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Risk Factors - CSWC
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Item 1A.
We expect that members of our management team will maintain their relationships with financial sponsors, intermediaries, financial institutions, investment bankers, commercial bankers, financial advisors, attorneys, accountants, consultants and other individuals within our network, and we will rely to a significant extent upon these relationships to provide us with potential investment opportunities. If our management team fails to maintain its existing relationships or develop new relationships with sources of investment opportunities, we will not be able to effectively invest our capital. Individuals with whom members of our management team have relationships are not obligated to provide us with investment opportunities; therefore, there is no assurance that these relationships will generate investment opportunities for us.
We also face an increased risk of investor, creditor or portfolio company disputes, litigation, and governmental and regulatory scrutiny as a result of current economic and market conditions.
Although it is impossible to predict the precise nature and consequences of these events, or of any political or policy decisions and regulatory changes occasioned by emerging events or uncertainty on applicable laws or regulations that impact us, our portfolio companies and our investments, it is clear that these types of events are impacting us and our portfolio companies and will, for at least some time, continue to impact us and our portfolio companies; further, in many instances, the impact will be adverse and profound.
Further, SBA regulations require that an SBIC be periodically examined and audited by the SBA to determine its compliance with the relevant SBA regulations. If SBIC I fails to comply with applicable regulations, the SBA could, depending on the severity of the violation, limit or prohibit SBIC I’s use of the debentures, declare outstanding debentures immediately due and payable, and/or limit SBIC I from making new investments. In addition, the SBA could revoke or suspend SBIC I’s license for willful or repeated violation of, or willful or repeated failure to observe, any provision of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, as amended, or any rule or regulation promulgated thereunder. These actions by the SBA would, in turn, negatively affect our operations because SBIC I is our wholly owned subsidiary.
Additionally, because of the possibility of additional changes to healthcare laws and regulations under the current U.S. presidential administration, we cannot quantify or predict with any certainty the likely impact on our portfolio companies, our business model, prospects, financial condition or results of operations. We also anticipate that Congress, state legislatures, and third-party payors may continue to review and assess alternative healthcare delivery and payment systems and may in the future propose and adopt legislation or policy changes or implementations effecting additional fundamental changes in the healthcare delivery system. We cannot assure you as to the ultimate content, timing, or effect of changes, nor is it possible at this time to estimate the impact of any such potential legislation on certain of our portfolio companies, our business model, prospects, financial condition or results of operations.
Upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event (as defined in the relevant indenture), holders of the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes may require us to repurchase for cash some or all of the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes, respectively, at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the aggregate principal amount of the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes, respectively, being repurchased, plus their respective accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the repurchase date. We may not be able to repurchase the January 2026 Notes and/or the October 2026 Notes upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event because we may not have sufficient funds. Before making any such repurchase of the January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes, we would also have to comply with certain requirements under our Corporate Credit Facility, to the extent such requirements remain in effect at such time, or otherwise obtain consent from the lenders under our Corporate Credit Facility. Before making any such repurchase of the January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes, we would also have to comply with certain requirements under our Credit Facility, to the extent such requirements remain in effect at such time, or otherwise obtain consent from the lenders under our Credit Facility. The terms of our Corporate Credit Facility and our SPV Credit Facility also provide that certain change of control events will constitute an event of default thereunder entitling the respective lenders to accelerate any indebtedness outstanding under such credit facilities at that time and to terminate such credit facilities. The terms of our Credit Facility also provide that certain change of control events will constitute an event of default thereunder entitling the lenders to accelerate any indebtedness outstanding under our Credit Facility at that time and to terminate our Credit Facility. In addition, the occurrence of a Change of Control Repurchase Event enabling the holders of the January 2026 Notes and/or the October 2026 Notes to require the mandatory purchase of the January 2026 Notes and/or the October 2026 Notes, respectively, would likely constitute an event of default under our Corporate Credit Facility and our SPV Credit Facility, entitling the respective lenders under such credit facilities to accelerate any indebtedness outstanding under such credit facilities at that time and to terminate such credit facilities. In addition, the occurrence of a Change of Control Repurchase Event enabling the holders of the January 2026 Notes and/or the October 2026 Notes to require the mandatory purchase of the January 2026 Notes and/or the October 2026 Notes, respectively, would likely constitute an event of default under our Credit Facility, entitling the lenders to accelerate any indebtedness outstanding under our Credit Facility at that time and to terminate our Credit Facility. Our and our subsidiaries' future financing facilities may contain similar restrictions and provisions. Our failure to purchase such tendered January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes upon the occurrence of such Change of Control Repurchase Event would cause an event of default under the respective indenture governing the January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes, respectively, and a cross-default under the agreements governing certain of our other indebtedness, including under the agreements governing our Corporate Credit Facility and likely under the agreements governing our SPV Credit Facility, which may result in the acceleration of such indebtedness requiring us to repay such indebtedness immediately. Our failure to purchase such tendered January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes upon the occurrence of such Change of Control Repurchase Event would cause an event of default under the respective indenture governing the January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes, respectively, and a cross-default under the agreements governing certain of our other indebtedness, including under the agreements governing our Credit Facility, which may result in the acceleration of such indebtedness requiring us to repay that indebtedness immediately. If the holders of the January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes exercise their respective right to require us to repurchase the January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes, respectively, upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event, the financial effect of any such repurchase could cause a default under our current and future debt instruments, even if the Change of Control Repurchase Event itself would not cause a default. If the holders of the January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes exercise their respective right to require us to repurchase the 40Table of ContentsJanuary 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes, respectively, upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event, the financial effect of any such repurchase could cause a default under our current and future debt instruments, even if the Change of Control Repurchase Event itself would not cause a default. If a Change of Control Repurchase Event were to occur, we may not have sufficient funds to repay any such accelerated indebtedness.
The January 2026 Notes are redeemable, in whole or in part, at any time at our option prior to October 31, 2025, at par plus a "make-whole" premium, and thereafter at par. The October 2026 Notes are redeemable, in whole or in part, at any time at our option prior to July 1, 2026 at par plus a "make-whole" premium, and thereafter at par. The August 2028 Notes are redeemable, in whole or in part, at any time at our option after August 1, 2025, at par plus accrued and unpaid interest. We may choose to redeem the Notes at times when prevailing interest rates are lower than the interest rate paid on the Notes.
Texas law and our charter contain provisions that may have the effect of discouraging, delaying or making difficult a change in control. The existence of these provisions, among others, may have a negative impact on the price of our common stock and may discourage third-party bids for ownership of the Company. These provisions may prevent any premiums being offered to you for our common stock.
We have based the forward-looking statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K on information available to us on the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and you should carefully consider all of the factors identified in this report that could cause actual results to differ. We assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements, unless we are required to do so by applicable law.
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PART I
Item 1. Business
ORGANIZATION
Capital Southwest Corporation (“we,” “our,” “us,” “CSWC,” or the “Company”), a Texas corporation, is an internally managed closed-end, non-diversified investment company that has elected to be regulated as a business development company, or BDC, under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the 1940 Act. Because CSWC is internally managed, all of the executive officers and other employees are employed by CSWC. Therefore, CSWC does not pay any external investment advisory fees, but instead directly incurs the operating costs associated with employing investment and portfolio management professionals.
Since September 30, 2015, we have pursued a credit-focused investing strategy. We specialize in providing customized financing to middle market companies in a broad range of industry segments located primarily in the United States. We invest primarily in debt securities, including senior debt and second lien, and also invest in preferred stock and common stock alongside our debt investments or through warrants. Our common stock trades on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “CSWC.”
As a BDC, we are required to comply with certain regulatory requirements. For instance, we generally have to invest at least 70% of our assets in “qualifying assets,” including securities of private or thinly traded public U.S. companies, cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and high quality debt investments that mature in one year or less. In addition, effective April 25, 2019, we are allowed to borrow money such that our asset coverage, as defined in the 1940 Act, equals at least 150% after such borrowing. Additionally, the Board of Directors approved a resolution that limits the Company's issuance of senior securities such that the asset coverage ratio, taking into account any such issuance, would not be less than 166%, at any time after the effective date.
We have elected, and intend to qualify annually, to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a regulated investment company, or RIC, under Subchapter M of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code. As such, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax at corporate rates on any ordinary income or capital gains that we timely distribute to our shareholders as dividends. To continue to maintain our RIC tax treatment, we generally must meet specified source-of-income and asset diversification requirements and distribute annually at least 90% of our ordinary income and realized net short-term capital gains in excess of realized net long-term capital losses, if any. To continue to maintain our RIC tax treatment, we must meet specified source-of-income and asset diversification requirements and distribute annually at least 90% of our ordinary income and realized net short-term capital gains in excess of realized net long-term capital losses, if any. We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax, and possibly a 4% U.S. federal excise tax, on any income that we do not timely distribute to our shareholders. Our U.S. federal income tax liability may be reduced to the extent that we make certain distributions during the following calendar year and satisfy other procedural requirements.
Capital Southwest Equity Investments, Inc. (the “Taxable Subsidiary”), Capital Southwest SPV LLC (“SPV”), and Capital Southwest SBIC I, LP (“SBIC I”) are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Company and are consolidated in its financial statements. The Taxable Subsidiary was formed to permit us to hold certain interests in portfolio companies that are organized as limited liability companies, or LLCs (or other forms of pass-through entities) and still allow us to satisfy the RIC tax requirement that at least 90% of our gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes must consist of qualifying investment income. The Taxable Subsidiary has elected to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and is subject to U.S. federal income tax at corporate rates based on its taxable income. SPV is a special purpose vehicle that was formed to hold investments for the SPV Credit Facility (as defined below) to support our investment and operating activities.
On April 20, 2021, SBIC I received a license from the U.S. Small Business Administration (the “SBA”) to operate as an SBIC under Section 301(c) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, as amended. SBIC I has an investment strategy substantially similar to ours and makes similar types of investments in accordance with SBA regulations. SBIC I and its general partner are consolidated for U.S. GAAP reporting purposes, and the portfolio investments held by it are included in the consolidated financial statements. See “Regulation as a Small Business Investment Company” below for more information about the regulations applicable to SBIC I.
