Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Blackstone Secured Lending Third Quarter 2024 Investor Call. Today's conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Blackstone 擔保貸款 2024 年第三季投資者電話會議。今天的會議正在錄製中。（操作者說明） 此時，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。（操作員說明）

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

這次，我想將會議交給利害關係人關係主管 Stacy Wang。請繼續。

Thank you, Katie. Good morning, and welcome to Blackstone Secured Lending Fund third quarter conference call. Joining me today are Brad Marshall, Co-Chief Executive Officer; Jonathan Bock, Co-Chief Executive Officer; Carlos Whitaker, President; and Teddy Desloge, Chief Financial Officer; and other members of the management team.

謝謝你，凱蒂。早安，歡迎參加 Blackstone 擔保貸款基金第三季電話會議。今天加入我的是聯合執行長布拉德馬歇爾 (Brad Marshall)；喬納森·博克，聯合執行長；卡洛斯·惠特克，總裁；財務長 Teddy Desloge；以及管理團隊的其他成員。

Earlier this morning, we issued a press release and slide 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.

今天早些時候，我們發布了一份新聞稿和幻燈片演示了我們的業績，並提交了我們的 10-Q，這兩份文件都可以在我們網站 www.bxsl.com 的股東部分取得。我們將在今天的電話會議中提及該簡報。

I'd like to remind you that today's 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 to update these statements.

我想提醒您，今天的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。

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. This audio cast is copyright material of Blackstone and may not be duplicated with outcome set.

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。此音訊廣播是 Blackstone 的版權資料，不得與結果集重複。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Brad Marshall.

這樣，我會將電話轉給布拉德馬歇爾。

Thank you, Stacy, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining our call this morning. Before we dive into details with Jon, Carlos and Teddy, I'd like to begin with some high-level thoughts related to our third quarter results.

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。在我們與喬恩、卡洛斯和泰迪深入討論細節之前，我想先談談與我們第三季業績相關的一些高層想法。

BXSL reported another strong quarter of results with active deployment, growth in net investment income, increased net asset value and continued solid credit performance. These strong results quarter-over-quarter reflect the significant power and the scale of the Blackstone platform, one of the many differentiating factors we have in private credit space.

BXSL 報告了又一個強勁的季度業績，積極部署、淨投資收入增長、資產淨值增加以及持續穩健的信貸表現。這些季度環比的強勁業績反映了 Blackstone 平台的強大實力和規模，這是我們在私人信貸領域擁有的眾多差異化因素之一。

In addition to being the largest third-party private credit business, Blackstone is the world's largest private equity platform, the world's largest owner of commercial real estate and the largest discretionary allocator to head fund.

除了是最大的第三方私募信貸公司之外，黑石也是全球最大的私募股權平台、全球最大的商業房地產所有者和最大的頭部基金全權配置機構。

The interconnectivity we have as a firm has allowed us to grow our credit platform into a largest business unit of Blackstone, further helping us make disciplined and timely investment decisions, which ultimately benefit our shareholders. Let's turn to our results. Our NII of $0.91 per share represents a 13.4% annualized return on equity and is up from $0.89 per share in the prior quarter.

作為一家公司，我們擁有的互聯性使我們能夠將信貸平台發展成為 Blackstone 最大的業務部門，進一步幫助我們做出嚴格且及時的投資決策，最終使我們的股東受益。讓我們看看我們的結果。我們的 NII 為每股 0.91 美元，年化股本回報率為 13.4%，高於上一季的每股 0.89 美元。

Further, net asset value per share increased by $0.08 to $27.27 and $27.19 per share last quarter. Our dividend of $0.77 per share is well covered at 118% and represents an 11.3% annualized dividend yield, one of the highest among our traded BDC peers with as much of their portfolio invested in first lien senior secured assets, with BXSL at 98.7%.

此外，上季每股資產淨值增加了 0.08 美元，分別達到 27.27 美元和 27.19 美元。我們每股0.77 美元的股息覆蓋率為118%，年化股息殖利率為11.3%，是我們交易的BDC 同業中最高的之一，他們的投資組合大部分投資於第一留置權優先擔保資產，其中BXSL 為98.7%。

Return drivers also remained strong. As of quarter end, BXSL has an 11.2% weighted average yield on performing debt investments with 0.2% of investments on nonaccrual at cost. The third quarter also marked another first for both the BDC industry and BXSL. In September, Moody's upgraded the credit ratings for both BXSL and our nontraded BDC from Baa3 to Baa2, making Blackstone the only manager with two BDCs with that distinction.

回程司機也依然強勁。截至季末，BXSL 執行債務投資的加權平均收益率為 11.2%，其中非應計成本投資為 0.2%。第三季也標誌著 BDC 產業和 BXSL 的另一個第一。9 月，穆迪將 BXSL 和我們的非交易 BDC 的信用評級從 Baa3 提升至 Baa2，使 Blackstone 成為唯一一家擁有兩個 BDC 的管理公司。

These ratings, along with our investing discipline may help us to further drive down the lower cost of capital and focus on investing in what we believe are higher-quality assets in BXSL. We continue to ramp up our origination for both committed and funded investments. We ended the quarter with $1.1 billion in new commitments and $956 million in fundings, marking our fourth consecutive quarter of over $1 billion in commitments and our highest quarter of fundings since 2021.

這些評級以及我們的投資紀律可能有助於我們進一步降低資本成本，並專注於投資於我們認為 BXSL 中的更高品質資產。我們持續加強承諾投資和資助投資的發起力度。截至本季末，我們的新承諾額為 11 億美元，融資額為 9.56 億美元，這是我們連續第四季度的承諾額超過 10 億美元，也是自 2021 年以來融資額最高的季度。

Last quarter, we discussed our broad coverage model and the prospect for increased deal flow as short-term rates were projected to fall. We have seen a pickup in BXSI's investment pipeline as well. Since Q1 of last year, we have seen an over 2 times increase in the number of deals in our BXCI pipeline.

上季度，我們討論了我們的廣泛覆蓋模式以及隨著短期利率預計下降而增加交易流的前景。我們也看到 BXSI 的投資管道增加。自去年第一季以來，我們看到 BXCI 管道中的交易數量增加了 2 倍以上。

Further, BXCI was sole or lead lender in over 70% of our deals this quarter, putting us in a position to control deal structures and documentation. BXCI scale allows us to be relevant for the full range of midsized two larger businesses that are looking to grow.

此外，BXCI 是我們本季超過 70% 的交易的唯一或主要貸款人，這使我們能夠控制交易結構和文件。BXCI 的規模使我們能夠與尋求發展的全方位中型、大型企業相關。

Looking at the broad macro environment, we have continued optimism for soft landing. The other week, we saw the lowest level of initial jobless claims since May, and repeated jobless claims also appear to be leveling off.

縱觀宏觀環境，我們對軟著陸持續持樂觀態度。前一周，我們看到了自 5 月以來首次申請失業救濟人數的最低水平，重複申請失業救濟人數似乎也趨於平穩。

Q3 GDP growth came in at 2.8% annualized with what we view as current strong growth and at least a pause in the labor market weakening, we believe there is momentum to carry the current economic expansion forward until the support from Fed rate cuts has felt throughout the market.

