Ares Capital Corp (ARCC) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Ares Capital Corporation's third quarter ended September 30, 2025, earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. I will now turn the call over to Mr. John Stilmar, a Partner on Ares Public Markets Investor Relations team. Please go ahead, sir.

大家下午好。歡迎參加 Ares Capital Corporation 截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日的第三季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）提醒各位，本次會議將於 2025 年 10 月 28 日星期二錄製。現在我將把電話轉交給 Ares Public Markets 投資者關係團隊的合夥人 John Stilmar 先生。請繼續，先生。

Great. Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Let me start with some important reminders. Comments made during the course of this conference call and webcast and the accompanying documents contain forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties. The company's actual results could differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements for any reason, including those of listed in its SEC filings.

偉大的。謝謝大家，大家下午好。首先，我想提醒大家幾點重要事項。本次電話會議和網路直播期間所作的評論以及隨附文件包含前瞻性陳述，並受風險和不確定性的影響。由於各種原因，包括公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中列出的原因，公司的實際業績可能與此類前瞻性聲明中表達的業績存在重大差異。

Ares Capital Corporation assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Please also note that past performance or market information is not a guarantee of future results. During this conference call, the company may discuss certain non-GAAP measures as defined by SEC Regulation G, such as core earnings per share or core EPS. The company believes that core EPS provides useful information to investors regarding financial performance because it is one method the company uses to measure its financial condition and results of operations.

Ares Capital Corporation 不承擔更新任何此類前瞻性聲明的義務。另請注意，過去的業績或市場資訊並不保證未來的結果。在本次電話會議中，本公司可能會討論美國證券交易委員會 G 條例定義的某些非公認會計準則指標，例如核心每股盈餘或核心 EPS。該公司認為，核心每股收益能夠為投資者提供有關財務業績的有用信息，因為它是該公司用來衡量其財務狀況和經營成果的一種方法。

A reconciliation of GAAP net income per share, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure to core EPS can be found in the accompanying slide presentation for this call.

GAAP每股淨收益（與核心EPS最直接可比較的GAAP財務指標）的調整表可在本次電話會議的隨附投影片簡報中找到。

In addition, reconciliation of these measures may also be found in our earnings release filed this morning with the SEC on Form 8-K. Certain information discussed on this conference call and the accompanying slide presentation, including information relating to portfolio companies, was derived from third-party sources and has not been independently verified. And accordingly, the company makes no representation or warranties with respect to this information.

此外，這些措施的核對結果也可以在我們今天早上以 8-K 表格形式向美國證券交易委員會提交的收益報告中找到。本次電話會議及隨附的幻燈片演示中討論的某些信息，包括與投資組合公司相關的信息，均來自第三方來源，未經獨立核實。因此，本公司對此資訊不作任何陳述或保證。

The company's third quarter ended September 30, 2025 earnings presentation can be found on the company's website at www.arescapitalcorp.com by clicking on the third quarter 2025 earnings presentation link of the home page of the investor resources section of our web page. Ares Capital Corporation's earnings release and Form 10-Q are also available on the company's website.

您可以在公司網站 www.arescapitalcorp.com 上找到截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日的第三季度收益演示文稿，只需點擊我們網頁首頁投資者資源部分的“2025 年第三季度收益演示文稿”鏈接即可。Ares Capital Corporation 的收益報告和 10-Q 表格也可在公司網站上查閱。

I will now turn the call over to Kort Schnabel, Ares Capital Corporation's Chief Executive Officer. Kort?

現在我將把電話交給 Ares Capital Corporation 的執行長 Kort Schnabel。科特？

Thanks, John, and hello, everyone, and thanks for joining our earnings call today. I'm joined by Jim Miller, our President; Jana Markowicz, our Chief Operating Officer; Scott Lem, our Chief Financial Officer; and other members of the management team, who will be available during our Q&A session.

謝謝約翰，大家好，謝謝各位參加今天的財報電話會議。與我一同出席的還有我們的總裁吉姆·米勒、首席營運官賈娜·馬爾科維茨、首席財務官斯科特·萊姆以及其他管理團隊成員，他們將在問答環節中與大家見面。

I'd like to start by highlighting our third quarter results, and we'll follow that with some thoughts on current market conditions and our positioning. This morning, we reported strong third quarter results with stable core earnings of $0.50 per share, exceeding our regular quarterly dividend and generated an annualized return on equity of 10%.

首先，我想重點介紹一下我們第三季的業績，然後我們會談談對當前市場狀況和我們市場定位的一些看法。今天早上，我們公佈了強勁的第三季業績，核心收益穩定在每股 0.50 美元，超過了我們常規的季度股息，並實現了 10% 的年化股本回報率。

GAAP earnings of $0.57 per share increased almost 10% sequentially and included robust net realized gains from the exit of a previously restructured portfolio company as well as several equity co-investments. These outcomes led to another quarter of NAV growth, marking the ninth NAV increase in the past 10 quarters and underscoring our position as one of the few BDCs with consistent and growing dividends and cumulative NAV per share growth over the last 10 years.

GAAP每股收益為0.57美元，季增近10%，其中包括從先前重組的投資組合公司退出中獲得的強勁淨實現收益以及幾項股權共同投資。這些成果促成了又一個季度的淨資產值增長，這是過去 10 個季度中的第九次淨資產值增長，也凸​​顯了我們作為少數幾家在過去 10 年中持續派發不斷增長的股息和累計每股淨資產值增長的商業發展公司之一的地位。

Let me start with our views on the market environment and how we are positioned. New issue transaction volumes are returning to a more normalized pace, driven by greater clarity on tariffs and the direction of short-term interest rates and narrowing bid-ask spreads on buyouts. With this healthier market backdrop, we saw a noticeable acceleration in the volume of transactions under review, both sequentially and compared to the prior year with more deals reviewed in September than in any month this year.

首先，我想談談我們對市場環境的看法以及我們的市場定位。受關稅和短期利率走向更明朗以及收購買賣價差收窄的推動，新發行交易量正恢復到更正常的水平。在這種更健康的市場背景下，我們看到正在審查的交易量明顯加快增長，無論是環比還是與去年同期相比，9 月份審查的交易數量都超過了今年任何一個月。

We also received an increase in requests from advisers who are running sale processes and looking for our indicative terms and pricing. Amid a firming market for M&A and Ares leading presence in US and global direct lending, we reviewed more than $875 billion in estimated transactions over the last 12 months, which was a record for us and supports our view that the market continues to expand.

我們也收到了更多來自顧問的諮詢，他們正在進行銷售流程，並希望了解我們的參考條款和定價。在併購市場走強以及 Ares 在美國和全球直接貸款領域佔據領先地位的背景下，我們審查了過去 12 個月超過 8750 億美元的估計交易，這對我們來說是一個創紀錄的數字，也支持了我們對市場持續擴張的看法。

As a reminder, we view our origination scale, which enables us to be highly selective as a critical driver of our long-term credit performance. The breadth of our origination platform provides the opportunity to pass on transactions when we cannot find acceptable documentation, terms or pricing.

再次提醒大家，我們認為自身的貸款發放規模（這使我們能夠進行高度篩選）是我們長期信貸業績的關鍵驅動因素。我們廣泛的交易發起平台為我們提供了機會，讓我們在找不到可接受的文件、條款或定價時，能夠轉手交易。

Our scale and sector specialization enhances our market knowledge and underwriting capabilities while also providing us a real-time view of relative value in the market. These factors contributed to net deployment for ARCC of $1.3 billion in the third quarter, more than double the prior quarter while remaining highly selective on the transactions we pursued.

我們的規模和行業專業化增強了我們對市場的了解和承保能力，同時也讓我們能夠即時了解市場中的相對價值。這些因素促成了 ARCC 第三季淨投資額達到 13 億美元，比上一季翻了一番還多，同時我們對所進行的交易仍保持高度選擇性。

Our focus on investing in the highest quality credits continues to support strong fundamental credit metrics. The last 12 months organic EBITDA growth for our portfolio companies remains in the low double digits, which is well in excess of market growth rates. Our interest coverage increased further to over 2x and weighted average loan to values continue to be in the low 40% range.

我們持續專注於投資最高品質的信貸產品，這支撐了我們強勁的基本面信貸指標。過去 12 個月，我們投資組合公司的有機 EBITDA 成長率保持在兩位數的低水平，遠高於市場成長率。我們的利息保障倍數進一步提高到 2 倍以上，加權平均貸款價值比持續維持在 40% 左右。

Our strong credit quality is also evidenced by our declining non-accruals on a quarter-over-quarter basis, along with net realized and unrealized gains and growth in NAV per share for the third quarter. We also take comfort in our portfolio's focus on domestic, service-oriented businesses, which mitigates risks associated with tariffs, shifts in government spending and other recent policy changes.

我們強勁的信貸品質也反映在季度環比下降的非應計項目，以及第三季度已實現和未實現的淨收益和每股淨資產值的增長。我們也感到欣慰的是，我們的投資組合專注於國內服務型企業，這降低了與關稅、政府支出變化和其他近期政策變化相關的風險。

Our third quarter net realized gains reinforced our long-term track record of generating over $1 billion of net realized gains in excess of realized losses since our inception over two decades ago. Our differentiated results stem from our extensive origination capabilities, allowing for selectivity and strong underwriting as well as our large and experienced portfolio management team which focuses not just on minimizing losses, but also on maximizing returns when situations don't go as planned.

第三季的淨實現收益鞏固了我們自二十多年前成立以來，每年淨實現收益超過實際損失 10 億美元的長期良好記錄。我們所取得的差異化成果源自於我們強大的業務拓展能力，使我們能夠進行選擇性投資和強有力的承保，以及我們龐大且經驗豐富的投資組合管理團隊，該團隊不僅專注於最大限度地減少損失，而且在情況不如預期時最大限度地提高回報。

We also benefit from our deliberate equity co-investment strategy that has generated attractive returns over time. Our third quarter results illustrate the value we provide to our shareholders from realized equity gains. Most notably, we recognized a $262 million realized gain on the sale of Potomac Energy Center, a previously underperforming investment that was on non-accrual in the past and was then restructured and ultimately owned by ARCC.

我們也受益於我們精心製定的股權共同投資策略，該策略隨著時間的推移產生了可觀的回報。我們第三季的業績反映了我們透過已實現的股權收益為股東創造的價值。最值得注意的是，我們確認了出售波托馬克能源中心的 2.62 億美元已實現收益。波托馬克能源中心先前表現不佳，過去曾處於非應計狀態，後來經過重組，最終由 ARCC 所有。

With the restructuring of Potomic's balance sheet, the incremental capital we invested, our proactive management of the company and patients, we were able to achieve an IRR of approximately 15% on our investment rather than incurring a loss. We also generated net realized gains from the exit of three equity co-investments generating over $30 million in realized proceeds and representing a 2.5x multiple on our original invested capital, an average gross IRR in excess of 30%.

透過重組 Potomic 的資產負債表，我們投入的額外資本，以及我們對公司和患者的積極管理，我們實現了約 15% 的投資內部收益率，而不是遭受損失。我們也透過退出三項股權共同投資獲得了淨實現收益，實現了超過 3,000 萬美元的收益，相當於我們原始投資資本的 2.5 倍，平均總內部收益率超過 30%。

This supports our track record of generating an average gross IRR on our equity co-investment portfolio that was more than double the S&P 500 total return over the last 10 years. Collectively, our net realized gain performance, both this quarter and cumulatively underscores the strength of our investment strategy and deep portfolio management capabilities that drive differentiated results for our investors.

這印證了我們過去 10 年的業績記錄，即我們的股權共同投資組合的平均總內部收益率是標普 500 總回報率的兩倍多。整體而言，我們本季和累積的淨實現收益表現凸顯了我們投資策略的實力和深厚的投資組合管理能力，從而為我們的投資者帶來了差異化的回報。

As I noted earlier, we believe our portfolio remains healthy and demonstrates solid underlying credit trends. With respect to risks recently in the headlines, we have no exposure to First Brands or Tricolor nor do we have any exposure to non-prime consumer finance firms like Tricolor.