Corporate Information
Our principal executive offices are located at 8333 Douglas Avenue, Suite 1100, Dallas, Texas 75225. We maintain a website at www.capitalsouthwest.com. You can review the filings we have made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, free of charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. We also make available free of charge on our website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, any amendments to those reports and any other reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
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1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after filing these reports with the SEC. Information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K and you should not consider that information to be part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Information on our website is not incorporated by reference into 2Table of Contentsthis Annual Report on Form 10-K and you should not consider that information to be part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The charters adopted by the committees of our Board of Directors are also available on our website.
OVERVIEW OF OUR BUSINESS
We are an internally managed closed-end, non-diversified investment company that has elected to be regulated as a BDC under the 1940 Act. We specialize in providing customized debt and equity financing to lower middle market, or LMM, companies in a broad range of investment segments located primarily in the United States. We specialize in providing customized debt and equity financing to lower middle market, or LMM, companies and debt capital to upper middle market, or UMM, companies in a broad range of investment segments located primarily in the United States. Our investment objective is to produce attractive risk-adjusted returns by generating current income from our debt investments and capital appreciation from our equity and equity related investments. Our investment strategy is to partner with business owners, management teams and financial sponsors to provide flexible financing solutions to fund growth, changes of control, or other corporate events. We invest primarily in senior debt securities, secured by security interests in portfolio company assets. We also may invest in equity interests in our portfolio companies alongside our debt securities. We also invest in equity interests in our portfolio companies alongside our debt securities.
We focus on investing in companies with histories of generating revenues and positive cash flow, established market positions and proven management teams with strong operating discipline. Our core business is to target senior debt investments and equity investments in LMM companies. Our target companies generally have annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, between $3.0 million and $25.0 million, and our investments generally range in size from $5.0 million to $35.0 million. Our target LMM companies generally have annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, between $3.0 million and $20.0 million, and our LMM investments generally range in size from $5.0 million to $35.0 million.
We seek to fill the financing gap for LMM companies, which historically have had more limited access to financing from commercial banks and other traditional sources. The underserved nature of the LMM creates the opportunity for us to meet the financing needs of LMM companies while also negotiating favorable transaction terms and equity participation. Our ability to invest across a LMM company’s capital structure, from secured loans to equity securities, allows us to offer portfolio companies a comprehensive suite of financing options. Providing customized financing solutions is important to LMM companies. We generally seek to partner directly with financial sponsors, entrepreneurs, management teams and business owners in making our investments. Our LMM debt investments typically include senior loans with a first lien on the assets of the portfolio company. Our LMM debt investments typically have a term of up to five years from the original investment date. Our LMM debt investments typically have a term of between five and seven years from the original investment date. We also often seek to invest in the equity securities of our LMM portfolio companies.
We offer managerial assistance to our portfolio companies and provide them access to our investment experience, direct industry expertise and contacts. We offer managerial assistance to our portfolio companies and provide them access to our investment experience, direct industry expertise and contacts. Our obligation to offer to make available significant managerial assistance to our portfolio companies is consistent with our belief that providing managerial assistance to a portfolio company is important to its business development activities.
Because we are internally managed, we do not pay any external investment advisory fees, but instead directly incur the operating costs associated with employing investment and portfolio management professionals. We believe that our internally managed structure provides us with a beneficial operating expense structure when compared to other publicly traded and privately held investment firms that are externally managed, and our internally managed structure allows us the opportunity to leverage our non-interest operating expenses as we grow our investment portfolio.
Recent Developments
On April 24, 2024, the Board of Directors declared a total dividend of $0.63 per share, comprised of a regular dividend of $0.57 and a supplemental dividend of $0.06, for the quarter ending June 30, 2024. The record date for the dividend is June 14, 2024. The payment date for the dividend is June 28, 2024.
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Our Investment Strategy
We intend to achieve our investment objective of producing attractive risk-adjusted returns by generating current income from our debt investments and realizing capital appreciation from our equity and equity-related investments. We have adopted the following investment strategies to achieve our investment objective:
•Leveraging the Experience of Our Management Team. Our senior management team has extensive experience investing in and lending to middle market companies across changing market cycles. The members of our management team have diverse investment backgrounds, with prior experience at BDCs in the capacity of senior officers. We believe this extensive experience provides us with an in-depth understanding of the strategic, financial and operational challenges and opportunities of the middle market companies in which we invest. We believe this understanding allows us to select and structure better investments and to efficiently monitor and provide managerial assistance to our portfolio companies.
•Applying Rigorous Underwriting Policies and Active Portfolio Management. Our senior management team has implemented rigorous underwriting policies that are followed in each transaction. These policies include a thorough analysis of each potential portfolio company’s competitive position, financial performance, management team operating discipline, growth potential and industry attractiveness, which we believe allows us to better assess the company’s prospects. After investing in a company, we monitor the investment closely, typically receiving monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements. Senior management, together with the deal team and accounting and finance departments, generally meets at least quarterly to analyze and discuss in detail the company’s financial performance and industry trends. We believe that our initial and ongoing portfolio review process allows us to effectively monitor the performance and prospects of our portfolio companies.
•Investing Across Multiple Companies, Industries, Regions and End Markets. We seek to maintain a portfolio of investments that is appropriately diverse among various companies, industries, geographic regions and end markets. This portfolio balance is intended to mitigate the potential effects of negative economic events for particular companies, regions, industries and end markets. However, we may from time to time hold securities of an individual portfolio company that comprise more than 5% of our total assets and/or more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of the portfolio company. For that reason, we are classified as a non-diversified investment company that has elected to be regulated as a BDC under the 1940 Act.
•Utilizing Long-Standing Relationships to Source Deals. Our senior management team and investment professionals maintain extensive relationships with entrepreneurs, financial sponsors, attorneys, accountants, investment bankers, commercial bankers and other non-bank providers of capital who refer prospective portfolio companies to us. These relationships historically have generated significant investment opportunities. We believe that our network of relationships will continue to produce attractive investment opportunities.
•Focusing on Underserved Markets. The middle market has traditionally been underserved. We believe that operating margin and growth pressures, as well as regulatory concerns, have caused many financial institutions to de-emphasize services to middle market companies in favor of larger corporate clients and more liquid capital market transactions. We also invest in securities that would be rated below investment grade if they were rated. We believe these dynamics have resulted in the financing market for middle market companies being underserved, providing us with greater investment opportunities.
•Focus on Established Companies. We generally invest in companies with established market positions, proven management teams with strong operating discipline, histories of generating revenues, and recurring cash flow streams. We believe that those companies generally possess better risk adjusted return profiles than earlier stage companies that are building their management teams and establishing their revenue base. We also believe that established companies in our target size range generally provide opportunities for capital appreciation.
•Capital Structures Appropriate for Potential Industry and Business Volatility. Our investment team spends significant time understanding the performance of both the target portfolio company and its specific industry throughout a full economic cycle. The history of each specific industry and target portfolio company will demonstrate a different level of potential volatility in financial performance. We seek to understand this dynamic thoroughly and invest our capital at leverage levels in the capital structure that will remain within enterprise value and in securities that will receive interest payments if such downside volatility were to occur. We seek to understand this dynamic thoroughly and invest our 4Table of Contentscapital at leverage levels in the capital structure that will remain within enterprise value and in securities that will receive interest payments if such downside volatility were to occur.
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•Providing Customized Financing Solutions. We offer a variety of financing structures and have the flexibility to structure our investments to meet the needs of our portfolio companies. We primarily invest in senior debt securities coupled with equity interests. We believe our ability to customize financing structures makes us an attractive partner to middle market companies.
INVESTMENT CRITERIA AND OBJECTIVES
Our investment team has identified the following investment criteria that we believe are important in evaluating prospective investment opportunities. However, not all of these criteria have been or will be met in connection with each of our investments:
•Positive and Sustainable Cash Flow: We generally seek to invest in established companies with sound historical financial performance.
•Excellent Management: Management teams with a proven record of achievement, exceptional ability, unyielding determination and integrity. We believe management teams with these attributes are more likely to manage the companies in a manner that protects and enhances value.
•Competitive Advantages in Markets: We primarily focus on companies having competitive advantages in their respective markets and/or operating in industries with barriers to entry, which may help protect their market position.
•Strong Private Equity Sponsors: We focus on developing relationships with leading private equity firms in order to partner with these firms and provide them capital to support the acquisition and growth of their portfolio companies.
•Appropriate Risk-Adjusted Returns: We focus on and price opportunities to generate returns that are attractive on a risk-adjusted basis, taking into consideration factors in addition to the ones depicted above, including credit structure, leverage levels and the general volatility and potential volatility of cash flows.
We have an investment committee that is responsible for all aspects of our investment process relating to investments made by us. The current members of the investment committee are Bowen Diehl, Chief Executive Officer; Michael Sarner, Chief Financial Officer; Josh Weinstein, Chief Investment Officer; and Ramona Rogers-Windsor, a member of the Board of Directors and a non-voting, observer of the investment committee. The current members of the investment committee are Bowen Diehl, Chief Executive Officer; Michael Sarner, Chief Financial Officer; Josh Weinstein, Senior Managing Director; and Ramona Rogers-Windsor, a member of the Board of Directors and a non-voting, observer of the investment committee.
Investment Process
Our investment strategy involves a team approach, whereby our investment team screens potential transactions before they are presented to the investment committee for approval. Transactions that are either above a certain hold size or outside our general investment policy will also be reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors. Our investment team generally categorizes the investment process into six distinctive stages:
•Deal Generation/Origination: Deal generation and origination is maximized through long-standing and extensive relationships with private equity firms, leveraged loan syndication desks, brokers, commercial and investment bankers, entrepreneurs, service providers such as lawyers and accountants, and current and former portfolio companies and investors.