第三季 GDP 年化成長率為 2.8%，我們認為當前經濟成長強勁，勞動市場疲軟至少暫停，我們認為，在聯準會降息的支持全面顯現之前，目前的經濟擴張有動力繼續推進市場。

For private credit, we believe this means that 2025 may look a lot like 2021 from a deal activity standpoint. Economic growth is sufficient, private equity dry powder is high, market clearing prices moved higher. And as such, we expect a pickup in the M&A activity, which should be supportive for both deployment and repayments, which we believe to be positive for our investors.

對於私人信貸而言，我們認為這意味著從交易活動的角度來看，2025 年可能與 2021 年相似。經濟成長充足，私募乾粉高位，市場出清價格走高。因此，我們預計併購活動將會增加，這應該會支持部署和還款，我們相信這對我們的投資者來說是積極的。

With that, I will pass over to my colleague, Jonathan.

接下來，我將把主題交給我的同事喬納森。

Thank you, Brad, and let's turn to Slide 6. We ended the quarter with $12 billion of investments at fair value, over a 6% increase from the $11.3 billion in Q2, while adding 26 new borrowers to our portfolio now totaling 252 companies. Ending leverage and average leverage were both relatively flat compared to the quarter prior at 1.12 times and that's in the middle of our target range of 1 times to 1.25 times.

謝謝布拉德，讓我們轉向幻燈片 6。本季結束時，我們的公允價值投資為120 億美元，比第二季的113 億美元成長了6% 以上，同時我們的投資組合中新增了26 家借款人，目前公司總數已達252 家。與上一季相比，期末槓桿率和平均槓桿率均相對持平，為 1.12 倍，處於我們 1 倍至 1.25 倍目標範圍的中間位置。

We maintained our strong liquidity position at $1.1 billion, comprised of cash and available borrowing capacity across our revolving credit facilities, including ABLs to lean into that expanded pipeline. Our weighted average yield on performing debt investments at fair value was 11.2% this quarter compared to 11.6% last quarter.

我們將強勁的流動性部位維持在 11 億美元，包括現金和循環信貸設施的可用借貸能力，包括用於擴大管道的 ABL。本季我們以公允價值執行債務投資的加權平均收益率為 11.2%，而上季為 11.6%。

And the yield on new debt investment fundings and assets sold and repaid during the quarter averaged 10.5% and 11%, respectively.

本季新增債務投資資金及出售及償還資產的平均收益率分別為 10.5% 及 11%。

Now let's take a look at the portfolio and jump to slide 7. Approximately 99% of BXSL investments are in first lien senior secured loans and 99% of those loans are the companies owned by financial sponsors, who generally have significant equity value in these capital structures demonstrated by an average loan-to-value of 46.5%.

現在讓我們來看看作品集並跳至投影片 7。BXSL 大約99% 的投資是第一留置權優先擔保貸款，其中99% 的貸款是金融贊助商擁有的公司，這些金融贊助商通常在這些資本結構中擁有巨大的股權價值，平均貸款價值比為46.5 %。

Our portfolio also has what we believe is strong LTM EBITDA base averaging at roughly $194 million, a 5% increase from last year. This is 2 times larger than that of companies in the Lincoln International private market database.

我們的投資組合還具有我們認為強勁的 LTM EBITDA 基礎，平均約為 1.94 億美元，比去年增長 5%。這是林肯國際私人市場資料庫中公司的兩倍。

And we continued to see strength and performance from larger companies, the bedrock of our portfolio relative to smaller EBITDA counterparts in terms of higher growth and lower defaults. BXSL's portfolio companies have seen growth rates in line or higher with the broader private credit market as measured by the Lincoln database and over 15% more profitability on an LTM EBITDA margin basis. Now when speaking to portfolio performance, it's not only strength that matters, but consistency.

我們繼續看到大公司的實力和業績，相對於規模較小的 EBITDA 同行，它們是我們投資組合的基石，因為它們具有更高的成長和更低的違約率。根據林肯資料庫的衡量，BXSL 的投資組合公司的成長率與更廣泛的私人信貸市場一致或更高，並且基於 LTM EBITDA 利潤率的獲利能力提高了 15% 以上。現在，當談到投資組合績效時，重要的不僅是實力，還有一致性。

Our fund's performance and portfolio company selection both speak volumes to the consistency of our investment process and the talent of our people. Most importantly, we believe we've demonstrated a commitment to the foundation we laid nearly six years ago with the launch of BXSL.

我們基金的績效和投資組合公司的選擇都充分說明了我們投資流程的一致性和員工的才能。最重要的是，我們相信我們已經展示了對近六年前透過推出 BXSL 奠定的基礎的承諾。

Our relentless focus on first lien senior secured debt in lower default rate industries is what we view as a defensive posture for investors. This is further evidenced by our low nonaccrual rate of 0.2% at cost compared to that of our traded BDC peers average of 2.8% from last quarter.

我們對違約率較低行業的第一留置權優先擔保債務的不懈關注被我們視為對投資者的防禦姿態。與上季 2.8% 的 BDC 交易同業平均非應計利率 (以成本計算) 0.2% 相比，我們的非應計利率較低進一步證明了這一點。

Now we continue to emphasize the importance of interest coverage. The LTM EBITDA coverage based on our average LTM EBITDA for BXSL portfolio companies over the last 12 months was 1.7 times in the third quarter, which again compares favorably to the Lincoln database for the broader private credit market at 1.5 times average coverage in Q3.

現在我們繼續強調利息保障的重要性。基於過去 12 個月 BXSL 投資組合公司平均 LTM EBITDA 的 LTM EBITDA 覆蓋率在第三季為 1.7 倍，這再次與林肯資料庫中更廣泛的私人信貸市場平均覆蓋率的 1.5 倍相比。

Now looking at the share of the private portfolio below 1 times coverage, excluding recurring revenue loans, BXSL is at 3% of fair value versus the Lincoln private credit market being nearly 5 times greater at 15%.

現在來看看低於1 倍覆蓋率的私人投資組合的份額（不包括經常性收入貸款），BXSL 的公允價值為3%，而林肯私人信貸市場的公允價值則高出近5 倍，為15% 。

Now looking now at how we continue to grow the portfolio, slide 8 focuses on our industry exposure. As I mentioned earlier, in the third quarter, the number of portfolio companies in BXCL increased at 252 while maintaining focus on investment discipline and defensive positioning.

現在看看我們如何繼續擴大產品組合，幻燈片 8 重點關注我們的行業風險。正如我之前提到的，第三季度，BXCL 的投資組合公司數量增加到 252 家，同時保持對投資紀律和防禦性定位的關注。

And 99% of the new private debt investments during the quarter were first lien senior secured, with an average LTV of approximately 41% on those new portfolio companies, meaning there's a significant amount of junior capital beneath our loans.

