CLO Research

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Garnet’s Emerging Glow: Rapid Convergence Toward Top-Tier Pricing

For an emerging manager, this represents a notable and rapid move toward top-tier status — at least across the AA/BBB/BB tranches — within a relatively short period of time. The progression likely reflects consistently clean portfolios characterized by very low WARF and tight WAS levels. The manager’s strategy of maintaining very clean portfolios, which has proven effective, could serve as a useful case study for other emerging CLO managers seeking to achieve competitive liability prints within a relatively short timeframe.

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EU CLO Managers: Rankings Based on MVOC (BB) as of 9 February 2026

A sample of 580 EU CLO deals (vintage 2013–1H 2025) is included in this study. Deals with a collateral pool factor below 60% are excluded. Market Value Over-Collateralization (MVOC), for instance, at the BB tranche level, is calculated by dividing the collateral market value (MV) by the sum of CLO liabilities (AAA to BB). MVOC is a key point-in-time metric for valuing CLO-rated tranches, widely tracked by participants in both primary and secondary markets.

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Understanding The Commonly Used CLO Deal Metrics and Their Limitations (Updated)

CLOs are primarily actively managed, and some commonly used deal metrics—point-in-time indicators—can occasionally be misleading. While these metrics can be useful, they should not be considered in isolation. Additionally, combining multiple metrics does not necessarily provide a clearer picture. For example, the weighted average price (WAP) of a CLO portfolio does not measure return performance over time and can be artificially inflated by trading activity. Though WAP is helpful for quick screening, it is not a reliable indicator of whether one manager has outperformed another. The same applies to annual equity distributions—a higher distribution does not necessarily indicate better manager performance. Therefore, combining these two metrics does not necessarily offer a more accurate assessment of a manager's performance.

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US CLO Arbitrage

As of 9 February 2026, the arbitrage metric for non-short-dated US CLOs has improved, reflecting a widening four-week moving-average loan discounted spread alongside tight liability prints. At approximately 173 bps, this has returned to levels last seen in early July 2025.

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US BSL CLO Managers Ranked by MVOC (BB) as of February 5, 2026

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.

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US BSL CLOs: Idiosyncratic Risk Buckets in Collateral Pools

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.

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