%
-7.37%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
-13.01%
-10.65%
SPDR Loomis Sayles Opportunistic Bond Composite Index1 (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses
or taxes)
-10.79%
-8.60%
1
A composite benchmark the Fund seeks to outperform, comprising 50% investment grade corporate bonds, 25% high yield corporate bonds, and 25% senior loans.
Portfolio Management
Investment Adviser and Sub-Adviser
SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (SSGA FM or the Adviser) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. Loomis, Sayles & Company, L.P. (Loomis Sayles) serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund, subject to supervision by the Adviser and oversight by the SSGA Active Trust's Board of Trustees. To the extent that a reference in this Prospectus refers to the Adviser, with respect to the Fund, such reference should also be read to refer to Loomis Sayles, where the context requires.
Portfolio Managers
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Kevin Kearns, Andrea DiCenso and Tom Stolberg.
Kevin Kearns is a Portfolio Manager and Head of the Alpha Strategies Group. He joined Loomis Sayles in 2007.
Andrea DiCenso is a Co-Portfolio Manager for the credit asset, world credit asset and emerging market debt blended total return strategies. She is also a Senior Strategist for the Alpha Strategies Group. She joined Loomis Sayles in 2006.
Tom Stolberg, CFA, is a Co-Portfolio Manager for the multi-asset credit strategies. He joined Loomis Sayles in 2008.
Purchase and Sale Information
The Fund will issue (or redeem) Fund Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of Fund Shares known as Creation Units. Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a designated portfolio of in-kind securities and/or cash. Creation Unit transactions may be conducted in exchange for cash only, which may cause the Fund to recognize capital gains and to pay out higher annual capital gain distributions to shareholders than if such transactions had been conducted in-kind.
51

Individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the Exchange), other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through your broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at net asset value (NAV), Fund Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling Fund Shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund Shares (ask) (the bid-ask spread). Recent information regarding the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Tax Information
The Fund's distributions are expected to be taxed as ordinary income, qualified dividend income and/or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account. Any withdrawals made from a tax-advantaged arrangement may be taxable to you.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser or its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for certain activities related to the Fund, including educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
52

SPDR® Nuveen Municipal Bond ETF
Investment Objective
The SPDR Nuveen Municipal Bond ETF (the Fund) seeks to provide current income that is exempt from
regular federal income taxes. Capital appreciation is a secondary objective when consistent with the Fund's
primary objective.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (Fund Shares). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
Management fees
0.40%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees
None
Other expenses
0.00%
Total annual Fund operating expenses
0.40%
Example:
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then sell or hold all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
Year 10
$41
$128
$224
$505
Portfolio Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 52% of the average value of its portfolio.
The Fund's Principal Investment Strategy
In pursuing its investment objective, under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal bonds that pay income that is exempt from regular federal income tax.
Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (Nuveen Asset Management or the Sub-Adviser), the investment sub-adviser to the Fund, anticipates the Fund's investment portfolio will consist primarily of municipal bonds included in the Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend (2-17) Municipal Bond Index (the Index), an index comprising investment-grade municipal securities ranging from 2 to 17 years in maturity. The municipal bonds selected by the Sub-Adviser may include tax-exempt municipal securities issued by states, cities, counties, districts, territories or possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia and their respective subdivisions, agencies, authorities and instrumentalities. Municipal bonds may include state and local general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, pre-refunded bonds, insured bonds and municipal lease obligations. Securities selected by the Sub-Adviser may include when-issued securities. Under normal market conditions, the Fund's investment portfolio will consist primarily of municipal bonds rated A3/A-/A- or higher by an independent rating agency; however the Fund may invest in municipal bonds of any credit quality, including up to 20% of its net assets in low- to medium-quality bonds rated Baa1/BBB+/BBB+ or
53

lower (or unrated bonds judged by the Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality), including below investment grade bonds (commonly referred to as high yield or junk bonds). Under normal circumstances, the Sub-Adviser will target a weighted average duration for the Fund's portfolio between 4.5 – 7 years and a weighted average maturity for the Fund's portfolio between 5 – 12 years.