本季新增私人債務投資中 99% 是優先留置權擔保的，這些新投資組合公司的平均 LTV 約為 41%，這意味著我們的貸款下有大量初級資本。

And I'll conclude with some points on our documents and recent amendment activity. As a reminder, when we negotiate our credit agreements, especially as a leading lender, we place significant focus on control and important document protections.

最後我將就我們的文件和最近的修訂活動提出一些觀點。提醒一下，當我們談判信貸協議時，尤其是作為領先的貸方，我們非常注重控制和重要文件保護。

And this is in stark contrast to the syndicated market index where most loans lack these kind of lender protections. And especially now when recovery rates in liquid loans over the past 12 months have been depressed relative to their long-term averages, we remain highly focused on including these lender protections in our documents.

這與銀團市場指數形成鮮明對比，銀團市場指數中大多數貸款缺乏此類貸款人保護。尤其是現在，當過去 12 個月的流動貸款回收率相對於長期平均水平較低時，我們仍然高度重視將這些貸方保護納入我們的文件中。

Now amendment activity was down 25% quarter-over-quarter by count with 48 of BXSL private borrowers amending documents in the third quarter. Now 90% of these amendments were associated with add-ons, M&A, DDTL extensions and immaterial technical matters or changes to terms.

目前，根據統計，第三季有 48 家 BXSL 私人借款人修改了文件，修改活動較上季下降了 25%。現在，90% 的修訂與附加元件、併購、DDTL 擴充以及無關緊要的技術問題或條款變更相關。

And the 10% of amendments representing less than 2% of BXSL portfolio at fair market value. They were associated with restructurings that involve deleveraging our position or new equity contributions by the sponsor that we believe help support the credit.

以公平市價計算，這 10% 的修正僅佔 BXSL 投資組合的不到 2%。它們與重組有關，涉及去槓桿化我們的部位或贊助商提供的新股權貢獻，我們認為這有助於支持信貸。

With that, I'd like to turn over to my colleague, Carlos.

說到這裡，我想把時間交給我的同事卡洛斯。

Thanks, Jonathan. Turning to slide 9. BXSL maintained its dividend distribution of $0.77 per share. We continue to deliver yield to shareholders. Building through steady regular dividends while also growing NAV per share.

謝謝，喬納森。轉到投影片 9。BXSL 維持每股 0.77 美元的股息分配。我們繼續為股東帶來收益。透過穩定的定期股利進行建設，同時提高每股資產淨值。

We expect this approach to continue as we believe we are heading into a period of increased deal activity driven by a pickup in M&A and private equity sponsor activity as managers look to take advantage of lower interest rates.

我們預計這種方法將繼續下去，因為我們相信我們正進入一個由併購和私募股權贊助活動增加推動的交易活動增加的時期，因為管理者希望利用較低的利率。

I echo Brad's point earlier on the strength of BXCI's deal pipeline owed to the scale and platform of Blackstone. The BXCI advantages we have allowed us to be active with our existing companies while expanding the portfolio with newer borrowers and enhancing the quality of our assets. Accordingly, we focus on transactions with borrowers with what we view as strong business models or those that have more sticky customer bases.

我同意 Brad 先前的觀點，即 BXCI 交易管道的實力得益於 Blackstone 的規模和平台。BXCI 的優勢使我們能夠積極與現有公司合作，同時擴大新借款人的投資組合併提高我們的資產品質。因此，我們專注於與具有我們認為強大的商業模式或具有更黏性客戶群的借款人的交易。

Jon already provided a few stats on our new deals for the quarter, but just focusing on our top five new investments by fair market value during the third quarter, BXCI was the sole or lead lender in every case. And 100% of these were first lien allowing us to maintain some of the portfolio tenants we have been discussing, leadership and control.

Jon 已經提供了有關我們本季新交易的一些統計數據，但僅關注第三季度以公平市場價值計算的前五名新投資，BXCI 在每種情況下都是唯一或主要貸款人。其中 100% 是第一留置權，使我們能夠維持我們一直在討論的一些投資組合租戶、領導和控制。

As the market remains competitive with both public market alternatives and the rising number of new credit funds, we have found that BXCI's platform is even more sought after by companies and sponsors alike.

由於市場在公共市場替代方案和新信貸基金數量不斷增加的情況下仍然具有競爭力，我們發現 BXCI 的平台更受到公司和贊助商的追捧。

In fact, 2024 is on track to be BXSL's busiest year of deployment since 2021, despite a muted M&A environment. The core drivers of this expansion have been. First, our ability to transact across the middle market and the expanding large-cap market with speed and certainty.

事實上，儘管併購環境溫和，2024 年有望成為 BXSL 自 2021 年以來部署最繁忙的一年。這種擴張的核心驅動力是。首先，我們能夠快速且確定地在中間市場和不斷擴大的大盤市場進行交易。

From a capital standpoint, we believe middle market companies desire partnering with Blackstone because our deep pockets of capital can help them grow.

從資本的角度來看，我們相信中間市場公司希望與 Blackstone 合作，因為我們雄厚的資本可以幫助他們成長。

Second, we continue to expand our focus on some of our favorite thematic neighborhoods. Blackstone has established leading platforms in what we view as compelling high-growth areas, coupled with several experts in these fields, helping to add value to the diligence process alongside our partners.

其次，我們繼續擴大對一些我們最喜歡的主題社群的關注。Blackstone 在我們認為引人注目的高成長領域建立了領先的平台，並聘請了這些領域的多位專家，與我們的合作夥伴一起幫助增加盡職調查過程的價值。

Third, once we make an investment, we try to be more than capital providers, BXCI's value creation program today is used by 90% and of the BXCI portfolio companies where the service is offered and can help create equity value either by plugging borrowers into the Blackstone ecosystem and reducing costs or by simply saving them capital through our group procurement system.

第三，一旦我們進行投資，我們就不僅僅是資本提供者，目前BXCI 的價值創造計劃已被90% 的BXCI 投資組合公司所使用，提供該服務的公司可以透過讓借款人參與其中來幫助創造股權價值。

Middle market companies that may not have the scale of large caps, particularly enjoy having access to these resources. Truly unique and a private credit space.

可能不具備大盤股規模的中型市場公司尤其喜歡取得這些資源。真正獨特的私人信用空間。

We believe passionately in these advantages, and we believe our investors will benefit as a result, whether it be BXSL's increased deployment, BXSL's lowest nonaccrual rate across our traded BDC peers or third-party validation of the BXCI platform as demonstrated by Moody's recent upgrade of Blackstone's two BDCs to Baa2. We believe these are all the results of our deep focus on driving differentiated results for our investors.

我們堅信這些優勢，並且相信我們的投資者將因此受益，無論是BXSL 部署的增加、BXSL 在我們交易的BDC 同行中最低的非應計利率，還是BXCI 平台的第三方驗證（穆迪最近升級了BXCI 平台）。我們相信，這些都是我們專注於為投資人帶來差異化績效的結果。

And with that, I will 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 10. In the third quarter, BXSL's net investment income was $186 million or $0.91 per share, up 16% year over year and the highest dollar amount since inception. Total investment income for the quarter also a dollar-based record for the fund was up $59 million or 21% year over year, driven by increased interest income.