正如我之前提到的，我們認為我們的投資組合依然健康，並展現出穩健的基本信貸趨勢。就最近新聞頭條報道的風險而言，我們既沒有持有 First Brands 或 Tricolor 的股份，也沒有持有像 Tricolor 這樣的非優質消費金融公司的股份。

Following the recent events at First Brands, we've been asked about whether our portfolio companies use receivables financing and if such financing poses any hidden risks for us. We do not believe there are hidden risks in our portfolio from the small number of portfolio companies that may use receivables financing.

在 First Brands 最近發生的事件之後，我們被問及我們的投資組合公司是否使用應收帳款融資，以及這種融資方式是否會為我們帶來任何隱藏的風險。我們認為，由於少數投資組合公司可能使用應收帳款融資，因此我們的投資組合中不存在隱藏風險。

Additionally, as part of a normal ordinary course business practice, our team thoroughly diligences any receivables financing arrangement, along with vetting the broader capital structure of the business during the underwriting process. If such financing remains in place post close, it is typically subject to strict parameters and is monitored during the life of our investment. These structural safeguards are a core part of our documentation standards and in our view, represent one of the strengths in our documentation, especially in comparison to the broadly syndicated market.

此外，作為正常業務流程的一部分，我們的團隊會在承銷過程中對任何應收帳款融資安排進行徹底的盡職調查，並審查企業的整體資本結構。如果此類融資在交易完成後繼續存在，通常會受到嚴格的限制，並在我們的投資存續期間受到監控。這些結構性保障措施是我們文件標準的核心部分，我們認為，它們代表了我們文件的優勢之一，尤其是在與廣泛聯合的市場相比時。

Like First Brands and Tricolor, another topic that has been in the headlines recently is software and the potential risks posed by AI. Let me make a few comments on how we have carefully constructed our software portfolio over two decades of investing in this sector and why we believe AI is much more of an opportunity than a risk for our software borrowers.

與 First Brands 和 Tricolor 一樣，最近頻頻登上新聞頭條的另一個話題是軟體以及人工智慧帶來的潛在風險。讓我談談我們在過去二十年投資該領域的過程中，是如何精心構建我們的軟體投資組合的，以及為什麼我們認為人工智慧對於我們的軟體借款人來說，更多的是機會而不是風險。

As a starting point, our software loans are financed at what we believe are conservative leverage levels with an average loan-to-value ratio of only 36% and none of our software loans are currently on non-accrual. Our focus is on financing large, market-leading and well-capitalized software companies with strong growth prospects.

首先，我們認為軟體貸款的融資槓桿水準較保守，平均貸款成數僅為 36%，我們目前沒有任何軟體貸款處於非應計狀態。我們專注於為規模龐大、市場領先、資本雄厚且具有強勁成長前景的軟體公司提供融資。

As an example, our software portfolio companies have a weighted average EBITDA of over $350 million, and they continue to demonstrate strong double-digit EBITDA growth over the last 12 months. Our borrowers are generally backed by leading sponsors in the software industry who not only have substantial capital resources but are also proactively investing in their platforms to embrace the changes and potential prompted by AI.

例如，我們投資組合中的軟體公司加權平均 EBITDA 超過 3.5 億美元，並且在過去 12 個月中繼續保持強勁的兩位數 EBITDA 成長。我們的借款人通常由軟體產業的領先贊助商支持，這些贊助商不僅擁有雄厚的資本資源，而且還在積極投資於他們的平台，以迎接人工智慧帶來的變革和潛力。

While we believe AI excels at analyzing data and generating high-quality content, it typically does not provide the foundational infrastructure required for critical business operations or systems of record. These functions still rely heavily on traditional software systems that can securely store data and facilitate complex transactions.

雖然我們相信人工智慧在分析資料和產生高品質內容方面表現出色，但它通常無法提供關鍵業務營運或記錄系統所需的基礎架構。這些功能仍然嚴重依賴能夠安全儲存資料和促進複雜交易的傳統軟體系統。

We have, therefore, historically focused almost entirely on financing software companies that operate B2B platforms and typically serve highly regulated industries, leverage proprietary data or deliver repeatable, consistent results core to business operations.

因此，我們幾乎完全專注於為營運 B2B 平台的軟體公司提供融資，這些公司通常服務於高度監管的行業，利用專有數據或提供對業務運營至關重要的可重複、一致的結果。

Importantly, these companies are deeply embedded within customer operations and also benefit from high switching costs given the risk of business disruption from moving to alternative vendors which, in our view, provides additional layers of durability and resilience against potential AI disruption. While we believe AI poses minimal risk to our software loans, advancements in AI remain an important component to future value creation for these businesses.

重要的是，這些公司深深紮根於客戶的營運之中，並且由於轉向其他供應商會帶來業務中斷的風險，轉換成本也很高，我們認為這為抵禦潛在的人工智慧顛覆提供了額外的持久性和韌性。雖然我們認為人工智慧對我們的軟體貸款構成的風險很小，但人工智慧的進步仍然是這些企業未來創造價值的重要組成部分。

For example, insights generated by AI can enhance these foundational systems by improving analytics, user experience, and operational efficiencies while serving as a valuable complement and not typically a replacement for mission-critical software. Importantly, these views reflect Ares ongoing collaboration among our highly experienced software investment team, our in-house software analysts, and Ares in-house AI experts at BootstrapLabs, a leading AI-focused venture capital investment team that joined the Ares platform a few years ago.

例如，人工智慧產生的洞察力可以透過改進分析、使用者體驗和營運效率來增強這些基礎系統，同時作為關鍵任務軟體的寶貴補充，而不是替代品。重要的是，這些觀點反映了 Ares 經驗豐富的軟體投資團隊、內部軟體分析師以及 Ares 內部人工智慧專家 BootstrapLabs 之間的持續合作。 BootstrapLabs 是一家領先的專注於人工智慧的創投團隊，幾年前加入了 Ares 平台。

We leverage our entire platform to drive credit decisions on each software transaction we consider as well as in our quarterly valuation and risk assessment processes led by our portfolio management team.

我們利用整個平台來推動我們對每一筆軟體交易的信貸決策，以及由我們的投資組合管理團隊主導的季度估值和風險評估流程。

Now before turning the call over to Scott, let me address our outlook on our future earnings potential and dividend levels in light of market expectations for further declines in short-term interest rates. We believe there are distinct competitive and financial factors that position ARCC to maintain its current dividend level for the foreseeable future despite the potential headwinds to earnings posed by lower short-term interest rates.

在將電話交給 Scott 之前，我想根據市場對短期利率進一步下降的預期，談談我們對未來獲利潛力和股息水準的展望。我們認為，儘管短期利率下降可能會對獲利造成不利影響，但ARCC憑藉其獨特的競爭優勢和財務優勢，能夠在可預見的未來維持目前的股息水準。

As a starting point, in the third quarter of 2025, our core earnings continued to exceed our dividend. Second, during the last period of rising short-term interest rates in 2022 to '23, we intentionally set our dividend at a level equivalent to a 9% to 10% ROE, which is a level we have historically achieved through different interest rate cycles over the last 20 years. We set the dividend at this level because we believe we can sustain this level of profitability through market cycles.

作為起點，在 2025 年第三季度，我們的核心收益繼續超過我們的股息。其次，在 2022 年至 2023 年短期利率上升的上一時期，我們特意將股息設定在相當於 9% 至 10% 的 ROE 水平，這是我們在過去 20 年的不同利率週期中都達到的水平。我們之所以將股利設定在這個水平，是因為我們相信我們能夠在市場週期中維持這個獲利水準。

The third point worth highlighting on this topic is what we view as our unique financial position with multiple levers to expand earnings or offset headwinds solely from falling market rates. Notably, our balance sheet leverage remains around 1x, which is well below the upper end of our target range of 1.25x, giving us ample flexibility to drive higher earnings by supporting prudent growth using our efficient sources of capital.

關於這個主題，值得強調的第三點是，我們認為我們獨特的財務狀況，擁有多種槓桿來擴大收益或抵消僅因市場利率下降而帶來的不利影響。值得注意的是，我們的資產負債表槓桿率仍保持在 1 倍左右，遠低於我們 1.25 倍的目標範圍上限，這使我們能夠靈活地利用高效的資本來源，透過支持審慎成長來推動更高的獲利。

We also believe Ares growth potential to capitalize on higher-yielding opportunities within our 30% non-qualifying asset basket including through strategic investments like Ivy Hill and SDLP. Additionally, given the prospects for a more active environment alongside our origination scale, we believe there is potential for increased velocity of capital, which could drive additional capital structuring fees to further support our earnings.

我們也相信 Ares 具有成長潛力，可以利用我們 30% 非合格資產組合中收益更高的機會，包括透過 Ivy Hill 和 SDLP 等策略投資。此外，鑑於市場環境可能更加活躍，加上我們的貸款發放規模，我們認為資本週轉速度有可能加快，這可能會帶來額外的資本結構費用，進一步支持我們的收益。

Lastly, the historical strength of our earnings and credit performance has provided us with $1.26 per share in spillover income, which is equivalent to more than two quarters of our current dividends. We believe this level of spillover income gives further visibility to our investors since it provides a cushion to support our quarterly dividends in the event of temporary shortfalls in our quarterly earnings.

最後，我們以往強勁的獲利和信貸表現為我們帶來了每股 1.26 美元的溢出收入，相當於我們目前股息的兩個多季度。我們相信，這種程度的溢出收入能夠為我們的投資者提供更大的透明度，因為它可以在季度收益暫時不足的情況下為我們的季度股息提供緩衝。

In summary, we had a strong quarter with healthy credit performance and financial results that demonstrate our enduring competitive advantages. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Scott to walk us through our financial results and the continued progress we're making on our strong balance sheet.

總而言之，我們本季業績強勁，信貸表現良好，財務表現也證明了我們持久的競爭優勢。接下來，我將把電話交給史考特，讓他為我們介紹我們的財務表現以及我們在維持強勁資產負債表方面取得的持續進展。

Thanks, Kort. This morning, we reported GAAP net income per share of $0.57 for the third quarter of 2025 compared to $0.52 in the prior quarter and $0.62 in the third quarter of 2024. We also reported core earnings per share of $0.50 compared to $0.50 in the prior quarter and $0.58 for the same period a year ago. This is the 20th consecutive quarter of our core earnings exceeding our regular dividend, demonstrating our ability to consistently cover our dividends.

謝謝你，科特。今天早上，我們公佈了 2025 年第三季的 GAAP 每股淨收益為 0.57 美元，而上一季為 0.52 美元，2024 年第三季為 0.62 美元。我們還公佈了核心每股收益為 0.50 美元，與上一季的 0.50 美元和去年同期的 0.58 美元相比，均有所下降。這是我們核心收益連續第 20 個季度超過常規股息，這證明了我們有能力持續支付股息。

Drilling a bit more into the net realized gains that Kort highlighted earlier, we generated $247 million of net realized gains on investments during the third quarter, which represents our second highest net realized gain quarter since our inception and brings our cumulative net realized gains on investments since inception to approximately $1.1 billion.

更深入地了解 Kort 之前提到的淨實現收益，我們在第三季度實現了 2.47 億美元的投資淨實現收益，這是我們自成立以來第二高的淨實現收益季度，使我們自成立以來累計的投資淨實現收益達到約 11 億美元。

Similar to last quarter, we incurred capital gains taxes related to certain of the net realized gains, which amounts to $72 million in the third quarter. While we do not typically pay taxes on the annual income we generate, we occasionally incur taxes on certain gross realized gains. Even net of these taxes, our net realized gains on investments remained a healthy $175 million for the third quarter.

與上個季度類似，我們第三季因部分已實現淨收益而產生了資本利得稅，總額達 7,200 萬美元。雖然我們通常不需要為年度收入繳稅，但我們偶爾會為某些已實現的毛收益繳稅。即使扣除這些稅款，我們第三季的投資淨實現收益仍然達到了健康的 1.75 億美元。

Turning to the balance sheet. Our total portfolio at fair value at the end of the quarter was $28.7 billion, which increased from $27.9 billion at the end of the second quarter and $25.9 billion a year ago. Shifting to our funding and capital position. We have remained active in adding capacity, extending our debt maturities and reducing costs at our committed facilities. In July, we added nearly $500 million of additional capacity across our credit facilities.