•Screening: Once it is determined that a potential investment has met our investment criteria, we will screen the investment by performing preliminary due diligence, which could include discussions with the private equity firm, management team, loan syndication desk, etc. Upon successful screening of the proposed investment, the investment team makes a recommendation to move forward and prepares an initial screening memo for our investment committee. We then issue either a non-binding term sheet (in the case of a directly originated transaction), or submit an order to the loan syndication desk (in the case of a large-market syndicated loan transaction).
•Term Sheet: In a directly originated transaction, the non-binding term sheet will typically include the key economic terms of our investment proposal, along with exclusivity, confidentiality, and expense reimbursement provisions, as well as other terms relevant to the particular investment. Upon acceptance of the term sheet, we will begin our formal due diligence process. In a syndicated loan transaction, rather than a formal term sheet, we will submit an order for an allocation to the syndicated loan desk.
•Due Diligence: Due diligence is performed under the direction of our senior investment professionals, and involves our entire investment team as well as certain external resources who together perform due diligence to understand the relationships among the prospective portfolio company’s business plan, operations, financial performance, and legal risks. On our directly originated transactions, our due diligence often will include (1) conducting site visits with management and key personnel; (2) performing a detailed review of historical and projected financial statements, often
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with a third-party accounting firm, to evaluate the target company’s normalized cash flow; (3) creating our own detailed modeling projections, including a downside case which attempts to project how the business would perform in a recession based on past operating history of either the company or the industry; (4) interviewing key customers and suppliers; (5) evaluating company management, including a formal background check; (6) reviewing material contracts; (7) conducting an industry, market and strategy analysis; and (8) obtaining a review by legal, environmental or other consultants. In instances where a financial sponsor is investing in the equity in a transaction, we will leverage work done by the financial sponsor for purposes of our due diligence. In syndicated loan transactions, our due diligence may exclude direct customer and supplier interviews, and will consist of a detailed review of reports from the financial sponsor or syndication agent for industry and market analysis and legal and environmental diligence.
•Document and Close: Upon completion of a satisfactory due diligence review, our investment team presents its written findings to the investment committee. For transactions that are either over a certain hold size or outside our general investment policy, the investment team will present the transaction to our Board of Directors for approval. Upon approval of the investment, we re-confirm our regulatory company compliance, process and finalize all required legal documents and fund the investment.
•Post-Investment: We continuously monitor the status and progress of our portfolio companies, as well as our investment thesis developed at the time of investment. We offer managerial assistance to our portfolio companies and provide them access to our investment experience, direct industry expertise and contacts. We offer managerial assistance to our portfolio companies and provide them access to our investment experience, direct industry expertise and contacts. The same investment team leader that was involved in the investment process will continue to be involved in the portfolio company post-investment. This approach provides continuity of knowledge and allows the investment team to maintain a strong business relationship with the financial sponsor, business owner and key management of our portfolio companies. As part of the monitoring process, members of our investment team will analyze monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements against previous periods, review financial projections, meet with the financial sponsor and management (when necessary), attend board meetings (when appropriate) and review all compliance certificates and covenants. Our investment team generally meets once each quarter with senior management to review the performance of our portfolio companies.
We utilize an internally developed investment rating system to rate the performance of and monitor the expected level of returns for each debt investment in our portfolio. The investment rating system takes into account both quantitative and qualitative factors of the portfolio company and the investments held therein, including each investment’s expected level of returns and the collectability of our debt investments, comparisons to competitors and other industry participants and the portfolio company’s future outlook. The ratings are not intended to reflect the performance or expected level of returns of our equity investments.
•Investment Rating 1 represents the least amount of risk in our portfolio. The investment is performing materially above underwriting expectations and the trends and risk factors are generally favorable. The investment generally has a higher probability of being prepaid in part or in full.
•Investment Rating 2 indicates the investment is performing as expected at the time of underwriting and the trends and risk factors are generally favorable to neutral. All new loans are initially rated 2.
•Investment Rating 3 involves an investment performing below underwriting expectations and the trends and risk factors are generally neutral to negative. The investment may be out of compliance with financial covenants and interest payments may be impaired, however principal payments are generally not past due.
•Investment Rating 4 indicates that the investment is performing materially below underwriting expectations, the trends and risk factors are generally negative and the risk of the investment has increased substantially. Interest and principal payments on our investment are likely to be impaired.
Determination of Net Asset Value
Quarterly Determinations
We determine our net asset value, or NAV, per share on a quarterly basis. The NAV per share is equal to our total assets minus liabilities divided by the total number of shares of common stock outstanding.
We determine in good faith the fair value of our portfolio investments pursuant to a valuation policy in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (“ASC 820”) and a
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valuation process approved by our Board of Directors and in accordance with the 1940 Act. Our valuation policy is intended to provide a consistent basis for determining the fair value of the portfolio.
We undertake a multi-step valuation process each quarter in connection with determining the fair value of our investments. The valuation process is led by the finance department in conjunction with the investment teams and senior management. Valuations of each portfolio security are prepared quarterly by the finance department using updated portfolio company financial and operational information. Each investment valuation is also subject to review by the executive officers and investment teams.
In conjunction with the internal valuation process, we have engaged multiple independent consulting firms that specialize in financial due diligence, valuation and business advisory services to provide third-party valuation reviews of the majority of our investments on a quarterly basis. Effective beginning in the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2023, pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act, the Board of Directors designated a valuation committee comprised of certain officers of the Company (the "Valuation Committee") as its valuation designee to determine the fair value of the Company's investments that do not have readily available market quotations, subject to the oversight of the Board of Directors. Beginning as of the fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2023, pursuant to Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act, the Board of Directors has designated a valuation committee comprised of certain officers of the Company (the "Valuation Committee") as its valuation designee to determine the fair value of the Company's investments that do not have readily available market quotations, subject to the oversight of the Board of Directors.
Determinations in Connection with our Offerings
The 1940 Act prohibits us from selling shares of our common stock at a price below then current NAV per share of such stock, with certain exceptions. One such exception is prior shareholder approval of issuances below current NAV per share, provided that our Board of Directors determines that such sale is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. We do not intend to seek shareholder authorization to sell shares of our common stock below the then current NAV per share of our common stock at our 2024 annual meeting of shareholders. However, in the event we change our position, we will seek requisite approval of our shareholders.
In connection with each offering of shares of our common stock, our Valuation Committee is required by the 1940 Act to make the determination of whether we are selling shares of our common stock at a price below our then current NAV at the time at which the sale is made, subject to the oversight of the Board of Directors. Our Valuation Committee considers the following factors, among others, in making such determination:
•the NAV of our common stock disclosed in the most recent periodic report we filed with the SEC;
•our management’s assessment of whether any material change in the NAV has occurred (including through the realization of net gains on the sale of our investments) from the period beginning on the date of the most recently disclosed NAV per share of our common stock and ending as of a time within 48 hours (excluding Sundays and holidays) of the sale of our common stock; and
•the magnitude of the difference between (i) a value that our Valuation Committee has determined reflects the current (as of a time within 48 hours, excluding Sundays and holidays) NAV of our common stock, which is based upon the NAV disclosed in the most recent periodic report we filed with the SEC, as adjusted to reflect our management’s assessment of any material change in the NAV since the date of the most recently disclosed NAV, and (ii) the offering price of the shares of our common stock in the proposed offering.
Moreover, to the extent that there is even a remote possibility that we may (i) issue shares of our common stock at a price below the then current NAV of our common stock at the time at which the sale is made or (ii) trigger the undertaking (which we would provide to the SEC) to suspend the offering of shares of our common stock if the NAV fluctuates by certain amounts in certain circumstances, our Valuation Committee will elect, in the case of clause (i) above, either to postpone the offering until such time that there is no longer the possibility of the occurrence of such event or to undertake to determine NAV within two days prior to any such sale to ensure that such sale will not be below our then current NAV, and, in the case of clause (ii) above, to comply with such undertaking or to undertake to determine NAV to ensure that such undertaking has not been triggered.
These processes and procedures are part of our compliance policies and procedures. Records are made contemporaneously with all determinations described in this section and these records are maintained with other records we are required to maintain under the 1940 Act.
COMPETITION
We compete for attractive investment opportunities with other financial institutions, including BDCs, junior capital lenders, and banks. We believe we are able to be competitive with these entities primarily on the basis of the experience and contacts of our management team and our responsive and efficient investment analysis and decision-making
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processes. However, many of our competitors are substantially larger and have considerably greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. Furthermore, our competitors may have a lower cost of funds and many have access to funding sources that are not available to us. In addition, certain of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments, establish more relationships, and build their market shares. Likewise, many of our competitors are not subject to the regulatory restrictions and valuation requirements that the 1940 Act imposes on us as a BDC. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Structure—We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities.”
We cannot assure you that the competitive pressures we face will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, because of this competition, we may be unable to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities and may be unable to identify and make investments that satisfy our investment objectives or meet our investment goals.
HUMAN CAPITAL
Our employees are vital to our success as an internally managed BDC. The long-term success of our business and the success of our investment strategy depends on our people. We strive to attract, develop and retain our employees by offering advancement and promotion opportunities, attractive compensation and benefit packages and a close-knit culture. The departure of our key investment and operations personnel could cause our operating results to suffer.
Our investment strategy depends heavily on the business owners, management teams, and financial sponsors of our portfolio companies and their respective employees, contractors and service providers. In our investment process, the analysis of these individuals is a critical part of our overall investment underwriting process and as a result we carefully review the qualifications and experience of the portfolio company’s business owners and management team and their employment practices. We strive to partner with business owners, management teams, and financial sponsors whose business practices reflect our core values.
We also strive to recruit talented and driven individuals who share our values. Our recruiting efforts utilize strong relationships with a variety of sources from which we recruit. We offer selected students investment analyst internships, which are expected to lead to permanent roles for high performing and high potential interns. Through our internship program, interns who want to become investment analysts have the opportunity to see the full investment process from origination to closing, as well as post-closing portfolio management activities. We routinely promote from within, promoting current employees who have shown the technical ability, attitude, interest and the initiative to take on greater responsibility.