謝謝，卡洛斯。我將從幻燈片 10 上的營運結果開始。第三季度，BXSL的淨投資收益為1.86億美元，即每股0.91美元，年增16%，為成立以來的最高美元金額。在利息收入增加的推動下，該基金本季的總投資收入也創下了以美元計的記錄，年增 5,900 萬美元，即 21%。

As a reminder, we amortized 100% of OID earned over the life of each loan versus taking these upfront, which we believe leads to greater stability over the long term. Interest income, excluding PIK, fees and dividends represented nearly 94% of our total investment income in the quarter.

提醒一下，我們在每筆貸款的生命週期內攤銷 100% 的 OID，而不是預先收取這些貸款，我們相信這會帶來更大的長期穩定性。利息收入（不包括 PIK、費用和股息）占我們本季總投資收入的近 94%。

Turning to the balance sheet on slide 11. We ended the quarter with nearly $12 billion of total portfolio investments at fair value, $6.4 billion of outstanding debt and $5.7 billion of total net assets. NAV per share increased to $27.27 or 0.3%, up from $27.19 last quarter, driven primarily by stable fundamentals across the majority of our portfolio, excess earnings and share issuance above NAV. This represents the eighth consecutive quarter of NAV per share growth.

轉向投影片 11 上的資產負債表。截至本季末，我們的公允價值投資組合投資總額接近 120 億美元，未償債務為 64 億美元，淨資產總額為 57 億美元。每股資產淨值從上季度的 27.19 美元增至 27.27 美元，即 0.3%，這主要是由於我們大部分投資組合的基本面穩定、超額收益以及高於資產淨值的股票發行所致。這代表每股資產淨值連續第八個季度成長。

Moving to slide 12. In addition, we saw the most active course since 2021 on a deployment basis, as Brad outlined, with BXSL funding approximately $956 million in the quarter, committing to over $1.1 billion and an estimated additional $113 million committed by BXCI and earmarked for BXSL as of September 30.

轉到投影片 12。此外，正如Brad 概述的那樣，我們看到了自2021 年以來最活躍的部署過程，BXSL 在本季度提供了約9.56 億美元的資金，承諾提供超過11 億美元，預計BXCI 還承諾額外提供1.13 億美元，並指定用於BXSL 9 月 30 日。

Net funded investment activity in the quarter was approximately $660 million, up over 250% year over year. We saw $292 million of repayments in the quarter, bringing year-to-date repayment rate to 6%, which compares to 10% for all of 2023.

本季的淨資金投資活動約為 6.6 億美元，較去年同期成長超過 250%。本季的還款額為 2.92 億美元，使年初至今的還款率達到 6%，而 2023 年全年的還款率為 10%。

And as we look forward, we would expect portfolio turnover to increase with M&A volumes in the declining rate environment.

展望未來，我們預期在利率下降的環境下，投資組合週轉率將隨著併購數量的增加而增加。

Next slide 13 outlines our attractive and diverse liability profile, which includes 44% of drawn debt and unsecured bonds that are not swapped. These unsecured bonds have a weighted average fixed coupon of less than 3%, which we view as a key advantage in an elevated rate environment and contributed to an overall weighted average interest rate on our borrowings of 5.45%. That compares to a weighted average yield at fair value on our performing debt investments of 11.2%.

下一張投影片 13 概述了我們有吸引力且多樣化的負債狀況，其中包括 44% 的提取債務和未交換的無擔保債券。這些無擔保債券的加權平均固定票面利率低於 3%，我們認為這是高利率環境下的關鍵優勢，並導致我們借款的整體加權平均利率達到 5.45%。相較之下，我們以公允價值計算的加權平均收益率為 11.2%。

This quarter, we maintained our three investment-grade corporate credit ratings. And as Brad mentioned, we earned a full notch upgrade from Moody's to Baa2 from Baa3. This was on the heels of being the first listed BDC to receive an improved outlook from stable to positive by Moody's last year and a full notch upgrade in Q1 by Fitch to BBB flat.

本季度，我們維持三個投資等級企業信用評等。正如 Brad 所提到的，我們獲得了穆迪評級從 Baa3 到 Baa2 的全面升級。在此之前，BDC 是第一家獲得穆迪去年將前景從穩定調整為正面的上市 BDC，並在第一季度被惠譽將評級全面上調至 BBB 級。

BXSL is one of three BDCs with a Baa2 rating, two of which are managed by Blackstone, a testament to our disciplined approach to portfolio construction, defensive positioning and conservative liability structure. We have no maturities on our funded liabilities until 2026, and our debt and funding facilities have an overall weighted average maturity of 3.1 years.

BXSL 是擁有 Baa2 評級的三個 BDC 之一，其中兩個由 Blackstone 管理，證明了我們在投資組合構建、防禦性定位和保守負債結構方面採取的嚴謹方法。我們的融資負債在 2026 年之前沒有到期日，我們的債務和融資便利的總體加權平均期限為 3.1 年。

We upsized our corporate revolver by $300 million this quarter, while tightening the lowest tier drawn spread by 22.5 basis points to SOFR plus 152.5 basis points. Another testament to our platform and our focus on driving down financing costs to further improve our balance sheet.

本季我們將企業左輪手槍規模增加了 3 億美元，同時將最低等級提取利差收緊 22.5 個基點，至 SOFR 加 152.5 個基點。這再次證明了我們的平台以及我們致力於降低融資成本以進一步改善我們的資產負債表。

Post quarter end, we have continued to seek to optimize our cost of capital. we issued a $400 million 3.5-year bond, which priced at a 5.35% coupon or 163 basis points over the relevant benchmark treasury rate. Year-to-date, BXSL claims the top two spots for tightest spread BDC bond issuances.

季度末後，我們繼續尋求優化資本成本。我們發行了 4 億美元的 3.5 年期債券，票面利率為 5.35%，比相關基準公債利率高出 163 個基點。今年迄今為止，BXSL 佔據了 BDC 債券發行價差最窄的前兩名。

Additionally, post quarter end, BXSL's first $750 million CLO priced at SOFR plus 154 through 61% loan to value, including the senior notes portion pricing at SOFR plus 151, the tightest spread on the senior most notes of any middle market private credit CLO among the 200-plus issued CLOs since 2021.

此外，在季度末，BXSL 的首批7.5 億美元CLO 定價為SOFR 加154，貸款價值比為61%，其中優先票據部分的定價為SOFR 加151，這是所有中間市場私人信貸CLO 中最優先票據的利差最窄的。

So just to pull all that together, BXCL has one of the lowest costs of financing in the BDC space. Our revolver at SOFR plus 152.5, our bonds issued this year and our first CLO at SOFR plus 154 have all priced tighter than those of our traded BDC peers to the benefit of our investors.

