Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. You're on hold for the Blackstone secured lending fourth quarter and full year 2024 investor call. At this time, we're gathering additional participants and should be on the way shortly. We appreciate your patience and ask that you continue to hold.

感謝您的支持。您需要等待黑石擔保貸款第四季和 2024 年全年投資者電話會議。目前，我們正在召集更多參與者，很快就會出發。我們感謝您的耐心，並請您繼續堅持。

Thank you for standing by. You're on hold for the Blackstone secured lending fourth quarter and full year 2024 investor call. At this time, we're gathering additional participants and should be under way shortly. We appreciate your patience and ask that you continue to hold.

感謝您的支持。您需要等待黑石擔保貸款第四季和 2024 年全年投資者電話會議。目前，我們正在召集更多參與者，很快就會開始。我們感謝您的耐心，並請您繼續堅持。

Good day and welcome to the Blackstone secured lending fourth quarter and full year 2024 investor call. (Operator Instructions) At this time I'd like to turn the conference over to Justin Farshidi, Principal for Blackstone Credit and Insurance. Please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加黑石擔保貸款 2024 年第四季和全年投資者電話會議。（操作員指示）現在，我想將會議交給黑石信貸和保險負責人賈斯汀·法爾希迪 (Justin Farshidi)。請繼續。

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

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加黑石擔保貸款基金第四季電話會議。今天與我一起出席的還有聯合首席執行官布拉德·馬歇爾 (Brad Marshall)、聯合首席執行官喬納森·博克 (Jonathan Bock)、總裁卡洛斯·惠特克 (Carlos Whitaker)、首席財務官泰迪·德斯洛格 (Teddy Desloge) 以及其他管理團隊成員。

Earlier today we issued a press release with a presentation of our results and filed our 10K, both of which are available on the shareholder resources section of our website www.bxsl.com. We will be referring to that presentation throughout today's call. I'd like to remind you that this call may include forward-looking statements which are uncertain and outside of the firm's control.

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 10K 文件，這兩份文件都可以在我們的網站 www.bxsl.com 的股東資源部分找到。我們將在今天的電話會議中提及該演講。我想提醒您，本次電話會議可能包含不確定且超出公司控制範圍的前瞻性陳述。

And may differ materially from actual results. We do not undertake any duty to update these statements for some of the risks that could affect results, please see the risk factor section of our form 10K filed earlier today. This audio cast is copyright material of Blackstone and may not be duplicated without consent. With that, I'll turn the call over to Brad Marshall.

並且可能與實際結果有重大差異。對於可能影響結果的一些風險，我們不承擔更新這些聲明的任何義務，請參閱我們今天早些時候提交的 10K 表格中的風險因素部分。此音訊廣播為 Blackstone 的版權資料，未經同意不得複製。說完這些，我將把電話轉給布拉德馬歇爾。

Thank you, Justin, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining our call. Before we dive into details with John Carlos, and Petty, I will begin with a few high-level comments on the fourth quarter results and our view on the current market environment.

謝謝你，賈斯汀，大家早安。感謝您加入我們的電話會議。在我們與約翰卡洛斯和佩蒂深入討論細節之前，我將首先對第四季度的業績和我們對當前市場環境的看法發表一些高層評論。

Turn to slide 4, the BXSL reported another strong quarter highlighted by its record total investment income, increased net asset value, newly issued liabilities at market tight levels compared to our traded [BDC] peers, continued solid credit performance, and active deployment.

翻到幻燈片 4，BXSL 報告了另一個強勁的季度，亮點包括創紀錄的總投資收入、增加的淨資產價值、與我們交易的 [BDC] 同行相比處於市場緊張水平的新發行負債、持續穩健的信貸表現以及積極的部署。

Looking at each of these in detail, our net investment income or NAI of $0.84 per share this quarter represented a 12.3% annualized return on equity and is made up overwhelmingly from contractual income rather than one-time fees or dividend income. Net asset value per share increase for the ninth consecutive quarter by $0.12 to $27.39.

詳細來看，本季我們的淨投資收益或每股 0.84 美元的 NAI 代表著 12.3% 的年化股本回報率，並且主要來自合約收入，而不是一次性費用或股息收入。每股淨資產連續第九個季度增加 0.12 美元，達到 27.39 美元。

With regard to our liabilities, we issued nearly $1.2 billion of new debt through CLOs and a weighted average spread of 154 basis points over SOFR and bonds, which we swapped into a weighted average spread of 154 basis points over SOFR all at market tight spreads compared to traded BDC peers while also upsizing our revolving lines of credit by an aggregate amount of $850 million a portion of which. At a reduced spread.

就我們的負債而言，我們透過 CLO 發行了近 12 億美元的新債務，其加權平均利差為 SOFR 和債券的 154 個基點，我們將其轉換為 SOFR 的加權平均利差，與 BDC 同行相比，市場利差較小，同時我們還將循環信貸額度增加了 8.5 億美元，其中一部分是此類貸款。價差縮小。

Our liability stack continues to be diverse with floating rate components, allowing us to be held help offset reduced base rates on the asset side this quarter. On expenses, BXSL has among the lowest management fee and lowest GNA cost as a percentage of NAB across our traded BDC peers, which allows us to focus on high quality assets.

我們的負債結構持續多樣化，包含浮動利率成分，這使我們能夠抵銷本季資產方面基準利率的下降。在費用方面，在我們交易的 BDC 同行中，BXSL 的管理費和 GNA 成本佔 NAB 的百分比最低，這使我們能夠專注於高品質資產。

And lastly, credit quality remains strong with 0.3% of investments on non-accrual at cost and 0.2% at fair market value, well below the average of our traded BDC peers, of 2.6% and 1.2% respectively in the third quarter.

最後，信貸品質仍然強勁，以成本計算的非應計投資為 0.3%，以公平市價計算為 0.2%，遠低於我們交易的 BDC 同行的平均水平，第三季分別為 2.6% 和 1.2%。

All of these are related. One, our low-cost structure and low cost of capital relative to the traded BDC peers allows us to bias our portfolio towards what we believe are higher quality, better borrowers while still delivering what we believe is an attractive return on equity with a leading regular dividend compared to our traded BDC peers. Two, our high-quality focus has delivered NAB stability and strong credit performance since inception.

所有這些都是相關的。首先，相對於交易的 BDC 同行而言，我們的低成本結構和低資本成本使我們能夠將投資組合偏向於我們認為質量更高、更好的借款人，同時仍能提供我們認為具有吸引力股本回報率，並且與交易的 BDC 同行相比，我們的定期股息處於領先地位。第二，自成立以來，我們對高品質的關注為 NAB 帶來了穩定性和強勁的信用表現。

And 3, attractive performance above our cost of capital leads to a premium valuation which further lowers our cost of capital. As we discussed last quarter, we positioned BXSL for an anticipated ramp up in deal activity throughout 2024, and we saw that quarter-over-quarter.