We have designed a compensation structure, including an array of benefit plans and programs, that we believe is attractive to our current and prospective employees. For certain employees, our compensation strategy also includes an equity incentive plan, which we have structured to further align the interests of our employees with our shareholders, and to cultivate a strong sense of ownership and commitment to the Company. Through our performance review processes, our employees are annually evaluated by supervisors and our senior management team to ensure employees continue to develop and advance as expected. We provide a workplace designed to enable our employees to balance work, family and family-related situations including flexible working arrangements. Our employees have access to a parental leave program for birth, adoption placement or foster child placement. We are committed to creating and maintaining an atmosphere where all employees feel welcomed, valued, respected and heard so that they feel motivated and encouraged to contribute fully to their careers, the Company and our communities.
We are committed to fostering a workplace conducive to the open communication of any concerns regarding unethical, fraudulent or illegal activities. We seek to promote a safe environment that is free of harassment or bullying. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, including, but not limited to, sexual, gender identity, race, religion, ethnicity, age, or disability, among others. We seek feedback from employees on matters related to their employment or our operations including its financial statement disclosures, accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters. Under our Whistleblower Policy, each employee of the Company has the ability to confidentially report via a dedicated, confidential reporting hotline questionable or improper accounting, internal controls, auditing matters, disclosure, or fraudulent business practices or other illegal or unethical behavior. We seek to protect the confidentiality of those making reports of possible misconduct and our Whistleblower Policy prohibits retaliation against those who report activities believed in good faith to be a violation of any law, rule, regulation or internal policy. We seek to protect the confidentiality of those making reports of possible misconduct and our 8Table of ContentsWhistleblower Policy prohibits retaliation against those who report activities believed in good faith to be a violation of any law, rule, regulation or internal policy. Our Code of Business Conduct establishes applicable policies, guidelines, and procedures that promote ethical practices and conduct by the Company and all its employees, officers, and directors. Our Whistleblower Policy and Code of Business Conduct can be found on our website at www.capitalsouthwest.com/governance.
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As of March 31, 2024, we had twenty-seven employees. These employees include our corporate officers, investment and portfolio management professionals and administrative staff. All of our employees are located in our principal executive offices in Dallas, Texas.
LEVERAGE
We borrow funds to make investments, a practice known as “leverage,” in an effort to increase returns to our shareholders. Effective April 25, 2019, we are allowed to borrow amounts such that our asset coverage, as calculated in accordance with the 1940 Act, equals at least 150% after such borrowing. Additionally, the Board of Directors approved a resolution that limits the Company's issuance of senior securities such that the asset coverage ratio, taking into account any such issuance, would not be less than 166%, at any time after the effective date. The amount of leverage that we employ at any particular time will depend on management’s and our Board of Directors’ assessments of portfolio mix, prevailing market advance rates, and other market factors at the time of any proposed borrowing. See “Risk Factors – Risks Related to Our Business and Structure – Because we borrow money to make investments, the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested in us is magnified and may increase the risk of investing in us.” On August 11, 2021, we received an exemptive order from the SEC to permit us to exclude the senior securities issued by SBIC I or any future SBIC subsidiary of the Company from the definition of "senior securities" in the asset coverage requirement applicable to the Company under the 1940 Act.
We intend to continue borrowing under our senior secured revolving credit facility (the “Corporate Credit Facility”) and our special purpose vehicle financing credit facility (the “SPV Credit Facility,” and together with the Corporate Credit Facility, the "Credit Facilities") in the future, and we may increase the size of the Corporate Credit Facility and/or the SPV Credit Facility, add additional credit facilities, or otherwise issue additional debt securities or other evidences of indebtedness in the future, although there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so.
See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Financial Liquidity and Capital Resources” as well as Note 5 to our consolidated financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2024 for information regarding the Corporate Credit Facility, the SPV Credit Facility and the issuance of the 4.50% Notes due 2026 (the “January 2026 Notes”), the 3.375% Notes due 2026 (the “October 2026 Notes”) and the 7.75% Notes due 2028 (the “August 2028 Notes”).
DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLAN
We have adopted a dividend reinvestment plan, or DRIP, that provides for the reinvestment of dividends on behalf of our shareholders in shares of our common stock. Under the DRIP, if we declare a dividend, registered shareholders who have opted into the DRIP as of the dividend record date will have their dividend automatically reinvested into additional shares of our common stock. The share requirements of the DRIP are satisfied through open market purchases of common stock by the DRIP plan administrator. Shares purchased in the open market to satisfy the DRIP requirements will be valued based upon the average price of the applicable shares purchased by the DRIP plan administrator, before any associated brokerage or other costs.
ELECTION TO BE REGULATED AS A BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY
We are a closed-end, non-diversified investment company that has elected to be regulated as a BDC under the 1940 Act. In addition, we have elected, and intend to qualify annually, to be treated as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Our election to be regulated as a BDC and our election to be treated as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes have a significant impact on our operations. Some of the most important effects on our operations of our election to be regulated as a BDC and our election to be treated as a RIC are outlined below.
•We report our investments at market value or fair value with changes in value reported through our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
In accordance with the requirements of the 1940 Act and Article 6 of Regulation S-X, we report all of our investments, including debt investments, at market value or, for investments that do not have a readily available market quotation, at their “fair value” as determined in good faith by the Valuation Committee, subject to the oversight of the Board of Directors.In accordance with the requirements of the 1940 Act and Article 6 of Regulation S-X, we report all of our investments, including debt investments, at market value or, for investments that do not have a readily available market value, at their “fair value” as determined in good faith by our Board of Directors. Changes in these values are reported through our Consolidated Statements of Operations under the caption of “net change in unrealized appreciation on investments.” See “Determination of Net Asset Value” above.
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•We intend to distribute substantially all of our income to our shareholders. We generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax only on the portion of our taxable income we do not timely distribute to shareholders (actually or constructively).
As a RIC, so long as we meet certain minimum distribution, source of income, and asset diversification requirements, we generally are subject to U.S. federal income tax, and possibly a 4% U.S. federal excise tax, on the portion of our taxable income and gains that we do not timely distribute (actually or constructively) and certain built-in gains. Our U.S. federal income tax liability may be reduced to the extent that we make certain distributions during the following calendar year and satisfy other procedural requirements. We intend to distribute to our shareholders substantially all of our income. We may, however, make deemed distributions to our shareholders of any retained net long-term capital gains. If this happens, our shareholders will be treated as if they received an actual distribution of the net capital gains and reinvested the net after-tax proceeds in us. Our shareholders also may be eligible to claim a tax credit (or, in certain circumstances, a tax refund) equal to their allocable share of the U.S. federal income tax we pay on the deemed distribution. See “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations.” We met the minimum distribution requirements for tax years 2022 and 2021 and intend to meet the minimum distribution requirements for tax year 2023. We continually monitor our distribution requirements with the goal of ensuring compliance with the Code.
In addition, the Taxable Subsidiary, SPV or SBIC I holds a portion of one or more of our portfolio investments that are listed on the Consolidated Schedule of Investments. The Taxable Subsidiary, SPV and SBIC I are consolidated for financial reporting purposes in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP, so that our consolidated financial statements reflect our investments in the portfolio companies held by the Taxable Subsidiary, SPV and SBIC I. The purpose of the Taxable Subsidiary is to permit us to hold certain interests in portfolio companies that are organized as limited liability companies, or LLCs (or other forms of pass-through entities) and still satisfy the RIC tax requirement that at least 90% of our gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes must consist of qualifying investment income. Absent the Taxable Subsidiary, a proportionate amount of any gross income of a partnership or LLC (or other pass-through entity) portfolio investment generally would flow through directly to us. To the extent that such income did not consist of investment income, it could jeopardize our ability to qualify as a RIC and therefore cause us to incur significant amounts of U.S. federal income taxes. Where interests in LLCs (or other pass-through entities) are owned by the Taxable Subsidiary, the income from those interests is taxed to the Taxable Subsidiary and does not flow through to us, thereby helping us preserve our RIC status and resultant tax advantages. The Taxable Subsidiary is not consolidated for U.S. federal income tax purposes and may generate U.S. federal income tax expense as a result of its ownership of the portfolio companies. This U.S. federal income tax expense, if any, is reflected in our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
•Our ability to use leverage as a means of financing our portfolio of investments is limited.
As a BDC, we are required to meet a coverage ratio of total assets to total senior securities of at least 150%, which became effective April 25, 2019. Additionally, the Board of Directors approved a resolution that limits the Company's issuance of senior securities such that our asset coverage ratio, taking into account any such issuance, would not be less than 166% at any time after the effective date. For this purpose, senior securities include all borrowings and any preferred stock we may issue in the future. Additionally, our ability to utilize leverage as a means of financing our portfolio of investments may be limited by this asset coverage requirement. While the use of leverage may enhance returns if we meet our investment objective, our returns may be reduced or eliminated if our returns on investments are less than the costs of borrowing. On August 11, 2021, we received an exemptive order from the SEC to permit us to exclude the senior securities issued by SBIC I or any future SBIC subsidiary of the Company from the definition of senior securities in the asset coverage requirement applicable to the Company under the 1940 Act.
•We are required to comply with the provisions of the 1940 Act applicable to business development companies.
As a BDC, we are required to have a majority of directors who are not “interested persons” (as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act) of the Company. In addition, we are required to comply with other applicable provisions of the 1940 Act, including those requiring the adoption of a code of ethics, maintaining a fidelity bond and placing and maintaining our securities and similar investments in custody. See “Regulation as a Business Development Company” below.