因此，將所有這些綜合起來，BXCL 是 BDC 領域融資成本最低的公司之一。我們的左輪手槍的 SOFR 加 152.5、我們今年發行的債券以及我們的首個 CLO 的 SOFR 加 154 的定價都比我們交易的 BDC 同行的價格更緊，這有利於我們的投資者。

Total liquidity at quarter end was $1.1 billion in cash and undrawn debt available to borrow and ending leverage as of September 30 was 1.12 turns, about flat from the second quarter and near the midpoint of our target range of 1 to 1.25. We have positioned our balance sheet with significant excess capacity to support continued pipeline momentum we see through year-end as rates may fall further.

季度末的總流動性為 11 億美元，包括現金和未提取的可藉債務，截至 9 月 30 日，槓桿率為 1.12 倍，與第二季度持平，接近我們目標範圍 1 至 1.25 的中點。我們在資產負債表上設定了巨大的過剩產能，以支持我們預計到年底的持續管道勢頭，因為利率可能會進一步下降。

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。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Finian O'shea, Wells Fargo securities.

Finian O'shea，富國銀行證券公司。

Hey everyone, good morning. Just one for me. So, with facing market headwinds to earnings, namely base rates, but other spread, debt financing costs, et cetera. Can you touch on the amount of spillover you've built up? And to the extent that's meaningful, what your approach to managing that might be?

大家早安。只給我一個。因此，面臨獲利的市場阻力，即基本利率，但其他利差、債務融資成本等。能談談您累積的溢出量嗎？如果這是有意義的，您的管理方法可能是什麼？

Sure, I can speak to the spillover point and then maybe Brad or Teddy can also talk about kind of the long-term return, Fin. So, if you measure ICTI today, it's roughly about $1.82 a share for spillover, so nearly a little over two quarters worth of dividends or around 5% of NAV.

當然，我可以談談溢出點，然後布拉德或泰迪也許也可以談談長期回報，芬。因此，如果您今天衡量 ICTI，其溢出效應約為每股 1.82 美元，因此相當於兩個季度多一點的股息或資產淨值的 5% 左右。

I think the important item to take away is you start to view spillover is how the long-term earnings trend and how long-term return trend looks on your book. Because what spillover does is it magnifies it magnifies on the way up, right, to the extent that you're retaining capital, reinvesting and growing your earnings, that's great if you have great and strong long-term performance. But what it does is it also magnifies on the way down.

我認為要帶走的重要一點是，您開始考慮外溢效應，即長期收益趨勢和長期回報趨勢在您的書中看起來如何。因為溢出效應的作用是，它會在上升過程中放大，對吧，達到你保留資本、再投資和增加收入的程度，如果你有出色而強勁的長期業績，那就太好了。但它的作用是在下降過程中也會放大。

So, to the extent that you have increasing nonaccruals, losses, et cetera, you start to find that clearly that you can run into some dividend issues and returns of capital that may be suboptimal for investors in the longer-term outlook. For us, that long-term return profile has been very strong, in part because of strong underwriting as well as attractive, maintaining leverage and well actively growing.

因此，如果非應計項目、損失等不斷增加，您就會開始清楚地發現，您可能會遇到一些股息問題和資本回報問題，從長遠來看，這對投資者來說可能不是最理想的。對我們來說，長期回報率非常強​​勁，部分原因是承保強勁、有吸引力、保持槓桿率和積極成長。

So, I'd say spillover, that's the number. Our focus is always on ensuring that you keep adequate spillover so long as you generate attractive return.

所以，我想說的是外溢效應，這就是數字。我們的重點始終是確保您保持足夠的溢出效應，只要您能產生有吸引力的回報。

And then I'll pass it to my colleague, Brad on forward market look.

然後我會將其傳遞給我的同事布拉德（Brad）關於未來市場的展望。

Yes. in. So I agree with some of your sentiment that yields are coming down because spreads have tightened from last year's highs and rates have come down over the past couple of sessions. But I don't think that necessarily paints the full picture.

是的。在。因此，我同意您的一些觀點，即收益率正在下降，因為利差較去年高點收緊，而且利率在過去幾個交易日有所下降。但我認為這並不能說明一切。

Obviously, with high rates and high spreads, there was a very low deal volume deal activity. I think 2023, there was a Morgan Stanley article this morning that said that 2023 was the lowest M&A in 30 years on a GDP adjusted basis.

顯然，由於高利率和高利差，交易活動的交易量非常低。我認為是2023年，今天早上摩根士丹利有一篇文章說，以GDP調整後，2023年是30年來併購最少的一年。

So what lower spreads and lower rates will do is accelerate the deal environment. That's good for turnover. That's good for fee generation. So, we're actually quite positive on the outlook and positioning ourselves accordingly.

因此，更低的利差和更低的利率將會加速交易環境的發展。這對營業額有好處。這有利於產生費用。因此，我們實際上對前景非常樂觀，並相應地對自己進行了定位。

So just something to kind of -- there's obviously two sides to it. Lower rates will obviously help the portfolio companies as well. I do think 2025 will be a super cycle for deal volume, and I think investors will benefit from that.

所以這只是某種意義上的——顯然有兩個面向。較低的利率顯然也會對投資組合公司有所幫助。我確實認為 2025 年將是交易量的超級週期，我認為投資者將從中受益。

Great. Thanks so much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

Casey Alexander, Compass Point.

凱西·亞歷山大，指南針點。

Yes. Good morning and thank you for taking my questions. Brad, I'm going to steal that term super cycle for M&A volume with your permission. I'd love to know just in a normalized M&A environment where you're getting an appropriate level of churn in the portfolio.

是的。早上好，感謝您回答我的問題。布拉德，在您的允許下，我將盜用「併購量超級週期」一詞。我很想知道在正常化的併購環境中，投資組合的流失程度是否適當。

Relative to today's earnings, what could that add in a range of cents per share to today's earnings in a more normalized M&A volume? I mean, how much leverage is there to those fees and accelerated income.

相對於今天的收益，如果併購量更加正常化，那麼每股收益會增加多少美分？我的意思是，這些費用和加速收入有多少槓桿作用。

So permission granted. So good luck with that. So, what I would say a couple of things that -- couple of things that will drive earnings from a more active M&A market. Clearly, right now, we're in the mid-range of our kind of leverage. So we have the ability to take leverage up a little bit higher in a more active deal environment. If you think about kind of deals, at least with Blackstone, we amortize the fees over the life of the loan.

因此獲得許可。祝你好運。因此，我想說的幾件事將推動更活躍的併購市場的獲利。顯然，目前我們的槓桿水平處於中等水平。因此，我們有能力在更活躍的交易環境中提高槓桿。如果您考慮某種交易，至少是與 Blackstone 的交易，我們會在貸款期限內攤提費用。

So if those loans turn over a little bit quicker. You have an acceleration of those fees in addition to the fact that you may have some call protection that materializes. So I'm not sure we'll put an exact figure on it. Casey, but I think as you think about doing your own math and 20%, 25% turnover in the portfolio and the average fee being about two points you can probably start to back into some numbers from there.

