Barings BDC Inc (BBDC) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Barings BDC, Inc. Conference Call for the Quarter and Year ended December 31, 2022. (Operator Instructions) Today's call is being recorded, and a replay will be available approximately 2 hours after the conclusion of the call on the company's website at www.baringsbdc.com under the Investor Relations section.

此時，我想歡迎大家參加截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日的季度和年度的 Barings BDC, Inc. 電話會議。（操作員說明）今天的電話正在錄製中，大約 2 小時後可以重播在公司網站 www.baringsbdc.com 的“投資者關係”部分下的電話會議結束。

Please note that this call may contain forward-looking statements that include statements regarding the company's goals, beliefs, strategies, future operating results and cash flows.

請注意，本次電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，其中包括有關公司目標、信念、戰略、未來經營業績和現金流量的陳述。

Although the company believes these statements are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These statements are based on various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including those disclosed under the section titled Risk Factors and Forward-Looking Statements in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

儘管公司認為這些陳述是合理的，但實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述中預測的結果存在重大差異。這些陳述基於各種基本假設，並受到許多不確定性和風險的影響，包括公司截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日止財政年度的 10-K 表年度報告中標題為“風險因素和前瞻性陳述”的部分所披露的那些，如提交給美國證券交易委員會的那樣。

Barings BDC undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements unless required by law. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Eric Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer of Barings BDC.

除非法律要求，霸菱 BDC 不承擔更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述的義務。此時，我想將電話轉給 Barings BDC 首席執行官 Eric Lloyd。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us for today's call. Please note that throughout today's call, we'll be referring to our fourth quarter 2022 earnings presentation that is posted on the Investor Relations section of our website.

謝謝接線員，大家早上好。感謝您加入我們今天的電話會議。請注意，在今天的整個電話會議中，我們將參考發佈在我們網站投資者關係部分的 2022 年第四季度收益報告。

On the call today, I'm joined by Barings co-head of Global Private Finance and President of Barings BDC, Ian Fowler; Baring's Head of Capital Solutions and Co-Portfolio Manager; Bryan High, and the BDC's Chief Financial Officer, Jonathan Landsberg.

在今天的電話會議上，霸菱全球私人融資聯席主管兼霸菱 BDC 總裁 Ian Fowler 也加入了我的行列；霸菱資本解決方案主管兼聯合投資組合經理； Bryan High 和 BDC 的首席財務官 Jonathan Landsberg。

As is customary, Ian, Bryan and Jonathan will review details of our portfolio and fourth quarter results in a moment, but I'll start off with some high-level comments about the quarter.

按照慣例，Ian、Bryan 和 Jonathan 稍後將審查我們的投資組合和第四季度業績的詳細信息，但我將首先對本季度發表一些高層評論。

Let's begin with the market backdrop shown on Slide 5 of the presentation. In a market characterized by significant concerns around inflation, economic growth and geopolitical risks and one in which the unprecedented pace of global interest rate hikes elevates volatility in both leveraged loans and BDC equities, Barings BDC continued to generate strong economic results.

讓我們從演示文稿幻燈片 5 中顯示的市場背景開始。在一個以通貨膨脹、經濟增長和地緣政治風險為特徵的市場，以及前所未有的全球加息步伐加劇槓桿貸款和 BDC 股票波動的市場中，Barings BDC 繼續產生強勁的經濟業績。

Turning to the fourth quarter highlights on Slide 6. Net asset value per share was $11.05 compared to the prior quarter of $11.28, down by 2%. We had one new non-accrual in the quarter, Core Scientific, which we discussed on our last call in November and on our unrealized write-down of the asset contributed $0.17 of NAV reduction. Outside of Core Scientific, the reduction in our NAV was driven primarily by unrealized write-downs tied to macroeconomic factors and spread widening as opposed to fundamental credit related factors in our portfolio.

轉到幻燈片 6 上的第四季度亮點。每股淨資產值為 11.05 美元，與上一季度的 11.28 美元相比下降了 2%。我們在本季度有一個新的非應計項目，即 Core Scientific，我們在 11 月的最後一次電話會議上討論了它，並且在我們未實現的資產減記中，資產淨值減少了 0.17 美元。在 Core Scientific 之外，我們資產淨值的減少主要是由於與宏觀經濟因素和利差擴大相關的未實現減記，而不是我們投資組合中與基本信用相關的因素。

Our net investment income was $0.34 per share compared to $0.26 per share last quarter, an increase of 33% quarter-over-quarter as our portfolio benefited substantially from the rise in base rates. In addition, Barings earned no incentive income incentive fee in the quarter due to the incentive fee cap in our shareholder-friendly fee structure, which includes realized and unrealized gains and losses.

我們的淨投資收益為每股 0.34 美元，而上一季度為每股 0.26 美元，環比增長 33%，因為我們的投資組合大大受益於基本利率的上升。此外，由於我們對股東友好的費用結構中的獎勵費用上限，包括已實現和未實現的收益和損失，巴林銀行在本季度沒有獲得獎勵收入獎勵費用。

Turning to new investments. We had gross originations of $240 million in the fourth quarter. This was offset by $113 million of sales and prepayments for our net portfolio increase of $128 million. Our investment portfolio continued to perform well in the fourth quarter including the acquired Sierra and MVC assets, our total non-accruals were 3.9% of the portfolio on a cost basis and 1% on a fair volume -- fair value basis.

轉向新的投資。我們在第四季度的總收入為 2.4 億美元。這被我們 1.28 億美元的淨投資組合增加的 1.13 億美元銷售額和預付款所抵消。我們的投資組合在第四季度繼續表現良好，包括收購的 Sierra 和 MVC 資產，我們的非應計項目總額在成本基礎上佔投資組合的 3.9%，在公允數量 - 公允價值基礎上佔 1%。

With the exception of Core Scientific, all of our non-accrual assets were from acquired portfolios and therefore, are part of our credit support agreements.

除 Core Scientific 外，我們所有的非應計資產均來自收購的投資組合，因此是我們信貸支持協議的一部分。

Turning to forward earnings power. The increase in base rates have increased the weighted average yields in our middle market and cross-platform investments to 10.2% and 11.1%, respectively, more than 100 basis points higher than last quarter.

轉向遠期盈利能力。基準利率的提高使我們的中間市場和跨平台投資的加權平均收益率分別提高到 10.2% 和 11.1%，比上一季度高出 100 多個基點。

We expect additional revenue contribution given the inherent lag and higher base rates flowing through our portfolio, particularly in our European portfolio, where it's customary for borrowers to elect a 6-month base rate contract.

鑑於固有的滯後性和更高的基準利率流經我們的投資組合，我們預計會有額外的收入貢獻，特別是在我們的歐洲投資組合中，借款人通常選擇 6 個月的基準利率合同。

As a result, our Board declared a first quarter dividend of $0.25 per share an increase of $0.01 from the prior quarter, equating to a 9% yield on our net asset value of $11.05.

