At the end of last year, it was anticipated 2025 would be a record breaker, and the reality has exceeded even the loftiest expectations. Multiple records for issuance were set in 2025, with over €58bn in new issuance and €121bn overall. We also witnessed all-time highs in net issuance, and a record number of open CLO warehouses.

CLO research desks are bullish on 2026 continuing this momentum and anticipate another record year for new issuance, with forecasts falling somewhere within the €50-€70bn range. But predictions for repricings range between €35-€55bn, shy of 2025 year-to-date figures, with a consensus that resets have a heightened sensitivity to triple-A spread movements compared to this time last year.

Banks also generally agree on the attractiveness of European CLO triple-As over their US counterparts, with many observing better relative value, as well as expecting a beneficial technical environment in 2026.

European CLO ETFs and private credit CLOs also continue to evolve, with banks mentioning ETFs as another source of triple-A buyers and PC CLOs as a potential direct lending funding tool.