EU Module

This week saw several US CLO equity tranches trade or be talked at levels materially lower than on their previous BWIC dates.

The first table in this article shows the average annualised prepayment rates for each seasoned manager in the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth years of the post-reinvestment period (post-RP). The sample includes deals that had exited their reinvestment periods by 31 December 2024.

CLO equity has faced a challenging period, with ongoing asset repricing weighing on annual distributions. Still, there are bright spots in the market. For example, a majority equity stake, ARES 2023-ALF4A SUB, was recently traded via BWIC. The deal’s accretive reset, priced by Citigroup on 3 October 2025, reduced its WACC by nearly 80 bps—more than offsetting the 60 bps decline in its underlying collateral spread since inception.

Across these vintages, reset deals outperformed their non-reset counterparts, underscoring the value of resetting.

Yesterday saw several US BSL CLO and EU CLO equity tranches from the 2018–2021 and 2024 vintages trade in the secondary market.

Below are tables presenting the MVOC (AAA-B) and EQ NAV of EU CLO deals by vintage, based on asset prices as of 17 October 2025.

Based on a detailed review of 596 EU CLO deals, this study highlights which managers have delivered standout equity results across vintages. Redding Ridge AM and Bridgepoint Credit lead the way, with several others also ranking in the top quartile. Out of the 596 deals in the sample, 251 adopt a vertical risk retention structure and 345 a first-loss risk retention structure. Overall, first-loss deals have outperformed their vertical counterparts. For instance, the median vertical equity tranche ranks at the 46th percentile, compared with the median first-loss equity tranche at the 54th percentile. Twenty-eight EU CLO managers have both vertical and first-loss deals under management. Of these, 18 saw their first-loss deals outperform their vertical deals on average, while 10 experienced stronger performance from their vertical deals.

Yesterday, a notice was announced on Cairn CLO VIII, in which the retention holder directed the redemption of the rated notes.

The reset of Carlyle Global Market Strategies Euro CLO 2015-1 priced yesterday. The deal, originally closed in March 2015, was refinanced in April 2017 and first reset in February 2020.

Among 2025 EU CLOs, the median WAS compression since inception was about 8 bps. A quarter of deals saw at least 14 bps of compression, while around 16–17% managed to maintain or improve their WAS.

Since closing, the deal’s reported WAS has declined from 415 bps to 370 bps as at 29 August 2025. However, its recent reset offset the impact of asset spread compression, cutting WACC by roughly 31.2 bps while extending the RP by 1.5 years.

AVOCA 31X SUB traded with a cover bid of 79.02 (source: SCI). This 2024 deal closed on 6 September 2024, with its non-call period ending on 5 March 2026 and a reinvestment end date of 15 April 2029. Its current WACC stands at 196 bps, with the AAA tranche priced at Euribor +125 bps.

2025 is on course to be another record-breaking year. This article explores some of the key ingredients behind strong primary issuance.

Yesterday saw active trading in CLO equity. Blackstone, RBC BlueBay, Alcentra, and PGIM See Equity Tranches Stand Out in BWICs

Among 121 EU CLOs that have been, or are expected to be, fully redeemed, equity tranches from the 2020, 2022, and 2023 vintages stand out with strong final IRRs and average equity NAVs above 100%. The analysis also compares outcomes between first-loss and vertical risk retention deals, which so far have shown broadly similar performance. By vintage, reset deals outperformed non-resets across 2013–2016, underscoring the value of resetting.