因此，我們的董事會宣布派發每股 0.25 美元的第一季度股息，比上一季度增加 0.01 美元，相當於我們 11.05 美元的資產淨值的 9% 收益率。

Slide 7 outlines summary financial highlights from the previous 5 quarters. As I mentioned, continued strong investment performance and higher base rates drove total investment income meaningfully higher to $63.5 million, up 13% quarter-over-quarter. Below the line, net unrealized depreciation of $56 million was primarily a function of mark-to-market on our assets as a result of higher credit spreads as well as the write-down of Core Scientific. This unrealized depreciation, eliminated the quarterly incentive fee because our total return incentive fee cap, further allowing expenses and elevating net NII in the quarter to $0.34 per share.

幻燈片 7 概述了前 5 個季度的摘要財務亮點。正如我所提到的，持續強勁的投資業績和更高的基準利率推動總投資收入顯著增加至 6350 萬美元，環比增長 13%。在此線之下，5600 萬美元的未實現淨折舊主要是由於較高的信用利差以及 Core Scientific 的減記而導致我們的資產按市值計價。這種未實現的折舊消除了季度激勵費用，因為我們的總回報激勵費用上限進一步允許支出並將本季度的淨 NII 提高至每股 0.34 美元。

Turning to liquidity. Net leverage, which is leverage net of cash and unsettled transactions, was 1.12x, which is in the middle of our target leverage range of 0.9x to 1.25x. This attractive liquidity position allows us to remain steady partners with our existing sponsor clients as well as look towards new investment opportunities that present themselves in the face of economic uncertainty as we believe in [inducted] environments like this are fantastic opportunities to prudently deploy capital at higher spreads, lower leverage and with better structural protections.

轉向流動性。淨槓桿率（扣除現金和未結算交易後的槓桿率）為 1.12 倍，處於我們 0.9 倍至 1.25 倍目標槓桿率範圍的中間。這種有吸引力的流動性狀況使我們能夠與現有的讚助商客戶保持穩定的合作夥伴關係，並尋找在經濟不確定性面前出現的新投資機會，因為我們相信像這樣的[誘導]環境是謹慎部署資本的絕佳機會更高的利差、更低的槓桿率和更好的結構性保護。

Looking ahead, we remain steadfast in our focus on risk management and prudent asset -- asset selection. The lagged impact of increasing rates will continue to work its way through the private markets with many credit stresses yet to come. We feel good about how our portfolio is positioned to weather a volatile environment with a diverse portfolio allocated across private asset classes and geographies, plus a best-in-class industrial alignment and a dynamic low-cost liability structure that we believe positions us well for both current and future markets.

展望未來，我們仍將堅定不移地專注於風險管理和審慎的資產——資產選擇。加息的滯後影響將繼續通過私人市場發揮作用，許多信貸壓力尚未到來。我們對我們的投資組合如何定位以應對動蕩的環境感到滿意，其中多元化的投資組合分佈在私人資產類別和地區，加上一流的行業調整和我們認為使我們處於有利地位的動態低成本負債結構當前和未來市場。

I'll now turn the call over to Ian to provide an update on the market and our investment portfolio.

我現在將電話轉給 Ian，以提供有關市場和我們投資組合的最新信息。

Thanks, Eric, and good morning, everyone. If you turn to Slide 9, you can see additional details on the investment activity mentioned previously. Our middle market portfolio increased by $184 million, on a net basis in the quarter, with gross fundings of $205 million, offset by repayments of $21 million.

謝謝，埃里克，大家早上好。如果翻到幻燈片 9，您可以看到前面提到的投資活動的更多詳細信息。我們的中間市場投資組合在本季度淨增加了 1.84 億美元，總資金為 2.05 億美元，被 2100 萬美元的還款所抵消。

It is not surprising that repayment activity has slowed in this environment. As -- the market adjusts to the realities of higher interest rates and what that implies for company valuations and supportable capital structures. That said, new middle market investments included 21 new platform investments totaling $167 million and $39 million of follow-on investments in delayed draw term loan fundings as we continue to deploy capital at a very attractive risk return profiles in partnership with long-standing sponsors.

在這種環境下還款活動放緩也就不足為奇了。因為 - 市場調整以適應更高利率的現實以及這對公司估值和可支持的資本結構的影響。也就是說，新的中間市場投資包括總計 1.67 億美元的 21 項新平台投資和 3900 萬美元的延遲提取期限貸款資金的後續投資，因為我們繼續與長期贊助商合作，以極具吸引力的風險回報配置部署資本。

Our -- our cross-platform portfolio decreased by $26 million on a net basis in the quarter with $35 million of new originations versus $61 million of repayments. We continue to remain active with realizations in sales at both MVC and Sierra, and this quarter generated $30 million of liquidity via sales, paydowns and prepayments.

我們的——我們的跨平台投資組合在本季度淨減少了 2600 萬美元，其中 3500 萬美元的新發起和 6100 萬美元的還款。我們繼續積極實現 MVC 和 Sierra 的銷售，本季度通過銷售、付款和預付款產生了 3000 萬美元的流動資金。

Slide 10 updates the data we show you each quarter on middle market spreads across the capital structure, and clearly, investment spreads across public and private asset classes have widened. Most important, public market spreads continue to exceed those of private middle market loans. While it looks like the illiquidity premium or the extra spread to take a deal private, to loan investors remains much smaller than in the past, there has been stretches where the liquid low market has been effectively shut to new issuers, meaning the relative attractiveness of the direct lending solution in today's marketplace for private equity sponsors is very high.

幻燈片 10 更新了我們每個季度向您展示的關於資本結構中間市場利差的數據，顯然，公共和私人資產類別的投資利差已經擴大。最重要的是，公共市場利差繼續超過私人中間市場貸款的利差。雖然看起來非流動性溢價或將交易私有化的額外利差，貸款投資者仍然比過去小得多，但流動性低的市場已經有效地對新發行人關閉，這意味著相對吸引力當今市場上私募股權發起人的直接貸款解決方案非常高。

A bridge of our investment portfolio from September 30 to December 31, is shown on Slide 11. On Slide 12, you'll see a breakdown of the key components of our investment portfolio as of December 31. As we have discussed in the past, the goal of this slide is to provide details on the key categories of our portfolio which are the Barings originated middle market portfolio, the legacy MVC Capital and Sierra income portfolios as well as our cross-platform investments.

幻燈片 11 顯示了我們從 9 月 30 日到 12 月 31 日的投資組合的橋樑。在幻燈片 12 上，您將看到截至 12 月 31 日我們投資組合的主要組成部分的細分。正如我們過去討論的那樣，這張幻燈片的目的是提供我們投資組合的主要類別的詳細信息，這些投資組合是 Barings 起源的中間市場投資組合、遺留的 MVC Capital 和 Sierra 收入投資組合以及我們的跨平台投資。

The middle market portfolio remains our core focus and makes up 61% of our portfolio in terms of total investments at fair value. Our Barings originated middle market exposure is heavily diversified amongst obligors of 231 portfolio companies with a geographic diversification across the U.S., Europe and APAC regions.

