CLOA vs YCLO

CLOAAiShares AAA CLO Active ETF

YCLOCFranklin BSP CLO 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.

YCLO Most CLO ETFs park in AAA. YCLO roams the whole investment-grade CLO stack, US and European deals alike, run by Franklin's Benefit Street Partners credit desk with capital preservation as the stated first job.

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.

YCLO The Fund seeks capital preservation and current income.

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.

• YCLO Active mandate across investment-grade CLO tranches in both US and European deals, hunting relative value instead of sitting only at the top of the stack.businesswire.comfranklintempleton.com
• Stated job is capital preservation and current income, and CLO tranches pay floating-rate coupons, so the income stream resets with short-term rates.businesswire.com
• The desk is not new to this: BSP is Franklin's alternative credit arm and its structured credit platform dates to 2009.businesswire.com

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.

• YCLO Costs 0.35% a year, above the CLO ETF median and above the big AAA-only names like JAAA, CLOA and PAAA. That is the price of the wider mandate.
• Reaching below AAA adds credit and downgrade risk; ratings on CLO tranches can be cut, and pricing can gap in stressed markets.businesswire.com
• Launched in 2026, thinly traded, and a concentrated book of a few dozen tranches, so wider spreads come with the territory. Income arrives quarterly.

Full CLOA profile⁠

Full YCLO profile⁠