第三，高於我們資本成本的誘人績效帶來溢價估值，進一步降低我們的資本成本。正如我們上個季度所討論的那樣，我們預計 BXSL 將在 2024 年全年實現交易活動的成長，並且我們看到了這一趨勢逐季上升。

In the fourth quarter, we had $1.2 billion of investment in commitments, our fifth consecutive quarter of $1 billion plus in commitments. We also had nearly $1.4 billion in new investment funding, most active quarter since 2021. And we continue to lend to what we believe are high quality boards as demonstrated in the fourth quarter at an average loan to value near the mid-30s at yields ranging between 8% to 10% and at a three-year all-in spread above 520 basis points.

第四季度，我們承諾的投資額為 12 億美元，這是我們連續第五個季度的投資額超過 10 億美元。我們還獲得了近 14 億美元的新投資資金，這是自 2021 年以來最活躍的季度。我們繼續向我們認為高品質的董事會提供貸款，正如第四季度所證明的那樣，平均貸款價值比接近 35%，收益率在 8% 至 10% 之間，三年期全包利差超過 520 個基點。

This is the hallmark of BXSL, a company that taps into the scale Blackstone's resources, relationships, and reach to deliver a diverse portfolio of assets for our investors at competitive returns compared to our traded BDC peers. At times we may elect to invest in larger credits at tighter spreads, and at other times we may see attractive deals in the historically good neighborhoods with greater spread to LTV ratios in the middle market.

這是 BXSL 的標誌，該公司利用黑石集團的資源、關係和影響力，為我們的投資者提供多樣化的資產組合，與我們交易的 BDC 同行相比，其回報率更具競爭力。有時我們可能會選擇以較小的利差投資更大的信貸，而有時我們可能會在歷史上良好的社區中看到有吸引力的交易，其中間市場的 LTV 比率具有更大的利差。

Our scale allows us to play up and down market, which we believe makes us a valuable counterparty to clients and portfolio companies we serve. Looking forward for BXSL, the M&A outlook is positive and suggests a recovery from historical lows as the cost of capital improves and the US administration adopts policies that are potentially pro-growth and pro deregulation.

我們的規模使我們能夠在市場上和市場上下發揮作用，我們相信這使我們成為我們所服務的客戶和投資組合公司的寶貴交易對手。展望 BXSL，隨著資本成本的改善和美國政府採取可能有利於增長和放鬆管制的政策，併購前景是積極的，並表明將從歷史低點復甦。

Private credit market has a major tailwind tied to a significant dry powder that exists with private equity sponsors. And while spreads have tightened, both the quality of companies and the capital structures financed by private credit today continue to improve. We believe this lays a foundation for an act of 2025. And we are excited to see what is to come for our fund and for our investors this year.

私人信貸市場擁有巨大的順風優勢，這得益於私募股權發起人擁有的大量資金。儘管利差已經收窄，但如今由私人信貸融資的公司品質和資本結構都在持續改善。我們相信這為2025年的法案奠定了基礎。我們非常高興地看到今年我們的基金和投資者將取得怎樣的成績。

With that, I'll pass over to my colleague Jonathan.

說完這些，我將把麥克風交給我的同事喬納森。

Thank you, Brad. And let's turn to slide 6. We ended the quarter with $13.1 billion of investments at fair value over a 9% increase from $12 billion in Q3, and that's while adding 28 new borrowers to our portfolio now totaling over 276 companies. Ending leverage and average leverage kicked up slightly compared to our prior quarter at 1.17 times and 1.15 times respectively remaining towards the middle of our target range of 1 times to 1.25 times.

謝謝你，布拉德。讓我們翻到第 6 張投影片。本季末，我們的投資公允價值為 131 億美元，較第三季的 120 億美元成長 9% 以上，同時我們的投資組合中又增加了 28 家新借款人，目前投資組合總計超過 276 家公司。與上一季相比，期末槓桿率和平均槓桿率略有上升，分別為 1.17 倍和 1.15 倍，仍處於我們 1 倍至 1.25 倍目標範圍的中間。

We increased our liquidity position to $2.4 billion comprised of and available borrowing capacity across our revolving credit facilities including ABLs that to lean into an expanded pipeline. Now for context, last quarter our liquidity position stood at $1.1 billion another testament to our deal flow expectations for 2025. Our weighted average yield on performing debt investments at fair value was 10.4% this quarter and compared to 11.2% last quarter.

我們將流動性狀況提高至 24 億美元，包括循環信貸工具（包括 ABL）的可用借貸能力，以支持擴大的管道。現在來看，上個季度我們的流動資金狀況為 11 億美元，這再次證明了我們對 2025 年交易流量的預期。本季度，我們以公允價值計算的正常債務投資的加權平均收益率為 10.4%，而上一季為 11.2%。

The yields on new debt investment fundings and assets sold and repaid during the quarter averaged 9.6% and 11.1% respectively. Let's take a look at the portfolio and slide 7. 98% of BXL's investments are in first lien secured loans, and 99% of those loans are to companies owned by financial sponsors who generally have significant equity value in these capital structures demonstrated by an average loan to value of 46%.

本季新增債務投資融資和出售償還資產的收益率平均分別為 9.6% 和 11.1%。讓我們來看看投資組合和幻燈片 7。 BXL 的 98% 投資是第一留置權擔保貸款，其中 99% 的貸款是提供給金融贊助商所擁有的公司，這些公司通常在這些資本結構中擁有相當大的股權價值，平均貸款價值比為 46%。

Our portfolio also has what we believe to be a strong LTM EBITDA base averaging $198 million increasing over 3% from last year. And that's three times larger than that of the companies in the Lincoln International Private market database. Now, although we evaluated opportunities across the size spectrum, as evidenced by our investments this year, we've seen continued strength of performance that come from larger companies, and that's a bedrock of our portfolio relative to smaller EBITDA counterparts in terms of higher growth and lower defaults.

我們認為，我們的投資組合還擁有強勁的 LTM EBITDA 基礎，平均為 1.98 億美元，比去年增長 3% 以上。這一規模是林肯國際私人市場資料庫中公司規模的三倍。現在，儘管我們評估了不同規模範圍內的機會，但正如我們今年的投資所證明的那樣，我們看到大型公司的業績持續強勁，而相對於 EBITDA 規模較小的公司而言，這是我們投資組合的基石，因為這些公司具有更高的增長率和更低的違約率。

Big sales portfolio companies have seen growth rates in line or higher with the broader private credit market databases measured by Lincoln and over 20% more profitability on the LTM EBITDA margin base. When speaking to portfolio performance, it's not only strength that matters, but consistency. Our fund's performance and portfolio company selection both speak volumes to the consistency of our investment process and the talent of our people.

大型銷售投資組合公司的成長率與林肯測量的更廣泛的私人信貸市場資料庫一致或更高，並且 LTM EBITDA 利潤率基礎上的盈利能力提高了 20% 以上。談到投資組合表現時，重要的不僅是實力，還有一致性。我們基金的表現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。

Most importantly, we believe we've demonstrated a commitment to our foundational discipline strategy when we launched BXSL in 2018. Our focus on first lien, senior secured debt. And lower default rate industries is what we view as a very defensive place for investors, and this is further evidenced by our low non accrual rate of 0.3% cost compared to our traded BDC peer average of 2.6% from last quarter.

