AAAC vs JAAA

AAACBColumbia AAA CLO ETF

JAAAAJanus Henderson AAA CLO ETF

In short

AAAC A late arrival to the AAA CLO crowd, competing on price: 0.20% a year, under the category median, with an active hand picking the paper. The stated goal is high current income, with capital preservation riding shotgun.

JAAA The AAA CLO trade in an ETF wrapper, running since 2020: floating-rate exposure to the senior slice of the corporate loan stack, aiming for capital preservation and income, at a fee below the group norm.

Stated mandate

AAAC The Fund seeks high current income and capital preservation. Its strategy involves selecting collateralized loan obligations and other instruments through credit analysis.

JAAA The fund seeks capital preservation and current income through floating-rate exposure to high-quality AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations.

Why people hold it

• AAAC Charges 0.20% a year, under the CLO category median and level with what the biggest incumbents (JAAA, CLOA) charge.
• Actively managed, so a credit team selects the CLOs and other instruments through its own analysis instead of following an index.
• Even as a newcomer, the build stands in the upper tier of a crowded CLO peer group.
• Ordinary 1940 Act fund structure: same plumbing as a conventional bond ETF, no partnership paperwork.

• JAAA Costs 0.20% a year, under the typical fee in its CLO peer group, and the newer AAA CLO rivals (CLOA, FAAA, ACLO) cluster at that same number rather than undercutting it.
• Very actively traded and a multi-billion-dollar fund, which is real market depth for an asset class that mostly lives in institutional hands.
• AAA CLO tranches pay floating coupons, so income resets as short-term rates move instead of being locked in. Distributions land monthly.
• Spread across roughly 400 positions at the top AAA rung of the loan capital stack, so no single deal carries the fund. One of the stronger builds in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• AAAC Launched in December 2025, so the track record is thin and risk measures rest on a short history.
• Payouts have arrived on an irregular schedule rather than a fixed monthly rhythm.
• Smaller and less traded than the category's established giants, which can mean wider spreads on large orders.

• JAAA Actively managed with no declared index behind it, so which deals and tranches the fund owns comes down to the manager, not a published rulebook.
• Floating rate cuts both ways: when short-term rates fall, the income these deals throw off falls with them.
• AAA is the senior rung, but it is still corporate loan credit, not Treasuries. The fund's stated aim is capital preservation, not a guarantee of it.

Full AAAC profile⁠

Full JAAA profile⁠