In selecting securities for the Fund, the Sub-Adviser utilizes a rules-based, value-oriented strategy which is designed to identify higher-yielding and undervalued municipal bonds that offer above-average total return potential. In constructing the Fund's portfolio, the Sub-Adviser may overweight/underweight individual bonds by up to 5% on an absolute basis compared to their weights in the Index, and may overweight/underweight the Fund's sector exposure by up to 10% on an absolute basis compared to the Index's sector exposure. The Sub-Adviser may choose to sell municipal bonds with deteriorating credit and/or limited upside potential compared to other available bonds.
The Fund may also invest in cash and cash equivalents or money market instruments, such as money market funds (including money market funds advised by SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (SSGA FM or the Adviser), the investment adviser to the Fund).
Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund
As with all investments, there are certain risks of investing in the Fund. Fund Shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Market Risk: The Fund's investments are subject to changes in general economic conditions, general market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investment in securities markets. Investment markets can be volatile and prices of investments can change substantially due to various factors including, but not limited to, economic growth or recession, changes in interest rates, inflation, changes in the actual or perceived creditworthiness of issuers, and general market liquidity. The Fund is subject to the risk that geopolitical events will disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Local, regional or global events such as war, military conflicts, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health issues, or other events could have a significant impact on the Fund and its investments.
Debt Securities Risk: The values of debt securities may increase or decrease as a result of the following: market fluctuations, changes in interest rates, actual or perceived inability or unwillingness of issuers, guarantors or liquidity providers to make scheduled principal or interest payments, or illiquidity in debt securities markets. To the extent that interest rates rise, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially slower than originally anticipated and the value of those securities may fall sharply. A rising interest rate environment may cause the value of the Fund's fixed income securities to decrease, an adverse impact on the liquidity of the Fund's fixed income securities, and increased volatility of the fixed income markets. During periods when interest rates are at low levels, the Fund's yield can be low, and the Fund may have a negative yield (i.e., it may lose money on an operating basis). To the extent that interest rates fall, certain underlying obligations may be paid off substantially faster than originally anticipated. If the principal on a debt obligation is prepaid before expected, the prepayments of principal may have to be reinvested in obligations paying interest at lower rates. During periods of falling interest rates, the income received by the Fund may decline. Changes in interest rates will likely have a greater effect on the values of debt securities of longer durations. Returns on investments in debt securities could trail the returns on other investment options, including investments in equity securities.
Municipal Obligations Risk: Issuers, including governmental issuers, may be unable to pay their obligations as they come due. The values of municipal obligations may be adversely affected by local political and economic conditions and developments. In addition, the values of municipal obligations that depend on a specific revenue source to fund their payment obligations may fluctuate as a result of actual or anticipated changes in the cash flows generated by the revenue source or changes in the priority of the municipal obligation to receive the cash flows generated by the revenue source. Municipal obligations may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during recessions or similar periods of economic stress. In addition, changes in U.S. federal tax laws or the activity of an issuer may adversely affect the tax-exempt status of municipal obligations. Loss of tax-exempt status may cause interest received and distributed by the Fund to shareholders to be taxable and may result in a significant decline in the values of such municipal obligations.
Political Risk: A significant restructuring of federal income tax rates or even serious discussion on the topic in Congress could cause municipal bond prices to fall. The demand for municipal securities is strongly influenced by the value of tax-exempt income to investors. Lower income tax rates could reduce the advantage of owning municipals.
54

Fluctuation of Net Asset Value, Share Premiums and Discounts Risk: As with all exchange-traded funds, Fund Shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. The trading prices of Fund Shares in the secondary market may differ from the Fund's daily net asset value per share and there may be times when the market price of the shares is more than the net asset value per share (premium) or less than the net asset value per share (discount). This risk is heightened in times of market volatility or periods of steep market declines.
Below Investment-Grade Securities Risk: Lower-quality debt securities (high yield or junk bonds) are considered predominantly speculative, and can involve a substantially greater risk of default than higher quality debt securities. Issuers of lower-quality debt securities may have substantially greater risk of insolvency or bankruptcy than issuers of higher-quality debt securities. They can be illiquid, and their values can have significant volatility and may decline significantly over short periods of time. Lower-quality debt securities tend to be more sensitive to adverse news about the issuer, or the market or economy in general.