中間市場投資組合仍然是我們的核心重點，按公允價值計算占我們投資組合的 61%。我們的 Barings 發起的中間市場敞口在 231 家投資組合公司的債務人中高度分散，這些公司的地域分散在美國、歐洲和亞太地區。

The underlying yield at fair value on our middle market investment portfolio is 10.5%, up from 9.2% last quarter and weighted average first lien leverage of 5.2x with no loans on non-accrual. It is reflective of, our boring is beautiful approach to credit.

我們中間市場投資組合的公允價值基礎收益率為 10.5%，高於上一季度的 9.2%，加權平均第一留置權槓桿為 5.2 倍，沒有非應計貸款。它反映了，我們無聊的是美麗的信用方法。

In addition to our middle market exposure, we continue to draw upon Baring's wide investment frame of reference and complement our core portfolio with $335 million of the investments in the legacy MVC and Sierra portfolios and $611 million cross-platform investments.

除了我們的中間市場敞口外，我們繼續利用霸菱廣泛的投資參考框架，並通過對傳統 MVC 和 Sierra 投資組合的 3.35 億美元投資以及 6.11 億美元的跨平台投資來補充我們的核心投資組合。

Turning to credit. One Barings originated asset, 2 MVC assets and 4 Sierra assets remain on nonaccrual. The MVC and Sierra assets are covered by the credit support agreement. Eric discussed the one Barings-originated nonaccruals, Core Scientific which is currently working through the Chapter 11 process.

轉向信貸。 1 項 Barings 原始資產、2 項 MVC 資產和 4 項 Sierra 資產仍處於非應計狀態。 MVC 和 Sierra 資產包含在信貸支持協議中。 Eric 討論了一個由 Barings 發起的非應計項目，即 Core Scientific，它目前正在處理第 11 章的流程。

Importantly, at a time when many borrowers are feeling the pinch of higher base rates in wage and raw material pressures, we don't have any assets with restructured PIK interest in our portfolio. Restructured PIK is what we call loan that was originally underwritten as a fully cash pay loan where the borrower had to ask for relief by converting a portion of the cash interest coupon to PIK for a period of time.

重要的是，在許多藉款人感受到工資和原材料壓力的較高基準利率的時候，我們的投資組合中沒有任何具有重組 PIK 權益的資產。重組後的 PIK 就是我們所說的貸款，最初被承保為全額現金支付貸款，借款人必須在一段時間內通過將部分現金息票轉換為 PIK 來尋求減免。

We view restructure PIK as one of the early signs that can foreshadow potential future problems.

我們將重組 PIK 視為可以預示未來潛在問題的早期跡象之一。

Slide 13 provides a further breakdown of the portfolio from a seniority perspective. The core Barings-originated portfolio is 74% first lien. Note the combined MVC-Sierra portfolios are comprised of senior secured second lien, mezzanine debt and equity investments which brings the first lien component of the total portfolio down to 69%.

幻燈片 13 從資歷的角度進一步細分了投資組合。源自霸菱的核心投資組合是 74% 的優先留置權。請注意，合併後的 MVC-Sierra 投資組合由高級擔保第二留置權、夾層債務和股權投資組成，這使得總投資組合的第一留置權部分降至 69%。

Our top 10 investments are shown on Slide 14. Our largest investment is 5.9% of the total portfolio and the top 10 investments represent 21% of the total portfolio.

我們的前 10 大投資顯示在幻燈片 14 中。我們最大的投資佔總投資組合的 5.9%，前 10 大投資佔總投資組合的 21%。

Recall our largest investment, Eclipse business Credit is backed by a large portfolio of asset-backed loans conservatively structured inside the collateral net liquidation value. The Eclipse portfolio remains diverse from an industry perspective as well with 44 investments spread across 17 industries and that business continues to perform quite well, contributing healthy dividend distributions to the BDC as well as a sustained business growth.

回想一下我們最大的投資，Eclipse business Credit 得到大量資產支持貸款的支持，這些貸款在抵押品淨清算價值內保守地構建。從行業角度來看，Eclipse 投資組合仍然多樣化，44 項投資分佈在 17 個行業，該業務繼續表現良好，為 BDC 帶來健康的股息分配以及持續的業務增長。

I'll summarize my market comments with a view as how we think about portfolio management and risk management in a challenging environment like the one we are currently in. The longer that base rates remain at elevated levels, naturally, the more stress we expect to see across our portfolio in the broader market. That said, maintaining a vigilant focus on the tail risk in the portfolio and help lessen eventual pain by being more proactive with borrowers and sponsors.

我將總結我的市場評論，以了解我們如何在像我們目前所處的這樣一個充滿挑戰的環境中思考投資組合管理和風險管理。基準利率保持在較高水平的時間越長，我們自然會面臨更大的壓力在更廣闊的市場中查看我們的投資組合。也就是說，保持對投資組合中尾部風險的警惕關注，並通過更積極地與借款人和讚助商合作來幫助減輕最終的痛苦。

We have a weekly focus and watch list call across our direct lending platform, and there are currently 17 names in the BDC portfolio that comprise our focus and watch list, representing 3.6% of the BDC's portfolio at fair value.

我們每週都會通過我們的直接貸款平台進行焦點和觀察名單電話會議，目前 BDC 投資組合中有 17 個名稱構成我們的焦點和觀察名單，按公允價值佔 BDC 投資組合的 3.6%。

While there is no one common theme underpinning the names on the -- this group. We have seen that it's not just a higher base rates alone that results in borrower stress. Rather, these veins were experiencing pressure before the move higher in interest rates, whether from wage costs, raw input costs or difficulty digesting recent M&A activity.

雖然沒有一個共同的主題來支持這個小組的名稱。我們已經看到，導致借款人壓力的不僅僅是較高的基準利率。相反，這些靜脈在利率上升之前承受著壓力，無論是來自工資成本、原始投入成本還是難以消化近期的併購活動。

The increased interest costs exacerbated pressures that already exists in these businesses. That said, we maintain a very diverse portfolio with 322 issuers, no middle market loans on nonaccrual, no restructured PIK and just 2 annual recurring revenue loans in the entire portfolio. So we feel cautiously optimistic about what we see today, but of course, need to remain vigilant. We think success in this environment will favor those with investment discipline and long institutional memory deploying capital in inflationary environments.

增加的利息成本加劇了這些企業中已經存在的壓力。也就是說，我們維持著一個非常多樣化的投資組合，有 322 個發行人，沒有中間市場的非應計貸款，沒有重組的 PIK，整個投資組合中只有 2 個年度經常性收入貸款。因此，我們對今天所看到的情況持謹慎樂觀態度，但當然需要保持警惕。我們認為，在這種環境下取得成功將有利於那些具有投資紀律和在通脹環境中部署資本的長期機構記憶的人。

At Barings, across our wide investment frame of reference, we demonstrate both. I'll now turn the call over to Jonathan to provide additional color on our financial results.

在霸菱，在我們廣泛的投資參考框架中，我們展示了兩者。我現在將電話轉給喬納森，為我們的財務業績提供更多色彩。

Thanks, Ian. Turning to Slide 16. Here is the full bridge of the NAV per share movement in the fourth quarter. Our net investment income exceeded our dividend by $0.10 per share. Share repurchases added another $0.02 per share and combined net realized gains and unrealized depreciation reduced NAV by $0.35 per share. Additional details on the net unrealized depreciation are shown on Slide 17.

