Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Blackstone Secured Lending third quarter 2023 investor call. Today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Blackstone 擔保貸款 2023 年第三季投資者電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。 （操作員說明）

At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Stacie Wang head of Stakeholder Relations. Please go ahead.

這次，我想將會議轉交給利害關係人關係主管 Stacie Wang。請繼續。

Thank you, Katie. Good morning and welcome to Blackstone Secured Lending third quarter call. Earlier today, we issued a press release with the presentation of our results and filed our 10-Q, both of which are available on the shareholders section of our website, www.bxsl.com. We will be referring to that presentation throughout today's call.

謝謝你，凱蒂。早安，歡迎致電 Blackstone 擔保貸款第三季。今天早些時候，我們發布了一份新聞稿，介紹了我們的業績，並提交了我們的 10-Q 報告，兩者均可在我們網站 www.bxsl.com 的股東部分獲取。我們將在今天的電話會議中提及該簡報。

I'd like to remind you that this call may include forward-looking statements, which are uncertain and outside of the firm's control and may differ materially from actual results. We do not undertake any duty in updating these statements. For some of the risks that could affect results, please see the risk factors section of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K.

我想提醒您，本次電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述具有不確定性，超出了公司的控制範圍，並且可能與實際結果有重大差異。我們不承擔更新這些聲明的任何責任。對於一些可能影響結果的風險，請參閱我們最新的 10-K 表年度報告的風險因素部分。

This audio cast is copyrighted material of Blackstone and may not be duplicated without consent. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to BXSL Co-Chief Executive Officer, Brad Marshall.

此音訊廣播是 Blackstone 受版權保護的資料，未經同意不得複製。說到這裡，我想將電話轉給 BXSL 聯合執行長 Brad Marshall。

Thank you, Stacy, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call this morning. With me today is our Co-CEO, Jon Bock, our President Carlos Whitaker, and our CFO, Teddy Desloge.

謝謝你，史黛西，大家早安。感謝您今天早上加入我們的電話會議。今天與我在一起的有我們的共同執行長 Jon Bock、總裁 Carlos Whitaker 和財務長 Teddy Desloge。

Turning to this morning's agenda, I will start with some high-level thoughts before Jon, Carlos, and Teddy go into more detail on our portfolio and third quarter results.

談到今天早上的議程，在喬恩、卡洛斯和泰迪詳細介紹我們的投資組合和第三季業績之前，我將從一些高層想法開始。

Looking at the presentation and turning to slide 4, I want to highlight that Q4 marks the two-year anniversary since our IPO in 2021. I'm very pleased with the results that we have delivered to our shareholders. And I'm very confident in the strength of the portfolio we have built, and highly optimistic about BXSL's investment opportunity set.

看看簡報並轉向幻燈片 4，我想強調第四季度是我們 2021 年 IPO 兩週年紀念日。我對我們​​向股東交付的結果感到非常滿意。我對我們所建立的投資組合的實力非常有信心，並對 BXSL 的投資機會集高度樂觀。

Focusing on the third quarter, BXSL reported another strong quarter of results, including growth in net asset value and net income per share, along with higher regular dividend distributions all built on BXSL's strong credit fundamentals with a predominantly first-lien portfolio invested in large, resilient businesses and historically low default sectors.

重點關注第三季度，BXSL 報告了又一個強勁的季度業績，包括資產淨值和每股淨利潤的增長，以及更高的定期股息分配，所有這些都建立在BXSL 強勁的信用基本面基礎上，主要投資於大型、優先留置權投資組合。有彈性的企業和違約率處於歷史低點的行業。

Looking at the details, our 98.8% floating rate portfolio continues to benefit from sustained higher interest rates. Net income per share increased 12% to $1.01 per share in the quarter compared to second quarter and is up over 74% compared to last year at this time. Net investment income or NII, of $0.95 per share represents a 14.4% annualized return on equity.

從細節來看，我們98.8%的浮動利率投資組合繼續受益於持續較高的利率。與第二季相比，本季每股淨利成長 12%，達到每股 1.01 美元，與去年同期相比成長超過 74%。每股淨投資收益（NII）為 0.95 美元，年化股本回報率為 14.4%。

The quality of our earnings remains high with limited payments in kind, limited nonreoccurring and fee-driven income. Further, interest income, excluding tech, fees and dividends represented 96% of our total investment income in Q3. I'll repeat that. Interest income, excluding tech, fees and dividends, represent 96% of our total investment income in the quarter.

我們的收入品質仍然很高，實物支付有限，一次性和費用驅動的收入也有限。此外，利息收入（不包括技術、費用和股息）占我們第三季總投資收入的 96%。我再說一次。利息收入（不包括技術、費用和股息）占我們本季總投資收入的 96%。

We distributed a previously declared increased dividend of $0.70 per share as well. This represents an 11.6% annualized distribution yield, one of the highest among our BDC peers with as much of this portfolio invested in first-lien senior secured assets, while covering our third quarter dividend by 123%. In a higher interest rate environment, investors may benefit from an elevated interest income yield.

我們之前也宣布增加了每股 0.70 美元的股息。這代表著 11.6% 的年化分配收益率，是 BDC 同行中最高的之一，該投資組合的大部分投資於第一留置權優先擔保資產，同時覆蓋了我們 123% 的第三季股息。在較高的利率環境下，投資者可能會受益於較高的利息收入收益率。

However, higher interest rates placed pressure on floating rate borrowers. As a result, we continue to focus on building our portfolio with the intention of protecting investors' capital. During the third quarter, more than 99% of funds invested were first-lien senior-secured, with an average loan-to-value of 35.9%. As of September 30, BSXL portfolio is over 98% first-lien senior-secured. with 46.9% average loan-to-value.

然而，較高的利率給浮動利率借款人帶來了壓力。因此，我們繼續專注於建立我們的投資組合，以保護投資者的資本。第三季度，超過99%的投資資金為第一留置權優先擔保，平均貸款價值比為35.9%。截至 9 月 30 日，BSXL 投資組合的 98% 以上是由第一留置權優先擔保的。平均貸款成數為 46.9%。

We have a minimal nonaccrual rate below 0.1% at both amortized cost and fair market value, and approximately 1% of debt investments marked at fair value below 90. We believe our net asset value, which increased to $26.54 per share in the third quarter, from $26.30 the previous quarter, further highlights portfolio stability.

以攤餘成本和公平市價計算，我們的最低非應計利率均低於0.1%，約1% 的債務投資的公允價值低於90。我們相信，我們的資產淨值在第三季增至每股26.54 美元，較上一季的 26.30 美元相比，進一步凸顯了投資組合的穩定性。

Turning to page or slide 5 of the presentation, we saw a meaningful increase in new investments ending the quarter with $656 million at par in new investment commitments, and $390 million in investment funding during the quarter, compared to $144 million new commitments and $117 million funded during the last quarter.

翻到簡報的第5 頁或投影片5，我們看到本季末的新投資大幅增加，新投資承諾以面額計算為6.56 億美元，本季投資資金為3.9 億美元，而新承諾為1.44億美元，投資資金為1.17 億美元。上一季獲得的資金。

Unfunded commitments represent commitments increased to $761 million in Q3 compared to $551 million in Q2. Proceeds from third quarter sales and repayments were $205 million. During the quarter, we also issued $210.7 million of additional common shares before underwriting an offering costs through both an underwritten public follow-on offering, and our existing ATM program at accretive levels to BSXL.

無資金承諾意味著第三季的承諾增加至 7.61 億美元，而第二季為 5.51 億美元。第三季銷售和還款收益為 2.05 億美元。本季度，我們還額外發行了 2.107 億美元的普通股，然後透過承銷的公開後續發行和我們現有的 ATM 計劃以 BSXL 的增值水平承銷發行成本。

We have seen an uptick in our investment pipeline since the first quarter. The number of deals in the pipeline doubled as at the end of Q3 versus the end of Q1. These pipeline deals are predominantly first-lien senior-secured exposure in companies with historically recession-resilient sectors we know very well. Important to highlight we are also seeing a resurgence in transactions valued in excess of $1 billion with a number of these larger deals also increasing by two times in our pipeline during the same period.

自第一季以來，我們的投資管道有所增加。與第一季末相比，第三季末正在醞釀的交易數量翻了一番。這些管道交易主要是我們非常了解的歷史上具有抗衰退能力的行業的公司的第一留置權優先擔保風險敞口。需要強調的是，我們還看到價值超過 10 億美元的交易再次出現，同期我們的管道中的許多此類較大交易也增加了兩倍。

Looking forward, we are optimistic about the outlook of new investment opportunities, driven by what we believe is a more active M&A environment, and additional financing needs from our existing portfolio of over 3,150 corporate issuers across Blackstone Credit.

