SPDR® Gold Shares Exceeds $50 Billion In Assets

State Street Global Advisors, the investment management business of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) and World Gold Trust Services, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the World Gold Council (WGC), today announced that assets in the SPDR® Gold Trust (NYSE Arca: GLD) have surpassed US $50 billion.

“With assets having increased by approximately 32 percent year-to-date (as of Friday, June 25, 2010)¹, SPDR Gold Shares has radically transformed the way in which a wide range of investors access the gold market,” said James Ross, senior managing director at State Street Global Advisors. “GLD is increasingly being used as part of a long-term diversification investment strategy within investors’ portfolios in a variety of market cycles currently playing out worldwide.”

Jason Toussaint, managing director, Investments, World Gold Trust Services, LLC commented: “Strategic asset allocation will continue to play a central role in investors’ portfolio performance moving forward, and portfolios that contain even a small allocation in gold have the potential to better cope with varying market scenarios. This milestone for GLD underscores that investors have embraced gold as a viable core holding over the long-term.”

SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) was launched in November 2004 by World Gold Trust Services and State Street to satisfy the growing need among investors for an exchange traded fund backed by physical gold. Recognizing that gold is a long-term investment which may stabilize wealth by mitigating the risk of falls in other asset classes, investors in GLD have made it one of the fastest growing ETFs globally. As of June 25, 2010, assets under management in the trust totaled more than $53 billion, making it the second largest ETF by assets in the world².

GLD is also cross-listed on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, the Singapore Exchange the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

State Street Global Advisors is one of the largest ETF providers globally with assets under management for SPDR ETFs totaling more than $204 billion as of March 31, 2010.³