謝謝，伊恩。轉到幻燈片 16。這是第四季度每股資產淨值變動的全橋。我們的淨投資收益超出股息每股 0.10 美元。股票回購使每股淨資產再增加 0.02 美元，已實現淨收益和未實現折舊相結合，使每股資產淨值減少 0.35 美元。有關淨未實現折舊的更多詳細信息，請參見幻燈片 17。

Of the total $56 million in unrealized depreciation in the fourth quarter, approximately $21 million was due to price or spread moves while $26 million were due to credit factors. The cross-platform portfolio contributed $9 million of the total price-driven depreciation, primarily tied to the more liquid investments such as situational BSLs or underlying investments in our joint ventures while the majority of the credit-related write-down was due to Core Scientific.

在第四季度總計 5600 萬美元的未實現折舊中，約 2100 萬美元是由於價格或價差變動造成的，而 2600 萬美元是由於信用因素造成的。跨平台投資組合貢獻了 900 萬美元的總價格驅動折舊，主要與更具流動性的投資有關，例如情景 BSL 或我們合資企業的基礎投資，而大部分與信貸相關的減記是由於 Core Scientific .

Notably, the legacy MVC portfolio saw total depreciation of $9 million tied to underlying credit performance while the Sierra portfolio had total depreciation of $8 million, $5 million of which was due to price movements predominantly tied to Sierra JV.

值得注意的是，遺留 MVC 投資組合的總貶值額為 900 萬美元，與基礎信用業績相關，而 Sierra 投資組合的總貶值額為 800 萬美元，其中 500 萬美元是由於主要與 Sierra JV 相關的價格變動。

Near the bottom of Slide 18, you can see that the credit support agreements increased approximately $4 million as a result of investment marks. Slides 18 and 19 show our income statement and balance sheet for the last 5 quarters. Our net investment income per share was $0.34 for the quarter, driven by an 18% quarter-over-quarter increase in total interest income and the elimination of the incentive fee because of our total return hurdle.

在幻燈片 18 的底部附近，您可以看到由於投資標記，信貸支持協議增加了大約 400 萬美元。幻燈片 18 和 19 顯示了我們過去 5 個季度的損益表和資產負債表。我們本季度的每股淨投資收益為 0.34 美元，這是由於總利息收入環比增長 18% 以及由於我們的總回報障礙而取消了激勵費用。

From a balance sheet perspective on Slide 19, total debt-to-equity was 1.22x at December 31, although as is typical, this level was elevated due to high quarter-end cash balances. Our net leverage ratio was 1.12x, and we view this measure as more reflective of the true leverage position of the vehicle, which currently sits in the middle of our long-term target of 0.9x to 1.25x.

從幻燈片 19 的資產負債表角度來看，截至 12 月 31 日，總債務股本比為 1.22 倍，儘管這一水平通常因季度末現金餘額較高而升高。我們的淨槓桿率為 1.12 倍，我們認為這一指標更能反映車輛的真實槓桿率，目前處於我們 0.9 至 1.25 倍長期目標的中間位置。

Turning to Slide 20, you can see how our funding mix ties to our asset mix, both in terms of seniority and asset class, including the significant level of support provided by the $725 million of unsecured debt in our capital structure.

轉向幻燈片 20，您可以看到我們的資金組合如何與我們的資產組合聯繫在一起，無論是在資歷還是資產類別方面，包括我們資本結構中 7.25 億美元無擔保債務提供的重要支持。

Details on each of our borrowings are included on Slide 21, which shows the evolution of our debt profile over the last year. As of year-end, half of our funding was comprised of fixed rate unsecured debt with a weighted average coupon of 3.79% and we have 2.5 years until the next bond maturity.

我們每筆借款的詳細信息都包含在幻燈片 21 中，該幻燈片顯示了我們去年債務狀況的演變。截至年底，我們一半的資金由加權平均息票率為 3.79% 的固定利率無擔保債務組成，距離下一次債券到期還有 2.5 年。

Turning to Slide 22. You can see the impact to our net leverage of using our available liquidity to fund our unused capital commitments. Barings BDC currently has $241 million of unfunded commitments to our portfolio companies as well as $67 million of remaining commitments to our joint venture investments. We have available cushion against our leverage limit to meet the entirety of these commitments to cult upon as well as over $450 million of available dry powder between cash on hand and availability on our revolving credit facility.

轉到幻燈片 22。您可以看到使用可用流動性為未使用的資本承諾提供資金對我們淨槓桿的影響。 Barings BDC 目前對我們的投資組合公司有 2.41 億美元的未資金承諾，以及對我們的合資企業投資的 6700 萬美元剩余承諾。我們有可用的緩衝來抵消我們的槓桿限制，以履行所有這些承諾，以及超過 4.5 億美元的手頭現金和循環信貸額度之間的可用乾粉。

Slide 23 updates our paid and announced dividends since Barings took over as the adviser to the BDC. As Eric mentioned earlier, the Board declared a first quarter dividend of $0.25 per share, a $0.01 increase over the prior quarter and a 9% distribution on net asset value. While the current environment does suggest base rates will remain slightly higher for slightly longer than previously expected, we aim to set a dividend payout that is achievable through a market cycle and not over correct based on temporary market factors.

自 Barings 接任 BDC 顧問以來，幻燈片 23 更新了我們支付和宣布的股息。正如 Eric 之前提到的，董事會宣布第一季度每股股息為 0.25 美元，比上一季度增加 0.01 美元，淨資產價值分配為 9%。雖然當前環境確實表明基本利率將保持略高於先前預期的時間略長，但我們的目標是設定可通過市場週期實現的股息支付，而不是基於暫時的市場因素而過度修正。

We believe our portfolio would continue to earn above the high hurdle in a normalized rate environment and we expect that several of our cross-platform investments, including Eclipse and our Jocassee joint venture, will continue to perform and will continue to generate significant distributable cash even in an uncertain economic environment.

我們相信我們的投資組合將繼續在正常利率環境下獲得高於高門檻的收益，我們預計我們的幾個跨平台投資，包括 Eclipse 和我們的 Jocassee 合資企業，將繼續表現並將繼續產生大量可分配現金，即使在不確定的經濟環境中。

As a result, given the visibility we see in the forward earnings profile, we believe a $0.01 increase in the quarterly dividend is proved. With that strong dividend base, we then seek to further enhance shareholder value through a combination of share repurchases and growing dividend spillover and steady and systematic future special dividends.

因此，鑑於我們在遠期收益狀況中看到的可見性，我們認為季度股息增加 0.01 美元已得到證實。憑藉強大的股息基礎，我們尋求通過股票回購和不斷增長的股息溢出以及穩定和系統的未來特別股息相結合的方式進一步提升股東價值。

We have discussed in the past our philosophy that share repurchases must have a role in any long-term capital allocation philosophy. In Q4, we finished the remaining repurchases under the $30 million-share repurchase plan approved in connection with the Sierra merger. We are pleased to announce that we have received Board approval for a new share repurchase plan that seeks to purchase up to $30 million of stock over the next 12 months, subject to liquidity and regulatory constraints.