展望未來，我們對新投資機會的前景持樂觀態度，這得益於我們認為更加活躍的併購環境，以及 Blackstone Credit 現有超過 3,150 家企業發行人投資組合的額外融資需求。

I also wanted to highlight the firm's recently announced integration of our corporate credit, asset-based finance, and insurance groups, into a single new unit, Blackstone Credit and Insurance, or BXCI. We are very excited about the integration as we believe it will further expand the capabilities and scale of our platform, and create more seamless experience for both our clients and borrowers by offering a one-stop solution.

我還想強調該公司最近宣布將我們的企業信貸、以資產為基礎的金融和保險集團整合為新部門：Blackstone Credit and Insurance（簡稱 BXCI）。我們對此次整合感到非常興奮，因為我們相信它將進一步擴大我們平台的功能和規模，並透過提供一站式解決方案為我們的客戶和借款人創造更無縫的體驗。

As the demand for private credit continues to expand, the BXCI integration should allow us to better capture this opportunity. For BXSL specifically, the integration shall allow us to lean into our core key areas of differentiation -- scale, expertise, and value creation.

隨著民間信貸需求不斷擴大，BXCI 整合應該能讓我們更能抓住這個機會。特別是對於 BXSL 來說，整合將使我們能夠專注於差異化的核心關鍵領域——規模、專業知識和價值創造。

Taking those in turn, as it relates to scale, it's not just about scale of capital, but it's about the scale of the platform. A scaled platform like Blackstone often allows us to have deeper connectivity with M&A advisers, with banks, with corporates, with sponsors -- all of which we extend globally.

反過來看，當它與規模相關時，它不僅與資本規模有關，還與平台的規模有關。像 Blackstone 這樣的規模化平台通常使我們能夠與併購顧問、銀行、企業、贊助商建立更深入的聯繫——我們將所有這些聯繫擴展到全球。

As it relates to expertise, I don't think there's any credit platform that has as extensive a reach in certain sectors as Blackstone. We have 950 technologists that support our different platforms. We have over 100 advisors. We have 28 PhDs, MDs, doctors -- all of this really helps us be smarter in certain areas of expertise like tech, software, life science, healthcare, and energy transition.

由於涉及專業知識，我認為沒有任何信貸平台能夠像 Blackstone 一樣在某些領域擁有如此廣泛的影響力。我們有 950 位技術人員支援我們的不同平台。我們有超過 100 位顧問。我們擁有 28 名博士、醫學博士和醫生——所有這些確實有助於我們在技術、軟體、生命科學、醫療保健和能源轉型等某些專業領域變得更加聰明。

As it relates to value creation, this remains a core focus of ours. We aim to add value after we make our investment in the company. And as we have highlighted in the past, over 90% of the companies we finance through Blackstone Credit that are offered these programs use it.

由於它涉及價值創造，因此這仍然是我們的核心關注。我們的目標是在投資公司後增加價值。正如我們過去所強調的那樣，我們透過 Blackstone Credit 提供融資的公司中，超過 90% 的公司都使用該計劃。

So when I put all of that together, we are the sole or lead lender in approximately 84% of the transactions in BXSL, which shows that companies seek Blackstone Credit to lead their financing transactions, which allows us to better negotiate the terms that govern these loans instead of being a passive investor in the capital structure.

因此，當我將所有這些放在一起時，我們是BXSL 約84% 交易的唯一或主要貸款人，這表明公司尋求Blackstone Credit 來主導其融資交易，這使我們能夠更好地協商管理這些交易的條款貸款，而不是成為資本結構中的被動投資者。

We believe passionately in these advantages, and in developing a highly defensive portfolio, this predominately senior and investing primarily in scale businesses and historically lower default sectors. Relative to our peer set, we believe BXSL leads the market on quality of income -- as I mentioned earlier -- quality of the portfolio -- which we just discussed --the quality of our liabilities -- which you'll hear about a little bit later -- and the quality of our structure and alignment. So with that, I will turn it over to Jon Bock.

我們堅信這些優勢，並開發高度防禦性的投資組合，這種投資組合主要是高級投資組合，主要投資於規模企業和歷史上違約率較低的行業。相對於我們的同行，我們相信 BXSL 在收入品質方面領先市場——正如我之前提到的——投資組合的品質——我們剛剛討論過——我們的負債品質——你會聽到稍後— —以及我們的結構和對齊的品質。因此，我將把它交給 Jon Bock。

Thank you, Brad. Brad mentioned the focus on building a healthy and defensive portfolio that we believe allows us to continue to take advantage of our expanded pipeline from a position of strength.

謝謝你，布拉德。布拉德提到，我們專注於建立健康和防禦性的投資組合，我們相信這使我們能夠繼續從優勢地位中利用我們擴大的產品線。

So jump to slide 6. We ended the quarter with $9.5 billion of investments. We also continued to delever modestly. The fund's leverage at quarter end was 1.08 times and quarterly average was 1.11 times, and those are well within our target range of 1 to 1.25 times.

請跳到第 6 張投影片。本季結束時，我們的投資額為 95 億美元。我們還繼續適度去槓桿化。該基金季末槓桿為1.08倍，季度平均槓桿為1.11倍，完全在我們1至1.25倍的目標範圍內。

We also remain well positioned with $1.5 billion of liquidity comprised of cash and borrowing amounts available across all our revolving credit facilities to lean in to that expanded pipeline Brad mentioned. Our weighted average yield on debt investments at fair value continues to increase steadily to 11.9% at this quarter end from 11.8% last quarter, primarily driven by higher base rates.

我們也保持著良好的地位，擁有 15 億美元的流動性，包括我們所有循環信貸設施中可用的現金和借款金額，以支持布拉德提到的擴大管道。我們的公允價值債務投資加權平均收益率繼續從上季度的 11.8% 穩步上升至本季末的 11.9%，這主要是由於基準利率上升。

New investments continued to be accretive to our investment income. The yield on new debt investment fundings during the quarter averaged 12.2%, while yield on assets repaid or sold down averaged 11.6%. Improving our weighted average yield in the portfolio.

新投資持續增加我們的投資收入。本季新債投資資金的收益率平均為 12.2%，而償還或出售資產的收益率平均為 11.6%。提高投資組合的加權平均報酬率。

Now importantly, the base rates of the third quarter expanded approximately 300 basis points on our 98.8% floating rate debt portfolio compared to the same quarter in the prior year. In this environment of higher rates, we continue to focus on constructing a portfolio for resiliency and downside protection.

現在重要的是，與去年同期相比，我們 98.8% 浮動利率債務投資組合的第三季基本利率擴大了約 300 個基點。在利率上升的環境下，我們繼續專注於建立具有彈性和下行保護的投資組合。

Let's jump to slide 7. Since BXSL's inception, we've been disciplined in building our portfolio to focus on first-lien senior-secured debt, as we believe that is the most defensive place for investors, especially in a higher interest rate and slower growth economy.

讓我們跳到幻燈片7。自從BXSL 成立以來，我們在建立投資組合時一直嚴格把重點放在第一留置權高級擔保債務上，因為我們認為這是投資者最具防禦性的地方，特別是在利率較高且利率較慢的情況下成長經濟。

Over 98% of BXSL investments are in first-lien senior-secured loans, and over 95% of loans are to companies owned by private equity firms or other financial sponsors who generally have access to additional equity capital and historically has shown a willingness to support their portfolio companies. These sponsors have significant equity value in these capital structures with an average loan to value of 46.9% in BXSL.

超過98% 的BXSL 投資是第一留置權優先擔保貸款，超過95% 的貸款發放給私募股權公司或其他金融贊助商擁有的公司，這些贊助商通常可以獲得額外股權資本，並且歷來表現出支持的意願他們的投資組合公司。這些發起人在這些資本結構中擁有巨大的股權價值，BXSL 的平均貸款價值為 46.9%。

We don't only stress the importance of seniority in the portfolio. We've also emphasized what we view as better investment neighborhoods, or historically lower default rate sectors. Companies and sectors that we believe are facing more favorable tailwinds, consistent growth trends, specifically businesses that we believe have stable, growing margins, revenue visibility, strong management, lower CapEx, and in addition, we focus on larger scale businesses with significant market share, greater ability to pass through price increases, and that should be able to withstand a slowdown.

我們不僅強調資歷在投資組合中的重要性。我們也強調了我們認為更好的投資社區，或歷史上違約率較低的行業。我們認為面臨更有利的順風、持續成長趨勢的公司和行業，特別是我們認為具有穩定、不斷增長的利潤率、收入可見性、強大的管理、較低的資本支出的業務，此外，我們還專注於擁有重要市場份額的規模較大的業務，透過價格上漲的更大能力，並且應該能夠承受經濟放緩。

Now looking at scale specifically, BXSL portfolio companies have a weighted average EBITDA of $185 million as of Q3, compared to $162 million as of Q3 last year. This focus on higher quality, lower default rate sectors at a larger scale businesses is a key driver in our credit performance, as supported by the fact that BXSL has less than 0.1% of loans on nonaccrual at a cost compared to 2.8% at cost for traded BDC peers. Our non-accrual rate declined from the previous quarter, driven by a restructuring in the third quarter.

