US BSL CLO AAA Spreads Remain Elevated
When the loan market is strong and stable, CLO issuance tends to benefit significantly, as tighter AAA spreads gain momentum...
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When the loan market is strong and stable, CLO issuance tends to benefit significantly, as tighter AAA spreads gain momentum...
Overall, CCC/Caa exposures between US BSL and EU CLOs are broadly comparable across multiple vintages.
Among the 15 EU CLO deals priced since 25 June 2025, top-tier (tightest 10%) pricing for AAA, AA, A, BBB, BB, and B tranches was 131.4, 190, 222, 310, 560, and 850 bps, respectively. CIFC European Funding VII and Fidelity Grand Harbour CLO 2025-1 priced their AAA tranches at 131 bps — among the tightest levels recorded.
Given strong loan prices, it is an opportune time to fully liquidate seasoned deals that are due for a call.
Primary US BSL CLO Pricing: Assessing Relative Value Across the Capital Stack (July 14, 2025)
Last week saw active BWIC trading in both long- and short-dated BB tranches. This article summarises key observations across different cohorts.
Benchmarking YTD Average Prints of Top-Tier vs Emerging EU CLO Managers
Primary US BSL CLO Pricing: Assessing Relative Value Across the Capital Stack (July 8, 2025)
EU CLO managers such as KKR, Partners Group, Alcentra, RRAM, Whitestar, Oaktree, Anchorage, and Five Arrows have performed well in resetting their outstanding deals.
The table below shows, for each manager, the total number of deals in the sample that have exited their non-call periods, along with the number of CLO resets conducted since mid-2023. Resets can offer meaningful benefits to both debt and equity investors. For debt holders, a reset functions much like a large prepayment event, with all tranches repaid at par — a favourable outcome, particularly for out-of-the-money senior tranches issued at tight spreads. Lower mezzanine investors also tend to prefer deals with a higher likelihood of reset, as it provides downside protection akin to an insurance policy. In underperforming deals, these tranches may trade at a discount due to low MVOCs, even in strong loan markets. A reset restores them to par, helping to mitigate risk.
US BSL CLO AAA tranches are currently pricing cheaply relative to their year-to-date averages.
Relative to their year-to-date averages, EU CLO AAA, AA, BB, and single-B tranches are currently screening as cheap.
As shown in the first table below, DMs ranged from 102 to 122 and WALs from 0.82 to 2.43 years for selected tighter-print US BSL CLO AAA bonds that traded above par.
Benchmarking EU CLO Pricing Across the Capital Stack
Benchmarking US BSL CLO Pricing Across the Capital Stack
