Is This CLO-Focused Fixed Income ETF a Buy After O'Donnell Financial Bought Shares Worth $6.8 Million?

What happened

According to a January 28, 2026, SEC filing, O’Donnell Financial Services, LLC increased its stake in BlackRock ETF Trust II - iShares AAA CLO Active ETF (NASDAQ:CLOA) by acquiring 131,914 shares. The estimated value of the purchases is $6.83 million based on the average closing price during the fourth quarter. At quarter’s end, the position’s value increased by $6.82 million, reflecting both trade activity and price movement.

What else to know

This was a buy; post-trade, the CLOA position accounts for 2.47% of reportable assets under management.

Top holdings after the filing:

• NYSEMKT: SPYM: $61.52 million (21.0% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT: DSTL: $29.26 million (10.0% of AUM)
• NASDAQ: RDVY: $24.81 million (8.5% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT: MGK: $20.12 million (6.9% of AUM)
• NASDAQ: FTGS: $17.51 million (6.0% of AUM)

As of January 28, 2026, shares were priced at $52.02. The one-year total return is 5.5%, underperforming the S&P 500 by 9.5 percentage points.

CLOA’s annualized dividend yield stands at 5.32%. The price is 0.07% below its 52-week high.

ETF overview

ETF snapshot

• Investment strategy focuses on actively managing a portfolio of U.S. dollar-denominated AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), aiming to deliver attractive income with high credit quality.
• Underlying holdings consist primarily of AAA-rated CLO tranches, with flexibility to invest across maturities while maintaining a non-diversified structure.
• Expense ratio is 0.2%; the fund is structured as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) and targets institutional and income-focused investors seeking exposure to high-grade securitized credit.

The iShares AAA CLO Active ETF (CLOA) provides investors with access to a portfolio of high-quality, AAA-rated CLO securities, managed with an active approach to optimize yield and manage risk. The fund leverages BlackRock's expertise in structured credit to identify attractive opportunities within the CLO market, while maintaining strict credit standards.

With a sizable asset base and a focus on income generation, CLOA is designed for investors seeking enhanced yield potential from securitized credit, combined with the liquidity and transparency of an ETF structure.

What this transaction means for investors

California-based financial services firm O’Donnell Financial’s purchase of the iShares AAA CLO Active ETF (CLOA) is noteworthy because the company increased its stake substantially. O’Donnell Financial held 7,868 shares of CLOA in the third quarter of 2025. After buying more in the fourth quarter, O’Donnell Financial’s holdings rose to 139,782 shares.

O’Donnell Financial’s transaction suggests the firm has a positive outlook towards CLOA. The ETF is for conservative investors interested in generating income. CLOA’s robust yield over 5% and monthly dividend payments provides that, and its focus on AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) helps to keep risk reduced.

The ETF’s holdings possess low sensitivity to interest rate changes, so the share price tends to be stable. Another advantage is that the fund is actively managed, although that means its expense ratio isn’t cheap, but at 0.2%, it’s not as expensive as some other ETFs.

CLOA looks like a solid ETF for income-minded investors, and that can explain why O’Donnell Financial decided to increase its stake. CLOA can serve as a good way to diversify a fixed-income portfolio.

Robert Izquierdo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.