現在具體來看規模，截至第三季度，BXSL 投資組合公司的加權平均 EBITDA 為 1.85 億美元，而去年第三季為 1.62 億美元。這種對規模較大企業中品質更高、違約率更低的行業的關注是我們信貸表現的關鍵驅動因素，BXSL 的非應計貸款中成本貸款比例不到0.1%，而按成本計算的非應計貸款比例為2.8%，這一事實證明了這一點。交易 BDC 同行。受第三季重組的推動，我們的非應計利率較上季下降。

Now slide 8 focuses on our industry exposure, where we believe investing in better companies and better neighborhoods drives strong returns over time. This means focusing on key sectors with, among other themes, lower default rates, lower CapEx requirements, and approximately 90% of BXSL's total portfolio is invested in historically lower default rate sectors, including software, healthcare, commercial services -- which are some of the highest exposures in the portfolio.

現在幻燈片 8 重點介紹我們的行業風險，我們相信投資更好的公司和更好的社區會隨著時間的推移帶來強勁的回報。這意味著重點關注具有較低違約率、較低資本支出要求等主題的關鍵行業，BXSL 總投資組合的約90% 投資於歷史上違約率較低的行業，包括軟體、醫療保健、商業服務— —這些是投資組合中風險敞口最高的。

Now slide 9 further outlines our portfolio quality. In addition to our focus on investing in higher quality, lower default rate sectors, BXSL's portfolio is focused on investing in larger companies based on our belief that larger scale businesses are more resilient in the face of economic headwinds relative to smaller counterparts, and that historically has had lower default rates. Our origination effort has been based on supporting companies of scale because we believe that's where the most compelling risk-adjusted return is found.

現在投影片 9 進一步概述了我們的投資組合品質。除了我們專注於投資品質更高、違約率更低的行業外，BXSL 的投資組合還專注於投資規模較大的公司，因為我們相信規模較大的企業相對於規模較小的企業而言在面對經濟逆風時更具彈性，而且從歷史上看，規模較大的企業在面對經濟逆風時更具彈性。違約率較低。我們的創始工作是基於支持規模公司，因為我們相信這是最引人注目的風險調整回報的地方。

This slide indicates the relative risk-adjusted return of spread per turn of leverage for smaller deals versus larger deals has a slight disparity, but we noticed more substantial differences in underlying credit health.

這張投影片表明，規模較小的交易與規模較大的交易相比，每輪槓桿的相對風險調整利差回報略有差異，但我們注意到潛在信用健康狀況存在更大的差異。

Based on data from Lincoln International Private Market database, larger companies of $100 million or higher in EBITDA, have experienced seven times greater LTM EBITDA growth, and a default rate at an 80% lower rate than the companies measured at $50 million in EBITDA or less -- what we would refer to as the true middle market direct lending. This is why we remain steadfast in our belief that larger scale businesses handled the adversity of economic cycles better.

根據林肯國際私募市場資料庫的數據，與 EBITDA 為 5,000 萬美元或以下的公司相比，EBITDA 為 1 億美元或以上的大型公司的 LTM EBITDA 成長率高出七倍，違約率低 80% ——我們稱之為真正的中間市場直接貸款。這就是為什麼我們仍然堅信規模較大的企業能夠更好地應對經濟週期的逆境。

Now, turn to slide 10. We can see that BXSL's portfolio company fundamentals compared to the private credit market as measured by Lincoln. Compared to the private credit market, BXSL's average LTM EBITDA on the portfolio is nearly two times larger and has over two times higher growth, and generates over 20% greater profitability.

現在，轉到投影片 10。我們可以看到，BXSL 的投資組合公司基本面與林肯衡量的私人信貸市場相比。與私人信貸市場相比，BXSL 投資組合的平均 LTM EBITDA 幾乎是其兩倍，成長率也高出兩倍多，獲利能力高出 20% 以上。

And that leads me to the importance of interest coverage. We dove deep into this discussion on the last call, and it's our goal to continue to provide this level of portfolio transparency, so let's dive into it. According to Lincoln, today, nearly 20% of the private credit market has an interest coverage ratio below one at 5.5% forward base rates.

這讓我體認到利息保障的重要性。我們在上次電話會議上深入討論了這個問題，我們的目標是繼續提供這種程度的投資組合透明度，所以讓我們深入探討一下。 Lincoln 表示，如今，近 20% 的私人信貸市場的利息保障倍數低於 1，遠期基本利率為 5.5%。

Of that 20%, over 70% are companies with $50 million in EBITDA or less. As the pressure of higher rates builds, we believe we will see dispersion in the market as not all private credit is created equal.

在這 20% 中，超過 70% 的公司 EBITDA 不超過 5,000 萬美元。隨著利率上升的壓力不斷增大，我們相信市場將會分散，因為並非所有私人信貸都是平等的。

For BXSL, the LTM average interest coverage ratio was 1.8 times versus the private credit market average of 1.5 times. And when we run interest rates forward at 5.5%, that brings BXSL's average ICR to 1.6 times versus the private credit market at 1.4. And we attribute this stability to our focus on larger, more profitable, higher growth businesses.

對於 BXSL，LTM 平均利息保障倍數為 1.8 倍，而私人信貸市場平均利率為 1.5 倍。當我們將利率提高到 5.5% 時，BXSL 的平均 ICR 達到 1.6 倍，而私人信貸市場的平均 ICR 為 1.4 倍。我們將這種穩定性歸因於我們對規模更大、利潤更高、成長速度更快的業務的關注。

And when we assess the tails for BX ourselves portfolio on an LTM basis, 3% of the portfolio has an ICR below one times. And on a forward basis at 5.5% rates, we can see that we would have 10% of our portfolio was at ICR below one, compared to the broader market of 20% mentioned earlier -- about double BXSL's exposure.

當我們在 LTM 基礎上評估 BX 自身投資組合的尾部時，3% 的投資組合的 ICR 低於一倍。根據5.5% 的遠期利率，我們可以看到，我們的投資組合中有10% 的ICR 低於1，而之前提到的更廣泛市場的ICR 為20%，大約是BXSL 風險敞口的兩倍。

And of that 10%, with a one times ICR at 5.5% base rate, about half of that is associated with transactions originally structured as higher growth investments with lower ICRs. Namely ARR facilities that exhibit still year-over-year growth.

在這 10% 中，ICR 為 5.5% 的一倍基準利率，其中約一半與最初建構為 ICR 較低的高成長投資的交易相關。即 ARR 設施仍呈現年增。

Averages will not tell the story of performance. In our view, the tails will, and we seek to limit our tail risk to our focus on choosing what we believe to be better -- larger businesses, and historically lower default sectors, disciplined underwriting, and proactive portfolio management. We continue to see favorable results in the portfolio.

平均值並不能說明業績。在我們看來，尾部將會出現，我們力求將尾部風險限制在我們專注於選擇我們認為更好的方面——更大的企業、歷史上較低的違約部門、嚴格的承保和積極的投資組合管理。我們繼續看到投資組合的良好結果。

We're also focused on protections in the agreements governing our loans, with over 85% of BXSL's loans measured by fair value documented to provide at least one financial covenant. In addition, to leverage and liquidity covenants, we also focused on key protections not commonly seen in syndicated loans.

我們也注重貸款管理協議中的保護，超過 85% 的 BXSL 貸款以公允價值計量，並記錄在案，以提供至少一項財務契約。此外，對於槓桿和流動性契約，我們也專注於銀團貸款中不常見的關鍵保護措施。

Blackstone Credit maintained an in-house team focused on legal documentation who review and aim to ensure the quality of our private loan documentation. And as a result, 100% of the deals held at BXSL or Blackstone Credit with a lead lender, have protections against asset stripping and collateral release.

Blackstone Credit 擁有一支專注於法律文件的內部團隊，負責審查並旨在確保我們私人貸款文件的品質。因此，BXSL 或 Blackstone Credit 與主要貸款人進行的交易 100% 都受到針對資產剝離和抵押品釋放的保護。

And turning to amendments, we had 44 amendments in the third quarter. Approximately 95% of the amendments? They were technical -- audit extensions, add-ons -- and another 5% were related to re-financings or re-pricings, and there were no amendments during the quarter related to covenant relief or immediately take relief due to inability to pay interest or principal.

至於修正案，第三季我們有 44 項修正案。大約95%的修改？它們是技術性的——審計延期、附加——另外 5% 與再融資或重新定價有關，並且本季度沒有與契約減免相關的修改或因無法支付利息而立即採取減免或校長。

And so jump to Slide 11. BXSL is now delivering an increased dividend distribution of $0.77 per share, a 10% increase quarter-over-quarter, and a 45% increase since our IPO two years ago. Our increased dividend is covered at a ratio of 123% by earnings.

因此，請跳至投影片 11。BXSL 目前將股息分配增加至每股 0.77 美元，環比增長 10%，自兩年前 IPO 以來增長了 45%。我們增加的股利佔收益的比例為 123%。

And as you can see, we've continued to focus on delivering high-quality yield to our shareholders, building a level of confidence through continuing to raise our base dividends while also steadily building NAV per share. We believe that speaks to the fund's ability to deliver for our shareholders despite macroeconomic headwinds.