接下來看一下資產負債表。截至本季末，我們的投資組合總價值（以公允價值計算）為 287 億美元，高於第二季末的 279 億美元和一年前的 259 億美元。接下來談談我們的資金和資本狀況。我們一直積極增加產能、延長債務期限並降低已承諾設施的成本。7月份，我們在各項信貸安排中增加了近5億美元的額外額度。

We also reduced the drawn spread on two of our credit facilities by 20 basis points each to 180 basis points over SOFR and extend the maturities on both to July 2030. We continue to benefit from our long-standing bank relationships, which are supported by our scale as well as our long-term track record through cycles.

我們也將兩項信貸安排的提取利差分別下調了 20 個基點，至 SOFR 加 180 個基點，並將兩項信貸安排的到期日延長至 2030 年 7 月。我們持續受益於與銀行的長期合作關係，這得益於我們的規模以及我們經受住週期考驗的長期業績記錄。

The significant diversification of our overall portfolio also has drug benefits for our credit facilities, enhancing the attractiveness of the collateral pool that supports the facilities. For context, our asset-based bank credit facility advance rates are generally similar to the AA rated tranche of a typical middle market CLO.

我們整體投資組合的顯著多元化也為我們的信貸安排帶來了好處，提高了支持這些安排的抵押品池的吸引力。作為參考，我們以資產為基礎的銀行信貸融資利率通常與典型的中端市場 CLO 的 AA 級部分利率相似。

It is important to highlight that AA middle-market CLO tranche has never defaulted. With this low level of risk of the current bank capital framework supports the return on capital for our banks that is significantly more attractive than if the banks held individual loans directly on their own balance sheets.

值得強調的是，AA 中階市場 CLO 部分從未違約。當前銀行資本框架風險水準較低，因此銀行的資本回報率比銀行直接在自身資產負債表上持有單一貸款的情況要高得多。

Beyond the systemic benefits that this type of lending provides, the banking system as a whole, the strength of our relationships and economics that we can provide that our banks further strengthens our ability to be an investor through all cycles.

除了此類貸款帶來的系統性好處之外，銀行體系整體上，我們強大的關係和經濟實力，以及我們銀行能夠提供的經濟實力，進一步增強了我們在所有周期中作為投資者的能力。

In addition to our continued engagement with our banking partners, we also further expanded our non-bank capital sources in September by issuing $650 million of unsecured notes priced at 5.1% and maturing in January 2031. These notes were issued at a spread inside of our previous notes issuance in June.

除了繼續與銀行合作夥伴合作外，我們還在 9 月進一步擴大了非銀行資本來源，發行了 6.5 億美元的無擔保票據，定價為 5.1%，將於 2031 年 1 月到期。這些票據的發行價差低於我們六月發行的票據價差。

Consistent with our recent offerings, we swapped this issuance to floating rate, therefore, positioning our funding costs to decrease with expected declines in SOFR. As a reminder, ARCC remains the highest-rated BDC across the three major rating agencies.

與我們最近的發行方式一致，我們將此次發行的債券利率改為浮動利率，因此，隨著 SOFR 的預期下降，我們的融資成本也會降低。需要提醒的是，ARCC 仍然是三大評級機構中評價最高的 BDC。

In addition to these strategic advantages embedded in our funding, our overall liquidity position remains strong, totaling $6.2 billion, including available cash. In terms of our leverage, we ended the first quarter with a debt-to-equity ratio net available cash of 1.02x. We believe our significant amount of dry powder positions us well to actively support both our existing and new portfolio companies.

除了我們融資中蘊含的這些戰略優勢外，我們的整體流動性狀況仍然強勁，總額達 62 億美元，其中包括可用現金。就槓桿比率而言，我們第一季末的淨可用現金負債權益比率為1.02倍。我們相信，我們擁有充足的可用資金，這使我們能夠積極支持現有和新的投資組合公司。

Finally, our fourth quarter 2025 dividend of $0.48 per share is payable on December 30 to stockholders of record on December 15. ARCC has been paying stable or increasing regular quarterly dividends for 65 consecutive quarters.

最後，我們 2025 年第四季每股 0.48 美元的股利將於 12 月 30 日支付給 12 月 15 日登記在冊的股東。ARCC 已連續 65 個季度支付穩定或不斷增長的季度股息。

In terms of our tax income spillover, we finalized our 2024 tax returns and determined that we carried forward $878 million or $1.26 per share available for distribution to stockholders in 2025. As Kort stated, we believe our meaningful taxable income spillover provides further support for the long-term stability of our dividends and continues to be one of our significant differentiators. I will now turn the call over to Jim to walk through our investment activities.

就我們的稅收結轉而言，我們完成了 2024 年的報稅，並確定我們可以在 2025 年結轉 8.78 億美元（即每股 1.26 美元）供股東分配。正如 Kort 所說，我們相信，我們可觀的應稅所得外溢效應將進一步支持我們股利的長期穩定性，並繼續成為我們重要的差異化優勢之一。現在我將把電話交給吉姆，讓他來介紹我們的投資活動。

Thank you, Scott. I will now provide some additional details on our investment activity, our portfolio performance, and our positioning. In the third quarter, our team originated over $3.9 billion in new investment limits, an increase of more than 50% from the previous quarter. About half of our originations supported M&A-driven transactions such as LBOs and add-on acquisitions, which highlights our ability to benefit from the early signs of a more active and M&A-driven market environment.

謝謝你，斯科特。接下來，我將提供一些關於我們投資活動、投資組合表現和部位配置的更多細節。第三季度，我們的團隊發放了超過 39 億美元的新投資額度，比上一季成長了 50% 以上。我們約有一半的貸款支持了以併購為主導的交易，例如槓桿收購和附加收購，這凸顯了我們能夠從更活躍的併購市場環境的早期跡像中獲益的能力。

Further reflecting this broader trend of growing M&A, approximately 60% of our third quarter originations were with new borrowers, a shift from the past few quarters where the majority of our originations were from incumbent borrowers. We believe this shift reflected an influx of high-quality companies coming to market in the early part of a potential M&A cycle.

為了進一步反映併購成長的這一大趨勢，我們第三季約 60% 的貸款來自新借款人，這與過去幾季我們大部分貸款來自現有借款人的情況有所不同。我們認為，這種轉變反映了在潛在的併購週期早期階段，大量高品質公司湧入市場。

Our origination activity continues to underscore our broad market coverage. About a quarter of our new investments were made in companies with EBITDA below $50 million, which highlights our strong presence in the core middle market and lower middle market as well as the more visible upper mill market.

我們的貸款發放活動持續凸顯了我們廣泛的市場覆蓋範圍。我們約有四分之一的新投資投向了 EBITDA 低於 5000 萬美元的公司，這凸顯了我們在核心中端市場和中低端市場以及更引人注目的高端工廠市場的強大實力。

On the upper end of the market, we led the $5.5 billion financing for the take private transaction of Dun & Bradstreet, the largest private credit LVO recorded to date. This well-established, high-quality company with strong recurring cash flows, chose Ares to lead their financing as an alternative to the syndicated markets due to our flexibility and execution certainty.

在高端市場，我們主導完成了鄧白氏私有化交易的 55 億美元融資，這是迄今為止規模最大的私人信貸 LVO 交易。這家實力雄厚、品質優良、現金流充裕的公司選擇 Ares 作為其融資的牽頭方，作為銀團貸款市場的替代方案，因為我們具有靈活性和執行確定性。

Alongside this increased activity, our credit spreads remain stable. Our new first lien commitments in the third quarter were completed at spreads that were consistent with the prior quarter and actually 20 basis points higher than the prior 12-month average. We achieved these pricing results with attractive risk profiles as well.

儘管業務活動增加，但我們的信貸利差保持穩定。我們在第三季完成的新的優先擔保承諾的利差與上一季一致，實際上比前 12 個月的平均值高出 20 個基點。我們在實現這些定價結果的同時，也兼顧了具有吸引力的風險狀況。

As the spread per unit of leverage on first lien loans completed in the third quarter was the highest in more than a year. Our broad origination team and flexible approach continue to drive our ability to source opportunities with differentiated yield profiles, including the selective use of PIK preferred investments.

第三季完成的第一留置權貸款的單位槓桿率利差為一年多以來的最高水準。我們廣泛的投資團隊和靈活的方法不斷推動我們尋找具有不同收益特徵的投資機會，包括選擇性地使用 PIK 優先投資。

In the third quarter, we generated an IRR in excess of 20% on the exit of three preferred PIK investments. These PIK preferred securities are invested in large, established companies with an average EBITDA of roughly $480 million. Our PIK preferred investments have a low double-digit fixed rate yield and implied loan-to-value ratios in the 50% to 60% range.

第三季度，我們透過退出三個優先 PIK 投資，獲得了超過 20% 的內部報酬率 (IRR)。這些PIK優先證券投資於大型成熟公司，平均EBITDA約為4.8億美元。我們的 PIK 優先投資具有較低的兩位數固定利率收益率，隱含貸款價值比率在 50% 至 60% 之間。

On average, we value these investments at 98% of cost at the end of the third quarter. Reflecting a more active market environment, we experienced increased repayments through change of control transactions, including from investments that were accruing PIK income. As a result, and as disclosed in our cash flow statement, these full repayments generated PIK collections that were actually greater than the aggregate amount of PIK income we accrued for the third quarter.

平均而言，我們在第三季末對這些投資的估值為成本的 98%。反映出市場環境更加活躍，我們透過控制權變更交易獲得了更多償還，包括正在產生 PIK 收入的投資的償還。因此，正如我們在現金流量表中所揭露的那樣，這些全額還款產生的 PIK 收款實際上大於我們在第三季應計的 PIK 收入總額。

Shifting to our portfolio. Our $28.7 billion portfolio at fair value increased nearly 3% quarter-over-quarter and over 10% year-over-year, further underscoring the extent of our origination scale at ARCC, even during the slower transaction environment experienced in the market over the past year. Our portfolio continues to be highly diversified across 587 companies and 25 different industries. This means that a single investment accounts for just 0.2% of the portfolio on average and our largest investment in any single company, excluding our investments in SDLP and Ivy Hill is less than 2% of the portfolio.

接下來介紹我們的投資組合。我們以公允價值計算的 287 億美元投資組合季增近 3%，年增率超過 10%，進一步凸顯了 ARCC 的貸款發放規模，即使在過去一年市場交易環境放緩的情況下也是如此。我們的投資組合持續保持高度多元化，涵蓋 587 家公司和 25 個不同的行業。這意味著單筆投資平均僅佔投資組合的 0.2%，而我們對任何一家公司的最大投資（不包括對 SDLP 和 Ivy Hill 的投資）佔投資組合的比例不到 2%。

We believe our emphasis on portfolio diversification and industry selection reduces the frequency and impact of negative credit events on the company. As Kort mentioned, the credit quality of our portfolio continued to demonstrate strength and resilience in the quarter. Our non-accruals at cost ended the quarter at 1.8%, down 20 basis points from the prior quarter. This remains well below our 2.8% historical average since the great financial crisis, and the BDC industry historical average of 3.8% over the same time frame.

我們相信，我們對投資組合多元化和產業選擇的重視，可以降低負面信用事件對公司的影響頻率和程度。正如 Kort 所提到的，本季我們投資組合的信貸品質持續展現出強勁的實力和韌性。本季末，我們的非應計成本率為 1.8%，比上一季下降了 20 個基點。這仍然遠低於自金融危機以來我們 2.8% 的歷史平均水平，也低於同期 BDC 行業 3.8% 的歷史平均水平。

Our non-accrual rate at fair value also decreased by 20 basis points to 1%. Finally, on credit, our grade 1 and 2 investments representing our lowest two rating buckets in the aggregate, declined from 4.5% to 3.6% of the portfolio at fair value quarter-over-quarter. And our portfolio company's average leverage levels and interest coverage ratios both improved when compared to last quarter and the prior year.