Cash Position Risk: If the Fund holds a significant position in cash or cash equivalents, its investment returns may be adversely affected, and the Fund may not achieve its investment objective.
Income Risk: The Fund's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors. Issuers of securities held by the Fund may call or redeem the securities during periods of falling interest rates, and the Fund would likely be required to reinvest in securities paying lower interest rates. If an obligation held by the Fund is prepaid, the Fund may have to reinvest the prepayment in other obligations paying income at lower rates.
Limited Track Record Risk: The Fund has a limited track record and there is no assurance that the Fund will grow quickly. When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume, which could lead to wider bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange. Any resulting liquidation of the Fund could cause elevated transaction costs for the Fund and negative tax consequences for its shareholders.
Liquidity Risk: Lack of a ready market, stressed market conditions, or restrictions on resale may limit the ability of the Fund to sell a security at an advantageous time or price or at all. Illiquid investments may trade at a discount from comparable, more liquid investments and may be subject to wide fluctuations in market value. If the liquidity of the Fund's holdings deteriorates, it may lead to differences between the market price of Fund Shares and the net asset value of Fund Shares, and could result in the Fund Shares being less liquid. Illiquidity of the Fund's holdings may also limit the ability of the Fund to obtain cash to meet redemptions on a timely basis.  In addition, the Fund, due to limitations on investments in any illiquid investments and/or the difficulty in purchasing and selling such investments, may be unable to achieve its desired level of exposure to a certain market or sector.
Management Risk: The Fund is actively managed. The Sub-Adviser's judgments about the attractiveness, relative value, or potential appreciation of a particular sector, security, commodity or investment strategy may prove to be incorrect, and may cause the Fund to incur losses. There can be no assurance that the Sub-Adviser's investment techniques and decisions will produce the desired results.
Money Market Risk: An investment in a money market fund is not a deposit of any bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency. Certain money market funds seek to preserve the value of their shares at $1.00 per share, although there can be no assurance that they will do so, and it is possible to lose money by investing in such a money market fund. A major or unexpected change in interest rates or a decline in the credit quality of an issuer or entity providing credit support, an inactive trading market for money market instruments, or adverse market, economic, industry, political, regulatory, geopolitical, and other conditions could cause the share price of such a money market fund to fall below $1.00. Other money market funds price and transact at a floating NAV that will fluctuate along with changes in the market-based value of fund assets. Shares sold utilizing a floating NAV may be worth more or less than their original purchase price. Recent changes in the regulation of money market funds may affect the operations and structures of money market funds.
Non-Diversification Risk: As a non-diversified fund, the Fund may hold a smaller number of portfolio securities than many other funds. To the extent the Fund invests in a relatively small number of issuers, a decline in the market value of a particular security held by the Fund may affect its value more than if it invested in a larger number of issuers. The value of Fund Shares may be more volatile than the values of shares of more diversified funds.
Tax Exemption Risk: There is no guarantee that the Fund's income will be exempt from federal or state income taxes. Events occurring after the date of issuance of a municipal bond or after the Fund's acquisition of a municipal bond may result in a determination that interest on that bond is includible in gross income for federal income tax purposes retroactively to its date of issuance. Such a determination may cause a portion of prior
55

distributions by the Fund to its shareholders to be taxable to those shareholders in the year of receipt. Federal or state changes in income or alternative minimum tax rates or in the tax treatment of municipal bonds may make municipal bonds less attractive as investments and cause them to decline in value.
Valuation Risk: Some portfolio holdings, potentially a large portion of the Fund's investment portfolio, may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur more often in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. There are multiple methods that can be used to value a portfolio holding when market quotations are not readily available. The value established for any portfolio holding at a point in time might differ from what would be produced using a different methodology or if it had been priced using market quotations. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including fair valued securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. In addition, there is no assurance that the Fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time, and it is possible that the Fund would incur a loss because a portfolio position is sold or closed out at a discount to the valuation established by the Fund at that time.
