JAAA vs RAAR

JAAAAJanus Henderson AAA CLO ETF

RAARDReckoner Yield Enhanced AAA CLO Reinvesting 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.

RAAR Most AAA CLO ETFs exist to spray income at you every month. RAAR is the odd one out: an actively managed AAA CLO fund that aims to distribute just once a year, letting interest stack up inside the wrapper instead.

Stated mandate

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

RAAR The Fund is an actively-managed ETF that seeks total return by investing in AAA-rated debt tranches of collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), while aiming to limit dividend or income distributions to once per year.

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.

• RAAR The rare accumulator. It aims to limit distributions to once a year, so CLO interest builds inside the fund instead of landing in your account twelve times a year.
• Exactly what the name says: AAA-rated CLO debt tranches, the senior slice of the loan securitization stack, picked by an active manager rather than tracked off an index.
• Built around the same AAA CLO strategy as its sibling RAAA, with the payout switch turned from routine income to an annual event.

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.

• RAAR It charges 0.40% a year. The typical AAA CLO ETF sits near 0.25%, and the category's largest names (JAAA, CLOA, PAAA) run about 0.20%.
• Launched in late 2024 and still a small, thinly traded fund, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the category's heavyweights. Limit orders matter here.
• The once-a-year cadence is a stated aim, not a promise, and by design there is no monthly cash landing in your account from this fund.

Full JAAA profile⁠

Full RAAR profile⁠