正如您所看到的，我們繼續專注於為股東提供高品質的收益，透過繼續提高基本股利來建立信心，同時穩步提高每股資產淨值。我們相信，這說明了儘管宏觀經濟不利，但該基金仍有能力為我們的股東帶來回報。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Carlos.

有了這個，我會把它交給卡洛斯。

Thanks, Jon. Our people are our most important resource. With over 500 professionals, we have the scale and bandwidth to form investment opinions on over 3,150 corporate issuers. We take those valuable insights and plow them back into BXSL;s investment process through portfolio monitoring and origination, to drive sales investment performance.

謝謝，喬恩。我們的員工是我們最重要的資源。我們擁有 500 多名專業人士，擁有對 3,150 多家企業發行人形成投資意見的規模和頻寬。我們將這些寶貴的見解透過投資組合監控和發起重新融入 BXSL 的投資流程中，以提高銷售投資績效。

The performing credit investment committee has worked together for an average of 16 years, and that continuity helps us refine our investment process. Since BXSL's inception, our global private credit investment team has grown meaningfully, while we've only seen a few departures on our senior investment team significantly involved in the North American direct lending strategy.

履約信貸投資委員會平均合作時間為 16 年，這種連續性有助於我們完善投資流程。自 BXSL 成立以來，我們的全球私人信貸投資團隊取得了長足的發展，而我們的高級投資團隊中只有少數人離職，主要參與北美直接貸款策略。

Blackstone Credit has a team of senior investment professionals who engage with hundreds of the top financial sponsors we transact with. In addition, we have a dedicated team that covers strategic relationships with M&A and sell-side advisors globally, sharing pipeline and joint investment opportunities that often drive deal flow. We also leverage our sector expertise and insights across the credit platform -- with over 100 senior advisers, 950 technologists and over 50 data scientists across Blackstone providing us with valuable perspectives on how we invest while also helping us monitor our portfolio.

Blackstone Credit 擁有一支由高級投資專業人士組成的團隊，他們與我們有交易的數百家頂級金融贊助商合作。此外，我們擁有一支專門的團隊，負責與全球併購和賣方顧問建立策略關係，共享通路和聯合投資機會，從而推動交易流程。我們也利用整個信貸平台的行業專業知識和見解，Blackstone 擁有100 多名高級顧問、950 名技術專家和50 多名數據科學家，為我們的投資方式提供了寶貴的觀點，同時幫助我們監控我們的投資組合。

Blackstone's deep platform can benefit BXSL in other ways. Blackstone Growth, our private equity platform, real estate, life sciences, strategic partners, GP Stakes business, and tactical opportunities all offer deep insights and support deal flow for BXSL, widening our funnel.

Blackstone 的深度平台可以在其他方面使 BXSL 受益。 Blackstone Growth、我們的私募股權平台、房地產、生命科學、戰略合作夥伴、GP Stakes 業務和戰術機會都為 BXSL 提供了深刻的見解並支持交易流，從而拓寬了我們的管道。

That's made possible from a platform with the size and scale of Blackstone. In an increasingly competitive private credit market, we differentiate ourselves by providing more than just capital to our portfolio companies.

黑石這樣規模的平台使這一切成為可能。在競爭日益激烈的私人信貸市場中，我們透過向投資組合公司提供的不僅僅是資本來使自己脫穎而出。

BXSL borrowers are offered full access to Blackstone Credit's value creation program, through cross-sell opportunities; cost savings; procurements; and capabilities, including cybersecurity and data science. All at no additional cost because we understand the end benefit to the investment portfolio.

BXSL 借款人可透過交叉銷售機會全面參與 Blackstone Credit 的價值創造計畫；節約成本;採購；和能力，包括網路安全和數據科學。一切無需額外費用，因為我們了解投資組合的最終收益。

I echo Brad's point earlier on the strength of our deal pipeline, owed to our origination franchise that benefits from the scale and platform of Blackstone.

我同意 Brad 先前關於我們交易管道實力的觀點，這要歸功於我們受益於 Blackstone 規模和平台的創始特許經營權。

Let me walk through a recent transaction we led, in which the combination of our platform advantages came into play. Blackstone Credit was the sole lender of the recently announced $3 billion merger of HealthComp and Virgin Pulse by New Mountain Capital, a top-tier sponsor with deep expertise in the healthcare IT sector.

我來介紹我們最近主導的一項交易，其中我們的平台優勢結合起來發揮了作用。 Blackstone Credit 是 New Mountain Capital 最近宣布的 HealthComp 和 Virgin Pulse 價值 30 億美元合併的唯一貸款人，New Mountain Capital 是一家在醫療保健 IT 領域擁有深厚專業知識的頂級贊助商。

We believe a number of factors differentiated us from other private credit lenders -- our scale, and our ability to deliver a one-stop solution for the entire capital structure. Blackstone Credit committed to 100% of the financing -- a large commitment across various levels of the capital structure.

我們相信，有許多因素使我們有別於其他私人信貸機構——我們的規模以及我們為整個資本結構提供一站式解決方案的能力。 Blackstone Credit 承諾提供 100% 的融資——這是跨越各個資本結構層面的重大承諾。

This is where scale really matters, especially when confidentiality is critical, or in a situation where a sponsor can only call one or two partners. We have an excellent relationship with the sponsor, New Mountain Capital, and lend to a number of existing portfolio companies.

這就是規模真正重要的地方，尤其是在保密至關重要的情況下，或者在贊助商只能致電一兩個合作夥伴的情況下。我們與贊助商新山資本有著良好的關係，並向許多現有的投資組合公司提供貸款。

In addition, Blackstone has a broader relationship with New Mountain across the firm. While that doesn't mean we lead every deal for them, our relationship is strong, and presents us with opportunities to work closely with them.

此外，Blackstone 在整個公司範圍內與 New Mountain 有著更廣泛的關係。雖然這並不意味著我們主導他們的每筆交易，但我們的關係很牢固，並為我們提供了與他們密切合作的機會。

We talk about incumbency -- leveraging our existing portfolio -- and this is a great example across our private and liquid credit platform. Prior to this deal, we were the existing lead private lender to HealthComp, and we were also an existing lender to Virgin Pulse on our liquid credit side in their broadly syndicated loans. We knew both companies well and liked their credit merits and individually, which added to our conviction in the merger.

我們談論在職——利用我們現有的投資組合——這是我們私人和流動信貸平台的一個很好的例子。在此交易之前，我們是 HealthComp 現有的主要私人貸款人，也是 Virgin Pulse 廣泛銀團貸款的流動信貸方面的現有貸款人。我們對兩家公司都很了解，並且喜歡他們的信用優點和個人信用，這增強了我們對合併的信心。

Finally, the Blackstone Credit value creation program has multiple levers to pull to assist the combined company, particularly on potential cross-sell opportunities across the broader Blackstone portfolio. This has been demonstrated during the last three years when Blackstone Credit was a private lender to HealthComp. We believe our value added capabilities truly differentiate us as we are no longer just a lender to HealthComp, but also a value added partner who aims to help grow equity value.

最後，Blackstone Credit 價值創造計畫擁有多種槓桿來幫助合併後的公司，特別是在更廣泛的 Blackstone 投資組合中潛在的交叉銷售機會。過去三年 Blackstone Credit 成為 HealthComp 的私人貸款人時就證明了這一點。我們相信，我們的增值能力真正使我們與眾不同，因為我們不再只是 HealthComp 的貸款人，而且還是旨在幫助增加股權價值的增值合作夥伴。

As another example, in BXSL's portfolio, our Blackstone Credit value creation team worked with a healthcare services company to prepare for a $15 million firm wide procurement project. And we already know the first stage of this project yielded approximately 20% in savings for the company. We believe our engagement on this project has not only improved the financial results, but also helped professionalize the procurement function of the borrower and view this as another instance of being a value-added partner.

另一個例子，在 BXSL 的投資組合中，我們的 Blackstone Credit 價值創造團隊與一家醫療保健服務公司合作，準備一項價值 1500 萬美元的全公司採購項目。我們已經知道該專案的第一階段為公司節省了大約 20% 的費用。我們相信，我們參與該專案不僅改善了財務業績，還有助於借款人採購職能的專業化，並將其視為成為增值合作夥伴的另一個實例。

Parallel to our borrower experience, we are highly focused on shareholder experience. BXSL has among the lowest fee structures, expense ratios, and cost of debt of our peer set as of the end of the second quarter, which allows us to pass on more returns to our investors. Additionally, 100% of deal fees owed to BXSL are paid to BXSL.

與借款人體驗平行，我們高度關注股東體驗。截至第二季末，BXSL 的費用結構、費用比率和債務成本是同業中最低的，這使我們能夠向投資者傳遞更多回報。此外，欠 BXSL 的交易費用 100% 均支付給 BXSL。

We believe these are important points of distinction, ones that complement our strong results and strengthen our ability to continue to drive attractive risk-adjusted returns for our investors.