我們的非應計比率（以公允價值計算）也下降了 20 個基點，至 1%。最後，在信貸方面，我們1級和2級投資（代表我們整體評級最低的兩個等級）以公允價值計算，佔投資組合的比例從4.5%下降到3.6%。與上一季和去年同期相比，我們投資組合公司的平均槓桿水準和利息保障倍數均有所改善。

The health of our portfolio is also reflected in the profitability and growth profile of our borrowers. In the third quarter, the weighted average organic LTM EBITDA growth of our portfolio companies was again over 10%. Importantly, this EBITDA growth rate was more than double that of the broadly syndicated market based on a second quarter analysis done by JPMorgan.

我們投資組合的健康狀況也反映在我們借款人的獲利能力和成長狀況。第三季度，我們投資組合公司的加權平均有機 LTM EBITDA 成長率再次超過 10%。值得注意的是，根據摩根大通第二季的分析，該 EBITDA 成長率是廣泛聯合市場的兩倍多。

Additionally, both our sponsored and non-sponsored companies are growing EBITDA at consistent rates. As a reminder, we believe our industry specialization has allowed us to further penetrate the non-sponsored market as well as service the sponsored market in a differentiated way.

此外，我們贊助的公司和非贊助公司的 EBITDA 均以穩定的速度成長。再次提醒大家，我們相信，我們的行業專長使我們能夠進一步滲透非贊助市場，並以差異化的方式服務贊助市場。

Further to my earlier point on our extensive market coverage and its role in attracting strong, high-performing companies within the middle market, we continue to see healthy growth across the lower-, core-, and upper middle market segments of our portfolio. Importantly, Size is not a distinguishing factor of performance in our portfolio as companies with EBITDA of less than $25 million and EBITDA growth that was modestly higher than the rest of our portfolio.

關於我之前提到的我們廣泛的市場覆蓋範圍及其在吸引中端市場中實力雄厚、業績卓越的公司方面所發揮的作用，我們繼續看到我們投資組合中的低端、核心和高端中端市場細分領域都實現了健康增長。重要的是，規模並不是我們投資組合中業績的區分因素，因為 EBITDA 低於 2500 萬美元的公司，其 EBITDA 成長率略高於我們投資組合中的其他公司。

Looking ahead, we are seeing healthy transaction activity levels so far in the fourth quarter. Our total commitments for the fourth quarter to date through October 23, 2025, were $735 million. And our backlog reached a new record of $3 billion as of October 23, 2025. As a reminder, our backlog contains investments that are subject to approvals and documentation and may not close or we may sell a portion of these investments post-closing.

展望未來，我們看到第四季迄今的交易活動水準保持健康。截至 2025 年 10 月 23 日，我們第四季的總承諾額為 7.35 億美元。截至 2025 年 10 月 23 日，我們的積壓訂單達到了 30 億美元的新紀錄。再次提醒，我們的待辦事項中包含一些需要獲得批准和文件支持的投資項目，這些項目可能無法完成，或者我們可能會在項目完成後出售其中的一部分投資。

In closing, our strong earnings this quarter are underpinned by many durable advantages that we believe continue to drive differentiated results for our investors. In today's environment, we remain focused on leveraging our origination scale to see as wide an opportunity set as possible, maintaining our rigorous credit standards, negotiating appropriate documentation, and being highly selective around deal flow.

總而言之，本季我們強勁的獲利得益於許多持久的優勢，我們相信這些優勢將繼續為我們的投資者帶來差異化的回報。在當今環境下，我們仍然專注於利用我們的貸款發放規模來盡可能廣泛地把握機會，保持我們嚴格的信貸標準，協商適當的文件，並對交易流程進行嚴格篩選。

We remain confident that sticking to our long-standing principles will support our ability to continue to capitalize on new opportunities and build on a track record of strong performance. We are proud that our declared fourth quarter dividend of $0.48 per share, extends a record of over 16 straight years of stable or increasing regular dividends for our shareholders.

我們仍然堅信，堅持我們長期以來秉持的原則，將有助於我們繼續抓住新的機遇，並在以往強勁業績的基礎上再創佳績。我們很自豪地宣布，第四季度每股派息 0.48 美元，這使我們連續 16 年多為股東提供穩定或不斷增長的定期股息。

As always, we appreciate you joining today, and we look forward to speaking with you in the future. With that, operator, please open the line for questions.

和以往一樣，感謝您今天的參與，我們期待未來與您再次交流。接線員，請開啟提問頻道。

(Operator Instructions) Additionally, the Investor Relations team will be available to address any further questions at the conclusion of today's call.

（操作說明）此外，投資人關係團隊將在今天的電話會議結束後解答任何其他問題。

Finian O'Shea, Wells Fargo.

Finian O'Shea，富國銀行。

Kort, I just want to hit on a couple of your inputs on dividend coverage. One, with the sort of traditional levers, more on balance sheet leverage, more perhaps junior or alpha latent opportunities. Can you remind us if on an allocable capital framework, ARCC is different to have more of this stuff tilt toward it versus ASF as the market opens up for this kind of opportunity? Or should the two vehicles continue to become essentially the same going forward?

Kort，我只想就你關於股息覆蓋率的幾點看法補充一下。一是利用傳統的槓桿作用，更專注於資產負債表槓桿，更專注於初級或潛在的阿爾法機會。您能否提醒我們一下，在可分配資本框架下，ARCC 與 ASF 相比，在市場對這類機會開放時，是否更傾向於 ARCC？或者，這兩款車未來是否應該繼續保持基本相同？

Yes. Thanks, Fin. Yes, both vehicles will get allocated any kind of deal based on the available capital math, and that is an allocation policy that we've had in place for a very long time and has not changed. Obviously, those types of transactions have been more muted of late, but I do think, as we see overall transaction activity increase and in particular, change in control activity and even potentially as rates do decline further, that hopefully will create more junior capital opportunities. We've seen that be a product of those kinds of trends in the past. At ARCC, we'll certainly get its fair share of those transactions.

是的。謝謝，芬恩。是的，這兩輛車將根據可用資金的計算結果獲得任何類型的交易分配，這是我們長期以來一直實行的分配政策，從未改變過。顯然，近來這類交易有所減少，但我認為，隨著整體交易活動的增加，特別是控制權變更活動的增加，甚至隨著利率的進一步下降，有望創造更多次級資本機會。我們過去已經看到這類趨勢的產物。在ARCC，我們肯定會獲得其中相當一部分交易份額。

And I appreciate that. And just to be clear, like that, maybe I could have worded it better. That math is the same overall for a percentage of allocation to the more junior or plus 700 or sports equity and so forth?

我很感激。需要說明的是，或許我本來可以表達得更好一些。對於分配給初級球隊、700歲以上球隊、運動股權等的百分比，總體計算方法是否相同？

Yes. I would also just say that ASF has a different mill profile than ARCC. So that's also part of the decision-making in terms of the assets that may go into those funds as well.

是的。我還要補充一點，ASF 的銑削輪廓與 ARCC 不同。所以，這也是決定哪些資產可以進入這些基金的決策過程的一部分。

But yes, Fin, if you're talking about different types of assets, whether it's sports and media or infrastructure assets or any kind of assets, it's all based on mandate of the fund of which ARCC obviously has an extremely diverse and flexible mandate and then available capital. And so that's how those deals get allocated. And ARCC obviously being our most flexible vehicle gets a sliver or gets a piece of almost everything we do.

但是，芬恩，如果你說的是不同類型的資產，無論是體育和媒體資產、基礎設施資產還是任何類型的資產，這一切都取決於基金的授權，而ARCC顯然擁有極其多元化和靈活的授權，以及可用的資本。所以這些交易就是這樣分配的。而 ARCC 作為我們最靈活的車輛，顯然在我們所做的幾乎每件事中都能分到一小塊或一部分。

I appreciate that. And if I could do one on the spillover component, can you give us color on how big of an input that would be to support the base dividend? Would you run it all the way down before cutting the base dividend or halfway down? Is there sort of a target or a threshold there as to how much support that would be? And that's all for me.

我很感激。如果我能就溢出效應部分做一個說明，您能否詳細說明一下，為了支撐基本股息，這部分投入需要多大？你會把基本股利完全削減到最低水平，還是削減到一半？是否存在某種目標或閾值，用來衡量需要多少支持？這就是我全部的內容了。

Yes. Fin, I mean, I don't -- look, first of all, we have a lot of confidence as we talked about in the prepared remarks of covering the dividend into the foreseeable future. And we're running lots of different modeling scenarios, including base rate declines as forecasted in the curve or further declines, all different kinds of scenarios, obviously, liability costs. And we just feel very confident. So I don't know that I really want to speculate in terms of where we would be in the instance well into the future that, that doesn't hold up.

是的。芬恩，我的意思是，我——首先，正如我們在準備好的演講稿中所說，我們非常有信心在可預見的未來支付股息。我們正在運行許多不同的建模方案，包括曲線預測的基本利率下降或進一步下降，所有不同類型的方案，顯然還有負債成本。我們感到非常有信心。所以，我不太想去猜測，如果未來某個時候並非如此，我們會身在何處。

But I think the reason why we talk about the spillover income is because it does provide additional stability to the dividend, if needed if core earnings temporarily drops below the dividend level. We have rarely seen that in the course of our history, but the amount of spillover hopefully just provides a lot of comfort for shareholders. But I don't think it's worth speculating as to all the different scenarios that could occur and how much of that spillover we might need to use.

但我認為我們之所以談論溢出收入，是因為如果核心收益暫時低於股息水平，溢出收入確實可以為股息提供額外的穩定性。在我們公司的歷史上，這種情況很少見，但希望如此大的溢出效應能為股東帶來很大的安慰。但我認為沒有必要去猜測所有可能出現的不同情況以及我們可能需要利用多少溢出效應。

John Hecht, Jefferies.

約翰‧赫克特，傑富瑞集團。

You guys gave a lot of information about the market and your sustainable competitive advantages in the call. But if you kind of step higher level, I'm wondering how you are thinking more about broadly in the industry, how would you describe competition?

你們在電話會議中提供了許多關於市場和你們可持續競爭優勢的資訊。但是，如果從更高的層面來看，我想知道您是如何更廣泛地思考整個行業的，您會如何描述競爭狀況？

And in light of the fact that spreads are fairly narrow, there's a lot (technical difficulty) out there. But also over the last few weeks as there's been a couple of (technical difficulty) events that will have probably caused some disruption reverberations industry-wide, kind of how do you -- the one-minute kind of explanation of your perspective of industry competition?

鑑於價差相當窄，存在許多（技術難題）。但最近幾週也發生了一些（技術難題）事件，這些事件可能會在整個行業內造成一些混亂和影響，那麼，您如何看待——請用一分鐘的時間來解釋您對行業競爭的看法？

Yes. Look, I think it's a competitive environment as it's always been over our 21-year history. It's just sometimes new competitors come in, some competitors leave. Obviously, we've seen as the industry has matured and we've moved up market. Certain competitors compete upmarket with us. We have a different set of competitors that compete in the middle market and in the lower middle market. We've talked a lot about how we believe we are the only scaled direct lender that competes across lots and lots of different markets.

是的。我認為，這始終是一個充滿競爭的環境，就像我們21年發展歷程中一直如此。有時候會有新的競爭對手進入市場，有時候也會有競爭對手退出市場。顯然，隨著產業的成熟，我們已經向高端市場邁進。有些競爭對手與我們在高端市場競爭。我們在中階市場和中低階市場面臨不同的競爭對手。我們已經多次談到，我們相信我們是唯一一家在許多不同市場競爭的大規模直接貸款機構。

And then when we go into our non-sponsored origination in the various industry verticals. We see a whole another set of competitors. So it's really hard to generalize. The events of the last few weeks, I would say it's a little too early to say, but so far, there's been no real significant impact to the competitive landscape if you're talking about just the news around Tricolor and First Brands and a few of these issues that are cropping up in the broadly syndicated market.

