KBRA Releases Research – European CLO Manager Style Comparisons: September 2025 Update

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KBRA releases a report that compares collateralised loan obligation (CLO) manager styles or approaches to investing in leveraged loan pools.

As part of KBRA’s series on European CLO manager styles, this report follows our March 2025 update, highlighting key changes since that publication and focusing on the differences between CLO managers when evaluated across selected cross-metrics. While the governing classifications are Opportunistic and Conservative, these are not intended to imply any positive or negative sentiment. Rather, they are used solely for information purposes to display and distribute the data.

Key Takeaways

• Turnover across the manager rankings moderated over the past six months, with more managers retaining a top 10 status within their cohorts.
• In the most opportunistic cohort, five managers that featured in the March 2025 report remained in the top 10. Among the new entrants to this group, GSO/Blackstone, Capital Four, Investcorp, and Cross Ocean each moved more than 14 positions in the rankings. This migration reflected not only the managers’ move toward a more opportunistic stance but also a broader market drift toward the conservative end. As the broader market turned more conservative, these managers either maintain or leaned further into an opportunistic style and moved up the rankings.
• In line with our March 2025 update, the top 10 conservative leaning managers either held their place or increased in rank, apart from Redding Ridge, which dropped from first to second. This cohort exhibited greater stability relative to our prior update, with six managers—Redding Ridge, Brigade, Barings, Pemberton, Neuberger Berman, and Fair Oaks—remaining within the most conservative group since March 2024. Notably, Redding Ridge has consistently appeared in the top 10 since June 2022.
• Among the four new entrants to the most conservative cohort, GoldenTree moved over 40 places toward the conservative end, a shift largely driven by a lower equity yield, a smaller share of non-senior secured loans, and a reduced percentage of loans rated CCC or lower.
• Although moderately leaning managers are typically subject to greater ranking volatility given their mid-range positioning, four managers—Serone CM, Canyon Capital, Sound Point, and CQS—remained in the most balanced group from our March 2025 update. Of the six new entrants to this group, Bridgepoint—previously ranked in the 10 most conservative leaning managers—moved 35 positions to join the more balanced group. The migration was primarily due to higher equity yield as well as increased market value overcollateralisation at the triple A rated tranche level (MVOC (AAA)).

Click here to view the report.

Recent Publications

• European CLO Manager Style Comparisons: March 2025 Update
• European CLO Manager Style Comparisons: April 2024 Update
• Recurring Revenue Loan Metrics Dashboard: Q2 2025
• LSTA and DealCatalyst Annual CLO Conference Recap
• Structured Credit Trend Watch: Tariff Uncertainty Clouds Issuance
• Private Credit: BDCs, Asset Managers, and MM CLOs Square Off Against Trade Tensions and Market Volatility

About KBRA

KBRA, one of the major credit rating agencies, is registered in the U.S., EU, and the UK. KBRA is recognized as a Qualified Rating Agency in Taiwan, and is also a Designated Rating Organization for structured finance ratings in Canada. As a full-service credit rating agency, investors can use KBRA ratings for regulatory capital purposes in multiple jurisdictions.

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