因此，如果這些貸款週轉得更快一些。除了您可能擁有一些實現的呼叫保護之外，您還可以加速這些費用。所以我不確定我們會給出一個確切的數字。凱西，但我認為，當你考慮自己計算投資組合中 20%、25% 的周轉率以及大約兩個點的平均費用時，你可能可以從那裡開始回溯到一些數字。

All right. And since you said good luck with that, I think what I'll do is I'll quote you on it as opposed to stealing it. Secondly, in --

好的。既然你說了祝你好運，我想我要做的就是引用你的話，而不是竊取它。其次，在--

The partnership, I appreciate it, Casey.

這種夥伴關係，我很感激，凱西。

Okay. Given the obvious high-quality nature of the portfolio and you did just mention something relative to that, and I understand your desire to have a great credit rating. But why doesn't this platform naturally operate at a leverage ratio that's actually a little higher than 1 times to 1.25 times?

好的。鑑於投資組合明顯的高品質性質，而且您剛剛提到了與此相關的一些內容，我理解您希望擁有良好信用評級的願望。但為什麼這個平台不自然地以略高於1倍至1.25倍的槓桿率運作呢？

Well, we do care about our rating quite a bit, and you're seeing the benefits of that. If you look at the bonds, Teddy mentioned, those were the tightest bonds issued year-to-date, the CLO, the tightest of the year. Our revolver is tighter than everyone else in the market.

嗯，我們確實非常關心我們的評級，並且您已經看到了這樣做的好處。泰迪提到，如果你看看這些債券，你會發現它們是今年迄今發行的最嚴格的債券，而 CLO 則是今年最嚴格的。我們的左輪手槍比市場上的其他產品更緊。

So all of those things are material return drivers that no one gives enough credit to, and it's because of the quality of assets, it's because of upgrades that we get like the one we just got from Moody's.

因此，所有這些都是物質回報驅動因素，沒有人給予足夠的信任，這是因為資產質量，這是因為我們得到了像我們剛剛從穆迪那裡得到的升級。

So it is a return driver, Casey, and it goes into our calculus on how to manage our portfolio towards a lower risk profile in order to maximize long-term returns for our investors, which, listen, in credit, it's not about the extra 25 or 50 basis points of spread.

所以它是一個回報驅動因素，凱西，它涉及我們如何管理我們的投資組合以降低風險狀況，以便為我們的投資者最大化長期回報，這與額外的收益無關。差。

I think that's lost some people. It's really about minimizing loss, and that is priority number one for us. You see it in the results. So, I'm glad that's the case. But we're very focused on all these different drivers and our rating and our liabilities is a big part of that.

我認為這已經失去了一些人。這實際上是為了最大限度地減少損失，這是我們的首要任務。您可以在結果中看到它。所以，我很高興情況確實如此。但我們非常關注所有這些不同的驅動因素，我們的評級和負債是其中的重要組成部分。

Thank you for taking my questions.

感謝您回答我的問題。

Robert Dodd, Raymond James.

羅伯特·多德，雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Hi guys. And congrats on the quarter. I've got to say probably for anybody, but for Brad, this seems to be the most optimistic -- we've heard you on the outlook for activity since maybe the fourth quarter of '20, heading into 2021. The first time I think you've ever compared the outlook to kind of 2021 activity level.

嗨，大家好。恭喜本季。我可能要對任何人說，但對 Brad 來說，這似乎是最樂觀的——我們可能從 20 年第四季開始就聽到了您對活動前景的看法，一直到 2021 年。我認為這是您第一次將前景與 2021 年的活動水平進行比較。

So what gives you that elevated level of confidence? I mean, we've heard it for the last several years, hey, next year is going to be great. There's a lot of dry powder. All of those things were true at the beginning of last year. They are true now, but you see much more confidence that's going to happen now. So, what's the real tipping point that pushes you into that level of optimism?

那麼是什麼讓您如此自信呢？我的意思是，過去幾年我們都聽過這樣的說法，嘿，明年會很棒。裡面有很多乾粉。所有這些事情在去年初都是正確的。現在它們是正確的，但你會看到現在將會發生更多的信心。那麼，促使您達到這種樂觀程度的真正轉捩點是什麼？

Great. Well, if you look at what's changed, so the primary change over the course of this year has been both rates and spreads, which has lowered the cost of capital. And the outlook on the economy is much better than it was at the start of the year. So, both those things are maybe what's different from the start of this year.

偉大的。好吧，如果你看看發生了什麼變化，那麼今年的主要變化是利率和利差，這降低了資本成本。經濟前景比年初好得多。因此，這兩件事可能與今年年初有所不同。

In addition to that, you have the same drivers that we might have highlighted before, which is there's a lot of dry powder with private equity sponsors, they need to return capital to their LPs. There has to be kind of turnover in their own portfolios. While that is true today. It was also true at the start of the year. So really what's changed is you have a more clear outlook on the economy.

除此之外，還有我們之前強調過的相同驅動因素，即私募股權贊助商有很多乾粉，他們需要將資本返還給有限合夥人。他們自己的投資組合必須有某種週轉。雖然今天確實如此。今年年初也是如此。所以真正的改變是你對經濟有了更清晰的展望。

You have an administration now that will be quite supportive of deal activity and then you have cost of capital that's come down to make valuations more transactable for both buyers and sellers. So all of that put together are the reasons why we think 2025 will be a super cycle.

現在你有一個非常支持交易活動的政府，然後你的資本成本就會下降，讓買家和賣家的估值都更容易交易。因此，所有這些綜合起來就是我們認為 2025 年將是一個超級週期的原因。

And maybe just one overlay on top of that, it's more anecdotal, but we're out on the road myself in particular, talking to bankers, talking to sponsors, and every conversation I have had would confirm our view that next year will be quite busy. So, all signs seem to point quite positive.

也許只是除此之外的一個疊加，這更多的是軼事，但我們自己也在路上，與銀行家交談，與贊助商交談，我所進行的每一次談話都會證實我們的觀點，即明年將是相當不錯的。因此，所有跡像似乎都非常積極。

Got it. Thank you. And then just looking to forward spreads. And to your point, I mean, fee activity, avoiding losses are more important, et cetera, right? It's not just about spreads, but spreads are pretty tight right now. I mean, are you seeing them stabilize? And what's your over-under on whether they're higher or lower this time next year and presuming a more active market.

知道了。謝謝。然後只是尋找遠期點差。就你的觀點而言，我的意思是，費用活動、避免損失更重要，等等，對吧？這不僅是利差的問題，而且目前利差非常小。我的意思是，你看到他們穩定下來了嗎？明年這個時候，假設市場更活躍，你對它們是更高還是更低的看法是多少？

Yes. So, I'll take the other side of that argument, Robert. I don't necessarily think spreads are extraordinarily tight. In fact, they're in line with where they were in 2021. I think people think about the spread movement, which spreads were very, very wide in 2023.

是的。所以，我會站在這個論點的另一面，羅伯特。我並不認為利差非常小。事實上，它們與 2021 年的情況一致。我認為人們會考慮價差運動，2023 年的價差非常非常大。

And so, both in the public markets, in the loan market, high-yield market and in the private credit market, you've seen spreads come down off their peaks, which were arguably too high in 2023 for a variety of reasons.