我們過去曾討論過我們的理念，即股票回購必須在任何長期資本配置理念中發揮作用。在第四季度，我們根據與 Sierra 合併批准的 3000 萬美元股票回購計劃完成了剩餘的回購。我們很高興地宣布，我們已收到董事會批准的一項新的股票回購計劃，該計劃尋求在未來 12 個月內購買高達 3000 萬美元的股票，但要遵守流動性和監管限制。

Moreover, we will continue to assess this each year to determine the most effective level of buybacks to drive long-term shareholder value.

此外，我們將繼續每年對此進行評估，以確定最有效的回購水平，以推動長期股東價值。

Turn with me now to Slide 25, which shows a graphical depiction of relative value across the BBB, BB and B asset classes. Spreads remain elevated across nearly all asset classes as a result of increased economic uncertainty, those spreads in most cases, are well off the 3-year wise, which still incorporates the COVID dislocation in 2020.

現在轉到幻燈片 25，它顯示了 BBB、BB 和 B 資產類別的相對價值的圖形描述。由於經濟不確定性增加，幾乎所有資產類別的利差都在上升，在大多數情況下，這些利差遠低於 3 年的水平，這仍然包含 2020 年的 COVID 錯位。

Slide 26 outlines the spread premium on our new investments relative to liquid credit benchmarks. Notice that our investment in liquidity premiums in the fourth quarter remained low for middle market transactions given the current elevated secondary spreads in the liquid market. Excluding certain equity investments, Barings BDC deployed $229 million at an all-in spread of 758 basis points, which represents a 59-basis point spread premium to comparable liquid market indices at the same risk profile.

幻燈片 26 概述了我們新投資相對於流動信貸基準的利差溢價。請注意，鑑於當前流動性市場的二級利差較高，我們在第四季度對中間市場交易的流動性溢價投資仍然很低。不計入某些股權投資，霸菱 BDC 部署了 2.29 億美元，總利差為 758 個基點，與具有相同風險狀況的可比流動性市場指數相比，利差溢價為 59 個基點。

I'll wrap up our prepared remarks with Slide 27, which summarizes our new investment activity so far during the first quarter of 2023 and our investment pipeline. The pace of new investment activity has slowed in recent months in concert with the slowdown in middle market M&A activity.

我將用幻燈片 27 結束我們準備好的評論，它總結了我們在 2023 年第一季度迄今為止的新投資活動和我們的投資渠道。近幾個月來，隨著中間市場併購活動的放緩，新投資活動的步伐有所放緩。

That said, so far in Q1, we have made $119 million of new commitments, of which $74 million have closed and funded. The weighted-average origination margin or DM-3 of those new commitments was 8.8%. We've also funded $4 million of previously committed delayed draw term loans. The current Barings Global Private Finance investment pipeline is approximately $1.1 billion on a probability-weighted basis and is predominantly first lien senior secured investments. As a reminder, this pipeline is estimated based on our expecting closing rates for all deals in our investment pipeline. With that, operator, we will open the line for questions.

也就是說，到目前為止，在第一季度，我們已經做出了 1.19 億美元的新承諾，其中 7400 萬美元已經關閉並提供資金。這些新承諾的加權平均原始保證金或 DM-3 為 8.8%。我們還為之前承諾的延遲提取定期貸款提供了 400 萬美元的資金。目前霸菱全球私人融資投資渠道按概率加權計算約為 11 億美元，主要是優先留置權優先擔保投資。提醒一下，這條管道是根據我們投資管道中所有交易的預期成交率估算的。有了這個，接線員，我們將打開問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today is from Kyle Joseph of Jefferies.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Kyle Joseph。

Congrats on a strong quarter. Ian, I just want to pick your brain on kind of the supply-demand dynamics in the market. Obviously, from your comments, I got the sense that supply is constrained more on the liquid side. So the more borrowers are relying on the direct lending path. But in terms of demand, it seems relatively resilient in my mind, particularly when you look at what the Fed has done and how it's impacted other sort of fixed income instruments mortgage. So just talk about kind of -- how or why the origination environment has been as strong as it has been for you guys in the face of 500 basis points of Fed hikes.

祝賀一個強勁的季度。伊恩，我只想听聽你對市場供需動態的看法。顯然，從您的評論中，我感覺到供應在流動性方面受到更多限制。因此，更多的借款人依賴於直接貸款途徑。但就需求而言，我認為它似乎相對有彈性，尤其是當你看看美聯儲的所作所為以及它如何影響其他類型的固定收益工具抵押貸款時。因此，只需談談 - 面對美聯儲加息 500 個基點，起源環境如何或為何與你們一樣強勁。

Yes. So Kyle, great question. There's a couple of things I want to cover on that. First of all, just given the liquid market and the shutdown of the liquid market, I mean that really started happening last year, obviously. And as we look at last year, I think as we evolve further in the year, some of these geopolitical and macroeconomic issues became more significant, especially with the rapid rise in hikes by the Fed. And so I think before that really started to take hold, I think as the liquid market was shutting down and having difficulty, it was an opportunity for direct lenders to basically move up market and take market share from a dislocated liquid market.

是的。凱爾，好問題。我想介紹幾件事。首先，考慮到流動性市場和流動性市場的關閉，我的意思是，這顯然是從去年開始發生的。回顧去年，我認為隨著我們在這一年的進一步發展，其中一些地緣政治和宏觀經濟問題變得更加重要，尤其是隨著美聯儲加息的迅速增加。因此，我認為在這真正開始站穩腳跟之前，我認為隨著流動性市場的關閉和困難，這是直接貸方基本上提升市場並從混亂的流動性市場中奪取市場份額的機會。

I think as the year progressed and some of these economic challenges became bigger or more significant headwinds, I think the capital that was moving into that segment of the market started to pull back. And quite frankly, when you think about that part of the market segment, the larger part of that market, in the past, what's been attractive for direct lenders in that space is the ability to recycle and recycle capital, and that's a great return profile.

我認為隨著時間的推移，其中一些經濟挑戰變得更大或更顯著的逆風，我認為進入該市場領域的資本開始撤回。坦率地說，當你考慮細分市場的那一部分時，那個市場的大部分，在過去，在那個領域對直接貸款人有吸引力的是回收和再循環資本的能力，這是一個很好的回報率.

But obviously, with the liquid market being shut down, there's no recycling of that capital. So they're really holding these big chunky position. For us, focus on the middle of the middle market, a lot of our activity is coming from our portfolio, which is really attractive. It basically allows us to, in a challenging environment to put capital to work in companies we know extremely well. The add-on acquisitions are effectively making these companies bigger, stronger, more diversified credits, which enhances our portfolio and in an environment where I think a lot of private equity firms are concerned about valuations and what they paid for the initial platform, the ability to play the multiple arbitrage game and -- do add-on acquisitions at a lower cost basis effectively brings down their cost basis of the original investment.