我們相信這些都是重要的區別點，它們補充了我們的強勁業績，並增強了我們繼續為投資者帶來有吸引力的風險調整回報的能力。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Teddy.

有了這個，我會把它交給泰迪。

Thanks, Carlos. I'll start with our operating results on slide 12. In the third quarter, BXSL's net investment income was $161 million or $0.95 per share. Our total investment income was up $57 million or 25% year-over-year, driven by increased interest income, primarily due to higher rates.

謝謝，卡洛斯。我將從幻燈片 12 上的營運業績開始。第三季度，BXSL 的淨投資收益為 1.61 億美元，即每股 0.95 美元。我們的總投資收入年增 5,700 萬美元，即 25%，主要是由於利率上升導致利息收入增加。

Payment-in-kind or PIC income remained flat year-over-year, and represents less than 4% of total investment income. GAAP net income in the quarter was $171 million or $1.1 per share, up from $0.58 per share a year ago, driven in part by $21 million of net unrealized depreciation this quarter. Our net investment income yield of $0.95 per share represents a 14.4% annualized return on equity.

實物支付或PIC收入較去年同期持平，佔總投資收入的比例不到4%。本季 GAAP 淨利潤為 1.71 億美元，即每股 1.1 美元，高於去年同期的每股 0.58 美元，部分原因是本季未實現淨折舊 2,100 萬美元。我們每股 0.95 美元的淨投資收益相當於 14.4% 的年化股本回報率。

Importantly, as Brad mentioned, the quality of our earnings remains high, with limited payment-in-kind nonrecurring and fee-driven income. Interest income excluding PIC fees and dividends, represents 96% of our total investment income in the third quarter.

重要的是，正如布拉德所提到的，我們的收入品質仍然很高，非經常性和費用驅動的實物支付收入有限。不包括PIC費用和股利的利息收入占我們第三季總投資收入的96%。

Turning to our balance sheet on slide 13, we ended the quarter with $9.5 billion of total portfolio investments, of which 98.8% are floating rate loans, with weighted average yield at fair value of 11.9%. This compares to less than $5 billion of outstanding debt with a weighted average cost of just over 4.9%. That spread between our floating rate assets and lower cost mostly fixed rate liabilities provides the company with potential for additional earnings growth if rates continue to rise.

轉向投影片 13 上的資產負債表，本季末我們的投資組合投資總額為 95 億美元，其中 98.8% 為浮動利率貸款，以公允價值計算的加權平均收益率為 11.9%。相較之下，未償債務不足 50 億美元，加權平均成本略高於 4.9%。如果利率持續上升，我們的浮動利率資產與成本較低的固定利率負債之間的利差為公司提供了額外獲利成長的潛力。

As a result of strong earnings in excess of our dividend in the third quarter, NAV per share increased to $26.54, up from $26.30 last quarter.

由於第三季獲利超過股息，每股資產淨值從上季的 26.30 美元增至 26.54 美元。

Next, slide 14 outlines our attractive and diverse liability profile, which includes 56% of drawn debt in unsecured bonds. These unsecured bonds have a weighted average fixed coupon of less than 3%, which we view as a key advantage in this rising rate environment.

接下來，投影片 14 概述了我們有吸引力且多樣化的負債概況，其中包括 56% 的無擔保債券提取債務。這些無擔保債券的加權平均固定票面利率低於 3%，我們認為這是利率上升環境下的關鍵優勢。

We maintained our three investment grade corporate credit ratings, and BXSL was the first listed BDC to receive an improved outlook from stable to positive by Moody's. We ended the quarter with approximately $1.5 billion of liquidity in cash and undrawn debt available to borrow. We believe this provides us with significant flexibility and cushion.

我們維持三項投資等級企業信用評級，BXSL 是第一家獲得穆迪將前景從穩定調整為正面的上市 BDC。本季結束時，我們擁有約 15 億美元的現金流動性和可藉用的未提取債務。我們相信這為我們提供了顯著的靈活性和緩衝。

Average fund leverage was 1.11 times over the quarter, and ending leverage was 1.8 times. Based on our pipeline activity, we would expect to remain within our target of one to one and a quarter times, through the balance of the year.

本季平均基金槓桿為 1.11 倍，期末槓桿為 1.8 倍。根據我們的管道活動，我們預計在今年剩餘時間內將保持在一比一又四分之一的目標範圍內。

Additionally, we have low level of debt maturities over the next few years. The next maturity date for any of our outstanding debt facilities is 2025, with only 6% of debt maturing within the next two years and an overall weighted average maturity of 3.5 years.

此外，未來幾年我們的債務到期日水準較低。我們任何未償債務融資的下一個到期日是 2025 年，只有 6% 的債務在未來兩年內到期，總體加權平均到期日為 3.5 年。

We continue to believe BXSL is well positioned to maintain earnings in excess of our dividends as rates on 98.8% floating rate debt investments have continued to reset higher. As Brad and John mentioned, while floating rate debt brings higher yield for investors. It also may result in more pressure for our borrowers. And to that end, we established a chief investment office several years ago, aimed at leveraging data, insights, and resources, that are unique to Blackstone to enhance investment and portfolio management processes to ultimately drive positive outcomes across our portfolios.

我們仍然相信，隨著 98.8% 浮動利率債務投資的利率繼續走高，BXSL 處於有利地位，能夠維持超過股息的收益。正如布拉德和約翰所提到的，浮動利率債務為投資者帶來了更高的收益。這也可能會給我們的借款人帶來更大的壓力。為此，我們幾年前成立了首席投資辦公室，旨在利用 Blackstone 獨有的數據、見解和資源來增強投資和投資組合管理流程，最終推動我們的投資組合取得積極成果。

We believe early intervention and proactive management will be a key driver of differentiation across managers through this cycle. Today, this team is nearly 60 individuals, which includes resources dedicated to financial re-underwriting, legal and restructuring expertise, data science and operational asset management.

我們相信，早期介入和主動管理將成為這個週期中管理者差異化的關鍵驅動力。如今，該團隊擁有近 60 人，其中包括專門用於財務再承銷、法律和重組專業知識、數據科學和營運資產管理的資源。

We deploy quantitative screens on a regular basis and have an independent review process for assets that we deem to be on our watchlist, ultimately rolling up to senior Blackstone management. We've applied lessons learned from over 17 years history, managing direct lending portfolios through cycles, and have established a culture and process that supports and encourages early intervention, benefits from unique insights across Blackstone, and deploys specialized resources to our portfolio companies.

我們定期部署定量篩選，並對我們認為在觀察名單上的資產制定獨立審查流程，最終上報給 Blackstone 高階管理層。我們吸取了超過17 年歷史中的經驗教訓，管理各個週期的直接貸款投資組合，並建立了一種支持和鼓勵早期幹預的文化和流程，受益於Blackstone 的獨特見解，並向我們的投資組合公司部署專業資源。

In conclusion, we remain positive about the company's outlook, given our healthy and defensive portfolio positioning, with portfolio company earnings growth outpacing the broader direct lending market, ample dry powder to deploy into a large opportunity set, and continued elevated earnings power along with low cost financing sources. All of which is backed by Blackstone platform advantage, providing for premiere sourcing, resources, and an infrastructure built to protect investors' capital.

總而言之，鑑於我們健康和防禦性的投資組合定位，投資組合公司的盈利增長超過了更廣泛的直接貸款市場，有充足的乾粉可部署到大型機會集中，盈利能力持續提高，同時盈利能力持續下降，我們對該公司的前景仍然持樂觀態度。成本融資來源。所有這些都得到 Blackstone 平台優勢的支持，提供一流的採購、資源和基礎設施，以保護投資者的資本。

With that, I'll ask the operator to open it up for questions. Thank you.

這樣，我會要求接線員打開它來提問。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Finian O'Shea, Wells Fargo.

菲尼安‧奧謝，富國銀行。

Hi, everyone. Thanks. Good morning. Just a housekeeping question -- did the fee waiver lapse from pursuance to the two-year anniversary last week or so?

大家好。謝謝。早安.只是一個內務問題——費用減免是否從上週左右的兩週年紀念日起就失效了？

Yes. Hi Finn, this is Teddy. Yes, the fee waiver ended October 28 of 2023.

是的。嗨芬恩，這是泰迪。是的，費用減免已於 2023 年 10 月 28 日結束。

Okay, great. Thank you. And question on leverage, Brad, you mentioned it's still within your target range, but it's obviously come down some this year, and that has an impact on returns. So we're seeing how you feel about the pipeline as you see it today, and if we could expect to see this come off the low end or if we need a real market come back to see that?