Regulation as a Business Development Company
We have elected to be regulated as a BDC under the 1940 Act. The 1940 Act contains prohibitions and restrictions relating to transactions between BDCs and their affiliates and principal underwriters as well as their respective affiliates. The 1940 Act requires that a majority of the members of the board of directors of a BDC be persons other than “interested persons,” as defined in the 1940 Act. In addition, the 1940 Act provides that we may not change the nature of our business so as to cease to be, or to withdraw our election as, a BDC unless approved by holders of a majority of our outstanding voting securities.
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The 1940 Act defines “a majority of the outstanding voting securities” as the lesser of (1) 67% or more of the voting securities of holders present or represented by proxy at a meeting if the holders of more than 50% of our outstanding voting securities are present or represented by proxy or (2) more than 50% of our voting securities.
The following is a brief description of the 1940 Act provisions applicable to BDCs, which is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the 1940 Act and rules issued thereunder by the SEC:
•Generally, BDCs must offer, and must provide upon request, significant managerial assistance to eligible portfolio companies. In general, as a BDC, a company must, among other things: (1) be a domestic company; (2) have registered a class of its securities pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act; (3) operate for the purpose of investing in the securities of certain types of eligible portfolio companies, which may include early stage or emerging companies and bankrupt, insolvent or distressed companies (see following paragraph); (4) offer to make available significant managerial assistance to such eligible portfolio companies; and (5) file a proper notice of election with the SEC.
•An “eligible portfolio company” generally is a domestic company that is not a regulated or private investment company or a financial company (such as brokerage firms, banks, insurance companies and investment banking firms) and that: (1) does not have a class of securities listed on a national securities exchange; (2) has a class of securities listed on a national securities exchange with an equity market capitalization of less than $250 million; or (3) is controlled by the BDC itself or together with others and, as a result of such control, the BDC has an affiliated person on the board of directors of the company. The 1940 Act presumes that a person has “control” of a portfolio company if that person owns at least 25% of its outstanding voting securities.
•As a BDC, we are required to provide and maintain a bond issued by a reputable fidelity insurance company to protect against larceny and embezzlement. Furthermore, as a BDC, we are prohibited from protecting any director or officer against any liability to us or our shareholders arising from any act or omission constituting willful malfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of that person’s office.
•We are required to adopt and implement written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violation of the federal securities laws, review these policies and procedures annually for their adequacy and the effectiveness of their implementation and designate a chief compliance officer who reports directly to the Board of Directors to be responsible for administering these policies and procedures.
Qualifying Assets
The 1940 Act provides that we may not acquire any assets other than “qualifying assets” specified in the 1940 Act unless at the time of the investment at least 70% of the value of our total assets (measured as of the date of our most recently filed financial statements) consists of qualifying assets. Qualifying assets include: (1) securities of eligible portfolio companies; (2) securities of certain companies that were eligible portfolio companies at the time we initially acquired their securities and in which we retain a substantial interest; (3) securities of certain controlled companies; (4) securities of certain bankrupt, insolvent or distressed companies; (5) securities received in exchange for or distributed in or with respect to any of the foregoing; and (6) cash items, U.S. government securities and high-quality short-term debt.
Significant Managerial Assistance to Portfolio Companies
BDCs generally must offer, and must provide upon request, significant managerial assistance to certain of their portfolio companies, except in circumstances where either (i) the BDC controls such issuer of securities or (ii) the BDC purchases such securities in conjunction with one or more other persons acting together and one of the other persons in the group makes available such managerial assistance. Making available managerial assistance means, among other things, any arrangement whereby the BDC, through its directors, officers or employees, offers to provide, and, if accepted, provides, significant guidance and counsel concerning the management, operations or business objectives and policies of a portfolio company.
Temporary Investments
Pending investment in other types of qualifying assets, as described above, our investments may consist of cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities, short-term investments in secured debt investments, independently rated debt investments, and diversified bond funds, which we refer to as temporary investments.
Senior Securities
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BDCs generally have been permitted by the 1940 Act, under specific conditions, to issue multiple classes of debt and one class of stock senior to its common stock if its asset coverage, as defined by the 1940 Act, is at least 200% immediately after each such issuance. However, the 1940 Act allows a BDC to increase the maximum amount of leverage it may incur by reducing the minimum asset coverage ratio from 200% to 150%, if certain requirements under the 1940 Act are met. On April 25, 2018, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the application of the modified asset coverage requirements set forth in Section 61(a)(2) of the 1940 Act. As a result, effective April 25, 2019, the minimum asset coverage ratio applicable to the Company was decreased from 200% to 150%. Additionally, the Board of Directors approved a resolution that limits the Company’s issuance of senior securities such that the asset coverage ratio, taking into account any such issuance, would not be less than 166%, at any time after the effective date. We are required to make certain disclosures on our website and in SEC filings regarding, among other things, the receipt of approval to reduce our asset coverage requirement to 150%, our leverage capacity and usage, and risks related to leverage.
As of March 31, 2024, we had $265.0 million, $140.0 million, $150.0 million and $71.9 million in total aggregate principal amount of debt outstanding under our Corporate Credit Facility, the January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes and the August 2028 Notes, respectively.As of March 31, 2023, we had $235.0 million, $140.0 million and $150.0 million in total aggregate principal amount of debt outstanding under our Credit Facility, the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes, respectively. As of March 31, 2024, we did not have any borrowings outstanding on our SPV Credit Facility. As of March 31, 2024, our asset coverage for borrowed amounts was 221%.
In addition, while any preferred stock or publicly traded debt securities are outstanding, we may be prohibited from making distributions to our shareholders or repurchasing such securities or shares unless we meet the applicable asset coverage ratios at the time of the distribution or repurchase. We may also borrow amounts up to 5% of the value of our total assets for temporary or emergency purposes without regard to asset coverage. Under specific conditions, we are also permitted by the 1940 Act to issue warrants.
Common Stock
We are not generally able to issue and sell our common stock at a price below NAV per share. We may, however, sell our common stock, warrants, options or rights to acquire our common stock at a price below the then current NAV of our common stock if our Board of Directors determines that such sale is in our best interests and that of our shareholders, and our shareholders approve such sale. In any such case, the price at which our securities are to be issued and sold may not be less than a price which, in the determination of the Valuation Committee, closely approximates the market value of such securities (less any distributing commission or discount). In any such case, the price at which our securities are to be issued and sold may not be less than a price which, in the determination of our Board of Directors, closely approximates the market value of such securities (less any distributing commission or discount). We do not intend to seek shareholder authorization to sell shares of our common stock below the then current NAV per share of our common stock at our 2024 annual meeting of shareholders. See "Risk Factors - Risks Relating to Our Business and Structure - Regulations governing our operation as a BDC will affect our ability to, and the way in which we, raise additional capital."
Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct
We adopted a code of ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act that establishes procedures for personal investments and restricts certain personal securities transactions. Personnel subject to the code may invest in securities for their personal investment accounts, including securities that may be purchased or held by us, so long as those investments are made in accordance with the code’s requirements. We have also adopted a code of conduct that applies to our Chief Executive Officer, our Chief Financial Officer (or persons performing similar functions), our Board of Directors, and all other employees. We have also adopted a code of conduct that applies to our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer (or persons performing similar functions), our Board of Directors, and all other employees. This code sets forth policies that these executives and employees must follow when performing their duties. The code of ethics and code of conduct are available on the Company website at www.capitalsouthwest.com/governance.
Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures
We vote proxies relating to our portfolio securities in a manner in which we believe is consistent with the best interests of our shareholders. We review on a case-by-case basis each proposal submitted to a shareholder vote to determine its impact on the portfolio securities held by us. Although we generally vote against proposals that we expect would have a negative impact on our portfolio securities, we may vote for such a proposal if there exists compelling long-term reasons to do so. Our proxy voting decisions are made by the investment team that is responsible for monitoring the investments. To ensure that our vote is not the product of a conflict of interest, we require that anyone involved in the decision-making process discloses to our Chief Compliance Officer any potential conflict of which he or she is aware. Shareholders may obtain information, without charge, regarding how we voted proxies with respect to our portfolio securities by making a written request for proxy voting information to: Chief Financial Officer c/o Capital Southwest Corporation, 8333 Douglas Avenue, Suite 1100, Dallas, Texas 75225.
Compliance Policies and Procedures
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We have adopted and implemented written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violation of the U.S. federal securities laws, and we are required to review these compliance policies and procedures annually for their adequacy and the effectiveness of their implementation. We are further required to designate a Chief Compliance Officer to be responsible for administering these policies and procedures. Michael S. Sarner serves as our Chief Compliance Officer.
Exemptive Relief
The right to grant restricted stock awards under the 2010 Restricted Stock Award Plan (the “2010 Plan”) terminated on July 18, 2021, ten years after the date that the 2010 Plan was approved by the Company's shareholders pursuant to its terms.
In connection with the termination of the 2010 Plan, the Company’s Board of Directors and shareholders approved the Capital Southwest Corporation 2021 Employee Restricted Stock Award Plan (the “2021 Employee Plan”), which became effective on July 28, 2021, as part of the compensation package for its employees, the terms of which are, in all material respects, identical to the 2010 Plan. On July 19, 2021, we received an exemptive order that supersedes the prior exemptive order relating to the 2010 Plan (the “Order”) to permit the Company to (i) issue restricted stock as part of the compensation package for its employees in the 2021 Employee Plan, and (ii) withhold shares of the Company’s common stock or purchase shares of the Company’s common stock from the participants to satisfy tax withholding obligations relating to the vesting of restricted stock pursuant to the 2021 Employee Plan. In addition, the Company's Board of Directors and shareholders approved the Capital Southwest Corporation 2021 Non-Employee Director Restricted Stock Award Plan (the “Non-Employee Director Plan”), which became effective on July 27, 2022, as part of the compensation package for non-employee directors of the Board of Directors. In connection therewith, on May 16, 2022, we received an exemptive order that supersedes the Order (the “Superseding Order”) and covers both employees and non-employee directors of the Board of Directors.
Other
We may also be prohibited under the 1940 Act from knowingly participating in certain transactions with our affiliates without the prior approval of our Board of Directors who are not interested persons and, in some cases, prior approval by the SEC. The prior approval of the SEC is not required, however, where a transaction involves no negotiation of terms other than price.