但顯然，隨著流動性市場的關閉，這些資金無法再循環。所以他們真的持有這些大塊頭的位置。對我們來說，專注於中端市場，我們的很多活動都來自我們的投資組合，這真的很有吸引力。它基本上使我們能夠在充滿挑戰的環境中將資金投入到我們非常熟悉的公司中。附加收購有效地使這些公司變得更大、更強、更多元化，這增強了我們的投資組合，並且在我認為許多私募股權公司都關心估值及其為初始平台支付的價格的環境中，能力玩多重套利遊戲——以較低的成本進行附加收購，有效地降低了原始投資的成本基礎。

So it's kind of a win-win situation. I would say in the last year, about 50% of our origination is coming from our portfolio. Does that answer the question?

所以這是一種雙贏的局面。我想說，在去年，我們大約 50% 的來源來自我們的投資組合。這能回答問題嗎？

Yes yes, that's perfect.

是的是的，那是完美的。

Our next question is from Casey Alexander of Compass Point.

我們的下一個問題來自 Compass Point 的 Casey Alexander。

Yes, Ian, I don't -- perhaps I'm not bright enough. I'm not even sure that maybe you didn't just answer my question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. A clear defined strategy of Barings BDC when it originally came out was when the risk premium from the private debt markets was not a sufficient premium relative to the liquid traded markets that the BDC had the opportunity to pivot and -- as opposed to making private loans, allocate more capital to the liquid markets at a discount to par, which could then be recycled out to private loans when the risk premium for private loans increased. And I'm curious, given this particular risk premium, why the company isn't taking more advantage of that opportunity?

是的，伊恩，我不知道——也許我不夠聰明。我什至不確定你是否只是回答了我的問題，但我還是要問。 Barings BDC 最初出現時的一個明確定義的策略是，當私人債務市場的風險溢價相對於 BDC 有機會轉向的流動性交易市場的溢價不足時，而不是提供私人貸款，以低於面值的價格將更多資本分配給流動性市場，然後當私人貸款的風險溢價增加時，這些資金可以再循環用於私人貸款。我很好奇，鑑於這種特殊的風險溢價，為什麼公司沒有更多地利用這個機會？

Well, I mean, look, I'll let Eric jump into from a high level. But I mean, again, I think if you kind of look at what's going on in the markets, right? I mean, the opportunity to take advantage -- and things are changing. I think right now, you're seeing some high-quality deals in the liquid market come to the market at attractive levels. But I mean, again, if you kind of look at what's happened over the last year, with the liquid market shut down, it's just -- there's just no good new issues that are coming to the market. And when you think about the...

好吧，我的意思是，看，我會讓埃里克從高層跳進去。但我的意思是，再一次，我想如果你看看市場上發生了什麼，對吧？我的意思是，利用機會——事情正在發生變化。我認為現在，您會看到流動市場中的一些高質量交易以極具吸引力的水平進入市場。但我的意思是，再一次，如果你看一下去年發生的事情，隨著流動性市場的關閉，它只是 - 市場上沒有好的新問題。當你想到...

[Enough Ian,] this isn't a -- this isn't a question about new issues. This is a question about liquid traded paper that you guys know that trades out in the market at a discount to par. This has nothing to do with no issue.

[夠了，Ian，] 這不是——這不是關於新問題的問題。這是一個關於流動性交易票據的問題，你們知道這些票據在市場上以低於面值的折扣價進行交易。這與沒有問題無關。

No. I understand, Casey. I'm just saying, and I'm getting there. I'm just saying that when I'm focused obviously on the middle market, boring is beautiful portfolio. And so when we look at that portfolio and we can generate with good issues, we can generate senior debt at 5x at 10% to 11% in yield. That's pretty attractive.

不，我明白，凱西。我只是說，我正在到達那裡。我只是說，當我明顯專注於中端市場時，無聊就是美麗的投資組合。因此，當我們查看該投資組合併且我們可以產生好的問題時，我們可以產生 5 倍的高級債務，收益率為 10% 至 11%。這很吸引人。

Casey, it's Eric. I'd look at it this way. We evaluate it all the time. And one of the things that Bryan High, whose like one of our co-portfolio managers on here, too, and it passed then on the liquid investment committee. And we are plugged into that business very tightly. But when we look at it, we just don't think it's the right time on a relative basis of that asset relative to what we could get on the private side. As Ian said, you can put 5 turns of leverage on something, earn 10% to 11%. With the best documentation we've seen in years -- many, many years and we compare that to what we saw on the liquid side on a secondary basis, we looked at -- that and said it wasn't the right time to go into the secondary part of the liquid market relative to what we can generate through our cross-platform and direct middle market business.

凱西，是埃里克。我會這樣看。我們一直在評估它。其中一件事是 Bryan High，他也是我們的一位聯合投資組合經理，然後它通過了流動投資委員會。我們非常緊密地參與了這項業務。但是當我們審視它時，我們只是認為相對於我們在私人方面可以獲得的資產而言，現在不是正確的時間。正如伊恩所說，你可以對某物施加 5 輪槓桿，賺取 10% 到 11%。有了我們多年來看到的最好的文件 - 很多很多年，我們將其與我們在次要基礎上在液體方面看到的進行比較，我們看了 - 並說現在不是正確的時間相對於我們通過跨平台和直接中間市場業務可以產生的東西，進入流動市場的二級部分。

All right. My second question is -- conditions underlying Core Scientific and the Core Scientific loan have changed since you guys had to make that mark at the end of the fourth quarter. Can you contour to a certain extent where your discussions are with Core Scientific and how you perhaps see that playing out now that you have some more price discovery for crypto here in the first quarter and -- maybe a little differentiated view towards the outlook.

好的。我的第二個問題是——Core Scientific 和 Core Scientific 貸款的基礎條件已經發生變化，因為你們必須在第四季度末做出這個標記。你能否在一定程度上概述你與 Core Scientific 的討論，以及你可能如何看待這種情況，因為你在第一季度在這裡對加密貨幣有更多的價格發現 - 可能對前景有一點不同的看法。

Yes. Casey, it's Bryan. Just in terms of giving too much detail, there's not a lot we can share. Obviously, we're engaged in the situation. We're partnered with MassMutual in our meaningful equipment loan holder across the platform. But in terms -- yes, the price of bitcoin, which helps buoy the business from a cash generation perspective, has increased 50% -- has kind of seemed to stabilize at the moment at higher levels.

是的。凱西，是布萊恩。就提供太多細節而言，我們可以分享的不多。顯然，我們參與了這種情況。我們與 MassMutual 合作，在整個平台上提供我們有意義的設備貸款持有人。但就而言——是的，從現金產生的角度來看，比特幣的價格上漲了 50%——比特幣的價格似乎在較高水平上穩定下來。

In terms of the engagement, I mean, obviously, it's public, everything is out there. They've changed the DIP lender. I think it's going to take some time to work through the process, and we're playing our part in that process.

就參與而言，我的意思是，很明顯，它是公開的，一切都在那裡。他們已經更換了 DIP 貸方。我認為完成這個過程需要一些時間，我們正在這個過程中發揮自己的作用。

The next question is from Robert Dodd of Raymond James.