好的，太好了。謝謝。關於槓桿率的問題，布拉德，您提到它仍在您的目標範圍內，但今年顯然有所下降，這對回報產生了影響。因此，我們正在了解您對今天看到的管道的感受，以及我們是否可以期望看到它脫離低端，或者我們是否需要一個真正的市場回來看到這一點？

Thanks, Finn. Just following my comments, the pipeline's picked up quite a bit. And you saw that in third quarter with our commitments being $650 million or so. And the fourth quarter, just from the overall Blackstone Credit pipeline standpoint, is probably the busiest we've seen it all year.

謝謝，芬恩。就在我發表評論之後，管道已經恢復了很多。您在第三季就看到了這一點，我們的承諾金額約為 6.5 億美元。僅從整個 Blackstone Credit 管道的角度來看，第四季度可能是我們全年最繁忙的季度。

And I think that's just indicative of the a little bit more of an active M&A market, but also existing portfolio companies looking to do more things, whether it's add-on financing, whether it's recapitalization. So I would expect, Finn, you can never perfectly time deals, which is always the tricky thing, which is why we give a range. As we get towards the end of the year, you could see us get a little bit higher than where we are today.

我認為這只是表明併購市場更加活躍，現有的投資組合公司也希望做更多事情，無論是附加融資還是資本重組。所以我預計，芬恩，你永遠無法完美地把握交易時間，這始終是一件棘手的事情，這就是我們給出一個範圍的原因。當我們接近年底時，您可能會看到我們的水平比今天要高一些。

Awesome. Thank you. And if I could sneak in a third, I appreciated John's color on the amendments which none came from covenant or PIC relief. I was curious if anyone asked for covenant or PIC relief?

驚人的。謝謝。如果我能偷偷地加入第三個，我很欣賞約翰對修正案的看法，這些修正案沒有來自契約或事先知情同意救濟。我很好奇是否有人要求契約或 PIC 救濟？

No, Finn. They didn't.

不，芬恩。他們沒有。

Awesome. Thanks so much.

驚人的。非常感謝。

Robert Dodd, Raymond James.

羅伯特·多德，雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Hi, and congrats on the quarter. On kind of the pipeline and to your point, I mean, the commitments in Q3 versus if we look back over the last multiple quarters, the gap between commitments and fundings was much more substantial than normal. Can you give us any color on that? Was that DDTLs that people are looking to start making acquisitions and setting up the financing first? Can you give us any color on what was the reason for the large spread there? And should we expect that to be recurring going forward?

您好，恭喜本季。就通路類型和您的觀點而言，我的意思是，第三季的承諾與我們回顧過去多個季度相比，承諾和資金之間的差距比正常情況要大得多。你能給我們任何顏色嗎？人們希望透過 DDTL 開始收購並首先建立融資嗎？您能否告訴我們，造成巨大傳播的原因是什麼？我們是否應該預期這種情況會在未來再次出現？

Just timing. So actually, a handful of those have already funded in the fourth quarter. So we just made the commitments towards the end of the third quarter. It usually takes 30 days to 60 days for some of these deals to close. So that's all -- that's the gap in the number, Robert.

只是時機。事實上，其中一些已經在第四季度獲得了資金。所以我們只是在第三季末做出了承諾。其中一些交易通常需要 30 天到 60 天才能完成。這就是全部——這就是數字上的差距，羅伯特。

Got it, got it. Thank you.

明白了，明白了。謝謝。

Thank you. And then as we look to next year, I mean, your progress, obviously, I mean, you've maintained Alcoa personally, do you expect to see some structural changes in kind of the deals getting done with rates being elevated in terms of maybe seeing lower leverage on a first-lien, maybe not doing the whole stack with somebody coming in behind as willing to take a bit more risk than you're willing to do? Because obviously, I mean, on some of the large firstly, unitranches, if it's at six times it makes where they are, or eight times or whatever it is, versus, you know, do you expect the market to shift in terms of how some of the leverage is structured as we go through next year, if it's more active with rates being so elevated?

謝謝。然後，當我們展望明年時，我的意思是，你的進展，顯然，我的意思是，你個人一直維持美國鋁業，你是否期望看到一些結構性變化，比如交易完成，利率可能會提高看到第一留置權的槓桿率較低，也許沒有與願意承擔比您願意承擔的風險更多的人一起完成整個堆疊？因為顯然，我的意思是，對於一些大型的第一股，如果是六倍，或者八倍或其他什麼，相對於，你知道，你預計市場會在如何變化方面發生變化嗎？一些槓桿是在我們明年進行結構調整的，如果在利率如此高的情況下槓桿更加活躍？

Yes, you're seeing that now, because you're right to point out with higher interest expense, companies are being set up with less leverage in order to service their debt appropriately. So you saw that a little bit in the quarter, our average loan to value is 35.9% versus our historical LTV which is in the kind of mid-40%s. So you're seeing companies put on less leverage.

是的，你現在看到了，因為你指出利息支出較高，公司的槓桿率較低，以便適當地償還債務，這是正確的。因此，您在本季度看到，我們的平均貸款價值比為 35.9%，而我們的歷史貸款價值比為 40% 左右。所以你會看到公司的槓桿率降低了。

And yes, in some cases you're seeing a preferred equity piece get put in behind the senior debt in order to help the equity sponsor fund some of these transactions. But this is -- I'm glad you pointed it out, because it's what we get excited about in this environment is you're seeing more yield, more return, primarily because of base rates.

是的，在某些情況下，您會看到優先股權被置於優先債務後面，以幫助股權發起人為其中一些交易提供資金。但這是——我很高興你指出了這一點，因為在這種環境下我們感到興奮的是你看到了更多的收益率、更多的回報，這主要是因為基本利率。

But you're also seeing better companies come to market with less leverage and lower loan to value. So more return and less risk is kind of how we think about it, and it will drive our portfolio construction going forward, because you don't actually need to take a lot of risk in this market to get a very attractive return relative to most other asset classes.

但你也會看到更好的公司以較低的槓桿率和較低的貸款價值進入市場。因此，更多的回報和更少的風險是我們的想法，它將推動我們的投資組合建設向前發展，因為相對於大多數市場，你實際上不需要冒很大的風險來獲得非常有吸引力的回報其他資產類別。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Ken Lee, RBC.

肯李，加拿大皇家銀行。

Hi, good morning and thanks for taking my question. Just one on the potential implications of the integration of the Blackstone Credit and insurance platform. How do you think about potential changes in the portfolio mix or originations over time, based on integration? Thanks.

你好，早安，感謝您提出我的問題。僅介紹 Blackstone 信貸和保險平台整合的潛在影響。您如何看待基於整合的投資組合組合或起源隨時間的潛在變化？謝謝。

So appreciate the question, Ken. I don't think it has any implications for portfolio construction. What it does for us, it gives us a bigger team with more exposure to sponsors, with more exposure to corporates, because at the end of the day, what we're offering these clients, is more solutions.

所以感謝這個問題，肯。我認為這對投資組合建構沒有任何影響。它對我們的作用是，它為我們提供了一個更大的團隊，更多地接觸贊助商，更多地接觸企業，因為歸根結底，我們為這些客戶提供的是更多的解決方案。

BXSL will continue to be focused on senior-secured corporate credit, top of the capital structure -- a very kind of simple strategy. But when we're out facing clients we're that much more relevant to them because we can do an asset base facility. We can do some things more junior in the capital structure. We have more points of connectivity, more people, more scale, more resources, and that's the power of the BXCI integration.

BXSL 將繼續專注於高級擔保企業信貸，即資本結構的頂層——這是一種非常簡單的策略。但當我們面對客戶時，我們與他們的關係就更加密切，因為我們可以提供資產基礎設施。我們可以在資本結構上做一些更初級的事情。我們擁有更多的連結點、更多的人員、更大的規模、更多的資源，這就是 BXCI 整合的力量。

As you look at the private credit asset class, expanding and those managers that can provide multiple solutions will become more relevant to our end client.

當你審視私人信貸資產類別時，不斷擴大的資產以及那些能夠提供多種解決方案的管理者將變得與我們的最終客戶更加相關。

Got you. Very helpful there. And just one follow up, if I may. In terms of some of the recent deal activity, in terms of some of the new investments, could you just talk a little bit more about trends that you're seeing in terms of deal terms, or docs, protections? Just wondering if there's been any changes there? Thanks.

明白你了。那裡非常有幫助。如果可以的話，請跟進一次。就最近的一些交易活動而言，就一些新投資而言，您能否多談談您在交易條款或文件、保護方面看到的趨勢？只是想知道那裡有什麼改變嗎？謝謝。

Well, I would say a couple of things. Spreads have come in a little bit over the course of the year, but I attribute that more to what I was saying earlier, which the the risk is gone down as rates are looked like they're going to stay higher for longer. Capital structures are being set up with less leverage.

好吧，我想說幾件事。在這一年中，利差有所上升，但我將其更多地歸因於我之前所說的，即隨著利率看起來將在更長時間內保持較高水平，風險已經下降。資本結構的槓桿率正在降低。

And therefore, spreads have come in a little bit, which is a trade that we will take all day. So that's maybe one trend. The public markets were briefly open now, they feel a little bit shaky again. So that gives us a lot more leverage as it relates to negotiating docs, especially for the larger deals one of which Carlos highlighted in his prepared remarks.