因此，無論是在公開市場、貸款市場、高收益市場或私人信貸市場，你都可以看到利差從高峰迴落，而由於各種原因，利差在 2023 年可能過高。

So, I think spreads are more in line with historical levels. I would say, however, that spreads per unit of risk are actually better than they were in 2021. Leverage is lower just because capital is a little bit more expensive. And so, we view this environment as actually quite healthy.

因此，我認為利差更符合歷史水準。不過，我想說的是，每單位風險的利差實際上比 2021 年要好。槓桿較低只是因為資本稍微貴一點。因此，我們認為這個環境實際上非常健康。

And again, our job for investors is to deliver a premium over what they can get in the public markets, and I would say private credit continues to have a very attractive return premium relative to the public markets, which have tightened more than the private markets.

再說一遍，我們對投資者的工作是為他們在公開市場上獲得的回報提供溢價，我想說，相對於公開市場，私人信貸仍然具有非常有吸引力的回報溢價，而公開市場的收緊程度比私人市場更嚴重。

Got it. Thank you.

知道了。謝謝。

Kenneth Lee, RBC Capital Markets.

肯尼斯李，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Just in terms of the -- some of the recent originations and the commitments you've been seeing. Any color on the terms documentation trends that you're seeing any loosening of such items? Thanks.

嘿，早安。感謝您提出我的問題。就最近的一些發起和您所看到的承諾而言。您發現此類項目有任何鬆動，條款文件趨勢中有任何顏色嗎？謝謝。

Yes, I'm happy to take that. You're right, despite what's been a little bit of a sluggish M&A environment, we've seen a fairly strong deployment opportunity. We had our most active quarter from a funding perspective. A few key stats I would call out about 75% of our activity, we were sold or leave about 35% to 40% was where we had in common to you. So we've been really leaning into not only our public exposure but also our private exporter to generate activity.

是的，我很樂意接受。你是對的，儘管併購環境有點低迷，但我們看到了相當強大的部署機會。從資金角度來看，我們經歷了最活躍的季度。我會指出一些關鍵統計數據，我們大約 75% 的活動，我們被出售或離開，大約 35% 到 40% 是我們與你們的共同點。因此，我們不僅真正依靠我們的公共曝光度，而且還依靠我們的私人出口商來產生活動。

In terms of specifically your question, economics, average spread on new deals committed was in that sort of 500 to 515 context with about 1.5 points upfront OID, average LTV of right around 40%. And that activity is relatively split across the market.

就你的具體問題而言，經濟面，承諾的新交易的平均價差在 500 到 515 之間，預付 OID 約為 1.5 個點，平均 LTV 約為 40%。而且該活動在整個市場上相對分散。

We had half of our deals closed below $100 million of EBITDA, half above $100 million. What we're seeing from a documentation perspective is that we've been successful at really leaning into the key parts of the document where we see dispersion in recoveries in the public market.

我們有一半交易的 EBITDA 低於 1 億美元，一半高於 1 億美元。從文件的角度來看，我們已經成功地真正深入研究了文件的關鍵部分，在這些部分中，我們看到了公開市場復甦的分散性。

So that's collateral coverage, that's EBITDA add-backs or collateral protections and EBITDA add-backs. And so, as we look at our portfolio, nearly 100% of our documents have protections around those items. That's where you're really seeing the weakness play through the public market leading to lower recoveries.

這就是抵押品覆蓋範圍，即 EBITDA 回加或抵押保護和 EBITDA 回加。因此，當我們查看我們的產品組合時，我們幾乎 100% 的文件都針對這些項目提供了保護。這就是你真正看到公開市場疲軟導致復甦下降的地方。

And Ken, maybe I would just add. I think the fourth quarter spreads will get a little bit wider than what we saw in the third quarter because third quarter was reflecting deals that we saw through the summer, summer is when you saw spreads at their tightest, so it does feel like they've widened out a little bit from here.

肯，也許我想補充一下。我認為第四季度的利差將比我們在第三季度看到的要寬一些，因為第三季度反映了我們整個夏天看到的交易，夏季是利差最窄的時候，所以感覺確實如此。已經從這裡擴大了一點。

Got you. Very helpful there. And just one follow-up, if I may. Last few quarters, you talked about seeing some benefit from reverse originations. Just wanted to see if there's any update in terms of the outlook and how much contribution you could see from that in addition to, obviously, a more favorable deal outlook going forward? Thanks.

明白你了。那裡非常有幫助。如果可以的話，只有一個後續行動。過去幾個季度，您談到了從反向發起中看到的一些好處。只是想看看前景方面是否有任何更新，以及除了顯然未來更有利的交易前景之外，您還能從中看到多少貢獻？謝謝。

Yes. So, I think, Ken, what you're speaking to is sort of our reverse opportunities where we've been reversing into a pipeline of opportunities where we've had exposure on the public side. That effort has continued. It's led to a pretty meaningful deployment this year.

是的。所以，我認為，肯，你所說的是我們的反向機會，我們一直在逆轉到一系列機會，我們在公眾方面有過曝光。這種努力仍在繼續。今年的部署非常有意義。

Again, that's baked into sort of the 35% to 40% of activity where we have incumbency. So that's an ongoing effort of ours, a benefit of the platform given as a firm, we are invested in or cover over 4,000 companies.

同樣，這已融入我們現有的 35% 到 40% 的活動中。因此，這是我們持續不斷的努力，也是作為一家公司所提供的平台的優勢，我們投資或涵蓋了 4,000 多家公司。

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。

Yes, good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. In terms of the optimism for activity next year, I mean, where do you kind of see the target for -- in terms of company borrower size? Are you still kind of looking further upmarket closer to that average EBITDA, $194 million within the portfolio skewing more towards kind of that upper middle market investment grade borrower? Or are you looking at potentially funding more of the middle market kind of deals?

是的，早安。感謝您回答我的問題。就明年活動的樂觀情緒而言，我的意思是，就公司借款人規模而言，您認為目標在哪裡？您是否仍在尋找更接近平均 EBITDA 的高端市場，即投資組合中 1.94 億美元的投資組合，更傾向於中高端市場投資等級借款人？或者您正在考慮為更多中間市場類型的交易提供資金？

Yes. Thanks, Paul. So, what's great about our platforms, we do see the full range of deals, small deals, midsized deals, large deals. I would say this year, we actually passed on a lot of the larger deals. Typically, when spreads tighten, people start reaching for risk a bit more and some of the larger deals we just let go because we didn't like the leverage levels or the documentation. So we were less active in that part of the market, and we're more active in the middle market.

是的。謝謝，保羅。所以，我們平台的優點是，我們確實看到了全方位的交易，小型交易、中型交易、大型交易。我想說，今年我們實際上放棄了很多較大的交易。通常，當利差收緊時，人們開始更多地冒險，而我們只是放棄了一些較大的交易，因為我們不喜歡槓桿水平或文件。所以我們在那部分市場不太活躍，而我們在中間市場更活躍。

I will say we do have a bias towards the larger companies. We think they're better businesses. better sponsors, better management teams, more diversified, they're larger because they're better. So, to the extent that, that market presents itself as being more attractive more broadly. We will lean into that part of the market.

