JAAA vs RCLR

JAAAAJanus Henderson AAA CLO ETF

RCLRFReckoner BBB-B 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.

RCLR Most bond funds pipe cash out on a schedule. RCLR runs the other way: it holds Reckoner's BBB-B CLO strategy and aims to minimize payouts to at most one a year, keeping income inside the fund rather than in your account.

Stated mandate

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

RCLR The Fund seeks total return while minimizing dividend or distribution payments.

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.

• RCLR Rare shape for a US bond fund: the stated goal is total return while minimizing dividend and distribution payments, with payouts limited to one a year.
• One ticket into mid-tier CLO debt: it invests through the Reckoner BBB-B CLO ETF (RCLO) instead of leaving you to source individual tranches.
• Ordinary 1940 Act fund wrapper, the same regulated structure behind mainstream ETFs, so there is no partnership paperwork attached.
• Fixed income exposure without a payout drip to redeploy, since the design retains income rather than pushing it out each month.

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.

• RCLR Costs 0.60% a year against a 0.40% median for high-yield bond ETFs, and well above index staples like SCYB at 0.03% and SPHY at 0.05%.
• Arrived in February 2026 as a small fund, so the record is short and trading has been light. Spreads can run wider than in the category's giants.
• Not the shape for spending money: distributions are deliberately minimized to at most one payment a year, so regular cash flow is not part of the design.

Full JAAA profile⁠

Full RCLR profile⁠