Assets under management (AUM) increased in April for both U.S. CLOs and retail loan funds. CLO AUM edged up to $430 billion, while loan mutual funds & ETFs AUM increased to nearly $112 billion. Over the past year, CLOs and retail loan funds have experienced contrasting fortunes. In that time period, U.S. CLO AUM is up roughly $28 billion, while loan fund AUM is down by nearly the same amount ($27 billion). Recently, CLO AUM has been aided by steady though not spectacular issuance, as CLO deal flow trended marginally higher in April, amounting to $5.9 billion (14 deals), up from $4.9 billion in March and $2.5 billion in February. 
This brought year to date issuance to $14.1 billion (34 deals), down sharply from $41.2 billion (76 deals) in the same period last year. More recently, there have been an additional $1.7 billion of issuance (4 deals) so far this month through May 13. For retail loan funds, though outflows have been the dominant trend in recent times, early May has seen modest inflows of $387 million (based on funds which report flows on a weekly basis).
Private Credit Defaults 101: Back to School
As Labor Day approaches, the unofficial end of summer is upon us. But, before we get too sad, there is also the familiar back-to-school energy.