然後，當我們進入各行業垂直領域的非贊助內容創作時。我們看到了另一批全新的競爭對手。所以很難一概而論。過去幾週發生的事情，現在下結論還為時過早，但就目前而言，如果你只談論圍繞 Tricolor 和 First Brands 的新聞以及在廣泛傳播的市場中出現的一些問題，那麼還沒有對競爭格局產生真正的重大影響。

It's not really impacting our market that much so far. And again, I think it probably does highlight that our documents and protections and our credit selection is differentiated relative to the broadly syndicated market. So a long-winded answer of saying a little too early to say and no real impact so far.

目前來看，它對我們的市場影響並不大。而且，我認為這可能確實突顯了我們的文件、保護措施和信貸選擇與廣泛的銀團貸款市場之間存在差異。所以，冗長的回答是現在下結論還為時過早，而且目前還沒有產生實際影響。

I'll add one thing, Kort. We also get the benefit when the broadly syndicated market does see reverberations, as you said, that's a great time for private credit. Those are moments in time where we can take market share from the broadly syndicated market, and people are looking for that certainty. So those moments -- and sometimes they're short a week or two, sometimes to a month or longer. Those moments tend to be quite favorable for us.

我還要補充一點，科特。正如你所說，當廣泛的銀團貸款市場出現波動時，我們也能從中受益，那時正是私人信貸的好時機。在這樣的時刻，我們可以從廣泛發行的市場中奪取市場份額，而人們也正在尋求這種確定性。所以，那些時刻——有時很短，只有一兩週，有時會持續一個月或更久。這些時刻往往對我們非常有利。

Yes. That makes sense. And second, a non-related question, I'm just curious if there's an update on some of the, call it, regulatory opportunities, like AFFE? Just I haven't heard much about that for a few months, and I'm wondering if there's anything to discuss there.

是的。這很有道理。其次，還有一個不相關的問題，我只是好奇一些監管方面的機會，例如 AFFE，是否有最新進展？我已經好幾個月沒聽到這方面的消息了，我想知道這方面有沒有什麼值得討論的。

Nothing all that meaningful, John. I mean there was some temporary excitement around progress that has occurred down in Washington on that front. But it's hard for us to get too excited because we've seen it kind of go up and down in its momentum over the last few decades, frankly. So we try not to read in too much to the movements kind of month-to-month or even year-to-year.

沒什麼特別的，約翰。我的意思是，華盛頓方面在這一領域取得的進展曾經令人興奮。但坦白說，我們很難對此感到過於興奮，因為在過去的幾十年裡，我們看到它的發展勢頭時好時壞。所以我們盡量不去過度解讀月度甚至年度的走勢。

Arren Cyganovich, Truist Securities.

Arren Cyganovich，Truist Securities。

Just following on the line of questioning about where are we in the cycle at a late cycle or tight credit spreads. You laid out a lot of reasons why things continue to go well for you with EBITDA rising at your portfolio companies, a lot of activity. What are some of the guideposts that you're looking for that would maybe cause you to be a little bit more strict in terms of your underwriting and what are some of those things that we might be able to monitor from afar?

順著這個問題問下去，我們現在處於週期的哪個階段，是週期後期還是信貸利差收窄。您列舉了許多原因，說明為什麼您的投資組合公司 EBITDA 持續成長，業務活動也十分活躍，一切都進展順利。您希望有哪些指導原則，能讓您在承保方面更加嚴格？我們又能從遠端監控哪些方面呢？

Yes, it's not too complicated. I mean, certainly, underlying EBITDA growth or potential reductions in that growth would be something we would look at. We're always looking sector by sector as well. We talk about the overall portfolio average EBITDA growth, which again remains double-digit growth in bounces around here and there, but still remains really strong.

是的，這並不太複雜。我的意思是，當然，潛在的 EBITDA 成長或成長放緩都是我們會關注的。我們也一直在逐一產業進行分析。我們談到了整體投資組合的平均 EBITDA 成長，雖然偶爾會有波動，但仍保持兩位數的成長，而且依然非常強勁。

But we're looking underneath the hood there and all the individual industries that are driving that growth, and we're not really seeing any trends in certain industries that would lead us to believe that there are points of weakness in any kind of individual sector. So and if we did see those, we would certainly point those out. But that would be number one on the list.

但我們正在深入研究推動成長的各個行業，並沒有發現任何特定行業的趨勢，讓我們相信任何特定行業都存在弱點。所以，如果我們確實發現了這些問題，我們一定會指出來。但那將是榜單上的第一項。

Obviously, overall access to capital, the flow of credit in the markets. Historically, when you see credit start to seize up, that can also then flow through and create problems for businesses and lead to downturns. Again, we're seeing that actually go the other way now in terms of increased activity in the M&A market. Our transaction volume and opportunities remain really strong.

顯然，這關係到整體資本獲取管道，以及市場上的信貸流動。從歷史上看，當信貸開始收緊時，這種情況也會蔓延開來，為企業帶來問題，並導致經濟衰退。但現在，我們看到併購市場活動反而增加了，情況剛好相反。我們的交易量和交易機會依然非常強勁。

So that would be something else to look for. But again, no signs on the horizon there. So I don't -- nothing we're seeing here at Ares Capital that would tell us that we're nearing the end of any kind of cycle.

所以這是另一個需要關注的方向。但是，目前仍然沒有任何跡象表明情況會有所改善。所以，我並不認為——我們在 Ares Capital 這裡看到的一切都表明我們即將結束任何類型的週期。

Certainly, from a M&A standpoint, the M&A cycle, I think we feel like we're at sort of an early end of a new cycle that's beginning. And you can see that in our origination numbers this quarter, which tilted toward 60% new borrowers for the first time in a long time, usually trending around 50% or even more -- in the last year or two, 30%, 40%, went up to 60% change in control transactions were over half of our origination.

當然，從併購的角度來看，就併購週期而言，我認為我們感覺自己正處於一個新周期的早期尾聲。從本季的貸款發放數據可以看出，新借款人佔比多年來首次接近 60%，而通常情況下，這一比例在 50% 甚至更高——在過去一兩年裡，控制權變更交易佔比超過 60%，占我們貸款發放總量的一半以上。

So I think the M&A market really is picking up. And I think that's also a sign that people feel good about the stability of the economy, where we're going, underlying businesses, and we're seeing that reflected in that transaction volume. So that would be my answer to your question.

所以我認為併購市場確實正在復甦。我認為這也顯示人們對經濟的穩定性、發展方向和基礎企業感到樂觀，而這也反映在了交易量上。這就是我對你問題的回答。

Yes. No, that's very helpful and largely what I would have expected, but it's good to hear you say. And the second question is kind of a quicker one, but you had commented on September being one of the busiest months, but spreads on first lien for your investments in the third quarter actually rose a little bit. It seems a little bit backwards, obviously not a big amount. I think you said 20 basis points, but just curious as to those dynamics?

是的。不，這很有幫助，基本上也符合我的預期，不過聽到你這麼說還是很高興。第二個問題比較簡單，您曾提到 9 月是最繁忙的月份之一，但您第三季投資的第一順位抵押貸款利差實際上略有上升。這似乎有點本末倒置，當然，金額並不大。我想你之前說的是20個基點，但我只是好奇這其中的動態變化？

I think the dynamics are that it reflects the broad origination funnel that we are able to capitalize on here by virtue of being managed by Ares Management and all the different deals that we're able to see come into the platform and originate. I mean it's -- yes, I'm glad you pointed it out. Look, we put out $3.9 billion of gross originations in the third quarter at an average spread of SOFR plus 560. And that went into borrowers at an average leverage of 4.8x.

我認為，這種動態反映了我們能夠利用的廣泛的業務管道，這得益於 Ares Management 的管理，以及我們能夠在平台上看到和產生的各種不同的交易。我的意思是——是的，我很高興你指出了這一點。你看，我們在第三季發放了 39 億美元的貸款總額，平均利差為 SOFR 加 560。這些資金流向了平均槓桿率為 4.8 倍的借款人。

So we certainly feel like it is a good investing environment to be in despite the fact that it is competitive like we talked about before, we think we have meaningful competitive advantages in terms of the types of deals we see, and it will be interesting to compare our originations and those metrics that I just put out relative to our competitors as we see people put out earnings over the coming weeks.

因此，儘管正如我們之前所討論的，市場競爭激烈，但我們仍然認為這是一個良好的投資環境。我們認為，就我們所看到的交易類型而言，我們擁有顯著的競爭優勢。在接下來的幾周里，隨著其他公司公佈收益，我們將把我們的貸款發放情況和我剛才提到的那些指標與競爭對手進行比較，這將是一件很有趣的事情。

Melissa Wedel, JPMorgan.

梅麗莎‧韋德爾，摩根大通。

I think from our conversations, it seems like what's been driving some of the price action in the industry in the last few months has been concerns about two things. One is earnings power and the second would be credit. I think you've addressed the credit. You're not seeing anything thematic and certainly showing up in the non-accrual rates.

我認為從我們的談話來看，過去幾個月來推動行業價格走勢的因素似乎是對兩件事的擔憂。一是賺錢能力，二是信用。我認為你已經解決了信用問題。你沒有看到任何主題性特徵，而且這肯定體現在非應計率中。

I was hoping to dig in a little bit more on the earnings power and follow up on some of the levers that you talked about earlier that you could pull. One of the things you talked about was being a bit below the top end of your target range in terms of portfolio leverage of 1.25x. Given that you have bandwidth there to increase leverage at the portfolio level. I'm curious how you're thinking about using the at-the-market program, especially as share prices have declined.

我原本希望更深入地探討一下獲利能力，並跟進一下你之前提到的一些你可以採取的措施。您提到的一點是，您目前的投資組合槓桿率略低於目標範圍的上限1.25倍。鑑於您還有提升投資組合槓桿率的空間。我很想知道您打算如何使用市價交易程序，尤其是在股價下跌的情況下。

Yes, sure. Thanks for the question. So I think as you probably can see, we've been reducing the amount of at-the-market issuances over the last three quarters. So we went from $400 million to $500 million a quarter, down to, I think, $300 million last quarter down to $200 million this quarter. So that's been influenced by a view that we are operating slightly below the midpoint of the range on leverage, that 0.9x to 1.25x range and our desire to get a little bit more into leverage here over time.

當然可以。謝謝你的提問。所以我想你可能也看到了，在過去的三個季度裡，我們一直在減少市場發行量。所以，我們的季度營收從 4 億到 5 億美元下降到，我想，上個季度下降到 3 億美元，而這個季度下降到 2 億美元。因此，我們目前槓桿率略低於 0.9 倍至 1.25 倍區間的中點，並且我們希望隨著時間的推移，在這裡增加一些槓桿，這影響了我們的決策。

Again, we do like the position that we're in. At one time, it's a conservative place to be. It positions us well to capitalize on opportunities in the market, as Jim mentioned earlier. Maybe there's an opportunity to broadly syndicated market seizes up. We want to be in a position to have that kind of financial flexibility.

再次強調，我們很滿意目前的處境。這裡曾經是一個保守的地方。正如吉姆之前提到的那樣，這使我們能夠更好地掌握市場機會。或許這是一個在廣泛的聯合市場陷入停滯時抓住的機會。我們希望能夠擁有那種財務靈活性。

But we do think it's appropriate to potentially start moderating that ATM, which is what we've done over the last several quarters. Not to say what the future will hold, but that's been our view. So I don't know too much more to say on that topic, Melissa, but hopefully, that's helpful.

但我們認為，或許應該開始對 ATM 進行調控，這也是我們在過去幾季所做的。未來會怎樣，我們無法預測，但這一直是我們的看法。所以，關於這個主題，我也沒有太多要說的了，梅麗莎，但希望這些資訊對你有幫助。

It is, and I appreciate that. And then in terms of further optimizing the non-qualifying asset bucket. I'm curious if there's anything in particular or forthcoming in the near term on that? And if not, maybe more generally, would you think about additional assets there that would be similar to your current exposures in IHAM or SDLP? Or would it be a different type of exposure? And just how you're thinking about that sort of longer term?

