The ETF is the first partnership of the firms for the European credit segment
State Street Investment Management and Blackstone Credit & Insurance will soon launch an alpha-seeking ETF on European Collateralised Loan Obligation (CLOs) (press release). The vehicle will invest in floating rate AAA rated debt tranches of CLOs and will grant access to European corporate senior secured loans and bonds.
NYSE-listed Blackstone, the ETF sub-investment manager, will actively manage the notes portfolio. State Street IM, a subsidiary of S&P 500 index firm State Street Corporation (STT), will issue the ETF for which it will act as investment manager, handle governance and the distribution to institutional investors in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom
Once received the normative approvals, the ETF will be available through a listing on Deutsche Börse Xetra, Borsa Italiana and London Stock Exchange.
Such ETF is the first partnership of the two firms for the European credit segment while they already launched two US ETFs that focus on the loans and high yield segments for which State Street IM is the sponsor and Blackstone the sub-investment manager (press release).
Blackstone is the leading global CLO and leveraged loan manager and has been an active investor in the CLO segment since 2001. The private capital giant leads the June 2025 CLO Research Group global table of CLOs investors with aum of 57.3 billion US Dollars (Carlyle – 47.5 billion and Golub Capital – 43.5 billion).
State Street IM has a proven track record in developing innovative products, including the first ETF launched in the US, listed in 1993.
Ann Prendergast, Head of EMEA of State Street Investment Management, said: “Building on more than a decade of partnership with Blackstone, we are excited to be able to offer European investors diversified exposure to the CLO market. Both State Street IM and Blackstone have brought their strong expertise and global scale to the development of this product. With an actively managed ETF, we intend to leverage this expertise with the shared goal of generating higher returns from liquid debt tranches, which have historically offered high yields and a low duration risk profile.”
Mark Alberici, Global Head of Product Innovation and Strategic Partnership of State Street Investment Management, added: “With this launch, we are expanding our partnership with Blackstone in the liquid credit sector beyond the borders of the United States and are excited to bring Blackstone’s historical expertise in CLOs to the European market through the UCITS ETF structure, with the goal of continuing to democratise investing and help reduce barriers to entry in this historically difficult-to-access market sector.”
Dan Leiter, Blackstone Credit & Insurance Global Head of Liquid Credit Strategies and Head of International, said: “We are pleased to partner with State Street to expand access to liquid credit in Europe. As a leading global CLO manager, we see strong momentum in Europe, an area where Blackstone and our credit business believe and are growing.”
Michael Sobol, Blackstone Credit & Insurance Global Head of CLO Investing, concluded: “The European credit market offers a range of robust and attractive investment opportunities. This initiative leverages our 25-year presence in the region and our leadership in the CLO market both in Europe and globally, with a track record of performance and value creation for investors.”
The European CLOs market is currently worth 250 billion euros and in the last five years recorded a median annual growth of 8%.
