JAAA vs PSQA

JAAAAJanus Henderson AAA CLO ETF

PSQACPalmer Square CLO Senior Debt ETF

In short

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.

PSQA The index fund in a category of hand-picked portfolios. PSQA tracks Palmer Square's own CLO Senior Debt Index, a daily CLO benchmark since 2015, holding senior tranches rated AAA or AA at issuance.

Stated mandate

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

PSQA The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Palmer Square CLO Senior Debt Index.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• PSQA Passive where the category leans active: it follows a published rulebook for senior CLO debt rather than a manager's tranche-by-tranche calls, as rivals like CLOA do.sec.gov
• It tracks the house benchmark: Palmer Square launched the CLO Senior Debt Index on May 29, 2015, among the first broadly distributed daily CLO benchmarks, now subscribed to worldwide.prnewswire.comyahoo.com
• Fee is 0.21%, with no waiver propping it up. That sits near the category median and within a hair of PAAA (0.19%), JAAA and CLOA (0.20%).
• Scope is the top of the structure: index constituents are CLO debt rated AAA or AA at issuance, the tranches that get paid first.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• 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.

• PSQA Young fund: it listed in September 2024, so the record is short and has not yet run through a full credit cycle.
• The AA allowance puts part of the portfolio a notch below the AAA-only lineup (JAAA, CLOA, PAAA), which means a step up in credit risk.sec.gov
• Fidelity's FAAA and FCLO currently charge 0.00% under waivers running through January 31, 2027, so PSQA's 0.21% is the costlier seat while those waivers last.

Full JAAA profile⁠

Full PSQA profile⁠