確實如此，我很感激。然後，在進一步優化不合格資產類別方面。我想知道近期內這方面是否有任何具體消息或計劃？如果不行，更普遍地說，您是否考慮過增加與您目前在 IHAM 或 SDLP 中的風險敞口類似的資產？或者會是另一種類型的暴露？那麼，您是如何考慮這種更長遠的規劃的呢？

Sure. Yes, sure. One good piece of news that we certainly are happy to report is on the SDLP joint venture, which is that we did recently amend the documents in that joint venture and our relationship with our liability providers or the joint ventures, liability providers to lower the cost of capital on those liabilities, which did result in a 100 basis point increase in the yield on the SDLP that you can see in our numbers on a go-forward basis. So I think that will provide a nice boost to the return on that program.

當然。當然可以。我們很高興地宣布一個好消息，那就是關於 SDLP 合資企業，我們最近修改了該合資企業的文件以及我們與負債提供方或合資企業負債提供方的關係，以降低這些負債的資本成本，這確實使 SDLP 的收益率提高了 100 個基點，您可以在我們未來的數據中看到這一點。所以我認為這將大大提升該專案的回報率。

I think our ability to increase the utilization of SDLP and to help IHAM hopefully achieve more growth as well, will partially be based on the overall transaction volume in the market and our ability to originate, which again has been increasing. So that gives us confidence that we should be able to better utilize some of those joint ventures and structures within our 30% basket. I think, Melissa, it's probably -- hopefully, does that answer your question? Or is there something else you were getting at there?

我認為，我們提高 SDLP 利用率並幫助 IHAM 實現更大成長的能力，部分取決於市場整體交易量和我們的貸款發起能力，而這兩項能力都在不斷提高。因此，我們有信心能夠更好地利用我們30%投資組合中的一些合資企業和結構。梅莉莎，我想，這大概──希望如此──能回答你的問題嗎？還是你還有別的意思？

No, that is helpful.

不，這很有幫助。

Casey Alexander, Compass Point.

凱西·亞歷山大，指南針角。

Yes. My first question it might sound a little convoluted. But we've gone through this many hysteria created by the wet blanket of the word private credit thrown over the entire arena as if it's all encompassing. So first of all, you should change the name of what you do and take the word private credit out of it. But I'm wondering if this mini hysteria, did you notice any -- even temporary stall in the market? There's so much over the last couple of quarters of there were more loans leaving the directly originated private credit arena for the broadly syndicated market. Have you felt some relief from that?

是的。我的第一個問題可能聽起來有點繞口。但是，我們已經經歷了無數次因「私人信貸」這個詞像一塊潑冷水的毯子一樣籠罩整個領域而引發的歇斯底里，彷彿它無所不包。所以首先，你應該更改你所做的事情的名稱，並將「私人信貸」這個詞從名稱中刪除。但我很好奇，在這場小規模恐慌中，你是否注意到市場出現任何——即使是暫時的停滯？過去幾個季度，有更多貸款從直接發放的私人信貸領域流向了廣泛的銀團貸款市場。你感覺好些了嗎？

Because clearly, the banks have been twisting themselves into knots over this. And also spreads have been at all-time tight, which again, doesn't propose a real credit crisis. Does it feel like you might see new origination spreads that's in the broadly syndicated market widen out a little bit, which would also allow you some more spread relief?

很顯然，各家銀行都為此而焦頭爛額。而且利差也處於歷史低位，這也顯示目前還沒有真正的信貸危機。您是否覺得在廣泛承銷市場中，新的貸款發放價差可能會略微擴大，從而讓您獲得更多價差方面的緩解？

Sure. Thanks, Casey. So a few things in there. I think first of all, yes, much too much noise made about the banks and private credit and fighting over assets. I really think that, that is way overstated. We, as an industry, have been both working together with banks and competing with banks on transactions for decades. This is really nothing new.

當然。謝謝你，凱西。裡面有幾樣東西。首先，我認為，關於銀行、私人信貸以及資產爭奪的喧囂確實太多了。我覺得這完全是誇大其詞。幾十年來，我們這個產業既與銀行合作，也與銀行在交易方面競爭。這其實沒什麼新鮮的。

It's just -- I think the dollar amount of the transactions as an industry that we're now providing have gotten to the point where it's starting to get more attention. But the dynamic is really nothing all that new. Banks are great partners for us. They provide leverage facilities on a lot of our funds, including obviously ARCC and there are movements in the market from time to time where borrowers are more apt to lean toward broadly syndicated transactions. Sometimes borrowers more actively toward credit transactions.

我認為，我們這個行業目前的交易額已經達到了一個相當高的水平，開始引起更多關注。但這種動態其實也沒有什麼新鮮事。銀行是我們很好的合作夥伴。他們為我們的許多基金提供槓桿融資，當然也包括 ARCC，而且市場時不時會出現借款人更傾向於廣泛銀團貸款交易的趨勢。有時借款人會更積極地進行信貸交易。

The longer-term trend is obviously borrowers moving more toward private credit transactions because of the value of certainty, knowing that the capital is going to be there in all market environments. And every time we go through a period of volatility where the broadly syndicated market gets choppy and maybe can't support its borrowers or banks get hung on transactions that they're looking to syndicate, that just reinforces that long-term trend and makes it so that borrowers are more apt to consider private credit, even when banks are back in the broadly syndicated market back.

長期趨勢顯然是藉款人更多地轉向私人信貸交易，因為他們重視確定性，知道在任何市場環境下都能獲得資金。每當我們經歷一段波動期，當廣泛的銀團貸款市場變得動盪不安，可能無法支持借款人，或者銀行在他們想要進行銀團貸款的交易上遇到困難時，這只會強化這種長期趨勢，使得借款人更傾向於考慮私人信貸，即使銀行重新回到廣泛的銀團貸款市場。

So the bank's broadly syndicated market this year, but on the whole, more transactions were still done in the private credit market than the broadly syndicated market. So I think on that, not much more there to add, Casey, but we can get more into it if there's something specific that I missed there in that part. I guess on the question about spread widening, I think you were -- sorry, maybe restate the spread question again.

所以，今年該銀行的銀團貸款市場整體上有所成長，但整體而言，私人信貸市場的交易量仍高於銀團貸款市場。所以我覺得關於這一點，沒什麼要補充的了，凱西，但如果我在那部分遺漏了什麼具體的東西，我們可以再深入探討一下。關於價差擴大的問題，我想你是──抱歉，或許應該重新表達價差問題。

Well, just before we had this mini hysteria over private credit driven by two loans that went bad, spreads were at all-time heights. So I'm just wondering if you've seen -- and a lot of that driven by really aggressive bidding in the broadly syndicated market, have you seen any fills in the broadly syndicated market that might indicate that they're widening out a little bit because you guys do to a certain extent, price against that market.

就在兩筆貸款違約引發了這場針對私人信貸的小恐慌之前，利差達到了歷史最高水準。所以我想知道，您是否注意到——這很大程度上是由廣泛發行市場中非常激烈的競價所驅動的——您是否注意到廣泛發行市場中有任何成交情況可能表明他們的價格正在略微上漲，因為您在某種程度上是根據該市場定價的。

Yes. I think Jim actually made that point, which is it could create that opportunity. It's a little early. I just think it's a little early. I'm not going to say that we've really seen that cause-and-effect exactly yet where all of a sudden, we're seeing deals tip our way because of that. But certainly, that would -- could potentially be an outcome.

是的。我認為吉姆確實表達了這一點，那就是這可能會創造這樣的機會。現在還早。我覺得現在有點早。我不會說我們已經真正看到了那種因果關係，即突然之間，交易就因為這個原因而朝著我們有利的方向發展。但可以肯定的是，這有可能成為一種結果。

I think what really matters is how long and sustained the sort of concern or dislocation or spread widening in the broadly syndicated market lasts because our market -- one of the benefits of our market, I think, certainly for borrowers is that we don't move in lockstep with the broadly syndicated market, right? Where -- we lag a little bit. We're a little bit more stable. We take a longer-term view because we're holding these assets. We're not looking to sell the assets.

我認為真正重要的是，這種擔憂、混亂或銀團貸款市場利差擴大的情況會持續多久，因為我們的市場——我認為，我們市場的優勢之一，當然對借款人來說，就是我們不會與銀團貸款市場步調一致，對吧？我們這邊稍微落後了一點。我們現在稍微穩定一點了。我們採取長期視角，因為我們持有這些資產。我們並不打算出售這些資產。

So we're not going to move up and down 25 basis points, 50 basis points in line with the broadly syndicated market when it moves. So I think time will tell. We'll just have to wait and see.

因此，我們不會像大宗證券市場一樣，隨著市場波動而上下浮動 25 個基點、50 個基點。所以我覺得時間會證明一切。我們只能拭目以待了。

All right. And I do have one follow-on. I think that's a great answer, though, thank you. In the recent developments you pointed out that in your exit, you recognized total net realized losses of $67 million. Can you tell us where that was relative to their third quarter marks? I mean is there likely to be an unrealized offset to that because they were close to the markets? Or is there some difference in there?

好的。我還有一個後續問題。我覺得這個回答很棒，謝謝。在最近的進展中，您指出，在您的退出中，您確認了總計淨已實現虧損 6700 萬美元。你能告訴我們這相對於他們第三季的進度而言處於什麼位置嗎？我的意思是，由於它們距離市場很近，是否可能存在未實現的抵消效應？或者說，這其中有什麼差別嗎？

They were pretty much right at the marks.

他們的準確度基本上符合預期。

That's what I assume since it was so close after the end of the quarter.

我之所以這麼認為，是因為時間離季度末很近。

Doug Harter, UBS.

道格·哈特，瑞銀集團。

Hoping you could talk about your expected pace of exits in the near term and how that might influence the kind of the velocity of portfolio turnover and fee income you can generate?

希望您能談談您預計近期內的退出速度，以及這可能會如何影響您的投資組合週轉速度和費用收入？

It usually moves kind of in lockstep with overall transaction volume in the market and new originations. So we've talked about that in the past, two people get sometimes a little concern when transaction volume declines like we saw in the second quarter of this year. But then exits declined as well.

它通常與市場整體交易量和新貸款發放量保持同步波動。我們之前也討論過這個問題，當交易量下降時，有些人會感到有些擔憂，就像我們在今年第二季度看到的那樣。但隨後出口量也下降了。

So they kind of move together and the net number really is, I think, a more important number to look at. Obviously, this quarter was very strong on a net basis as well over $1 billion, even though the exits did increase. So I don't know I can provide anything super insightful there other than just to say it kind of moves together with overall transaction volume.

所以它們實際上是同步變化的，我認為淨值才是更重要的參考數字。顯然，儘管退出數量有所增加，但本季淨收入仍然非常強勁，超過 10 億美元。所以，除了說它與整體交易量大致同步波動之外，我不知道還能提供什麼特別有見地的信息。

Robert Dodd, Raymond James.

Robert Dodd，Raymond James。

In talking about supporting earnings power, et cetera. I mean one thing that stood out to us this quarter is other income looked quite high. I mean -- by any historic standards now. I mean that's not usually where the origination fees go, but could be amendments, could be consulting. Can you give us any idea like what drove that? And is that now going to be more geared to just what activity is rather than which obviously drives the capital structuring fees?

在談到支持收入能力等方面。我的意思是，本季讓我們印象深刻的一點是，其他收入看起來相當高。我的意思是——以任何歷史標準來看。我的意思是，通常來說，手續費不會用於這些方面，但可能會用於修改或諮詢。您能告訴我們一下是什麼原因導致這種情況嗎？現在是否會更重視活動本身，而不是那些明顯驅動資本結構費用的因素？

Or has there been more of an effort to see capital consulting kind of fee arrangements. And maybe is that going to be an ongoing story in terms of one of the tools to support earnings power?

或者，是否有更多努力來探索類似資本諮詢的收費安排？或許這會成為支撐獲利能力的一種持續發展的方向？

Yes. Thanks, Robert. That's mainly typically like transaction or like amendment type fees. So I would not necessarily say that's replicatable every quarter. So really more one-time in nature. The capital structuring fees are really more indicative of the origination volume.

是的。謝謝你，羅伯特。這主要通常是交易費或修改費之類的費用。所以，我並不認為這種情況每季都能複製。所以，這其實更像是一次性的事件。資本結構費用其實更能反映貸款發放量。

Yes. Got it. On the AI question. I mean you mentioned you had the in-house think tank, for lack of a better term, from several years back. How has that changed over the last couple of years' how you go about underwriting software? I mean you laid out in the prepared remarks all the ways you do it currently. But I mean is that fundamentally in any way different today because of the in-house AI expertise? Or is it just always been that way?

