CLOA vs DSCO

CLOAAiShares AAA CLO Active ETF

DSCODDoubleLine Securitized Credit ETF

In short

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.

DSCO Most funds in this corner own AAA CLO paper and stop there. DSCO goes wider: an actively managed mix of mortgage-backed, asset-backed and CLO bonds, with income as the stated first priority and total return second.

Stated mandate

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.

DSCO The Fund primarily seeks income and secondarily seeks total return. It mainly invests in securitized credit products, including mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, and collateralized loan obligations.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• DSCO One ticker covers the securitized alphabet: MBS, ABS and CLOs, chosen by a manager rather than tracked.doubleline.com
• Income comes first in the mandate, total return second, and distributions are paid on a quarterly cadence.
• Trading since 2019, so the active decisions have a live multi-year record behind them, not a model.
• A US-focused, 1940 Act fund measured against the Bloomberg US Aggregate, so you can see the active bet against a familiar yardstick.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• DSCO It charges 0.50% a year, well above the AAA CLO peers (JAAA, CLOA, PAAA) that dominate this category. Security selection has to earn that gap.
• The highest-rated funds nearby are AAA-only by design. DSCO's remit is securitized credit broadly, so it is not a like-for-like swap on risk.
• Mid-sized and moderately traded rather than a category giant, so spreads are worth a look before sizing an order.

Full CLOA profile⁠

Full DSCO profile⁠