最重要的是，我們相信，當我們在 2018 年推出 BXSL 時，我們已經展示了對基礎學科策略的承諾。我們關注的是第一留置權、優先擔保債務。我們認為，違約率較低的行業對投資者而言具有很強的防禦性，而我們的非應計成本僅為 0.3%，而上一季度我們的 BDC 同行平均非應計成本為 2.6%，這進一步證明了這一點。

We continue to emphasize the importance of interest coverage. LTM EBITDA coverage based on average LTM EBITDA for BXSL portfolio companies over the last 12 months was 1.7 times in Q4, which again fair compares favorably to the Lincoln database for the broader private credit market at 1.5 times average coverage in Q4.

我們繼續強調利息覆蓋的重要性。根據 BXSL 投資組合公司過去 12 個月的平均 LTM EBITDA 計算，第四季度的 LTM EBITDA 覆蓋率為 1.7 倍，與林肯資料庫中更廣泛的私人信貸市場第四季度平均覆蓋率 1.5 倍的數據相比，這一結果同樣相當公平。

Looking at the share of the portfolio below one time interest coverage excluding revenue recurring revenue loans, BXSL is at 9% of fair value versus the Lincoln private credit market index at 15%. Turning to new investments, 93% of the new private debt investments during the quarter were first lien senior secured positions with average LTDs below 40%, meaning there's significant amounts of junior capital beneath our loans, 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 the leading lender, we remain highly focused on control and lender protections.

從一次性利息覆蓋率以下的投資組合份額（不包括收入經常性收入貸款）來看，BXSL 的公允價值為 9%，而林肯私人信貸市場指數的公允價值為 15%。談到新投資，本季 93% 的新私人債務投資為第一留置權優先擔保頭寸，平均 LTD 低於 40%，這意味著我們的貸款下有大量的次級資本，最後我將就我們的文件和最近的修訂活動提出一些觀點，作為提醒，當我們談判信貸協議時，特別是作為主要貸方，我們仍然高度關注控制和貸方保護。

Amendment activity this quarter was down 19% quarter-over-quarter by count, with 39 of BXSL's private borrowers amending documents in Q4. Nearly all of these amendments by position size were associated with add-ons, M&A, DDPL extended. Immaterial technical matters or changes to terms.

本季的修改活動數量環比下降 19%，其中 BXSL 的 39 名私人借款人在第四季度修改了文件。以持倉規模計算，幾乎所有這些修正都與附加條款、併購、DDPL 延長有關。非實質的技術問題或條款的變更。

Besides these amendments, only one amendment accounting for fewer than 30 basis points of the portfolio was associated with an underperforming investment marked below 90 and featured additional document tightening along with incremental economics.

除了這些修訂之外，只有一項佔投資組合不到 30 個基點的修訂與低於 90 的表現不佳的投資有關，並且具有額外的文件緊縮和增量經濟。

And with that, I'd like to turn it to my colleague Carlos.

現在，我想把發言權交給我的同事卡洛斯。

Thanks, John. Turn to slide 9. The XSL maintains its dividend distribution of $0.77 per share. As you can see, we remain focused on delivering high quality yield to shareholders through steady, well-covered regular dividends, and we expect this approach to continue. As mentioned last quarter, we continue to be optimistic about future potential M&A volumes and the deployment picture for 2025.

謝謝，約翰。翻到第 9 張投影片。XSL 維持每股 0.77 美元的股息分配。如您所見，我們仍然專注於透過穩定、覆蓋面廣的定期股息為股東提供高品質的收益，並且我們預計這種方法將繼續下去。正如上個季度所提到的，我們繼續對未來的潛在併購量和 2025 年的部署前景持樂觀態度。

Earlier, we detailed the scale of our credit platform demonstrated by our level of new investment fundings in Q4. We can be selective with our borrowers and provide solutions which we believe few managers are capable of offering. For example, BXCI led a $2 billion debt financing for Dropbox, a publicly traded leading content management and collaboration platform.

在此之前，我們透過第四季度新增投資資金水準詳細介紹了我們信貸平台的規模。我們可以選擇性地選擇借款人，並提供我們認為很少管理者能夠提供的解決方案。例如，BXCI 領導為上市公司領先的內容管理和協作平台 Dropbox 進行了 20 億美元的債務融資。

This business has a sticky and large customer base and generates significant free cash flow, characteristics we see in our lending prospects. We close the transaction with an implied loan to value ratio of under 30%, providing us with sizable equity cushion.

該業務擁有龐大而黏性的客戶群，並產生大量自由現金流，這些都是我們在貸款前景中看到的特徵。我們以低於 30% 的隱含貸款價值比率完成交易，這為我們提供了相當大的股權緩衝。

Given Dropbox's large market capitalization and access to broad ranges of financing options, we believe the company chose to partner with Blackstone because of our ability to provide a large scale customized financing solution with price certainty and speed.

鑑於 Dropbox 龐大的市值和廣泛的融資選擇，我們相信該公司選擇與黑石合作是因為我們有能力提供價格確定且快速的大規模客製化融資解決方案。

That said, we also see opportunities across the middle market to large cap segments of the market due to our broad reach of our platform and investment team. For instance, we led a financing for a consumer services business with sub $100 million of EBITDA owned by a middle market sponsor.

也就是說，由於我們的平台和投資團隊覆蓋範圍廣泛，我們也看到了中型市場到大型市場領域的機會。例如，我們為一家中型市場發起人旗下的消費者服務企業主導融資，該企業的 EBITDA 低於 1 億美元。

The company is saying sustained growth in a fragmented market and benefits from a premium customer base and recurring services attributes we generally look for in services focused business models. Diving deeper, the median EBITDA of our new investments was $138 million compared to the $198 million weighted average EBITDA for companies in the private portfolio.

該公司表示，在分散的市場中實現持續成長，並受益於優質客戶群和我們通常在以服務為中心的商業模式中尋找的經常性服務屬性。深入研究後發現，我們新投資的中位數 EBITDA 為 1.38 億美元，而私人投資組合中公司的加權平均 EBITDA 為 1.98 億美元。

Again, we look for investment opportunities and what we believe are high quality transactions at lower loan to values and attractive risk adjusted returns across the size spectrum with our broad reach across the middle market to large cap space.

再次，我們尋找投資機會，我們認為高品質的交易，較低的貸款價值和有吸引力的風險調整回報，我們的業務範圍涵蓋中型市場到大型市場。

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

好了，現在我將其轉交給。

Thanks, Carlos.

謝謝，卡洛斯。

I'll start with our operating results on slide 10. In the fourth quarter, BXSL's net investment income was $183 million or $0.84 per share in dollar terms, up over 6% year-over-year and the second highest dollar amount since inception.