是的。知道了。關於人工智慧問題。我的意思是，你提到你們幾年前就成立了內部智囊團（暫且這麼稱呼吧）。過去幾年，您在承保軟體方面發生了哪些變化？我的意思是，你在準備好的發言稿中已經詳細闡述了你目前的所有做法。但我的意思是，如今因為有了內部人工智慧技術，這種情況在本質上是否有所改變？還是說一直以來都是這樣？

Yes. No, great question. Look, I think multi-part answer. Number one, it's always been that way in terms of our desire to provide capital to software that is foundational and infrastructure-like in its business model, i.e., software that is highly ingrained in the workflows of its customer base. That powers off of -- and a key part of its value prop is off of a proprietary database. And a lot of time, software that is provided into highly regulated end markets that are extremely reliant on high-quality data and accuracy of data and auditability of data.

是的。不，問得好。我認為答案需要多部分回答。第一，我們一直以來都希望為那些在商業模式中具有基礎性和基礎設施性質的軟體提供資金，也就是說，那些高度融入其客戶群工作流程的軟體。它的動力源自於——而其價值主張的關鍵部分源自於專有資料庫。很多時候，軟體被提供給高度監管的終端市場，這些市場極度依賴高品質的數據、數據的準確性和數據的可審計性。

So that has always been our strategy in software for decades. And so that really hasn't changed. I think what -- over the last few years with the rise of AI and obviously our focus on making sure that our portfolio is defensively positioned. And certainly, any new investment we make is defensively positioned.

所以幾十年來，這始終是我們軟體產業的策略。所以這一點其實並沒有改變。我認為——在過去幾年裡，隨著人工智慧的興起，以及我們顯然更加重視確保我們的投資組合具有防禦性。當然，我們進行的任何新投資都採取防禦性策略。

Obviously, we're spending a lot more time thinking now about what AI is good at and what it's not good at to ensure that we continue to build a portfolio that is resistant to disruption. And when you think about what AI is good at, it's really good at creating content. It can create amazing content so much faster than humans can.

顯然，我們現在花更多的時間思考人工智慧的優勢和劣勢，以確保我們能夠繼續建立一個能夠抵禦顛覆性變革的產品組合。想想人工智慧的優勢所在，它其實非常擅長內容創作。它能以比人類快得多的速度創造出令人驚嘆的內容。

It is very good at analyzing and synthesizing lots of data. It doesn't actually house the data; it's not a database. But it can synthesize lots of data. And so you want to make sure that you're not investing in software companies that are simply providing content, learning modules delivered over software that can be disrupted.

它非常擅長分析和綜合大量數據。它實際上並沒有儲存資料；它不是資料庫。但它可以綜合大量數據。因此，你要確保你投資的軟體公司不是那些僅僅提供內容、學習模組並透過軟體交付的、容易受到干擾的軟體公司。

So those are the kind of areas we're trying to make sure that we're staying away from or software companies that are just analyzing third-party data. That would be something to stay away from. We want to make sure we're still very focused on providing software to companies that are actually powering businesses and our entrenched in businesses and our infrastructure like in their nature.

所以，我們正努力確保自己遠離這些領域，或遠離那些只分析第三方資料的軟體公司。那件事最好避而遠之。我們希望確保我們仍然非常專注於為那些真正為企業提供動力、並且深深紮根於企業及其基礎設施的公司提供軟體。

Paul Johnson, KBW.

保羅·約翰遜，KBW。

Just one, a little bit further on Doug's questions for exits, but I'm just wondering if you have any sort of updated outlook, I guess, in terms of monetization and sort of further gains from realizations this year or if the Potomac intermediate kind of represents more of the meaningful opportunity there near term?

還有一個問題，是關於 Doug 提出的退出策略的問題，我想問一下，您對今年的變現和進一步收益有什麼新的展望嗎？或者說，波托馬克中期原油是否代表了近期更有意義的投資機會？

Yes. Look, I think obviously, our strategy is to leverage our portfolio management team to make sure -- as I said in the prepared remarks, we are not only avoiding losses but capitalizing on potential opportunities to make big gains. Potomac is a great example, but it's not the only example of our history, and I can certainly guess that it's not going to be the only example going forward into the future.

是的。顯然，我認為我們的策略是利用我們的投資組合管理團隊來確保——正如我在準備好的發言稿中所說——我們不僅要避免損失，還要抓住潛在的機會以獲得巨大收益。波托馬克河就是一個很好的例子，但它不是我們歷史上唯一的例子，我完全可以肯定，在未來，它不會是唯一的例子。

Can't give forward-looking guidance or remarks about what might be the next big gain, obviously, but I guess what I would say is we provide a lot of disclosure for all of our investors in our SOI, in our 10-Q and 10-K, and you can see every investment we have in nature of that investment, you can see the investments we have that are restructured where we own equity or own the businesses outright via those restructurings. And that could provide some clues as to what might be sitting in the portfolio that could provide future gains. But I'd venture a guess that, that will not be the last one that you guys will see.

顯然，我無法對未來的發展方向或下一個重大收益發表任何評論，但我想說的是，我們在SOI、10-Q和10-K文件中向所有投資者提供了大量的信息披露，您可以查看我們每一項投資的性質，以及我們通過重組持有股權或直接擁有企業的那些投資。這或許能為我們提供一些線索，幫助我們了解投資組合中可能有哪些資產會帶來未來的收益。但我敢肯定，這不會是你們看到的最後一個。

Appreciate that. Very helpful. And then last one is just kind of higher level, I had. But we see like a mega financing deal like the EA Sports JPMorgan-led deal there, LBO financing. Does the deal of that size do enough, I guess, to kind of soak up any sort of oversupply of capital in the financing markets or is kind of the reality we would need to see a number of those to really accelerate sort of a balance of the supply and demand of capital in the private credit market.

謝謝。很有幫助。最後一個難度就高一些了，我之前也遇過。但我們看到像 EA Sports 一樣由摩根大通主導的巨額融資交易，即槓桿收購融資。如此規模的交易是否足以吸收融資市場中任何過剩的資本，或者說，我們需要看到更多這樣的交易才能真正加速私人信貸市場資本供需的平衡？

Yes, I think it helps. I mean, I don't have that one deal alone is going to move markets. You probably need several, but that's a lot of capital. So I think if we start to see -- and again, it's just emblematic of what I said earlier, the markets are functioning very well. The credit market money is flowing, buyouts, new buyouts are happening. And if we start to see a number of these larger buyouts, I do think actually that will start to potentially widen spreads, suck up demand in the broadly syndicated market, move deals back our way. So every deal like that, I think, helps.

是的，我覺得很有幫助。我的意思是，我不認為單憑一筆交易就能撼動市場。你可能需要好幾個，但這需要一大筆資金。所以我覺得，如果我們開始看到——而且這再次印證了我之前所說的話——市場運作得非常好。信貸市場資金流動頻繁，收購、新的收購正在進行。如果開始出現許多此類大型收購，我認為這實際上可能會擴大價差，吸收廣泛承銷市場的需求，並將交易重新帶回我們這邊。所以我覺得，每一筆這樣的交易都有幫助。

In the market, we're seeing a fair amount of the regular way activity, but we're also seeing a regular cadence of larger transactions, right? That's becoming more common. Records are broken over and over again, but it's really more about the regular cadence of large transactions that helps absorb the capital into the market.

市場上，我們看到相當多的常規交易活動，但我們也看到大額交易的規律性出現，對吧？這種情況越來越普遍了。記錄一次又一次地被打破，但真正幫助市場吸收資金的，是定期發生的大額交易。

That's all for me. Congrats on a good quarter.

我就說這些了。恭喜你本季業績出色。

Kenneth Lee, RBC Capital Markets.

Kenneth Lee，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場。

Just one for me. And you touched upon this in your prepared remarks around receivables financing and more broadly, I guess. When you look at any kind of off-balance sheet financing, I wonder if you could just remind us how does Ares Capital avoid situations? And more specifically, how are they flagged during the due diligence process when you're making your investments?

我只留一個。我想，您在關於應收帳款融資以及更廣泛意義上的議題的準備發言中也談到了這一點。當您審視任何類型的表外融資時，我想知道您能否提醒我們 Ares Capital 是如何避免這種情況的？更具體地說，在您進行投資的盡職調查過程中，這些風險是如何被發現的？

Yes. Well, so they're flagged during the due diligence process by an exhaustive analysis of all of the company's liabilities on balance sheet and off-balance sheet. We obviously have almost every transaction, we do new transactions. We have a quality of earnings provider that's coming in and doing a third-party report, scrubbing numbers, asking lots and lots of questions. Companies are required to disclose their liabilities to us as part of the reps and warranties.

是的。嗯，所以在盡職調查過程中，透過對公司資產負債表內外的所有負債進行詳盡分析，就能發現這些問題。我們顯然擁有幾乎所有交易記錄，我們也會進行新的交易。我們聘請了一家獲利品質評估機構，他們會出具一份第三方報告，對數據進行篩選，並提出很多很多問題。公司有義務在聲明和保證中向我們揭露其負債。

So it is diligent-able at the outset and at the underwriting of the transaction. And then on a go-forward basis, we have protections in the document. We have baskets that limit securitization facilities, which includes factoring of receivables and all different sorts of off-balance sheet liabilities and those baskets are tight.

因此，它在交易的開始和承銷階段都能夠做到盡職盡責。然後，在未來的發展過程中，我們在文件中提供了保護措施。我們有限制證券化融資的籃子，其中包括應收帳款的保理和各種表外負債，而且這些籃子非常嚴格。

And we talk a lot about the baskets in the private credit market or the documents in the private credit market being tighter than the documents in the broadly syndicated market, and this is just one very good public example of something where the broadly syndicated market documents were a little bit looser. And I don't expect that you would see that occur in one of our transactions.

我們經常談到私人信貸市場的貸款組合或貸款單據比廣泛銀團貸款市場的貸款單據更嚴格，而這只是一個非常好的公開例子，說明廣泛銀團貸款市場的貸款單據反而更寬鬆一些。我不認為這種情況會在我們的交易中發生。

Sean-Paul Adams, B. Riley Securities.

Sean-Paul Adams，B. Riley Securities。

Most of my questions have already been asked and answered. But on the portfolio grade, the weighting improves quarter-over-quarter and (inaudible) non-accruals declined. Do you view any general improvements in the economic environment? Or is it just a reflection of the runoff of non-accruals from the portfolio?

我的大部分問題都已經被問過並得到了解答。但就投資組合評級而言，權重逐季改善，（聽不清楚）非應計項目下降。您認為經濟環境是否有任何整體改善？或者這只是反映了投資組合中非應計收益的流失？

I think the economic environment is pretty stable. So I think it's just the runoff of a couple of a non-accruals. The number obviously bounces around a little bit quarter-to-quarter. The movement wasn't anything extreme. So I don't think there's much to read into there.

我認為經濟環境相當穩定。所以我認為這只是幾個非應計項目的結餘。這個數字顯然每季都會略有波動。這場運動並不算極端。所以我覺得沒什麼好解讀的。

Got it. And as a quick follow-up, on spreads, you guys talked about this pretty in-depth, but there is a race towards the bottom. Is there a kind of a bottom that you're envisioning as far as spread level declines just among the general economic environment for deal flow?

知道了。最後再補充一點，關於價差，你們已經討論得很深入了，但是現在存在一場競相壓價的現象。就整體經濟環境和交易流量而言，您認為價差水準下降到什麼程度才會觸底？

Yes. I mean it's just hard to prognosticate and look forward and say where everything is going to go. I guess I'd just point to a couple of things. Number one, spreads for the last three quarters now have been stable in the market. So it feels like we've sound to bottom for now. And I think that's due to just overall transaction activity starting to come back. I think it's also due to just the fact that private credit managers have dividends to pay and we sort of found where this floor seems to be, at least now for the last three- or four quarters. So that's one important point to look at.