因此，點差有所增加，這是我們整天都會進行的交易。所以這可能是一種趨勢。公開市場現在短暫開放，再次感覺有點不穩定。因此，這給了我們更多的籌碼，因為它與談判文件有關，特別是對於卡洛斯在他準備好的演講中強調的較大交易之一。

So I would say by-and-large, it's very, very attractive, both from a return for a level of risk and from a documentation standpoint.

所以我想說，總的來說，無論是從風險等級的回報還是從文件的角度來看，它都非常非常有吸引力。

Got you. Very helpful there. Thanks again.

明白你了。那裡非常有幫助。再次感謝。

Paul Johnson, KBW.

保羅·約翰遜，KBW。

Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. Just kind of adding on a little bit to Ken's last question. I mean, how long do you think the terms that you guys are seeing today be sustained in the market?

早上好傢伙。感謝您回答我的問題。只是對肯的最後一個問題做了一點補充。我的意思是，你們認為你們今天看到的條款在市場上能持續多久？

I mean, I guess in addition to that, what is it that you think that would probably threaten that a little bit? Is it all predicated on the CLO market kind of returning, or how long do you guys think that the private market can keep up with what's going on today?

我的意思是，我想除此之外，你認為什麼可能會威脅到這一點？這一切都是基於 CLO 市場的回歸，還是你們認為私募市場能夠跟上今天的情況多久？

Listen, if you look at the US leveraged finance market, it's a little over $4 trillion.

聽著，如果你看看美國的槓桿金融市場，它的規模略高於 4 兆美元。

Private market has grown from, what, $70 million when we started to a little over $1 trillion. We expect that there's a lot more runway under the premise that the private solution for some issuers, regardless of whether the public market is open or closed, is a much more attractive solution for them. And the best evidence of that was the largest growth period for private credit was 2021 when the public markets were wide open, and sponsors were looking for privacy.

私募市場已從剛起步時的 7,000 萬美元成長到略高於 1 兆美元。我們預計，在這樣的前提下，還有更多的選擇，即對於某些發行人來說，私募解決方案，無論公開市場是開放的還是封閉的，對他們來說都是一個更具吸引力的解決方案。最好的證據是私人信貸最大的成長期是 2021 年，當時公開市場完全開放，贊助商正在尋求隱私。

They were looking for certainty. They were looking for flexibility. So we're very bullish on the long-term trends of private credit. Now getting to my earlier comments on spreads. Spreads will move around a little bit. But it's not spreads that's driving returns right now in private credit.

他們正在尋找確定性。他們正在尋求靈活性。所以我們非常看好私人信用的長期趨勢。現在談談我之前對點差的評論。點差會稍微移動。但目前推動私人信貸回報的並不是利差。

Most of it's coming through and increase in base rates. And so the returns in private credit will be predicated on your view, and our view on how long we think base rates or interest rates will stay higher. Our view is that they'll stay higher for longer. They may move around a little bit. But long term trend is actually quite good. So the market opportunity is there for those investors who can create deal flow, not just rely on the M&A market, and return should stay very robust in this rate environment.

其中大部分都在基本費率上實現和增加。因此，私人信貸的回報將取決於您的看法，以及我們對基本利率或利率將保持在高水準多久的看法。我們的觀點是，它們會在更長的時間內保持在較高水平。他們可能會稍微移動一下。但長期趨勢其實還是不錯的。因此，對於那些能夠創造交易流而不僅僅是依賴併購市場的投資者來說，市場機會是存在的，並且在這種利率環境下回報應該會保持非常強勁。

Appreciate that. And one last one is just kind of a more general question, but I'm just curious because your portfolio has a decent amount of software related companies and this is the case pretty much across the sector as well.

感謝。最後一個只是一個更普遍的問題，但我只是很好奇，因為你的投資組合中有相當數量的軟體相關公司，而且整個行業也幾乎都是這種情況。

But I'm curious as your thoughts in terms of just the evolution of AI and you've seen it could be a big game changer for some of your companies both in a positive and in a negative way. If that proliferates and seems there could be an opportunity to maybe cannibalize biggest parts of the software sector. So I'm just curious, I mean you guys have any kind of broader thoughts on how that technology changes, I guess the underwriting story of the software sector?

但我很好奇你對人工智慧發展的想法，你已經看到它可能會以積極和消極的方式改變你的一些公司的遊戲規則。如果這種情況激增並且看起來可能有機會蠶食軟體產業的最大部分。所以我只是很好奇，我的意思是你們對科技如何變化有更廣泛的想法，我猜是軟體產業的核保故事？

So that is a five hour conversation. What I will say is Blackstone has been leading the charge in terms of understanding AI. Using AI, integrating that part of our investment process -- so this, while it may be new to kind of everyone on this call over the past three to six months, because of ChatGPT, it is not new to Blackstone.

這是一個五個小時的談話。我要說的是，黑石在理解人工智慧方面一直處於領先地位。使用人工智慧，整合我們投資流程的這一部分——所以，雖然這對過去三到六個月參加這次電話會議的每個人來說可能都是新鮮事，但由於ChatGPT，這對Blackstone 來說並不新鮮。

So every underwriting that we've done in this space, you know AI has been at the forefront of our decision-making. And AI has its applications on where it's going to be impactful and where it's not going to be impactful.

因此，我們在這個領域所做的每一次承保，你都知道人工智慧一直處於我們決策的最前線。人工智慧在哪些方面會產生影響，哪些方面不會產生影響，都有其應用。

So the shorter answer to the five hour answer is we think about it a lot. We don't see it having issues on the portfolio that we selected in this space. But you're right, it will have implications in parts of the market.

因此，對五個小時的答案的簡短回答是我們對此進行了很多思考。我們認為我們在這個領域選擇的投資組合沒有問題。但你是對的，這將對部分市場產生影響。

Appreciate that Brad, that's all from me.

感謝布拉德，這都是我的。

Melissa Wedel, JP Morgan.

梅麗莎‧韋德爾，摩根大通。

Thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to follow up on one of the comments from the prepared remarks. I think it was, Brad, you were talking about expecting some dispersion in the market. I think that was related to sort of the higher for longer environment and the pressure that could put on credit.

感謝您回答我的問題。我想對準備好的發言中的一項評論進行跟進。布拉德，我認為您正在談論預期市場會出現一些分散。我認為這與長期較高的環境以及可能對信貸帶來的壓力有關。

Just hoping you could elaborate on that, and if it doesn't incorporate a view on how you expect the credit cycle to evolve, could you add that in? Thank you.

只是希望你能詳細說明這一點，如果它沒有包含你對信貸週期如何演變的看法，你能補充一下嗎？謝謝。

So higher rates are meant to slow down the economy, and so it has two areas of impact on portfolios. One, higher rates obviously consume more cash, so it puts a little bit of pressure on people's cash flows. And secondly, if you're more correlated to the overall health of the economy, then you're going to have some potential earnings top line pressure.

因此，較高的利率意味著經濟放緩，因此它對投資組合有兩個方面的影響。第一，較高的利率顯然會消耗更多的現金，因此對人們的現金流造成了一定的壓力。其次，如果你與經濟的整體健康狀況更相關，那麼你將面臨一些潛在的收入壓力。

So that is the driver behind our remarks, that higher rates are meant to cause a little bit of a slowness. So as I think about kind of where we'll feel that next year, because really this most of this year were just because of the lag on rates, because of interest rate hedges, you haven't seen the full impact of higher rates this year.

這就是我們言論背後的驅動力，更高的利率意味著會導致一點點緩慢。因此，當我想到明年我們會感受到什麼時，因為今年的大部分時間實際上只是因為利率的滯後，因為利率對沖，你還沒有看到今年利率上升的全部影響。年。

So as you think about next year, it's going to be felt in sectors that typically don't generate a lot of cash. So that probably means because they're more capital-intensive -- an industrial manufacturing business, it could be a smaller business that just has less diversity of revenue, may have higher customer concentration, it has less talent in its senior management.

因此，當你考慮明年時，通常不會產生大量現金的行業將會感受到這種影響。因此，這可能意味著，因為它們是資本密集型企業——工業製造企業，它可能是一家規模較小的企業，收入多樣性較少，客戶集中度可能更高，高階管理人才較少。

And so we think the stress in the system will be driven by which sectors you're in and the size of your business, and then, of course, layer in the further up the capital structure, the kind of the better protected you will be -- older vintage.

因此，我們認為系統中的壓力將取決於您所在的行業和業務規模，然後，當然，在資本結構的更高層次上，您將受到更好的保護——較舊的年份。

Jon talked about the tail. Tails will become more of a focus in portfolios. So if the company was already struggling a little bit, next year won't make it any easier. So that kind of was the driver of my comments, and when we talk about it internally. Melissa, we talk about the three S's which will really drive performance and dispersion -- and that's seniority, that's sectors, and that's scale. Those for us have been the driving factors when we're building the BXSL portfolio.