下一個問題來自 Raymond James 的 Robert Dodd。

On the names you said, there are 17 names on the watch list 2.6%. You said no particular theme. But any of those names -- any of those on that solely because interest is higher and separate related question, are any of those names non-sponsored? And what are the extra steps you take in -- not in underwriting, but monitoring and discussion with the portfolio company when there is a sponsor there given maybe in the high-rate environment, more capital injections either and there's no sponsor, who's going to do it?

在你說的名字上，有17個名字在觀察名單2.6%。你說沒有特定的主題。但是這些名字中的任何一個——任何僅僅因為興趣更高和單獨的相關問題的名字，這些名字中的任何一個都是非贊助的嗎？你採取的額外步驟是什麼——不是在承銷方面，而是在有贊助商的情況下與投資組合公司進行監控和討論，可能在高利率環境下，更多的注資，但沒有贊助商，誰會做嗎？

Yes. So first of all, just to clarify that -- we call it focus and watch list. So it incorporates watch list, I think we all understand what a watch list is. Focus means the company is -- their performance is not tracking to what we underwrote in what we thought. It doesn't necessarily mean it's extremely bad. In some cases, it could be the company is -- generating performance that can be positive and it's trying to -- we're trying to figure out what's driving the change, the delta from how we underwrote it. So I want to be clear on that.

是的。所以首先，只是為了澄清這一點——我們稱之為焦點和觀察名單。所以它包含觀察名單，我想我們都明白什麼是觀察名單。專注意味著公司是——他們的表現並沒有追踪到我們所承保的想法。這並不一定意味著它非常糟糕。在某些情況下，這可能是公司 - 產生積極的績效並且它正在努力 - 我們試圖找出推動變革的因素，即我們如何承銷它的增量。所以我想澄清一下。

Second of all, Dodd, all the deals on this list are sponsored back. I think our focus, again, going back to the boring is beautiful. Is there's just so many reasons to focus on sponsored deals, more information going in. To your point, you have more lever -- levers to pull when you have issues. And most importantly, you're not the only source of capital. And I think -- the deals are the most challenging, quite frankly, are the ones where the management team owns the company because, effectively, they have all the leverage in the world. They can just go across the street and open up another shop. And so I think as a business and as a portfolio manager, the key in this market, as I referenced, is being really proactive with these companies and these management teams because what you really want to do is you want to identify issues early on. You want to identify trajectories that are not in line with expectations and start working and communicating with the interested parties, the management team and the sponsor to figure out how we're going to get this company back on track.

其次，多德，這份名單上的所有交易都是讚助回來的。我認為我們的焦點再次回歸無聊是美好的。是否有這麼多理由關注贊助交易，更多信息進入。就你的觀點而言，你有更多的槓桿——當你遇到問題時可以使用的槓桿。最重要的是，您不是唯一的資金來源。而且我認為 - 交易是最具挑戰性的，坦率地說，是管理團隊擁有公司的交易，因為實際上，他們擁有世界上所有的影響力。他們可以穿過街道再開一家店。因此，我認為作為一家企業和一名投資組合經理，正如我所提到的，這個市場的關鍵是對這些公司和這些管理團隊真正積極主動，因為你真正想做的是儘早發現問題。您想確定不符合預期的軌跡，並開始與相關方、管理團隊和發起人合作並進行溝通，以弄清楚我們將如何讓這家公司重回正軌。

And so -- when we're -- we've done a number of stress tests on the portfolio, the most important one, obviously, base rates. That's the one I'm most concerned about, and we took it up to 5.5%. We've looked at things on an LTV basis and EBITDA cushion basis. And I think just a couple of high-level things I'll just point out. We've seen a continued resiliency in the portfolio despite the high inflation and varying environment revenue and growth have continued. The management teams have been navigating through these challenges with limited impact on financial performance. So that's obviously very important. We did see some margin contraction early on in the year. But that trend is reversed as companies have been able to put through price increases and inflation -- or wage inflation, that's one that sort of picked up later in the year. That's sort of unchanged in terms of that risk out there, but a very small percentage of our borrowers, we've identified as having high or medium risk with that.

因此——當我們——我們對投資組合進行了一系列壓力測試，最重要的顯然是基準利率。這是我最關心的，我們把它提高到 5.5%。我們已經在 LTV 和 EBITDA 緩衝的基礎上研究了事情。我想我只想指出幾件高層次的事情。儘管高通脹和不同的環境收入和增長仍在繼續，但我們已經看到投資組合的持續彈性。管理團隊一直在應對這些挑戰，對財務業績的影響有限。所以這顯然非常重要。今年年初，我們確實看到了一些利潤率收縮。但隨著公司能夠承受價格上漲和通貨膨脹——或工資通脹，這種趨勢在今年晚些時候有所回升，這一趨勢發生了逆轉。就那裡的風險而言，這有點沒有變化，但我們已經確定我們的借款人中有一小部分人具有高或中等風險。

And in terms of interest rate, as we've seen so far, companies have been able to deal with interest rates. Obviously, the interest coverage has declined a little bit but they've been able to -- the companies have been able to put through price increases and maintain margins.

在利率方面，正如我們到目前為止所看到的，公司已經能夠處理利率問題。顯然，利息覆蓋率有所下降，但他們已經能夠——這些公司已經能夠通過價格上漲來維持利潤率。

Got it. I really appreciate all that color. On the -- and it's not really about interest coverage, is about tails, but we've got an average interest coverage metric in -- on Slide 12, 2.9x I presume that's the LTM. Where do you think -- where would that have to go -- for you to really feel stressed about a broader part of the portfolio, right? I mean, obviously, it's an average and the average is never the problem. But is there anything we can look at on -- on that 2.9x. I mean how far into comfortable range is that currently? And how much does it have to move before your -- your actually stressed.

知道了。我真的很欣賞那種顏色。在 - 這並不是真正關於利息覆蓋率，而是關於尾巴，但我們有一個平均利息覆蓋率指標 - 在幻燈片 12 上，2.9 倍我認為這是 LTM。你認為在哪裡 - 必須去哪裡 - 讓你真正對投資組合的更廣泛部分感到壓力，對吧？我的意思是，很明顯，這是一個平均值，而平均值從來都不是問題。但是有什麼我們可以看的 - 在那個 2.9x 上。我的意思是目前在舒適範圍內有多遠？在你——你的實際壓力之前它必須移動多少。

Yes. And again, I think this is the time where you have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. None of us have a crystal ball. And so we've taken base rates when we've done our stress test, we've taken base rates up to 5.5%. And we're just -- we're right around 2x coverage, just under 2x coverage. And that -- but you have to recall, right, or you have to remember that, that is just taking the existing LPM performance -- and of the companies, and putting in elevated interest rates, obviously, our goal here is to work with these companies. And hopefully, they're doing things on their end to cut costs.