是的。我的意思是，很難預測未來，也很難說一切會朝哪個方向發展。我想指出幾點。第一，過去三個季度以來，市場上的價差一直保持穩定。所以感覺我們目前已經觸底了。我認為這主要是因為整體交易活動開始恢復。我認為這也是因為私人信貸管理公司需要支付股息，而我們已經找到了股息的底線，至少在過去的三個或四個季度是這樣。所以這是需要考慮的一個重要面向。

Again, I would probably just remind people, our third quarter originations showed spread widening, modest, but some spread widening. I talked about it already. We put about $3.9 billion, it has plus $560 million at 4.8x leverage. So that feels like a pretty good environment to be investing into and doesn't really suggest that we are in a race-to-the-bottom-type environment. But like I said, not going to sit here and really try to predict too much what's going to happen in the future.

我可能還會再次提醒大家，我們第三季的貸款發放額度擴大，雖然幅度不大，但確實有所擴大。我之前已經說過這​​件事了。我們投入了約 39 億美元，加上 5.6 億美元，槓桿率為 4.8 倍。所以這感覺像是一個相當不錯的投資環境，並不表示我們正處於競相壓價的環境中。但就像我說的，我不會坐在這裡試圖過度預測未來會發生什麼。

Ethan Kay, Lucid Capital Markets.

Ethan Kay，Lucid Capital Markets。

Maybe nitpicking here a little bit, given very solid results. But dividend income came in a tad bit softer quarter-over-quarter. It looks like the distribution from Ivy Hill was stable. There were some exits of equity positions that you guys talked about, which ostensibly is a factor there. But can you talk about if there was maybe anything else that might have contributed to that kind of evolution in dividend income?

考慮到結果非常出色，或許這裡有點吹毛求疵了。但股息收入環比略有下降。看起來Ivy Hill的分佈比較穩定。你們之前提到過一些股權退出的情況，這顯然是造成這種情況的因素。但您能否談談是否還有其他因素可能導致股息收入出現這種變化？

And then as a quick follow-up, can you kind of remind us of the sensitivity of IHEM's dividend to changes in interest rates given the fact that it's largely underlying -- the underlying is largely floating rate debt?

然後，作為後續問題，您能否提醒我們一下，鑑於 IHEM 的股息主要取決於基礎資產——基礎資產主要是浮動利率債務——其對利率變化的敏感性？

Yes. On the dividend, yes, you hit it. There's a couple of things there. There were some non-recurring dividends that we got last quarter, but we also just saw some of the exits of our preferred yield incurred equity that exited the quarter. And so the dividend income came down one of those two factors. I will note that most of those preferred investments that paid off, we're picking. So it certainly helped the collection of our PIK, which I know has been a hot topic of investors as of late.

是的。關於股息，是的，你達到了目標。那裡有兩件事。上個季度我們收到了一些非經常性股息，但我們也看到一些優先收益率權益在本季末到期退出。因此，股息收入下降的原因就在於這兩個因素中的一個。我要指出的是，大多數獲得回報的優先投資都是我們挑選出來的。因此，這無疑有助於我們收取PIK，我知道這最近一直是投資者關注的熱門話題。

Yes, we didn't even really hit that. But we had a great PIK collections quarter. I know we do get a lot of questions about that and that obviously just occurred with pickup in transaction volume. And I think on the Ivy Hill question, I think you're asking about sustainability of IVL dividends and interest rate sensitivity. I mean, obviously, Ivy Hill investment floating right assets, they have floating rate liabilities as well.

是的，我們甚至都沒真正達到那個目標。但我們本季PIK收款情況非常好。我知道我們經常收到關於這方面的問題，這顯然是因為交易量的增長而發生的。關於 Ivy Hill 的問題，我認為你是在詢問 IVL 股息的可持續性和利率敏感性。我的意思是，很顯然，Ivy Hill 投資的浮動利率資產，其負債也是浮動利率的。

And we think about the Ivy Hill dividend very similarly to the ARCC dividend, where we think there are reasons why we think it's very sustainable. One thing I'll point out is like the ARCC dividend, Ivy Hill is currently out earning its dividend pretty materially. In the third quarter, we were about 107% dividend coverage at Ivy Hill. And there also exists $130 million of retained earnings down at Ivy Hill as well. So we feel like there's a lot of reasons why that dividend should be sustainable in all different kinds of environments.

我們對 Ivy Hill 的股息的看法與 ARCC 的股息非常相似，我們認為 Ivy Hill 的股息具有很強的可持續性，這是有原因的。我想指出的一點是，與 ARCC 的股息一樣，Ivy Hill 目前獲得的股息收益相當可觀。第三季度，Ivy Hill 的股息覆蓋率約為 107%。此外，Ivy Hill 還有 1.3 億美元的留存收益。因此，我們認為有很多理由可以解釋為什麼這種分紅在各種不同的環境下都應該是可持續的。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

Brian Mckenna, Citizens.

Brian Mckenna，市民。

So credit quality remains resilient. And as you mentioned, non-accruals is still well below that historical 3% average. But why do you see credit has been so resilient outside of any broader macro reasons? Is it where your exposures sit from a sector perspective? How you structure deals and price risk? Or is it being driven by greater levels of scale and as your platform gets bigger and bigger, it's really just driving better outcomes for all stakeholders through the cycle?

因此，信貸品質依然保持穩定。正如您所提到的，非應計項目仍然遠低於3%的歷史平均值。但除了宏觀經濟因素之外，您認為信貸為何如此具有韌性？從產業角度來看，您的風險敞口處於什麼位置？如何建構交易結構並評估風險？或者，這是由更大的規模驅動的，隨著平台越來越大，它實際上只是在整個週期中為所有利害關係人帶來更好的結果？

Yes. Thanks, Brian. All of the above for sure, I think. As a reminder, one of the benefits of running a BDC is we don't have to manage to an index, so we can select industries that are defensive and that work well for credit investing. So we've avoided a lot of industries that have been showing softness of late. And we've been leaning into industries that are very consistent growers.

是的。謝謝你，布萊恩。以上所有選項我都同意。需要提醒的是，經營 BDC 的好處之一是我們不必追蹤指數，因此我們可以選擇防禦性強且適合信貸投資的產業。因此，我們避開了許多近期表現疲軟的產業。我們一直在加大對那些成長非常穩定的產業的投入。

And so I think certainly, industry selection and industry diversification as well have been really important drivers of our outperformance on credit. And then certainly, look, Rich, you mentioned scale. So I have to take the opportunity to hit on that. The scale of our platform is unmatched and our ability to originate an incredibly broad amount of deals into our system allows us to be very, very selective, right?

因此，我認為，產業選擇和產業多元化無疑是我們信貸業務取得優異績效的重要驅動因素。當然，Rich，你也提到了規模。所以我必須抓住這個機會。我們的平台規模無與倫比，我們能夠將數量驚人的交易引入我們的系統，這使我們能夠非常、非常挑剔，對吧？

The more opportunities we can see, the more selective we can be and the better able we are to find the market-leading companies, the best companies in all of these different industries and then choose to invest in those companies and then pass on the other opportunities.

我們看到的機會越多，就越能精挑細選，也就越能找到市場領先的公司、各行​​業中最優秀的公司，然後選擇投資這些公司，放棄其他機會。

If your funnel is more narrow, obviously, our job is to put money to work, and so you're going to put money to work into lower quality companies. So that larger funnel, I think, is a huge advantage comes from our scale, comes from our size of our team, the tenure of our team as well, the fact that we've all been working together for such a long time. And I think just the DNA in our system around underwriting and credit has been passed down and just continues to get reinforced throughout the year. So I think you hit all the reasons, Brian, but thanks for giving me opportunity to talk more about them.

如果你的投資管道更窄，很顯然，我們的工作就是讓資金發揮作用，因此你會把錢投入到品質較低的公司。所以我認為，更大的客戶管道是一個巨大的優勢，這源自於我們的規模，源自於我們團隊的規模，源自於我們團隊的資歷，也源自於我們長期以來一直在一起工作的事實。我認為我們系統中關於承保和信貸的基因已經傳承下來，並且在這一年中不斷得到強化。所以我覺得你已經把所有原因都說到了，布萊恩，但還是要感謝你給我機會再多談談這些原因。

Yes, sure thing. I appreciate the context as always. And then just one quick one, if I may. And you touched on this a little bit, but looking back historically a period of volatility, really when liquidity dries up, how much incremental spread on average have you been able to capture in those environments? I appreciate every period of volatility is a little bit different. But I'm trying to figure out is there a way to quantify this dynamic and ultimately, how much incremental ROE is generated from these types of situations through the cycle for ARCC?

好的，沒問題。我一如既往地感謝您提供的背景資訊。如果可以的話，我再問一個簡短的問題。您剛才也稍微提到了這一點，但回顧歷史，在波動時期，當流動性枯竭時，在這些環境下，您平均能夠獲得多少增量利差？我知道每個波動時期都略有不同。但我正在努力弄清楚是否有一種方法可以量化這種動態，以及最終，在 ARCC 的整個週期中，這些情況會產生多少增量 ROE？

I don't know there's a way to really quantify it just because everything is so different. It all depends on so many different factors, right? What's the broadly syndicated market doing? What are base rates doing? How bad do people feel about the dislocation? I mean a couple of examples just to point to recently with the Liberation Day and the tariffs.

我不知道有沒有辦法真正量化它，因為每件事都千差萬別。這一切都取決於很多不同的因素，對吧？廣泛發行的證券市場現況如何？基準利率走勢如何？人們對這種脫軌現象的感受有多糟糕？我舉幾個最近的例子，像是解放日和關稅問題。

Back in April, there was probably a multi-week period where we were able to capture 50 basis points of increased spread and maybe another 50 basis points of increased upfront fee. So call it, maybe 75 basis points or so of total yield, but that wasn't very long lasting. But there were certainly a couple of transactions that were going into signing that we were able to move terms on and rightly so because it was an uncomfortable in a difficult period to be investing in for most people.

早在四月份，可能有長達數週的時間，我們獲得了 50 個基點的利差增長，以及可能另外 50 個基點的預付費用增長。所以，總收益率大概提高了75個基點左右，但這並沒有持續很久。但確實有幾筆交易在即將簽署時，我們能夠調整條款，這樣做是正確的，因為對於大多數人來說，在這樣一個艱難的時期進行投資是不愉快的。

And then you look back in the period in 2022, late 2022 and early 2023. I think we saw spreads widen by 150 basis points back then and fees probably widened by 100 basis points upfront fees, and that was more driven just by banks exiting the market, the broadly syndicated market shutting down entirely because banks were hung on transactions as rates rose and they couldn't sell them.

然後你回顧 2022 年、2022 年底和 2023 年初這段時期。我認為當時利差擴大了 150 個基點，預付費用可能擴大了 100 個基點，這主要是由於銀行退出市場，廣泛的銀團貸款市場完全關閉，因為隨著利率上升，銀行積壓了交易，卻無法出售。

And so that just created a huge imbalance in the competitive landscape and the supply of capital. So really, it's just -- those are two recent examples of very different movements in spread and for different reasons. And it's just really hard to generalize.

因此，這就造成了競爭格局和資本供給的巨大失衡。所以實際上，這只是——這兩個例子代表了近期傳播趨勢截然不同的兩種情況，而且原因也各不相同。而且很難一概而論。

Thank you. Mr. Schnabel, it appears we have no further questions this afternoon. Sir, I'd like to turn the conference back to you for any closing comments.

謝謝。施納貝爾先生，看來今天下午我們沒有其他問題了。先生，我想把會議交還給您，請您作總結發言。

Okay. Great. Thank you all for joining us today and for all your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you on our next quarterly call.

好的。偉大的。感謝各位今天蒞臨本次會議，也感謝大家一直以來的支持，我們期待在下次季度電話會議上與您再次相聚。

Thank you, Mr. Schnabel. Again, ladies and gentlemen, that will conclude today's conference call. Again, thanks so much for joining us, everyone, and we wish you all a great day. Goodbye.

謝謝你，施納貝爾先生。女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。再次感謝各位的參與，祝福大家今天過得愉快。再見。