JAAA vs RCLY

JAAAAJanus Henderson AAA CLO ETF

RCLYFReckoner BBB-B CLO Annual 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.

RCLY Most bond ETFs pay you monthly. RCLY is built the other way: exposure to BBB through B rated collateralized loan obligations with a stated mandate to make just one distribution a year.

Stated mandate

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

RCLY The Fund seeks total return while targeting only one dividend or distribution payment each 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.

• RCLY The mandate is unusual and explicit: seek total return while targeting a single dividend or distribution each year, so income lands as one annual event rather than twelve monthly ones.
• It goes down the CLO stack. The category's largest funds (JAAA, CLOA, PAAA, FAAA) concentrate on AAA tranches; this one targets BBB through B rated slices instead.
• Structurally simple: it is a wrapper on Reckoner's own BBB-B CLO ETF (RCLO), so one portfolio runs the credit exposure while this fund handles the annual payout schedule.

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.

• RCLY Costs 0.55% a year, above the CLO ETF norm: the big AAA funds in the category charge about 0.20%, and the cohort median sits near a quarter point.
• Launched in February 2026, so the track record is short, and it has been a small, lightly traded fund, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads.
• BBB-B rated tranches sit below the AAA paper most CLO ETFs hold, so moves in credit stress can be larger. And by design, cash arrives once a year, not monthly.

Full JAAA profile⁠

Full RCLY profile⁠