Nuveen the Latest to Launch New CLO ETF Strategies

Nuveen is jumping onto the bandwagon with BondBloxx and Virtus as it announced the launch of its own CLO ETF strategies in a bid to expand its alternatives platform.

The new fund, Nuveen AA-BBB CLO ETF, will invest primarily in single-A rated CLOs to “complement traditional income portfolios,” according to Head of Global Wealth Advisory Services Jeff Carlin. Nuveen also plans to convert its existing CLO Opportunities Fund, currently an LP fund, into a proposed Nuveen Enhanced CLO Income Fund in the first quarter of next year, to provide investors access to mezzanine and equity tranches of CLOs through an interval fund structure.

Nuveen’s new CLO-ETF strategies follow closely after BondBloxx and Virtus each launched similar CLO-focused ETFs, as reported by Dakota on December 3 and December 5, respectively. Carlin said there is a growing demand among clients for the alternative credit allocation following “increased awareness of the robust yields and lower historical defaults of CLOs.”