T. Rowe Price announced its entrance to the market as an issuer of collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) with the debut of ROWE CLO 2026-1 Ltd., a USD 403.59 million CLO secured primarily by broadly syndicated first-lien loans. The firm's activity in the CLO marketplace will be conducted through its investment adviser, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. T. Rowe Price's CLO business is an extension of the firm's established fixed income platform. The initiative complements and leverages T. Rowe Price's successful bank loan franchise and its securitized investment team to offer investors access to higher-income strategies using its bespoke credit selection.
T. Rowe Price made its first bank loan investment in 2002 and expanded into CLO tranche investing in 2016. The firm has continued to strengthen its expertise, research capabilities, and related technology investments over time. The T. Rowe Price Associates CLO team is separate and distinct from OHA, a leading global credit-focused alternative asset manager that T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. acquired in 2021.
Each firm will operate independently in the CLO market. As of February 28, 2026, T. Rowe Price's fixed income assets under management totaled USD 335 billion. This figure includes USD 40 billion in leveraged credit and structured finance, with USD 17 billion combined assets in bank loans and CLO tranche investments and USD 119 billion from T. Rowe Price multi-asset portfolios, among other fixed income portfolios.
Wells Fargo Securities, LLC served as arranger, placement agent, and structuring agent. A collateralized loan obligation (CLO) is a structured credit product that issues floating rate debt and equity securities. The proceeds from issuance are used to invest in a diversified pool of floating rate bank loans, typically issued by companies with lower credit ratings.
CLOs are privately offered to certain institutional investors based on their appetite for risk. The underlying assets of CLOs are actively managed by professional portfolio managers.