When-Issued Securities Risk: The Fund may purchase securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis. The purchase price of such securities is typically fixed at the time of the commitment, with delivery and payment taking place in the future. At the time of delivery of the securities, the value may be more or less than the purchase or sale price. Purchase of securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis may give rise to investment leverage, and may result in increased volatility of the Fund's net asset value. Default by, or bankruptcy of, a counterparty to a when-issued transaction would expose the Fund to possible losses because of an adverse market action, expenses or delays in connection with the purchase or sale of the pools specified in such transaction. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. rules impose mandatory margin requirements for certain types of when-issued or forward commitment transactions, with limited exceptions. Such transactions require mandatory collateralization which may increase the cost of such transactions and impose added operational complexity.
Fund Performance
The following bar chart and table provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund's performance from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual returns for certain time periods compare with the average annual returns of a relevant broad-based securities index and an index with characteristics relevant to the Fund. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available by calling 1-866-787-2257 or visiting our website at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Annual Total Returns (years ended 12/31)*
Highest Quarterly Return: 3.45% (Q4, 2022)
Lowest Quarterly Return: -6.54% (Q1, 2022)
*
As of  9/30/2023, the Fund's Calendar Year-To-Date return was -0.68%.
Average Annual Total Returns (for periods ended 12/31/22)
The after-tax returns presented in the table below are calculated using highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns will depend on your specific tax situation and may differ from those shown below. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold Fund Shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. The returns after taxes can exceed the returns before taxes due to an assumed tax benefit for a shareholder from realizing a capital loss on a sale of Fund Shares.
 
One
Year
Since Inception
02/03/21
Return Before Taxes
-8.78%
-4.35%
Return After Taxes on Distributions
-8.81%
-4.52%
Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares
-4.63%
-3.07%
Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend (2-17) Municipal Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or
taxes)
-6.42%
-3.24%
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)
-13.01%
-7.32%
56

Portfolio Management
Investment Adviser and Sub-Adviser
SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (SSGA FM or the Adviser) serves as the investment adviser to the Fund. Nuveen Asset Management serves as investment sub-adviser to the Fund, subject to supervision by the Adviser and oversight by the SSGA Active Trust's Board of Trustees. To the extent that a reference in this Prospectus refers to the Adviser, with respect to the Fund, such reference should also be read to refer to Nuveen Asset Management, where the context requires.
Portfolio Managers
The professionals primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund are Timothy Ryan and Joel Levy.
Timothy T. Ryan, CFA, is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Nuveen Asset Management. Mr. Ryan joined an affiliate of Nuveen Asset Management in 2010.
Joel H. Levy is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Nuveen Asset Management. Mr. Levy joined an affiliate of Nuveen Asset Management in 2011.
Purchase and Sale Information
The Fund will issue (or redeem) Fund Shares to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in large blocks of Fund Shares known as Creation Units. Creation Unit transactions are conducted in exchange for the deposit or delivery of a designated portfolio of in-kind securities and/or cash.
Individual Fund Shares may only be purchased and sold on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the Exchange), other national securities exchanges, electronic crossing networks and other alternative trading systems through your broker-dealer at market prices. Because Fund Shares trade at market prices rather than at net asset value (NAV), Fund Shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount). When buying or selling Fund Shares in the secondary market, you may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase Fund Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for Fund Shares (ask) (the bid-ask spread). Recent information regarding the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available at https://www.ssga.com/spdrs.
Tax Information
The Fund intends to pay income that is exempt from regular federal income tax, but which may be subject to federal alternative minimum tax. A portion of the Fund's distributions may be subject to regular federal income tax. Income from municipal securities of states other than the shareholder's state of residence generally will not qualify for tax-free treatment for such shareholder with respect to state and local taxes.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase Fund Shares through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Adviser or its affiliates may pay the financial intermediary for certain activities related to the Fund, including educational training programs, conferences, the development of technology platforms and reporting systems, or other services related to the sale or promotion of the Fund. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
57

SPDR® Nuveen Municipal Bond ESG ETF
Investment Objective
The SPDR Nuveen Municipal Bond ESG ETF (the Fund) seeks to provide current income that is exempt
from regular federal income taxes by investing in municipal bonds that exhibit certain environmental, social
and governance (ESG) characteristics. Capital appreciation is a secondary objective when consistent with
the Fund's primary objective.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund (Fund Shares). You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment):
Management fees
0.43%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees
None
Other expenses1
0.00%
Total annual Fund operating expenses1
0.43%
1
The Fund's Other expenses and Total annual Fund operating expenses have been restated to reflect current fees.