We expect to periodically be examined by the SEC for compliance with the 1940 Act.
MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
The following discussion is a general summary of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations applicable to us and to an investment in our shares. This summary does not purport to be a complete description of the income tax considerations applicable to us or to investors in such an investment. For example, we have not described tax consequences that we assume to be generally known by investors or certain considerations that may be relevant to certain types of holders subject to special treatment under U.S. federal income tax laws, including shareholders subject to the alternative minimum tax, tax-exempt organizations, insurance companies, dealers in securities, pension plans and trusts, financial institutions, U.S. shareholders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar, persons who mark-to-market our shares, persons who hold our shares as part of a “straddle,” “hedge” or “conversion” transaction, United States expatriates, “controlled foreign corporations,” “passive foreign investment companies,” or corporations that accumulate earnings to avoid United States U.S. federal income tax, real estate investment trusts, personal holding companies, persons required to accelerate the recognition of gross income as a result of such income being recognized on an applicable financial statement, and persons who acquire an interest in the Company in connection with the performance of services. Such persons should consult with their own tax advisers as to the U.S. federal income tax consequences of investment, which may differ substantially from those described herein. This summary assumes that investors hold shares of our common stock as capital assets (within the meaning of the Code). The discussion is based upon the Code, Treasury regulations, and administrative and judicial interpretations, each as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and all of which are subject to change, possibly retroactively, which could affect the continuing validity of this discussion. This summary does not discuss any aspects of U.S. estate or gift tax or foreign, state or local tax. It does not discuss the special treatment under U.S. federal income tax laws that could result if we invested in tax-exempt securities or certain other investment assets.
For purposes of our discussion, a “U.S. shareholder” means a beneficial owner of shares of our common stock that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes:
•A citizen or individual resident of the United States;
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•A corporation, or other entity treated as a corporation, created or organized in or under the laws of the United States or any state thereof or the District of Columbia;
•An estate, the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or
•A trust if (1) a U.S. court is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust, or (2) it has a valid election in place to be treated as a U.S. person.
For purposes of our discussion, a “non-U.S. shareholder” means a beneficial owner of shares of our common stock that is neither a U.S. shareholder nor a partnership (including an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes).
If an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds shares of our common stock, the tax treatment of a partner or member of the partnership will generally depend upon the status of the partner or member and the activities of the partnership. A prospective shareholder that is a partner or member in a partnership holding shares of our common stock should consult his, her or its tax advisors with respect to the purchase, ownership and disposition of shares of our common stock.
Tax matters are very complicated and the tax consequences to an investor of an investment in our shares will depend on the facts of his, her, or its particular situation. We encourage investors to consult their own tax advisors regarding the specific consequences of such an investment, including tax reporting requirements, the applicability of U.S. federal, state, local and foreign tax laws, eligibility for the benefits of any applicable tax treaty and the effect of any possible changes in the tax laws.
Taxation as a Regulated Investment Company
Election to be Taxed as a RIC
We have elected, and intend to qualify annually, to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. As a RIC, we generally are not subject to U.S. federal income tax on any income that we timely distribute to our shareholders from our tax earnings and profits. To qualify as a RIC, we must, among other things, meet certain source-of-income and asset diversification requirements (as described below). In addition, in order to obtain RIC tax treatment, we generally must distribute to our shareholders, for each taxable year, at least 90% of our “investment company taxable income,” which is generally our net ordinary income plus the excess, if any, of realized net short-term capital gain over realized net long-term capital loss, or the Annual Distribution Requirement. Depending on the level of taxable income earned in a tax year, we may choose to carry forward taxable income in excess of current year distributions into the next year. In such case, we generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at corporate rates on our undistributed taxable income and could be subject to U.S. federal excise, state, local and foreign taxes.
Taxation as a RIC
Provided that we qualify as a RIC, we will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the portion of our investment company taxable income and net capital gain (which we define as net long-term capital gain in excess of net short-term capital loss) that we timely distribute (or that are deemed to be distributed) to shareholders. We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax imposed at corporate rates on any income or capital gain not distributed (or deemed distributed) to our shareholders.
We will be subject to a 4% nondeductible U.S. federal excise tax on certain undistributed income unless we distribute in a timely manner an amount at least equal to the sum of (1) 98% of our ordinary income for each calendar year, (2) 98.2% of our capital gain net income for the calendar year ended December 31 and (3) any income and gains recognized, but not distributed, in preceding years and on which we paid no U.S. federal income tax.
In order to qualify as a RIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must, among other things:
•Meet the Annual Distribution Requirement;
•Qualify to be regulated as a BDC or be registered as a management investment company under the 1940 Act at all times during each taxable year;
•Derive in each taxable year at least 90% of our gross income from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or other securities or foreign currencies or other income derived with respect to our business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies and net
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income derived from an interest in a “qualified publicly traded partnership” (as defined in the Code), or the 90% Income Test; and
•Diversify our holdings so that at the end of each quarter of the taxable year:
◦at least 50% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash equivalents, U.S. Government securities, securities of other RICs, and other securities, if such other securities of any one issuer do not represent more than 5% of the value of our assets or more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of the issuer (which for these purposes includes the equity securities of a “qualified publicly traded partnership”); and
◦no more than 25% of the value of our assets is invested in (i) the securities, other than U.S. Government securities or securities of other RICs, of one issuer, (ii) the securities, other than the securities of other RICs, of two or more issuers that are controlled, as determined under applicable tax rules, by us and that are engaged in the same or similar or related trades or businesses, or (iii) the securities of one or more certain “qualified publicly traded partnerships,” or the Diversification Tests.
Under the Code, we may satisfy certain of our RIC distributions with dividends paid after the end of the current year. In particular, if we pay a distribution in January of the following year that was declared in October, November, or December of the current year and is payable to shareholders of record in the current year, the dividend will be treated for all U.S. federal tax purposes as if it were paid on December 31 of the current year. In addition, under the Code, we may pay dividends, referred to as “spillover dividends,” that are paid during the following taxable year that will allow us to maintain our qualification for taxation as a RIC and eliminate our liability for U.S. federal income tax. Under these spillover dividend procedures, we may defer distribution of income earned during the current year until December of the following year. For example, we may defer distributions of income earned during 2024 until as late as December 31, 2024. If we choose to pay a spillover dividend, we will incur the nondeductible 4% U.S. federal excise tax on some or all of the distribution.
To the extent that we invest in entities or arrangements treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes (other than a “qualified publicly traded partnership”), we generally must include the items of gross income derived by the partnerships for purposes of the 90% Income Test, and the income that is derived from a partnership (other than a “qualified publicly traded partnership”) will be treated as qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test only to the extent that such income is attributable to items of income of the partnership which would be qualifying income if realized by us directly. In addition, we generally must take into account our proportionate share of the assets held by partnerships (other than a “qualified publicly traded partnership”) in which we are a partner for purposes of the Diversification Tests.
In order to meet the 90% Income Test, we have established the Taxable Subsidiary to hold assets from which we do not anticipate earning dividends, interest or other income under the 90% Income Test. We may establish additional subsidiaries for the same purpose in the future. Any investments held through the Taxable Subsidiary generally are subject to U.S. federal income and other taxes, and therefore we can expect to achieve a reduced after-tax yield on such investments.
We may be required to recognize taxable income in circumstances in which we do not receive a corresponding payment in cash. For example, if we hold debt obligations that are treated under applicable tax rules as having original issue discount (including debt instruments with payment-in-kind interest or, in certain cases, increasing interest rates or issued with warrants), we must include in income each year a portion of the original issue discount or payment-in-kind interest that accrues over the life of the obligation, regardless of whether cash representing such income is received by us in the same taxable year. We anticipate that a portion of our income may constitute original issue discount or other income required to be included in taxable income prior to receipt of cash.
Because any original issue discount or other amounts accrued will be included in our investment company taxable income for the year of the accrual, we may be required to make a distribution to our shareholders in order to satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement, even though we will not have received any corresponding cash amount. As a result, we may have difficulty meeting the annual distribution requirement necessary to obtain and maintain RIC tax treatment under the Code. We may have to sell some of our investments at times and/or at prices we would not consider advantageous, raise additional debt or equity capital or forgo new investment opportunities for this purpose. If we are not able to obtain cash from other sources, we may fail to qualify for RIC tax treatment and thus become subject to U.S. federal income tax.
Furthermore, a portfolio company in which we invest may face financial difficulty that requires us to work-out, modify or otherwise restructure our investment in the portfolio company. Any such restructuring may result in unusable capital losses and future non-cash income. Any restructuring may also result in our recognition of a substantial amount of non-qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test, such as cancellation of indebtedness income in connection with the work-out of a leveraged investment (which, while not free from doubt, may be treated as non-qualifying income) or the receipt of other non-qualifying income.
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Gain or loss realized by us from warrants acquired by us, as well as any loss attributable to the lapse of such warrants, generally will be treated as capital gain or loss. Such gain or loss generally will be long-term or short-term, depending on how long we held a particular warrant.
Investments by us in non-U.S. securities may be subject to non-U.S. income, withholding and other taxes, and therefore, our yield on any such securities may be reduced by such non-U.S. taxes. Shareholders will generally not be entitled to claim a credit or deduction with respect to non-U.S. taxes paid by us.
We are authorized to borrow funds and to sell assets in order to satisfy distribution requirements. Under the 1940 Act, we are not permitted to make distributions to our shareholders while our debt obligations and other senior securities are outstanding unless certain “asset coverage” tests are met. See “Regulation as a Business Development Company” above. Moreover, our ability to dispose of assets to meet our distribution requirements may be limited by (1) the illiquid nature of our portfolio and/or (2) other requirements relating to our status as a RIC, including the Diversification Tests. If we dispose of assets in order to meet the Annual Distribution Requirement or to avoid the excise tax, we may make such dispositions at times that are not advantageous from an investment standpoint.
