DSCO vs PAAA

DSCODDoubleLine Securitized Credit ETF

PAAAAPGIM AAA CLO ETF

In short

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.

PAAA PGIM's entry in the AAA CLO race: an actively run book of the senior-most slice of collateralized loan obligations, floating-rate, priced at 0.19%, paid out monthly. Same playbook as the category's biggest names, a hair cheaper.

Stated mandate

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.

PAAA The Fund seeks to maximize total return through current income and capital appreciation. It invests primarily in U.S. dollar-denominated AAA-rated CLOs and is actively managed rather than designed to replicate a specific index.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• PAAA At 0.19%, one of the cheapest tickets into AAA CLOs, undercutting the 0.20% charged by CLOA, JAAA, FAAA and ACLO and sitting well below the category median.
• Keeps at least 80% of investable assets in US dollar CLOs rated AAA at purchase, the tranche that stands first in line for cash from the underlying loan pool.mutualfunds.compgim.com
• CLO coupons float, so the income stream resets with short-term rates rather than locking to a fixed coupon. Cash goes out monthly.pgim.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, with spread and execution behavior among the strongest in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• PAAA Actively managed against the JP Morgan CLOIE AAA Index, not built to match it. Holdings and results can diverge from the benchmark by design.
• The AAA stamp sits atop a pool of leveraged loans to below-investment-grade borrowers, and up to 20% of investable assets can go outside AAA-rated CLOs.mutualfunds.com
• Launched in 2023, so the track record is short and does not yet span a full credit cycle.

Full DSCO profile⁠

Full PAAA profile⁠