是的。再一次，我認為這是你必須做最壞打算並抱最好希望的時候。我們都沒有水晶球。因此，我們在完成壓力測試後採用了基準利率，我們將基準利率提高到 5.5%。我們只是——我們的覆蓋率大約是 2 倍，略低於 2 倍。而且 - 但你必須記住，對，或者你必須記住，這只是利用現有的 LPM 表現 - 以及公司，並提高利率，顯然，我們的目標是與這些公司。希望他們正在儘自己的努力來削減成本。

Hopefully, they continue to put through price increases. So when we do these stress tests, we're really assuming that none of these companies are doing anything to address the challenges out there. And I guess the other thing I'll point out is that -- well, unfortunately, we used to have it in our documents, which was taken out over the last 5 years, but we used to force sponsors to fix 50% of their interest rate exposure that's been taken out in the market. But I can tell you a lot of private equity firms that we're working with on a portfolio basis have incorporated swaps and hedges to minimize the floating rate risk.

希望他們繼續通過價格上漲。因此，當我們進行這些壓力測試時，我們真的假設這些公司都沒有採取任何措施來應對那裡的挑戰。我想我要指出的另一件事是——嗯，不幸的是，我們曾經在我們的文件中有它，它在過去 5 年被刪除了，但我們過去常常強迫贊助商修復他們 50% 的市場上的利率敞口。但我可以告訴你，我們在投資組合基礎上與之合作的許多私募股權公司都採用了掉期和對沖，以最大限度地降低浮動利率風險。

The next question is from Ryan Lynch of KBW.

下一個問題來自 KBW 的 Ryan Lynch。

Just following up on Robert Dodd's question. When you talked about stressing the portfolio, charge interest rates go 5.5% base rates with 2x interest coverage, have you guys done any analysis that looks at what percentage of the portfolio would be below 1x interest coverage with 5.5% interest rates?

只是跟進羅伯特·多德的問題。當你談到對投資組合施加壓力時，利率為 5.5% 的基本利率和 2 倍的利息覆蓋率，你們是否做過任何分析，看看投資組合中有多少百分比將低於 1 倍的利息覆蓋率和 5.5% 的利率？

Yes, we've done the -- yes, that was really the focus of the stress test, and it's a low single digit. And again, this is not on just the BDC. So we're talking about our entire platform, which the BDC is a representation of. But -- and again, I just want to emphasize, when you do the stress test, you're again assuming these companies aren't doing anything on their side. And you're also assuming they're completely exposed and unhedged. So again, we feel very comfortable about where we are if rates go to base rates of 5.5%.

是的，我們已經完成了 - 是的，這確實是壓力測試的重點，而且它是一個低個位數。再一次，這不僅僅是在 BDC 上。所以我們談論的是我們的整個平台，BDC 是它的代表。但是——再一次，我只想強調，當你進行壓力測試時，你再次假設這些公司沒有做任何事情。而且您還假設它們完全暴露且未對沖。因此，如果利率達到 5.5% 的基本利率，我們對我們的處境感到非常滿意。

Okay. Another question I had was -- and we've talked about this. I've talked about this with you all in the past. But when I look at your portfolio, the segmentation on Slide #12, you guys have talked about in the past, kind of a boring is beautiful strategy overall. But when I look at that portfolio, to me, there's at least when you compare it to a traditional BDC segmentation, it's much more complex. And I know you guys think that there's some value in that complexity, in particular with some of the cross-platform investments.

好的。我的另一個問題是——我們已經討論過這個問題。我過去和大家談過這個。但是，當我查看您的投資組合時，幻燈片 #12 上的細分，你們過去曾討論過，總體而言，有點無聊是美麗的策略。但當我看那個投資組合時，對我來說，至少當你將它與傳統的 BDC 細分進行比較時，它要復雜得多。我知道你們認為這種複雜性具有一定的價值，特別是對於一些跨平台投資。

I'm just curious, obviously, some of those segments are going to roll off of eventually, particularly the acquisitions of Sierra and MVC. I'm just curious now that there's been some recent leadership changes at Barings, do you guys foresee your focus on sort of the segmentation of some of these different strategies of only -- right now having 46% in U.S. middle market loans is quite a small percentage versus most other BDCs out there. Has there been any sort of strategy shift with the leadership changes of how you guys went, molding practice portfolio over the next couple of years?

我只是很好奇，很明顯，其中一些細分市場最終會被淘汰，尤其是對 Sierra 和 MVC 的收購。我現在很好奇，最近巴林銀行的領導層發生了一些變化，你們是否預見到你們會專注於對這些不同策略中的一些進行細分——目前在美國中間市場貸款中擁有 46% 的份額是相當大的與那裡的大多數其他 BDC 相比，百分比很小。隨著你們領導層的變化，在接下來的幾年裡塑造實踐組合，是否有任何類型的戰略轉變？

It's Eric. I would say -- I wouldn't say as much a strategy shift, as much as a simplification around some things. Not all, but some of the complexity in our portfolio from the acquired portfolios that we put in place. I mean, not publicly that we acquired as part of the 2 transactions. We don't intend to do those type of deals going forward. And so as those roll off, I think you'll see some simplification within the portfolio. I also think that we will continue to look for opportunities where the core Barings capabilities can be brought to bear on behalf of shareholders. But I don't think you'll see it in some of the more complex ways that it was through some of the acquired portfolios that we did.

是埃里克。我會說 - 我不會說戰略轉變那麼多，而是圍繞某些事情進行簡化。不是全部，而是我們收購的投資組合中的一些複雜性。我的意思是，作為兩筆交易的一部分，我們並未公開收購。我們不打算在未來進行此類交易。因此，隨著這些推出，我認為您會在投資組合中看到一些簡化。我還認為，我們將繼續尋找可以代表股東發揮霸菱核心能力的機會。但我認為你不會像通過我們收購的一些投資組合那樣以更複雜的方式看到它。

Yes. Ryan, it's John. The only thing I'll add is that you've seen maybe in some of the JVs, that the Sierra JV, we're returning capital, that vehicle is winding down. You've seen the same thing with Thompson Rivers as those loans were pool, we've been actively returning capital as that trade has sort of run its course. So at the margin, yes, you'll see some vehicles that wind down going forward. But the view of finding relative value across the wide Barings trend of reference, no, we don't think that strategy changes.

是的。瑞安，是約翰。我唯一要補充的是，你可能已經在一些合資企業中看到，Sierra 合資企業，我們正在返還資本，那輛車正在逐漸減少。你在 Thompson Rivers 身上看到了同樣的事情，因為這些貸款是池子，我們一直在積極地返還資本，因為交易已經順其自然。所以在邊際上，是的，你會看到一些車輛向前行駛。但是，在廣泛的巴林銀行參考趨勢中尋找相對價值的觀點，不，我們認為戰略不會改變。

There are no additional questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back to Eric Lloyd for closing remarks.

目前沒有其他問題。我想將電話轉回 Eric Lloyd 以作結束語。

Thank you. Thanks for everyone who participated today on today's call. I appreciate you taking the time to listen to us and ask your questions. Please stay safe, and everybody, have a great day and weekend.

謝謝。感謝今天參加今天電話會議的所有人。感謝您抽出寶貴時間聆聽我們的講話並提出您的問題。請大家注意安全，祝大家度過愉快的一天和周末。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。