AAAD vs CLOA

AAADCPGIM AAA CLO Aggregate Duration ETF

CLOAAiShares AAA CLO Active ETF

In short

AAAD Almost every AAA CLO ETF is floating rate with next to no duration. AAAD takes the same senior CLO collateral and layers Treasury futures on top, targeting a duration within a year of the broad US bond index. A core-style bond fund built out of CLOs.

CLOA BlackRock's play in AAA CLOs: active credit picking measured against J.P. Morgan's CLOIE AAA index, 0.20% a year, spread over roughly 400 positions. A billion-dollar-plus book built since its 2023 launch.

Stated mandate

AAAD Seeks to maximize total return through current income and capital appreciation.

CLOA The fund seeks exposure to U.S. dollar-denominated AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations, using active credit selection to pursue income and capital preservation with potentially low volatility.

Why people hold it

• AAAD The mechanism is the whole idea: AAA-rated CLOs for the credit exposure, Treasury futures and rate swaps for the duration, aiming to stay within a year of the Bloomberg US Aggregate.sec.gov
• Priced at 0.19%, a hair under the 0.20% charged by the category's best-known AAA CLO funds (JAAA, CLOA, ACLO) and well below the cohort median near 0.29%.
• Not built from scratch: it can hold AAA CLOs directly or through PGIM's established PAAA fund, leaning on the same securitized credit desk.pgim.com
• One ticker covers both jobs, senior CLO credit and interest-rate exposure, instead of pairing a floating-rate CLO fund with a separate Treasury sleeve. Income is paid quarterly.sec.gov

• CLOA Charges 0.20% a year, below the 0.25% typical for CLO funds and level with what most of the category's biggest names (JAAA, FAAA, ACLO) charge.
• Roughly 400 separate CLO positions, one of the deepest books in its peer group, so no single deal carries the fund.
• Actively run: the team selects deals and CLO managers instead of buying whatever a benchmark holds. The CLOIE AAA index is the yardstick, not the rulebook.
• Income arrives monthly, and it sits among the easier funds in its cohort to get in and out of.

Worth knowing

• AAAD Duration cuts both ways. CLOs themselves usually carry under a year of it; the overlay deliberately stretches the portfolio far longer, so prices move with Treasury yields.sec.gov
• Layered plumbing: PGIM's own disclosure flags that the fund of funds structure carries the underlying funds' risks and that leveraging techniques can magnify losses.pgim.com
• A 2026 launch with a limited operating history per its own disclosure, and thinner trading than the category's heavyweights, which can widen bid-ask spreads.pgim.com

• CLOA Active means manager-dependent. There is no index to fall back on, so outcomes hinge on which deals the desk picks.
• The mandate pursues income and capital preservation with potentially low volatility. That is the aim, not a floor; CLO prices still move.
• Trading since January 2023, so its record is short next to long-running bond funds and covers a narrow slice of credit history.

Full AAAD profile⁠

Full CLOA profile⁠