喬恩談到了尾巴。尾部將成為投資組合中更多的焦點。因此，如果該公司已經陷入困境，那麼明年的情況就不會變得更容易。因此，當我們在內部討論時，這就是我發表評論的驅動力。梅麗莎，我們談論真正推動績效和分散的三個 S——那就是資歷、部門和規模。對我們來說，這些一直是我們建構 BXSL 產品組合的驅動因素。

Thanks, Brad. So you have any broader thoughts about what you expect to see across the space in terms of defaults and non-accruals? Seems like what's come up so far has been pretty manageable, and we've seen some restructurings.

謝謝，布拉德。那麼，對於您期望在違約和非應計費用方面看到的情況，您有更廣泛的想法嗎？看起來到目前為止所發生的事情是相當容易管理的，而且我們已經看到了一些重組。

Just wondering if you expect that to continue to be sort of a one-off in nature, if you're expecting some sort of broad weakening, perhaps along the line of the things that you just talked about, more capital-intensive businesses, smaller certain sectors? Thanks.

只是想知道您是否預計這種情況本質上會繼續是一次性的，是否預計會出現某種廣泛的疲軟，也許沿著您剛才談到的事情，更多的資本密集型企業，規模較小的企業某些部門？謝謝。

Well, I don't have a crystal ball. What I would say is, and we look at how everyone else is doing too. I think everyone is probably a little bit surprised this year, how well their portfolios have done. You haven't seen a big uptick in nonaccruals.

好吧，我沒有水晶球。我想說的是，我們也會看看其他人的表現。我想今年每個人都可能對他們的投資組合表現感到有點驚訝。您還沒有看到非應計費用大幅上升。

I think Teddy gave some stats on the year-over-year growth in earnings of our portfolio companies, which are actually quite strong. And obviously nonaccrual is 0.0-something in our portfolio -- it's almost nonexistent.

我認為泰迪給出了一些關於我們投資組合公司盈利同比增長的統計數據，這些數據實際上相當強勁。顯然，在我們的投資組合中，非應計利息是 0.0 左右——它幾乎不存在。

I would say next year, you could see in the market default rates tick up in some subsectors of healthcare and industrial manufacturing, retail -- anything touching housing market and consumer. So I would say you have to look at people's portfolio composition and that will, I think, maybe better answer your question.

我想說，明年，你可能會看到醫療保健、工業製造、零售等任何涉及房地產市場和消費者的領域的市場違約率上升。所以我想說你必須看看人們的投資組合組成，我認為這可能會更好地回答你的問題。

You know, I'm sure there are stats that JPMorgan and others have out there for kind of market default rates, which is 4% or so. So that may be another kind of number you could use, but it really, really comes down to -- and I've heard others say -- next year will be more dispersion driven by these areas I mentioned.

你知道，我確信摩根大通和其他公司有關於市場違約率的統計數據，約為 4% 左右。因此，這可能是您可以使用的另一種數字，但它確實、確實歸結為——我聽其他人說過——明年將由我提到的這些領域驅動更加分散。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Mark Hughes, Truist.

馬克‧休斯，真理主義者。

Yes, thanks. Good morning. Just following up on that you mentioned higher interest rates are meant to slow down the economy. Do you think that'll work?

對了謝謝。早安.跟進您提到的更高利率意味著經濟放緩。你認為這行得通嗎？

Yes, I do think it will work. You've started to see a change in the labor market. So you're starting to see the effects of higher rates. You see it in portfolio companies, and in the impact on how much excess capital they have to spend on growth. So all of that is slowly starting to have an impact. Whether it has the full desired impact that the feds hoping, that will a little bit depend on how long they keep rates elevated. But yes, it will certainly have the desired effect. I think what's debatable is how long and how deep.

是的，我確實認為這會起作用。您已經開始看到勞動市場的變化。所以你開始看到更高利率的影響。你可以在投資組合公司中看到這一點，也可以從它們對成長所需的超額資本支出的影響中看到這一點。所以所有這些都慢慢開始產生影響。它是否能產生聯準會所希望的全部預期影響，這將在一定程度上取決於他們將利率維持在高點多久。但是，是的，它肯定會達到預期的效果。我認為有爭議的是多久和多深。

You mentioned spreads have come in a little bit, but you I think attributed that to largely the deal structure. You think there's been more competitive pressure? There is a lot of dry powder among private equities, but a lot of dry powder, presumably among direct lenders? Have you felt that or do you think you're still insulated from that?

您提到價差有所增加，但我認為您將其主要歸因於交易結構。您認為競爭壓力更大嗎？私募股權中有很多乾粉，但直接貸款機構大概也有很多乾粉吧？您是否有過這種感覺，或者您認為您仍然不受這種影響？

No, I think some deals actually have been quite competitive, and other deals less so on and on. But in terms of how deals are ultimately getting priced, I think there's a fair amount of discipline in the market. Again, if a company is taking a turn, a turn and a half less leverage, it's not surprising spreads for those deals are a little bit lower than what they might have been for a more leveraged structure.

不，我認為有些交易實際上相當有競爭力，而其他交易則不那麼有競爭力。但就交易最終如何定價而言，我認為市場上有相當多的紀律。同樣，如果一家公司的槓桿率降低了一個半圈，那麼這些交易的利差比槓桿率更高的結構中的利差要低一點也就不足為奇了。

I would say kind of the large end of the market, which we tend to like, the public markets just haven't been open for those deals. So the deal that Carlos mentioned is $1.6 billion, we were the sole lender. That's a really good dynamic for us because we can customize a solution for the sponsor and set it up with the right pieces of the capital structure to allow them to to grow.

我想說的是，我們傾向於喜歡大型市場，但公開市場尚未對這些交易開放。所以卡洛斯提到的交易是16億美元，我們是唯一的貸款人。這對我們來說是一個非常好的動力，因為我們可以為贊助商量身定制解決方案，並使用正確的資本結構進行設置，以允許他們成長。

You contrast that with a $200 million lower middle market deal, that may be more competitive because there's been a lot of new capital raised by new entrants. They can all write smaller ticket, so it will really depend on where the deal is created and how it comes to market and the size of that deal.

與 2 億美元的中低端市場交易相比，這可能更具競爭力，因為新進業者籌集了大量新資金。他們都可以寫較小的票據，因此這實際上取決於交易在哪裡創建、如何進入市場以及交易的規模。

Appreciate it. Thank you.

欣賞它。謝謝。

Arren Cyganovich, Citi.

阿倫·西加諾維奇，花旗銀行。

Thanks, maybe you could talk a little bit about conversations with the equity sponsors in whether or not you see them kind of starting to accept the different environment we're in, where equity valuations where they may be previously expected are now down to lower levels, and what will necessarily be needed to get folks to that point? Is it just a matter of time and a little volatility in the market?

謝謝，也許你可以談談與股權贊助商的對話，看看他們是否開始接受我們所處的不同環境，之前預期的股權估值現在已降至較低水平，以及讓人們達到這一點所必需的條件是什麼？這只是時間問題和市場的一點波動嗎？

Yes, valuations will have to come down. You're seeing that in new deals get done, I think they're probably in by two turns in the second half of the year. So I think it's coming through. Buyers and sellers will always have a different view.

是的，估值必須下降。你會看到，在完成的新交易中，我認為它們可能會在今年下半年出現兩輪。所以我認為它正在實現。買家和賣家總是會有不同的看法。

But as you point out, the structures of their private equity funds forced them a little bit to transact, and that will kind of accelerate the bid ask and get it closer together. I think were maybe another three months, six months away from that acceleration picking up.

但正如您所指出的，他們的私募股權基金的結構迫使他們進行一些交易，這將加速買賣並使其更加接近。我認為可能還需要三個月、六個月的時間才能加速。

A lot of our deal flow right now, Arren, is just coming from our existing portfolio. So coming from our incumbency and not necessarily just from M&A. So whether it's on a public deal that we're taking private, or whether it's private companies that are looking to do acquisitions versus new platform investments. That's what's driving activity right now. But I do think next year, you'll see the bid-ask come closer together, deal flow will start to accelerate.

阿倫，我們現在的許多交易流都來自我們現有的投資組合。因此，這來自我們的現任，而不一定只是來自併購。因此，無論是我們將其私有化的公開交易，還是尋求進行收購而不是新平台投資的私人公司。這就是目前推動活動的因素。但我確實認為明年，你會看到買賣更加接近，交易流將開始加速。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. That will conclude our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the call back over to Ms. Wang for any additional or closing remarks.

謝謝。我們的問答環節就到此結束。我想將電話轉回給王女士，讓她發表補充或結束語。

That would wrap up our call for today. Thank you, everyone, for joining us. Thank you for all the great questions, and we look forward to speaking to you next quarter. Thanks, everyone.

我們今天的電話會議就到此結束。謝謝大家加入我們。感謝您提出的所有好問題，我們期待下個季度與您交談。感謝大家。