Ellington Credit Co

CLO Performance

The quarter ended March 31, 2026 began on a constructive note, with credit spreads tightening and leveraged loan prices rising early in the year. However, market sentiment deteriorated as the quarter progressed, driven by growing concerns about the potential disruptive effects that artificial intelligence could have on corporate borrowers in the software sector. Broadly syndicated loans to the software sector, which represent roughly 11%4 of all CLO loan collateral, posted a negative total return of (5.5%)4 for the quarter, creating a significant drag on the performance of the wider CLO market. These pressures were compounded by broader macroeconomic volatility, including escalating geopolitical tensions. As a result, credit spreads widened materially, and prices on the Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index fell 2.2% from their January peak through quarter end. The European leveraged loan market faced similar price declines.

This weakness in leveraged loans drove broader spread widening across CLO debt tranche spreads during the quarter, with performance diverging sharply by credit quality. Senior tranches (AAA through A) were relatively resilient, outperforming both investment-grade and high-yield corporate bond indices. In contrast, lower-rated CLO debt experienced significant spread widening, particularly BB-rated tranches, where heavy selling pressure—driven by heightened credit concerns and sector-specific weaknesses—led to underperformance.

Meanwhile, elevated default concerns weighed heavily on CLO equity valuations, particularly for CLOs with higher exposure to lower-rated loans. These pressures were further compounded by the continued compression of net interest margins within most CLOs, particularly earlier in the quarter, which reduced the excess interest available to CLO equity tranches. Overall, CLO equity generated significant losses for the quarter, as both excess interest and CLO liquidation values declined simultaneously. These effects were even more pronounced for European CLO equity tranches.

Our investment portfolio generated negative results for the quarter, as unrealized losses concentrated in CLO equity exceeded net investment income, trading gains on mezzanine debt, and gains from the call of mezzanine debt positions held at discounts to par. At March 31, 2026, our CLO portfolio had a fair value of $307.9 million and a weighted average projected yield of 16.6% (based on fair value), and we held cash and cash equivalents of $57.7 million.