我將從第 10 張投影片開始介紹我們的經營績效。第四季度，BXSL 的淨投資收益為 1.83 億美元，即每股 0.84 美元，年增超過 6%，是成立以來第二高的美元金額。

Total investment income for the quarter, a record for the fund, was up $49 million or 16% year over year driven by increased interest income. As a reminder, we amortized 100% of OID earned over the life of each loan versus taking fees up front, which we believe provides for greater stability over the longer term. Interestcom excluding payment in kind, fees, and dividends represented over 94% of total investment income in the quarter.

該季度的總投資收入創下了該基金的最高紀錄，受利息收入增加的推動，該季度的總投資收入年增 4,900 萬美元，增幅為 16%。提醒一下，我們在每筆貸款的期限內攤銷 100% 的 OID，而不是預先收取費用，我們相信這可以在長期內提供更高的穩定性。Interestcom（不包括實物支付、費用和股息）佔本季總投資收入的 94% 以上。

Moving to our balance sheet on slide 11, we ended the quarter with over $13 billion of total portfolio investments at fair value, nearly $7.1 billion of outstanding debt, and over $6 billion of total net asset value, total net assets. NAV per share increased to $27.39 up 0.4%, up from $27.27 last quarter, driven primarily by stable fundamentals across the majority of our portfolio. Excess earnings and share issuance above NA.

轉到第 11 張投影片上的資產負債表，本季結束時，我們的公允價值投資組合總額超過 130 億美元，未償債務近 71 億美元，總淨資產價值超過 60 億美元，總淨資產。每股資產淨值從上一季的 27.27 美元增至 27.39 美元，漲幅 0.4%，主要得益於我們大部分投資組合的基本面穩定。超額收益和超過 NA 的股票發行。

Moving to slide 12, in addition, we saw the most active quarter since 2021 on a deployment basis, as Brad outlined. BXSL funding approximately $1.4 billion in a quarter, committing over $1.2 billion, and an estimated additional $162 million committed by BXCI and earmarked for BXSL as of December 31st. Net funded investment activity in the quarter was approximately $1.2 billion up over 230% year-over-year.

此外，轉到第 12 張投影片，正如布拉德所概述的，我們看到了自 2021 年以來部署最活躍的一個季度。BXSL 在一個季度內注資約 14 億美元，承諾注資超過 12 億美元，截至 12 月 31 日，BXCI 還承諾為 BXSL 額外注資 1.62 億美元。本季淨融資投資活動約 12 億美元，年增 230% 以上。

Notably, we saw 198 million of repayments in the quarter with a 2024 repayment rate of 6% of the portfolio at fair value compared to 10% for 2023. And as we look forward, we expect portfolio turnover to increase with M&A volumes in a more active capital markets environment.

值得注意的是，本季我們看到了 1.98 億的還款，2024 年的還款率為投資組合公允價值的 6%，而 2023 年的還款率為 10%。展望未來，我們預期在更活躍的資本市場環境下，投資組合週轉率將隨著併購量的增加而增加。

Next, slide 13 outlines our attractive and diverse liability profile, which includes 39% of drawn debt in 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 5.17%, down from 5.45% last quarter.

接下來，第 13 張投影片概述了我們有吸引力且多樣化的負債狀況，其中包括 39% 的未交換無擔保債券債務。這些無擔保債券的加權平均固定票面利率低於 3%，我們認為這是高利率環境下的關鍵優勢，並使我們借款的整體加權平均利率為 5.17%，低於上一季的 5.45%。

This also compares to a weighted average yield at fair value on our performing debt investments of 10.4%. While we maintained our three investment grade corporate credit ratings this quarter, it is important to remember we earned a full notch upgrade from both Moody's and Fitch in 2024.

這也與我們正常債務投資的公允價值加權平均收益率 10.4% 相比。雖然我們本季維持了三個投資級企業信用評級，但重要的是要記住，我們在 2024 年獲得了穆迪和惠譽的全面升級。

In Q4 we also became one of 3 BDCs with a BAA2 rating, two of which are managed by Blackstone, providing 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 3.7 years.

在第四季度，我們也成為三家獲得 BAA2 評級的 BDC 之一，其中兩家由黑石集團管理，證明了我們在投資組合建構、防禦性定位和保守負債結構方面的嚴謹態度。我們的融資負債直到 2026 年才到期，我們的債務和融資工具的整體加權平均期限為 3.7 年。

Further, we continue to optimize our cost of capital. In October, we issued a $400 million dollar 3.5-year bond which priced at a 5.35% coupon or 163 basis points over the relevant benchmark treasury rate. With strong demand post issuance, we were able to tap the market again in December, growing the quantum by $300 million at 125 basis points over the relevant benchmark treasury rate. This was the tightest spread BDC bond issued in 2024.

此外，我們繼續優化資本成本。10 月份，我們發行了 4 億美元 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。由於發行後需求強勁，我們得以在 12 月再次進入市場，以高於相關基準國債利率 125 個基點的價格增加了 3 億美元的發行量。這是 2024 年發行的利差最小的 BDC 債券。

Additionally, BXSL's inaugural $458 million CLO priced in November at Sopher 154 through 61% loan to value, including the senior notes portion pricing at SOFR 155, the tightest spread on senior most notes of any middle market private credit CLO among the 200+ plus issued since 2021.

此外，BXSL 的首筆 4.58 億美元 CLO 於 11 月以 61% 的貸款價值比定價於 Sopher 154，其中優先票據部分以 SOFR 155 定價，這是自 2021 年以來發行的 200 多支中型市場私人信貸 CLO 中優先票據的一次優先費用。

To conclude, total liquidity at quarter end was $2.4 billion in cash and underdrawn debt available to borrow, while ending leverage as of December 31st was 1.1 turns, slightly up from 1.12 turns in the third quarter near the midpoint of our target range of 1 to 1.1 quarter turns. We believe we have positioned our balance sheet with significant capacity to support increasing activity through end of the year should M&A volumes continue to rebound.

總而言之，本季末的總流動性為 24 億美元現金和可供借入的未提取債務，而截至 12 月 31 日的期末槓桿率為 1.1 倍，略高於第三季度的 1.12 倍，接近我們 1 至 1.1 個季度倍數目標範圍的中點。我們相信，如果併購量持續反彈，我們的資產負債表將具備強大的能力來支持到年底不斷增加的活動。

And with that I'll ask the operator to open it up for questions thank you.

好了，我將請操作員開始回答問題，謝謝。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（操作員指示）

We'll take our first question from Casey Alexander with Compass Point.

我們將從 Compass Point 的 Casey Alexander 那裡得到第一個問題。

Hi, good morning, I'm just kinda curious. I mean, it's such a strong, quarter for new originations.

嗨，早上好，我只是有點好奇。我的意思是，對於新企業來說，這是一個非常強勁的季度。

And what we've been hearing from other platforms is that the deal activity hasn't really picked up yet. So, I'm kind of curious out of the, 1.4 billion in new originations kind of how would you characterize what percentage of that is sort of incumbent or is born out of the existing Blackstone universe or ecosystem as compared to, sort of new merchandise that came in the door?