我想說的是，我們確實對大公司有偏見。我們認為它們是更好的企業。更好的贊助商，更好的管理團隊，更加多元化，他們規模更大，因為他們更好。因此，從某種程度上來說，該市場在更廣泛的範圍內顯得更具吸引力。我們將專注於這部分市場。

Again, we will continue to evaluate the rest of the market as we compare it to those larger deals. My sense is if this year we skewed more middle market next year, we may skew a little bit further upmarket, if the volume picks up and the deals are structured appropriately.

同樣，我們將繼續評估市場的其餘部分，並將其與那些較大的交易進行比較。我的感覺是，如果今年我們更偏向中階市場，明年我們可能會進一步偏向高端市場，如果交易量回升並且交易結構適當的話。

Thanks. That's very helpful. That's all for me.

謝謝。這非常有幫助。這就是我的全部。

Mark Hughes, Truist Securities.

馬克休斯，Truist 證券公司。

Yes, thanks. Good morning. On PIK income, pretty small, but had been kind of moving up in earlier quarters, it was down a little bit sequentially in the third quarter. Any thoughts on the future trajectory there?

是的，謝謝。早安.PIK 收入雖然很小，但在前幾個季度有所上升，但在第三季度略有下降。對未來的發展軌跡有什麼想法嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Mark. You're right. So, take represented about 6% of income that was lower versus the last quarter. We had one issuer roll off and was actually paying full cash in September. So that's really the impact you see. Over 70% of our PIK is really from the top five assets. All of those are performing marked above 90 and then less than 1% of our gross income is PIK associated with assets marked below 90.

是的。謝謝，馬克。你說得對。因此，收入約佔收入的 6%，低於上一季。我們有一個發行人轉存，實際上在 9 月就支付了全額現金。這就是你所看到的影響。我們超過 70% 的 PIK 實際上來自前五名資產。所有這些資產的表現均高於 90，而與低於 90 的資產相關的 PIK 只占我們總收入的不到 1%。

I think, generally speaking, PIK has been a good tool to differentiate versus the public markets. But our view is quality really needs to line up with that. It's where you're seeing better earnings growth. Generally speaking, we're structuring it in a way where that optionality is limited to less than 24 months, and you're earning a little bit of premium for allowing that option.

我認為，一般來說，PIK 是一個與公開市場區分開來的好工具。但我們認為品質確實需要與此保持一致。這是你看到更好的獲利成長的地方。一般來說，我們的結構方式是將這種選擇限制在 24 個月以內，您可以因為允許該選擇而賺取一點溢價。

Very good. And then your opportunity to generate fee income if we do get more repayments. You talked about the fees around call protection, accelerated amortization. Given the composition of the portfolio now just the age, the time it's been on your books, how would you compare that potential if we do get in a super cycle or fee income relative to levels we might have seen in the past? Is there any material difference?

非常好。如果我們確實獲得更多還款，您就有機會產生費用收入。您談到了有關呼叫保護和加速攤銷的費用。考慮到投資組合的組成現在只是年齡，它在你的帳面上的時間，如果我們確實進入超級週期或費用收入相對於我們過去可能看到的水平，你會如何比較這種潛力？有什麼實質的差別嗎？

Yes. Just to put some numbers to it, our amortized cost in the portfolio is just above 98.5. So, with that, and you can apply sort of a normalized repayment rate that we would expect in the sort of anywhere from 15% to 25% range, right? Year-to-date, our repayments are 6%. So, I think that gives a little bit of detail on how that income generation piece could trend next year.

是的。僅舉一些數字，我們投資組合的攤餘成本略高於 98.5。那麼，有了這個，你就可以應用我們期望的 15% 到 25% 範圍內的標準化還款率，對嗎？年初至今，我們的還款率為 6%。因此，我認為這提供了有關明年創收部分的趨勢的一些細節。

Appreciate that. Thank you.

很欣賞這一點。謝謝。

Melissa Wedel, JP Morgan.

梅麗莎‧韋德爾，摩根大通。

Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Most were actually already asked and answered. I thought I'd follow up on the aftermarket program. This seems to be a particularly productive quarter for capital raising there.

早安.感謝您提出我的問題。大多數實際上已經被問過並得到了答案。我想我應該跟進售後計劃。對於那裡的融資來說，這似乎是一個特別有成效的季度。

Given your bullishness on the market, the deployment potential of the upcoming environment, do you anticipate sort of a similar run rate going forward in the aftermarket program? Or should we think about that as being -- coming in just a little bit if you expect higher turnover in the portfolio. Thanks.

考慮到您對市場的看好以及即將到來的環境的部署潛力，您是否預計售後市場計劃未來會有類似的運行率？或者我們是否應該將其視為——如果您預計投資組合的周轉率會更高，那麼就只需要一點點。謝謝。

Thanks, Melissa. This is Jon. I'd say it's less trying to book what you think a run rate will be and we're recognizing that while we see a heavy deal of optimism coming around the deal environment, it's really hard to time, right?

謝謝，梅麗莎。這是喬恩。我想說的是，它不太試圖預定你認為的運行率，而且我們認識到，雖然我們看到圍繞交易環境的大量樂觀情緒，但確實很難把握時機，對吧？

So, what we do is always first check based on our leverage. We want to deliver an attractive levered return we always do so right in the middle of that range and are on the higher side as best as possible.

因此，我們所做的始終是先根據我們的槓桿進行檢查。我們希望提供有吸引力的槓桿回報，我們總是在該範圍的中間這樣做，並儘可能處於較高的水平。

And then once you look at that levered return, you can recognize that there's the ability to issue some but then also recognize that we find that having that ability to invest when the deals come as we expect is important.

然後，一旦你看到槓桿回報，你就會意識到有能力發行一些債券，但同時也會認識到，我們發現，當交易按我們預期進行時，擁有這種投資能力非常重要。

So I'd say that it's less trying to say, last year's -- or last quarter, it's the same as this quarter and much more kind of recognizing we build it based on what we know is going to come, and we're anticipating, as Brad outlined, a super cycle that will be important for us all to put capital to work.

所以我想說，這不是想說，去年或上個季度，它與本季度相同，更多的是認識到我們是根據我們知道將要發生的事情來構建它的，並且我們預計正如布拉德所概述的，一個超級週期對於我們所有人投入資本都非常重要。

And with no additional questions in queue. I'd like to turn the call back over to Ms. Wang for any additional or closing remarks.

並且隊列中沒有其他問題。我想將電話轉回給王女士，讓她發表補充或結束語。

Thank you, everybody, for joining our call this quarter. Have a great rest of your day.

感謝大家參加本季的電話會議。祝您有個愉快的一天。

That will conclude today's call. We appreciate your participation.

今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝您的參與。