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When looking at the alpha performance in each category, it's clear that larger EU CLO managers are not doing worse than their smaller peers. In fact, they performed slightly better.

The chart below depicts the average alpha metric trends for deals with horizontal slice risk retention (manager's retention) and deals with vertical strip risk retention (third-party majority equity). Interestingly, deals with vertical strip risk retention consistently outperformed their counterparts. However, more recently, their median performance metrics have shown convergence. As of the latest reading on September 6, 2023, the median deal with horizontal slice risk retention slightly outperformed the median deal with vertical strip risk retention.

Debt investors generally prefer a quicker prepayment rate, as this results in a faster pull to par. Conversely, a slower prepayment rate would lead to a longer duration of the debt tranches and potentially higher price volatility if the MVOC is also low. On the other hand, CLO equity investors would prefer to see low prepayment rates, especially during the first two years following the reinvestment period.

The WACC for the most recent US BSL CLO reset deal was priced at approximately 228 basis points (bp). The table below lists a total of 96 deals from 2022 with a WACC exceeding 240 bp. These deals offer a potential cost savings of at least 12 bp. This figure aligns with the cost savings of 12 bp, which corresponds to the 25th percentile, observed in the reset pricing of 2019 vintage deals.

The WACC for the most recent EU CLO deal, which included a single-B tranche, was priced at approximately 285 basis points (bp). The table below outlines a total of 20 deals from 2022 that feature a WACC exceeding 294 bp. These deals present a potential cost savings of at least 9 bp. This figure aligns with the cost savings of 9 bp, which corresponds to the 25th percentile, observed in the reset pricing of 2019 vintage deals.

Despite the EU's lower interest rate environment, we have observed that EU CLO equity tranches in reset deals have exhibited higher median annual distributions than their US counterparts across vintages from 2013 to 2015 and 2017 to 2018.

US CLOs generally enjoy a competitive edge over their EU counterparts in the realm of equity distributions, primarily due to a more favorable interest rate environment in the U.S. Nevertheless, despite the disadvantage posed by the EU's lower interest rate environment, CLO deals from 2017 and 2018 in the EU display notably better NIM and first distribution metrics. These strong figures effectively offset this drawback, as highlighted by their robust annual distributions.

Non-reset seasoned deals from 2012 to 2016 exhibited considerably poorer performance compared to their reset counterparts.

Below are tables presenting the MVOC (AAA-B) and EQ NAV of US BSL CLO deals by vintage, based on asset...

Below are tables presenting the MVOC (AAA-B) and EQ NAV of EU CLO deals by vintage, based on asset prices...

For the older vintage deals, the median annual distributions were largely in the 13-15% range. However, the median 2014 and 2015 vintage deals stood out with impressive 14.5-14.9% annual distributions. If the 2014 median equity tranche can be sold at a price of EUR 34, then the primary equity investor would achieve the target 12.0% IRR over an 8.7-year period, assuming an issue price of EUR 95.

In essence, resetting a deal extends the total reinvestment period, which is positive from an equity standpoint. If a CLO deal can generate an annual equity distribution of 13–14 points over a period of 8–11 years, its equity is likely to perform reasonably well, even if its final equity NAV is poor. It’s worth noting that most of the seasoned reset deals were active during a period of very low-interest rates.

This study underscores the significant divergence in investment performance between the top and bottom 10 US CLO managers based on their alpha. The findings emphasize the critical role of effective manager selection in achieving favorable results. While metrics like par build and weighted average price offer insights, they don't tell the whole story. Conversely, the average WAS, WARF, and liquidity depth metrics for both groups show minimal variance, indicating a limited correlation of these metrics with investment performance based on this sample.

Below are tables presenting the MVOC (AAA-B) and EQ NAV of US BSL CLO deals by vintage, based on asset...

Below are tables presenting the MVOC (AAA-B) and EQ NAV of EU CLO deals by vintage, based on asset prices...