我們從其他平台了解到，交易活動尚未真正回升。所以，我有點好奇，在這 14 億美元的新發起中，您如何描述其中有多少比例是現有的，或者誕生於現有的黑石宇宙或生態系統，與進入市場的新產品相比呢？

Thanks Casey, good question. So what I would say, and I'm glad you asked the question because I think this is, our superpower, if we had one, which is our ability to originate, during market, during periods when the market is slow from a new M&A standpoint.

謝謝凱西，好問題。所以我想說的是，我很高興你問了這個問題，因為我認為這就是我們的超能力，如果我們有的話，那就是從新的併購角度來看，在市場低迷時期，我們有能力發起市場。

And where we go find those deals, is really kind of, having the team play the role of banker with a with a balance sheet. They go and create the idea they approach the company, they approach the sponsor, and because we can show up with a $1 billion, $2 billion, $3 billion, $500 million. We can go and create deal flow, when the market doesn't provide it.

我們去尋找這些交易，其實就是讓團隊扮演銀行家的角色，使用資產負債表。他們去創造想法，他們接觸公司，他們接觸贊助商，因為我們可以拿出 10 億美元、20 億美元、30 億美元、5 億美元。當市場無法提供交易流時，我們可以去創造交易流。

So to answer your question, over half our deals in the fourth quarter, fell into that category where, we were in a situation where we had some incumbency where the deal team noticed something in the market. And approached a company proactively, typically this will be in our power alleys which is in tech and software, healthcare and life science, and business services, but you know it does kind of showcase the power of the platform and where scale can be a true advantage, where you can originate in slower periods.

所以回答你的問題，我們第四季超過一半的交易都屬於這種情況，我們的交易團隊注意到了市場上的一些情況。並主動與一家公司接洽，通常這將在我們的強勢領域，即技術和軟體、醫療保健和生命科學以及商業服務，但你知道它確實展示了平台的力量，以及規模可以成為真正的優勢，你可以在較慢的時期發起。

I will say the start of the year is off to the slowest start that we've seen since 2003 just from a new M&A standpoint, so you'll probably kind of hear next quarter from a lot of managers that, deployment is pretty slow, and we continue to be aware of that and find opportunities where we can.

我想說，從新的併購角度來看，今年的開局是自 2003 年以來最慢的，所以下個季度你可能會從很多經理那裡聽到，部署相當緩慢，我們會繼續意識到這一點，並儘可能地尋找機會。

All right thank you that's my only question I appreciate it.

好的，謝謝，這是我唯一的問題，我很感激。

Okay We'll take our next question from Melissa Wedel with JP Morgan.

好的，我們將回答摩根大通的梅麗莎·韋德爾提出的下一個問題。

Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. Given the usually high level of activity.

早安.感謝您回答我的問題。鑑於通常活動水平較高。

Mellisa you may be on mute.

梅麗莎，你可能靜音了。

So, operator, maybe we'll just go to the next question then come back to Melissa.

那麼，接線員，也許我們先進入下一個問題，然後再回到梅麗莎。

We're going next to Kenneth Lee with RBC Capital Markets.

接下來我們來談談加拿大皇家銀行資本市場的 Kenneth Lee。

Hey, good morning, thanks for taking my question.

嘿，早上好，感謝您回答我的問題。

Just one on, I think of the prepared remarks you alluded to the new investments having, the portfolio companies having lower average EBITDA does than the rest of the portfolio, and I think there's also a discussion about looking more towards the core middle markets.

就一個問題，我認為您提到的準備好的評論涉及新投資，投資組合公司的平均 EBITDA 低於投資組合中的其他公司，而且我認為還有一個關於更多地關注核心中端市場的討論。

Just curious whether going forward, you could see a little bit more of a lean towards the core middle market segment there and if so, could you just remind us broadly of the capabilities of the blocks of credit platform. That's available to pursue such opportunities. Thanks.

我只是好奇，展望未來，您是否會看到那裡更加傾向於核心中端市場，如果是這樣，您是否可以大致提醒我們一下信貸平台區塊的功能。這是可以用來追求此類機會的。謝謝。

Yeah, I'm happy to take that. Thanks, Kenneth. So just starting on some of the facts, so our [median] EBITDA in the quarter for New Deal's funded was about $138 million and I think what you're seeing is really the benefit of our enormous origination effort. We have over 280 investment professionals in our in our sub-IG business. We have portfolio companies that we financed in the quarter ranging from $25 million EBITDA to a billion dollars on the high end.

是的，我很樂意接受。謝謝，肯尼斯。所以，僅從一些事實開始，我們本季新政資助的 [中位數] EBITDA 約為 1.38 億美元，我認為您所看到的確實是我們巨大的發起努力帶來的好處。我們的子 IG 業務擁有超過 280 名投資專業人士。本季度，我們為投資組合公司提供了融資，其 EBITDA 從 2500 萬美元到最高的 10 億美元不等。

So, we're really seeing the full, the full market landscape I think as the, as the syndicated market has come back, we've seen a little bit better relative value in that core middle market we have significant presence there and we've been able to take advantage of that in the last quarter where spreads were a little bit better.

因此，我認為，我們確實看到了完整的市場格局，隨著聯合市場復甦，我們看到核心中間市場的相對價值略有改善，我們在那裡佔有重要地位，並且我們能夠在上個季度利用這一點，當時利差略有改善。

Got you thank you very much there and it's one quick follow up if I may just want to.

非常感謝您，如果我願意的話，這是一個快速的跟進。

To see if you could probably a little bit more color in terms of what you're seeing across new investment spreads, whether you're seeing a little bit more stabilization there and any kind of outlook, going forward, thanks.

您是否可以更詳細地介紹您所看到的新投資利差，以及是否看到了更多的穩定性以及未來的任何前景，謝謝。

Yeah, maybe I'll start, and Teddy can backfill, so spreads, over the course of last year came down, clearly driven by the just the broader market for tightening across all fixed income, as you know we're a big public, loan investor, and we saw actually the AAA liabilities and CLOs tightened by.

是的，也許我會開始，泰迪可以填補，所以利差在去年下降了，顯然是受到整個固定收益市場收緊的推動，正如你所知，我們是一個大型公共貸款投資者，我們實際上看到 AAA 負債和 CLO 收緊了。

Over 100 basis points from their peak and that that really drove, leverage loan asset spreads tighter in combination with, the market outlook is still quite positive, default rates are modest and then supply and demand is a little bit light so spread tightening across the board private credit wasn't spared from that.

距離高峰超過 100 個基點，這確實推動了槓桿貸款資產利差收緊，再加上市場前景仍然相當樂觀，違約率適中，供需略微寬鬆，因此私人信貸也未能倖免於全面利差收緊。

I would say the good news, and I'll answer your question, the good news, is that liabilities actually came in, probably more than the assets, so the net interest, between, the assets and liabilities actually pretty steady from the fourth quarter of, 2024 and fourth quarter of 2023, so that's interesting. That was about 300 and just shy of 350 basis points.

