AAA vs CLOC

AAACAlternative Access First Priority CLO Bond ETF

CLOCBAAM Crescent CLO ETF

In short

AAA Launched in 2020, this small independent fund holds roughly 30 first-priority CLO bonds and pays monthly, with capital preservation and income as its stated goal. At 0.19% it undercuts most of the big-name CLO ETFs that now crowd the category.

CLOC A 2025 arrival in the CLO aisle that undercuts the category on fee: 0.18% a year, below the typical CLO fund and below the giants it competes with. Its mandate leads with capital preservation, then low correlation and current income.

Stated mandate

AAA The Fund seeks capital preservation and income.

CLOC The Fund seeks capital preservation, low correlation with traditional asset classes, and current income.

Why people hold it

• AAA 0.19% a year, under the 0.25% CLO ETF median and a hair below CLOA, JAAA, FAAA and ACLO at 0.20%. Fee is one of the few fixed quantities in a capital-preservation product.
• The mandate is plain: capital preservation and income from first-priority CLO bonds, the senior slice of the structure that stands first in line to be paid.
• Income lands monthly, and the book stays tight at roughly 30 positions, so what sits inside is easy to see rather than buried in hundreds of line items.
• A boutique shop in a peer group otherwise stacked with BlackRock, Janus Henderson, PGIM, Fidelity and TCW. Different house, same senior-tranche corner of credit.

• CLOC Cheapest seat in the CLO aisle: 0.18% a year against a 0.25% category median, and a step under the biggest AAA CLO funds (JAAA, CLOA, PAAA, FAAA, ACLO at 0.19%-0.20%).
• The mandate is unusually explicit: capital preservation first, low correlation with traditional asset classes second, current income third.
• Young, but it already stands in the upper half of a crowded 27-fund CLO group.

Worth knowing

• AAA Small and thinly traded next to JAAA, CLOA and PAAA, so bid-ask spreads can run wider and sizable orders need more care at the point of trade.
• Roughly 30 positions means each bond carries real weight. Less spreading of risk than a portfolio holding hundreds of deals.
• Capital preservation is the stated objective, not a promise. These are floating-rate corporate credit instruments and their prices move.

• CLOC Thinly traded next to the multi-billion-dollar CLO names, so spreads can be wider and larger orders take patience.
• Launched in October 2025, so the history is short and there is not yet a full credit cycle to judge it by.
• Distributions have come on an irregular schedule rather than a fixed monthly rhythm, so income timing is less predictable.

Full AAA profile⁠

Full CLOC profile⁠