If we fail to satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement or otherwise fail to qualify as a RIC in any taxable year, we will be subject to tax in that year on all of our taxable income, regardless of whether we make any distributions to our shareholders. In that case, all of such income will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at corporate rates, reducing the amount available to be distributed to our shareholders. See “Failure To Obtain RIC Tax Treatment” below.
As a RIC, we are not allowed to carry forward or carry back a net operating loss for purposes of computing our investment company taxable income in other taxable years. U.S. federal income tax law generally permits a RIC to carry forward (1) the excess of its net short-term capital loss over its net long-term capital gain for a given year as a short-term capital loss arising on the first day of the following year and (2) the excess of its net long-term capital loss over its net short-term capital gain for a given year as a long-term capital loss arising on the first day of the following year. Future transactions we engage in may cause our ability to use any capital loss carryforwards, and unrealized losses once realized, to be limited under Section 382 of the Code. Certain of our investment practices may be subject to special and complex U.S. federal income tax provisions that may, among other things, (1) disallow, suspend, or otherwise limit the allowance of certain losses or deductions, (2) convert lower taxed long-term capital gain and qualified dividend income into higher taxed short-term capital gain or ordinary income, (3) convert an ordinary loss or a deduction into a capital loss (the deductibility of which is more limited), (4) cause us to recognize income or gain without a corresponding receipt of cash, (5) adversely affect the time as to when a purchase or sale of stock or securities is deemed to occur, (6) adversely alter the characterization of certain complex financial transactions and (7) produce income that will not be qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test. We will monitor our transactions and may make certain tax elections in order to mitigate the effect of these provisions.
As described above, to the extent that we invest in equity securities of entities that are treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the effect of such investments for purposes of the 90% Income Test and the Diversification Tests will depend on whether or not the partnership is a “qualified publicly traded partnership” (as defined in the Code). If the entity is a “qualified publicly traded partnership,” the net income derived from such investments will be qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test and will be “securities” for purposes of the Diversification Tests. If the entity is not treated as a “qualified publicly traded partnership,” however, the consequences of an investment in the partnership will depend upon the amount and type of income and assets of the partnership allocable to us. The income derived from such investments may not be qualifying income for purposes of the 90% Income Test and therefore could adversely affect our qualification as a RIC. We intend to monitor our investments in equity securities of entities that are treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes to prevent our disqualification as a RIC.
We may invest in preferred securities or other securities for which the U.S. federal income tax treatment may not be clear or may be subject to re-characterization by the Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS. To the extent the tax treatment of such securities or the income from such securities differs from the expected tax treatment, such tax treatment could affect the timing or character of income recognized, requiring us to purchase or sell securities or otherwise change our portfolio in order to comply with the tax rules applicable to RICs under the Code.
We may distribute taxable dividends that are payable in cash or shares of our common stock at the election of each shareholder. Under certain applicable provisions of the Code and the Treasury regulations, distributions payable in cash or in shares of stock at the election of shareholders are treated as taxable dividends. The IRS has issued a revenue procedure indicating that this rule will apply where the total amount of cash to be distributed is not less than 20% of the total distribution. Under this revenue procedure, if too many shareholders elect to receive their distributions in cash, each such shareholder would
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receive a pro rata share of the total cash to be distributed and would receive the remainder of their distribution in shares of stock. If we decide to make any distributions consistent with this revenue procedure that are payable in part in our common stock, taxable shareholders receiving such dividends will be required to include the full amount of the dividend (whether received in cash, our common stock, or a combination thereof) as ordinary income (or as long-term capital gain, to the extent such distribution is properly reported as a capital gain dividend) to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, a U.S. shareholder may be required to pay tax with respect to such dividends in excess of any cash received. If a U.S. shareholder sells the stock it receives in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our common stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to non-U.S. shareholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in stock. If a significant number of our shareholders determine to sell shares of our common stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividends, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock.
Failure to Obtain RIC Tax Treatment
If we fail to satisfy the 90% Income Test or the Diversification Tests for any taxable year, we may nevertheless continue to qualify as a RIC for that year if certain relief provisions are applicable (which may, among other things, require us to pay certain U.S. federal tax imposed at corporate rates or to dispose of certain assets).
If we were unable to obtain tax treatment as a RIC, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on all of our taxable income imposed at corporate rates. We would not be able to deduct distributions to shareholders, nor would they be required to be made. Distributions would generally be taxable to our shareholders as dividend income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits. Distributions would generally be taxable to our shareholders as dividend income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits (in the case of non-corporate US shareholders, generally at a maximum federal income tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income of 20%). Subject to certain holding period and other limitations under the Code, corporate distributees may be eligible for the dividends-received deduction; non-corporate stockholders would generally be able to treat such dividends as "qualified dividend income," which is subject to reduced rates of U.S. federal income tax. Distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits would be treated first as a return of capital to the extent of the shareholder’s adjusted tax basis, and any remaining distributions would be treated as a capital gain.
To qualify again to be taxed as a RIC in a subsequent year, we would be required to distribute to our stockholders our earnings and profits attributable to non-RIC years. In addition, if we fail to meet the RIC requirements for more than two consecutive years and then seek to re-qualify as a RIC, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any net built-in gain recognized during the succeeding five-year period, unless we made a special election to recognize all built-in gain upon our re-qualification as a RIC and pay the U.S. federal income tax on such built-in gain.
Possible Legislative or Other Actions Affecting Tax Considerations
Prospective investors should recognize that the present U.S. federal income tax treatment of an investment in our common stock may be modified by legislative, judicial or administrative action at any time, and that any such action may affect investments and commitments previously made. The rules governing U.S. federal income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department, resulting in revisions of regulations and revised interpretations of established concepts as well as statutory changes. Revisions in U.S. federal tax laws and interpretations thereof could affect the tax consequences of an investment in our common stock. See "Risk Factors – Legislative or other actions relating to taxes could have a negative effect on us."
REGULATION AS A SMALL BUSINESS INVESTMENT COMPANY
SBIC I’s SBIC license allows it to incur leverage by issuing SBA-guaranteed debentures, subject to the issuance of a leverage commitment by the SBA and other customary procedures. SBA regulations currently permit SBIC I to borrow up to $175 million in SBA-guaranteed debentures with at least $87.5 million in regulatory capital (as defined in the SBA regulations), subject to SBA approval. SBA-guaranteed debentures are non-recourse, interest only debentures, with interest payable semi-annually and have a ten-year maturity. The principal amount of SBA-guaranteed debentures is not required to be paid prior to maturity but may be prepaid at any time without penalty. The interest rate of SBA-guaranteed debentures is fixed at the time of issuance at a market-driven spread over U.S. Treasury Notes with ten-year maturities. Receipt of an SBIC license does not assure that SBIC I will receive SBA-guaranteed debenture funding; rather, such funding is dependent upon SBIC I continuing to be in compliance with SBA regulations and policies. The SBA, as a creditor, will have a superior claim to SBIC I’s assets over our shareholders in the event we liquidate SBIC I or the SBA exercises its remedies under the SBA-guaranteed debentures issued by SBIC I upon an event of default.
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On August 11, 2021, we received an exemptive order from the SEC to permit us to exclude the senior securities issued by SBIC I or any future SBIC subsidiary of the Company from the definition of senior securities in the asset coverage requirement applicable to the Company under the 1940 Act.
SBICs are designed to stimulate the flow of private investor capital to eligible “small businesses” as defined by the SBA. Under SBA regulations, SBICs may make loans to eligible small businesses, invest in the equity securities of such businesses, and provide them with consulting and advisory services. Under current SBA regulations, eligible small businesses generally include businesses that (together with their affiliates) have a tangible net worth not exceeding $24.0 million and has average annual net income after U.S. federal income taxes not exceeding $8.0 million (average net income to be computed without benefit of any carryover loss) for the two most recent fiscal years. In addition, an SBIC must invest 25.0% of its investment capital to “smaller enterprises” as defined by the SBA. The definition of a smaller enterprise generally includes a business that (together with its affiliates) has a net worth not exceeding $6.0 million for the most recent fiscal year and has average net income after U.S. federal income taxes not exceeding $2.0 million (average net income to be computed without benefit of any carryover loss) for the two most recent fiscal years. SBA regulations also provide alternative industry size standard criteria to determine eligibility for designation as an eligible small business or a smaller enterprise, which criteria depends on the primary industry in which the business is engaged and is based on the number of employees or gross revenue of the business and its affiliates. However, once an SBIC has invested in an eligible small business, it may continue to make follow-on investments in the company, regardless of the size of the company at the time of the follow-on investment, up to the time of the company's initial public offering, if any.
The SBA generally prohibits an SBIC from providing financing to small businesses with certain characteristics, such as relending or businesses with the majority of their employees located outside the United States, and business engaged in certain prohibited industries, such as project finance, real estate, farmland, financial intermediaries or “passive” (i.e. non-operating) businesses. Without prior SBA approval, an SBIC may not provide financing or a commitment to a small business in an amount equal to more than approximately 30.0% of the SBIC’s regulatory capital in any one company and its affiliates.
The SBA places certain limitations on the financing terms of investments by SBICs in portfolio companies (such as limiting the permissible interest rate on debt securities held by an SBIC in a portfolio company). An SBIC may exercise control over a small business for a period of up to seven years from the date on which the SBIC initially acquires its control position. This control period may be extended for an additional period of time with the SBA's prior written approval.
The SBA restricts the ability of an SBIC to provide financing to an “associate,” as defined in the SBA regulations, without prior written approval from the SBA. SBA regulations also prohibit, without prior SBA approval, a “change of control” or “change in ownership” of transfer of an SBIC (as such terms are defined in the SBA regulations) and require that SBICs invest idle funds in accordance with SBA regulations. In addition, SBIC I may also be limited in its ability to make distributions to us if it does not have sufficient capital, in accordance with SBA regulations.