我想說的好消息是，我會回答你的問題，好消息是，負債實際上可能比資產還要多，因此從 2024 年第四季度到 2023 年第四季度，資產和負債之間的淨利息實際上相當穩定，所以這很有趣。這大約是 300 點，略低於 350 個基點。

And then obviously our cost of capital is a lot lower than others, which helps, but I would expect spreads, to be stable from here, with the chance that, in the near term, they could tighten and then the medium term. I actually think they widen.

顯然，我們的資本成本比其他公司低很多，這很有幫助，但我預計利差將從現在開始保持穩定，並且有可能在短期內收緊，然後在中期內收緊。我確實認為它們變寬了。

I still think we're going to see a pretty meaningful pick up. In M&A activity starting towards the end of the second quarter I think right now we're in a little bit of a lull because there's a lot of market uncertainty around tariffs and policy changes and that's pushed out some of the expected M&A activity but it is coming and it's going to come, I think very actively through the balance of the year.

我仍然認為我們將會看到相當有意義的回升。就第二季末開始的併購活動而言，我認為現在我們處於一個稍微平靜的階段，因為圍繞關稅和政策變化存在許多市場不確定性，這推遲了一些預期的併購活動，但我認為它正在到來，並且將會非常活躍地持續到今年年底。

Yeah, the only thing I would mention there is if you look at our investment activity, we funded $1.2 billion. Our weighted average spread on deals funded was sour plus 510 with a point upfront OID. So, the three-year implied spread on that discount margin is in that so for 550 contexts.

是的，我唯一想提的是，如果你看看我們的投資活動，我們已註資 12 億美元。我們融資交易的加權平均利差為 510，其中預付 OID 為一個點。因此，對於 550 個情況，該折扣保證金的三年隱含利差就是如此。

If you look at the variance, there were. You, a couple deals in the in the 400s, but the variance is really sort of 450 for the highest quality up to 550 on the wider range.

如果你看一下差異，你會發現確實存在。您，有幾筆交易在 400 左右，但實際上，最高品質的差異在 450 左右，而更廣泛範圍內的差異則高達 550 左右。

Great very helpful there thanks again.

非常有幫助，再次感謝。

Thank you. We'll go next to Sean-Paul Adams with Raymond James.

謝謝。接下來我們將與雷蒙德詹姆斯一起採訪肖恩保羅亞當斯。

Hey guys, good morning. Obviously you guys have a stellar credit track record. However, while the industry portfolio is largely defensive or unaffected by potential tariff impacts with an overweight being in software, has there been any portfolio review to examine, BXSL's broader portfolio exposure to upcoming tariff impacts?

大家好，早安。顯然你們的信用記錄非常出色。然而，雖然產業投資組合在很大程度上是防禦性的或不受潛在關稅影響的，並且軟體板塊的權重較高，但是否有任何投資組合審查來檢查 BXSL 的更廣泛的投資組合是否受到即將到來的關稅影響？

Yeah, thanks, Sean. I'm happy to take that. This is Teddy. We've done a ton of work on this. I think overall our view is continues to be a moving target, right? Very hard to pin down, but as we take a step back, the exporting of physical goods into the US, not into the US, not a significant part of our portfolio.

是的，謝謝，肖恩。我很高興接受這個。這是泰迪。我們為此做了大量工作。我認為總體而言我們的觀點仍然是一個移動的目標，對嗎？很難確定，但退一步來看，向美國出口實體商品，而不是向美國出口，並不是我們投資組合的重要組成部分。

We looked at areas where COGS and input costs and volumes could both. Be under pressure from higher tariffs from key regions and in particular Mexico, China and Canada overall, I think if we were to put numbers to it, it's kind of mid-single digits type exposure but very hard to indicate sort of what the handicap what the impacts would be so something we're still watching very focused on it certainly comes in up regularly in in new investment committees on assets for instance. Industries like consumer goods where we were already deemphasizing exposure, I think we're even more cautious today.

我們研究了 COGS 和投入成本及產量都可能存在的領域。受到來自主要地區（尤其是墨西哥、中國和加拿大）提高關稅的壓力，我認為如果我們用數字來衡量，它是一種中等個位數的風險敞口，但很難表明其障礙是什麼，其影響是什麼，所以我們仍然在密切關注，例如，它肯定會定期出現在新的資產投資委員會中。對於消費品等行業，我們已經不再強調曝光度，我認為我們今天會更加謹慎。

Excellent answer. Thank.

非常好的答案。感謝。

You.

你。

Thank you. As a reminder one for questions, we'll go next to Finian O'Shea with Wells Fargo Securities.

謝謝。為了提醒大家回答問題，我們接下來會採訪富國證券的 Finian O'Shea。

Hey everyone, good morning. I wanted to ask about the mark on Medallia, sort of just. Mid 90s but inching down and trying to get a feel of what that implies if we should expect that to continue to play out to the extent it's on trailing performance and you know if you're able to provide color like sort of what that you know often we'll hear a 95 means something like 30% under EBITDA do trajectory performance if you could give if color on that handle, that'd be great thank you.

大家好，早安。我想問 Medallia 上的標記，只是問問而已。90 年代中期，但正在緩慢下降，並試圖了解這意味著什麼，如果我們應該預期它將繼續發揮作用，直到落後的表現，你知道如果你能夠提供顏色，就像你知道的那樣，我們經常會聽到 95 意味著 EBITDA 低於 30% 的軌跡表現，如果你能給出那個手柄上的顏色，那就太好了，謝謝。

Thanks then. Yeah, I'll give you a little bit of insight that we unfortunately don't comment a lot on specific assets just because they're private companies but we clearly understand, the sensitivity for investors given what happened with plural sight, so what I would say with Medallia, around your 30% comment, the company is actually growing, EBITDA has tripled, since we made the investment.

那就謝謝了。是的，我會給你一些見解，不幸的是，我們不對特定資產發表太多評論，因為它們是私營公司，但我們清楚地了解，鑑於多元化視野所發生的事情，投資者的敏感性，所以我想說的是，關於 Medallia，大約 30% 的評論，該公司實際上正在增​​長，自我們進行投資以來，EBITDA 已經增長了兩倍。

But it's just been a little bit slower to grow into its capital structure than we would like so that the mark reflects, that challenge, but, the product is still very high quality, we're just seeing a little bit of pricing, pressure which is slowing, the, our expected kind of growth, but again it's, EBITDA has grown meaningfully since we did the deal.

但其資本結構的成長速度比我們預期的要慢一些，因此標誌反映了這一挑戰，但產品的品質仍然很高，我們只是看到一點點定價壓力正在放緩，這是我們預期的成長，但自從我們達成交易以來，EBITDA 已經實現了有意義的成長。

I will say what this deal, and I'm glad you brought it up because it highlights a couple things one, being in control of the dialogue with a sponsor when a company is, in this situation is really important, and why it's why we like to lead our deals and control them, focusing on doc quality is paramount for us as where I think some of the other situations that have gotten in trouble, may have had issues with their docs.