Example:
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, and then sell or hold all of your Fund Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Year 1
Year 3
Year 5
Year 10
$44
$138
$241
$542
Portfolio Turnover:
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or turns over its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund Shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 50% of the average value of its portfolio.
The Fund's Principal Investment Strategy
In pursuing its investment objective, under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes) in municipal bonds that pay income that is exempt from regular federal income tax.
Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (Nuveen Asset Management or the Sub-Adviser), the investment sub-adviser to the Fund, anticipates the Fund's investment portfolio will consist primarily of municipal bonds included in the Bloomberg 3-15 Year Blend (2-17) Municipal Bond Index (the Index), an index comprising investment-grade municipal securities ranging from 2 to 17 years in maturity. The municipal bonds selected by the Sub-Adviser may include tax-exempt municipal securities issued by states, cities, counties, districts, territories or possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia and their respective subdivisions, agencies, authorities and instrumentalities. Municipal bonds may include state and local general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, pre-refunded bonds, insured bonds and municipal lease obligations. Securities selected by the Sub-Adviser may include when-issued securities. Under normal market conditions, the Fund's investment portfolio will consist primarily of municipal bonds rated A3/A-/A- or higher by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. (Moody's), S&P Global Ratings (S&P) or Fitch Ratings, Inc. (Fitch), respectively; however, the Fund may invest in municipal bonds of any credit quality, including up to 20% of its net assets in low- to medium-quality bonds rated Baa1/BBB+/BBB+ or lower by Moody's, S&P or Fitch,
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respectively (or unrated bonds judged by the Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality), including below investment grade bonds (commonly referred to as high yield or junk bonds). Under normal circumstances, the Sub-Adviser will target a weighted average duration for the Fund's portfolio between 4.5 – 7 years and a weighted average maturity for the Fund's portfolio between 5 – 12 years.
In selecting municipal bonds for the Fund, the Sub-Adviser utilizes a value-oriented strategy which is designed to identify higher-yielding and undervalued municipal bonds that offer above-average total return potential. Once a potential municipal bond investment is identified, and prior to inclusion in the Fund's portfolio, the Sub-Adviser determines if either (i) the municipal bond's issuer is a leader relative to peers in its sector with respect to environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes or (ii) the municipal bond's proceeds are used towards positive environmental or social projects (thematic bonds).
The Fund utilizes a scoring system developed by the Sub-Adviser, the ESG Municipal Bond Scoring Tool, that scores municipal bond issuers on a 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being the highest score. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in municipal bonds issued by issuers with a score of 3 or higher at the time of purchase (ESG Leaders). An issuer's score is determined based on sector-specific models designed to evaluate an issuer's performance on delivering ESG outcomes aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals relevant to the issuer's sector. Such models incorporate data, sourced primarily from government agencies, non-profit organizations and universities, that the Sub-Adviser determines are relevant to assessing such performance. In selecting such data, the Sub-Adviser also considers, among other things, the breadth of municipal bond issuer coverage, timeliness of the data and reliability of the data. The Fund may also allocate up to 20% of its net assets to thematic bonds of issuers that are not identified as ESG Leaders (i.e., municipal bond issuers that receive a score of lower than 3 or are not scored by the ESG Municipal Bond Scoring Tool). Thematic bonds are municipal bonds whose proceeds the Sub-Adviser has determined are used towards positive environmental or social projects aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Sub-Adviser's determination is based on disclosure in offering documentation and/or information provided directly by the bond's issuer or underwriter regarding the use of proceeds. In making its determination, the Sub-Adviser may also consider whether the municipal bond has received a green or social (or equivalent) certification from a private third-party.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of goals established by the UN as a plan to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address global challenges including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.