CLO Research

When everyone under Heaven recognises beauty as beautiful, then the idea of ugliness exists – Tao Te Ching, Chapter 2...

A Goldilocks loan market environment is generally most favourable for CLO equity—aside from the pull-to-par trades observed in 2020, 2022,...

A sample of 1,719 US BSL CLO deals (vintage 2013–1H 2025) is included in this study. Deals with a collateral pool factor below 55% are excluded. On an MVOC basis, US BSL CLO managers including Allstate, CVC Credit, Oak Hill Advisors, L.P., TP Birch Grove, and Onex Credit rank favourably among managers with a minimum of 11 deals in the sample, indicating comparatively strong performance in the current market.

On Tuesday, close to USD 200 million of US CLO equity tranches were offered on BWICs, with four majority stakes in circulation. Of these, only one majority stake traded. Market conditions remain challenging, with asset spread compression, elevated idiosyncratic risks, and several tranches attracting bids below clean equity NAV due to longer non-call periods.

Against the backdrop of a much tighter WACC, EU primary CLOs are now generating arbitrage of around 180 bps, which represents a healthy level for the market compared with the past six to seven months.

The analysis covers 1,719 US BSL CLO deals across vintages from 2012 to 1H 2025, excluding deals with a collateral pool factor below 55%. Based on asset prices as at 5 February 2026, the overall median below-80 exposure stood at 4.7%, which is elevated from a CLO equity perspective. Such exposures are typically penalised in cashflow modelling, weighing on CLO equity valuations.