我會說這筆交易，我很高興你提出這個問題，因為它強調了幾件事，第一，當一家公司處於這種情況時，控制與贊助商的對話非常重要，這就是為什麼我們喜歡領導我們的交易並控制它們，關注文檔質量對我們來說至關重要，因為我認為其他一些陷入困境的情況可能與他們的文檔存在問題。

100% of our deals or nearly 100% of asset stripping protection, so these are things that we spend a lot of time on, for this, these exact reasons, and then lastly, and this again is I said we had a superpower before maybe this or other superpower, but we are able to play a more active role with companies, and with Medallia we're figuring out how to cross sell their products across the Blackstone Ecosystem, which hopefully you know can drive some value, as the company continues to accelerate, growth, so I threw a lot out there.

我們 100% 的交易或幾乎 100% 的資產剝離保護，所以這些是我們花費大量時間的事情，正是出於這些原因，最後，我再次說，我們之前可能有一個超級大國，或者其他超級大國，但我們能夠在公司中發揮更積極的作用，通過 Medallia，我們正在研究如何在 Blackstone 生態系統中交叉銷售他們的產品，所以我可以加速一些價值，所以我希望隨著您知道很多價值，所以我可以加速了一些價值。

I think the mark reflects kind of a little bit of the growth is below our plan, but EBITDA is growing nicely.

我認為這個數字反映出成長略低於我們的計劃，但 EBITDA 成長良好。

Super helpful, really appreciate that. It's just a small follow up. I just want to, I wanted to revisit, get the prior, question on, spread related headwinds. I think you said that can they. The new spreads were in the 5s, low fives, average that looks like this quarter, just to verify did you indicate that that.

非常有幫助，非常感謝。這只是一個小小的後續行動。我只是想，我想重新檢視一下，了解之前的問題，並傳播相關的阻力。我想你說過他們可以。新的利差在 5% 左右，低於 5%，看起來像是本季度的平均水平，只是為了驗證您是否指出了這一點。

Just understanding this quarter's, paper was, 12 quarters ago, committed or originated. Is that consistent with what you're doing today, or should you know one quarter spread skew more to that low end of the range, the sort of 450?

僅了解本季的論文是在 12 個季度前提交或發起的。這與您今天所做的事情一致嗎？或者您是否應該知道四分之一的價差會更偏向該範圍的低端，即 450 左右？

I think you're asking on a go forward basis I think spreads are in range with historical our last quarter, I think to answer your question. You know it's always a hard question to answer though Finn because everyone always asks about spreads and no one ever talks about risk, for example, Dropbox that we just did was less than 30% loan to value and I think the spread on that is 490, close to close to 500.

我認為您問的是未來情況，我認為利差在我們上個季度的歷史範圍內，我想回答您的問題。你知道，芬恩，這始終是一個很難回答的問題，因為每個人都會問利差，但沒有人談論風險，例如，我們剛剛做的 Dropbox 的貸款價值比不到 30%，我認為它的利差是 490，接近 500。

So you really gotta put risk in context of spread. I implore everyone to focus on this. The market's super-efficient, so I think that the winners as it relates to, the BDC model are those that can minimize, credit issues. Those that can drive down their cost of capital across all fronts whether it's their fees, whether it's the leverage facilities, and maintain kind of NAB stability, in a market where, in the moment spreads are a little bit tighter so I think it's really important to focus on risk when we talk about spreads.

因此，您確實必須將風險置於傳播的背景中。我懇請大家關注這一點。市場非常高效，所以我認為與 BDC 模型相關的贏家是那些能夠最大限度地減少信貸問題的人。那些能夠從各個方面降低資本成本的人，無論是費用還是槓桿工具，並保持國民銀行的穩定性，在目前的利差略微收緊的市場中，所以我認為，當我們談論利差時，關注風險非常重要。

I just I guess a follow up there on the market, like there's a lot more being raised out there in other like lower fee formats, the non-traded BDCs, and maybe institutional, certainly industry wide there's a lot still coming in like the direct lending premium, it sort of gets washed out in in the public BC, but a lot of this stuff could be very attractive.

我只是猜測，市場正在跟進，例如其他低費用形式、非交易 BDC 和機構形式正在籌集更多資金，當然整個行業仍有很多資金流入，例如直接貸款溢價，它在公共 BC 中被沖淡了，但其中很多東西可能非常有吸引力。

And say a non-traded and all these non-trads are way under levered they're raising a lot of money every day what's your sort of feel of maybe when the dam breaks and the new money, the sort of floor goes down to so for 400 or 375 or how long can it be before we get there? If you have any sort of crystal ball view on that, thanks.

假設非交易公司和所有這些非交易公司的槓桿率都遠低於平均水平，他們每天都在籌集大量資金，當大壩決堤，新資金湧入時，您的感覺如何？底線會下降到 400 或 375，或者我們還要多久才能達到這個水平？如果您對此有任何見解，謝謝。

I don't have a crystal ball. I will say send the market in leverage finance in the US is a $6 trillion dollar market. Private credits probably about $2 trillion. The real economy is probably something close to $30 trillion, so the white space for private credit, is enormous, which is why, there's more capital being raised for the space, the reason performance being strong, which is why there's investors that are attracted to it.

我沒有水晶球。我想說的是，美國的槓桿融資市場是一個價值 6 兆美元的市場。私人信貸大概有2兆美元。實體經濟的規模可能接近 30 兆美元，因此私人信貸的空白空間是巨大的，這就是為什麼有更多資本被籌集到這個領域，業績表現強勁，這也是投資者被它吸引的原因。

So, I don't have a crystal ball where spreads go, I guess if the public markets went to a SOFR plus 100. Spread environment, then yes, you could see spreads and private credit, tighten in line with the public markets, but I do think one thing is for certain, which is, the spread to the public markets will continue to be attractive for investors that has not changed.

所以，我沒有水晶球可以預測利差會如何變化，我猜如果公開市場利率達到 SOFR 加 100 的話。利差環境，是的，你可以看到利差和私人信貸與公開市場同步收緊，但我確實認為有一件事是肯定的，那就是公開市場的利差將繼續對投資者俱有吸引力，這一點沒有改變。

The other thing I think is important getting into my previous comment. Is the question you're asking is really for a lot of the other kind of BDCs because BXSL is one of the lowest cost you know BDCs in the market and we've done that intentionally so we can focus on higher quality assets and not reach for risk as the market becomes more efficient.

我認為另一件重要的事情與我之前的評論有關。您問的問題是否真的針對許多其他類型的 BDC，因為 BXSL 是市場上成本最低的 BDC 之一，我們這樣做是有意為之，這樣我們就可以專注於更高品質的資產，而不會在市場變得更有效率時承擔風險。

So, I don't know where spreads are going. I do know that in the context of driving returns for our investors, it's what I said earlier, that you need very good credit performance, you need NAP stability, and you want to deliver a dividend higher than what's available in the public markets, and you want to do that on a consistent basis.

所以，我不知道利差會如何改變。我確實知道，在為我們的投資者帶來回報的背景下，正如我之前所說的，你需要非常好的信用表現，你需要 NAP 穩定性，你希望提供高於公開市場的股息，並且你想要持續地做到這一點。

Thank you. We'll go next to Maxwell Fritscher with Truist Securities.

謝謝。接下來我們來談談 Truist Securities 的 Maxwell Fritscher。

Yeah, good morning. Thank you. I'm, one for Mark Hughes. Your kind of just hit on in the last question, the new capital being raised. So going off that, can you comment on competition you're seeing in the upper end of the market, maybe, whether that be BSLs or other direct lenders? Has there been any changes recently or has that been relatively stable?

是的，早安。謝謝。我支持馬克·休斯。您在最後一個問題中提到了正在籌集的新資本。那麼，您能否評論一下您在高端市場看到的競爭情況，無論是 BSL 還是其他直接貸款機構？最近有沒有什麼變化或相對穩定？

That might be a question for Melissa when we get her back on the call from JPMorgan, but I would say the public markets have definitely come roaring back, this year I think it's a back a little bit to my opening comments around, the outlook is quite, positive in the US, not a lot of new deals supply and demand.

當我們再次接到摩根大通的電話時，梅麗莎可能會問這個問題，但我想說，公開市場肯定已經強勢回歸，今年我認為它有點回到我開場白的語境，美國的前景相當樂觀，新的交易供求關係並不多。

Imbalance, and the cost of liabilities of titan such as asset spreads that have followed, so the banks, have, being a little bit more, active as they underwrite loans for the broadly syndicated markets, and that's resulting in a few repayments of some of our larger deals which for investors is I guess is an immediate positive because they get the call protection.

不平衡，以及隨之而來的資產利差等巨頭的負債成本，使得銀行在為廣泛的銀團市場承銷貸款時變得更加活躍，這導致我們一些較大交易的償還，對於投資者來說，我認為這是直接的利好，因為他們獲得了贖回保護。

And the accelerated OID as a result of those repayments but definitely kind of more activity on the public side which to Teddy's earlier points which is why we skewed a little bit more to the kind of upper end of the middle market, more recently because we just saw better opportunities there where we can use our scale we use our brand, we can use our value ad program.

由於這些償還，OID 加速成長，但肯定在公共方面有更多活動，這與 Teddy 之前的觀點一致，這就是為什麼我們最近更偏向中端市場的高端，因為我們在那裡看到了更好的機會，我們可以利用我們的規模，使用我們的品牌，我們可以使用我們的價值廣告計劃。

To differentiate, our kind of proposals from the public markets in terms of new private credit managers, there's a lot of new, private credit managers coming into the space, but these are usually with $1 billion, $2 billion, $3 billion, $4 billion dollar funds.

為了區分，我們在公開市場上關於新私人信貸經理的提議，有很多新的私人信貸經理進入該領域，但他們通常擁有 10 億美元、20 億美元、30 億美元、40 億美元的資金。

Which if you think about building a fund of, a portfolio for a fund that size you're committing not really more than $100 or $200 million in a deal, so there that competition has gotten maybe a little bit more heated in the small end in the in the lower middle market and so it's really kind of this, more pure middle market that's had a little bit more of a premium.

如果你考慮為這種規模的基金建立一個基金或一個投資組合，你在交易中投入的資金實際上不會超過 1 億或 2 億美元，因此，在中低端市場的小型市場中，競爭可能會變得更加激烈，因此，這實際上是一個更純粹的中型市場，其溢價更高一些。

Europe, not this focuses a lot on Europe, but Europe continues to have a spread premium as well as some of these sectors that are a little bit more constrained and specialized, constrained from a supply and demand standpoint and specialized from a from a sector standpoint. So take life science for example where there's a $170 billion dollar R&D funding GAAP that can it has largely be funded by the equity markets, but that is now turning to the debt markets and you can't get that funding through public, debt alternatives so there are certainly some white spaces that that we're kind of moving into to help drive differentiated returns for our investors.

歐洲，這並不是主要關注歐洲，而是歐洲繼續存在利差溢價，而且一些行業受到更多限制和專業化，從供需角度來看受到限制，從行業角度來看則更加專業化。以生命科學為例，其 GAAP 研發資金為 1700 億美元，大部分資金來自股票市場，但現在正轉向債務市場，而你無法透過公共債務替代品獲得這些資金，因此肯定存在一些空白領域，我們正在進入這些領域以幫助為投資者帶來差異化回報。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. We'll take our last question from Melissa Wedel with JP Morgan.

謝謝。我們將回答摩根大通的梅麗莎·韋德爾提出的最後一個問題。

Good morning. Let's try this one more time. Can you hear me?

早安.我們再試一次。你聽得到我嗎？

Yes.

是的。

Okay great thank you I was surprised a little bit, especially given the strength of the origination's activity in 4Q. I was surprised by what seemed like pretty minimal repayments and exits. I guess I was curious if you were surprised by that as well and if you expect a pickup in that, into 2025.

好的，非常感謝，我有點驚訝，尤其是考慮到第四季度發起活動的強度。我對看似極少的還款和退出金額感到驚訝。我想我很好奇您是否也對此感到驚訝，以及您是否預計到 2025 年這一數字會上升。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Yeah, thanks Melissa. This is Teddy. I'm happy to take that. So, I think we would agree with your repayments were relatively light in the in the quarter right around 6% actually sort of right on top of 6% for the full year. Where we saw activity to Brad's point was where we had quite a bit of incumbency over the last over half of our deals closed were either existing portfolio companies or we had some level of incumbency so that wouldn't necessarily drive repayments.

是的，謝謝梅麗莎。這是泰迪。我很高興接受這個。因此，我認為我們會同意您在本季度的還款額相對較低，約為 6%，實際上略高於全年的 6%。我們看到布拉德所指出的活動是，在過去，我們完成的交易中有一半以上是現有的投資組合公司，或者我們有一定程度的在職人員，因此這不一定能推動償還。

I do think our view is if as the. M&A market comes back this year. That is an upside potential lever to returns, right? We generated 94% of our income in the quarter from just interest income, very low accelerated OID very low fee income and not a lot of picks. So as repayments pick up, this year we're at the M&A market picks up that's potential upside driver to returns.

我確實認為我們的觀點是。今年併購市場復甦。這對回報來說是一個潛在的上升槓桿，對嗎？本季度，我們的 94% 收入僅來自利息收入、非常低的加速 OID、非常低的費用收入以及不多的選擇。因此，隨著還款額的增加，今年我們面臨的併購市場將會回暖，這對回報來說是潛在的上行動力。

Thank you.

謝謝。

That will conclude our question-and-answer session at this time. I would like to turn the call back over to Justin Farshidi for any additional or closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將電話轉回給賈斯汀法爾希迪 (Justin Farshidi)，讓他做任何補充或結束語。

Thank you and thanks to all of you for joining today's call. We look forward to a follow up discussions and we'll reconvene again next quarter.

謝謝大家，也謝謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我們期待後續討論，並將於下個季度再次召開會議。

Thank you, that will conclude today's call. We appreciate your participation.

謝謝，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。