SBIC I is subject to regulation and oversight by the SBA, including, among other things, requirements with respect to maintaining certain minimum financial ratios and other covenants, a periodic examination by an SBA examiner, and the performance of a financial audit by an independent auditor.
THE NASDAQ GLOBAL SELECT MARKET CORPORATE GOVERNANCE REGULATIONS
The NASDAQ Global Select Market, or Nasdaq, has adopted corporate governance listing standards with which listed companies must comply in order to remain listed. We believe that we are in compliance with these corporate governance listing standards. We intend to monitor our compliance with future listing standards and to take all necessary actions to ensure that we remain in compliance.
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 AND SARBANES-OXLEY ACT COMPLIANCE
We are subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of the Exchange Act, including the filing of quarterly, annual and current reports, proxy statements and other required items. In addition, we are subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) and regulations promulgated thereunder, which impose a wide variety of regulatory requirements on publicly-held companies and their insiders. In addition, we are subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the "Sarbanes-Oxley Act") and regulations promulgated thereunder, which imposes a wide variety of regulatory requirements on publicly-held companies and their insiders. For example:
•pursuant to Rule 13a-14 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer are required to certify the accuracy of the financial statements contained in our periodic reports;
•pursuant to Item 307 of Regulation S-K, our periodic reports are required to disclose our conclusions about the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures;
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•pursuant to Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act, our management is required to prepare a report on its assessment of our internal control over financial reporting; and
•pursuant to Item 308 of Regulation S-K and Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act, our periodic reports must disclose whether there were significant changes in our internal control over financial reporting or in other factors that could significantly affect these controls subsequent to the date of their evaluation, including any corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in our securities involves a number of significant risks. In addition to other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, investors should consider the following information before making an investment in our securities. The risks and uncertainties described below could materially adversely affect our business, financial conditions and results of operations. The risks set forth below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or not presently deemed material by us, also may impair our operations and performance. If any of the following risks, or risks not presently known to us, actually occur, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
The following is a summary of the principal risk factors associated with an investment in us. Further details regarding each risk included in the below summary list can be found further below.
•Our financial condition and results of operations will depend on our ability to effectively allocate and manage capital.
•Our business model depends to a significant extent upon strong referral relationships. Our inability to maintain or develop these relationships, as well as the failure of these relationships to generate investment opportunities, could adversely affect our business. Our inability to maintain or develop these relationships, as well as the failure of these relationships to generate investment opportunities, could adversely affect our business.
•All of our assets are subject to security interests under our Corporate Credit Facility and our SPV Credit Facility, except for assets held by SBIC I, and if we default on our obligations under the Corporate Credit Facility or the SPV Credit Facility, we may suffer adverse consequences, including foreclosure on our assets.
•In addition to regulatory limitations on our ability to raise capital, our current debt obligations contain various covenants, that, if not complied with, could accelerate our repayment obligations under the Corporate Credit Facility and/or the SPV Credit Facility —thereby materially and adversely affecting our liquidity, financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay distributions.
•Because we borrow money to make investments, the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested in us is magnified and may increase the risk of investing in us.
•A failure on our part to maintain our status as a BDC would significantly reduce our operating flexibility.
•We will become subject to U.S. federal income tax imposed at corporate rates if we are unable to maintain our qualification as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Code or satisfy regulated investment company distribution requirements.
•Our portfolio investments generally are not publicly traded. As a result, the fair value of these investments may not be readily determinable and will be recorded at fair value as determined in good faith by the Valuation Committee, subject to the oversight of our Board of Directors. As a result, there may be uncertainty as to the value of our portfolio investments.
•We are currently operating in a period of economic uncertainty. Such market conditions may materially and adversely affect debt and equity capital markets, which may have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
•Inflation may adversely affect the business, results of operations and financial condition of our portfolio companies, which may, in turn, impact the valuation of such portfolio companies.
•We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities.
•Our success depends on attracting and retaining qualified personnel in a competitive environment.
•Our investments in portfolio companies involve a number of significant risks.
•SBIC I has an SBIC license and is subject to SBA regulations, and any failure to comply with SBA regulations could have an adverse effect on our operations.
•Rising credit spreads could affect the value of our investments, and rising interest rates make it more difficult for portfolio companies to make periodic payments on their loans.
•The lack of liquidity in our investments may adversely affect our business.
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•Defaults by our portfolio companies could harm our operating results.
•We generally will not control our portfolio companies.
•Investing in shares of our common stock may involve an above average degree of risk.
•Shares of closed-end investment companies, including BDCs, may trade at a discount to their NAV.
•The January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes, and the August 2028 Notes are unsecured and therefore are effectively subordinated to any existing and future secured indebtedness, including indebtedness under our Corporate Credit Facility.The January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes are unsecured and therefore are effectively subordinated to any existing and future secured indebtedness, including indebtedness under our Credit Facility. The January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes, and the August 2028 Notes are structurally subordinated to the indebtedness and other liabilities of our subsidiaries, including the SBA-guaranteed debentures and the SPV Credit Facility.
•We may not be able to repurchase the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event.
•If we default on our obligations to pay our other indebtedness, we may not be able to make payments on the Notes.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND STRUCTURE
Our financial condition and results of operations will depend on our ability to effectively allocate and manage capital.
Our ability to achieve our investment objective of maximizing risk-adjusted returns to shareholders depends on our ability to effectively allocate and manage capital. Capital allocation depends in part upon our investment team’s ability to identify, evaluate, invest in and monitor companies that meet our investment criteria.
Achieving our investment objectives is largely a function of our investment team’s management of the investment process and our access to investments offering attractive risk adjusted returns. In addition, members of our investment team may be called upon, from time to time, to provide managerial assistance to some of our portfolio companies.
The results of our operations depend on many factors, including the availability of opportunities for investment, readily accessible short- and long-term funding alternatives in the financial markets and economic conditions. Our ability to make new investments at attractive relative returns is also a function of our marketing and our management of the investment process, as well as conditions in the private credit markets in which we invest. If we fail to invest our capital effectively, our return on equity may be negatively impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on the price of the shares of our common stock.
Any unrealized losses we experience may be an indication of future realized losses, which could reduce our income available to make distributions.
As a BDC, we are required to carry our investments at market value or, if no market quotation is readily available, at fair value as determined in good faith by our Valuation Committee pursuant to a valuation methodology approved by our Board of Directors. Decreases in the market values or fair values of our investments will be recorded as unrealized losses. An unrealized loss could be an indication of a portfolio company’s inability to generate cash flow or meet its repayment obligations. This could result in realized losses in the future and ultimately in reductions of our income available to pay dividends or interest and principal on our securities and could have a material adverse effect on your investment.
Our business model depends to a significant extent upon strong referral relationships. Our inability to develop or maintain these relationships, as well as the potential failure of these relationships to generate investment opportunities, could adversely affect our business.
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All of our assets are subject to security interests under our Corporate Credit Facility and our SPV Credit Facility, except for assets held by SBIC I, and if we default on our obligations under the Corporate Credit Facility or the SPV Credit Facility, we may suffer adverse consequences, including foreclosure on our assets.
All of our assets are currently pledged as collateral under our Corporate Credit Facility or our SPV Credit Facility, except for assets held by SBIC I.All of our assets are currently pledged as collateral under our Credit Facility. If we default on our obligations under the Corporate Credit Facility or the SPV Credit Facility, the lenders party thereto may have the right to foreclose upon and sell, or otherwise transfer, the collateral subject to their security interests. If we default on our obligations under the Credit Facility, the lenders party thereto may have the right to foreclose upon and sell, or otherwise transfer, the collateral 20Table of Contentssubject to their security interests. In such event, we may be forced to sell our investments to raise funds to repay our outstanding borrowings in order to avoid foreclosure and these forced sales may be at times and prices we would not consider advantageous. Moreover, such deleveraging of the Company could significantly impair our ability to effectively operate our business in the manner in which we have historically operated. As a result, we could be forced to curtail or cease new investment activities and lower or eliminate the dividends that we have historically paid to our shareholders. In addition, if the lenders exercise their right to sell the assets pledged under our Corporate Credit Facility or our SPV Credit Facility, such sales may be completed at distressed sale prices, thereby diminishing or potentially eliminating the amount of cash available to us after repayment of the amounts outstanding under the Corporate Credit Facility or the SPV Credit Facility. In addition, if the lenders exercise their right to sell the assets pledged under our Credit Facility, such sales may be completed at distressed sale prices, thereby diminishing or potentially eliminating the amount of cash available to us after repayment of the amounts outstanding under the Credit Facility. These distressed prices could be materially below our most recent valuation of each security, which could have a significantly negative effect on NAV.
In addition to regulatory limitations on our ability to raise capital, our current debt obligations contain various covenants, that, if not complied with, could accelerate our repayment obligations under the Corporate Credit Facility or the SPV Credit Facility—thereby materially and adversely affecting our liquidity, financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay distributions.In addition to regulatory limitations on our ability to raise capital, our current debt obligations contain various covenants, that, if not complied with, could accelerate our repayment obligations under the Credit Facility—thereby materially and adversely affecting our liquidity, financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay distributions.
We will have a continuing need for capital to finance our investments. As of March 31, 2024, the Corporate Credit Facility provides us with a revolving credit line of up to $460.0 million of which $265.0 million was drawn. As of March 31, 2023, the Credit Facility provides us with a revolving credit line of up to $400.0 million of which $235.0 million was drawn. As of March 31, 2024, the SPV Credit Facility provides us with total commitments of $150.0 million of which none was drawn.
The agreement relating to each of the Corporate Credit Facility and the SPV Credit Facility contains customary terms and conditions, including, without limitation, affirmative and negative covenants such as information reporting requirements, minimum consolidated net worth, minimum consolidated interest coverage ratio, minimum asset coverage, and maintenance of RIC tax treatment and BDC status. Each of the Corporate Credit Facility and the SPV Credit Facility also contains customary events of default with customary cure and notice provisions, including, without limitation, nonpayment, misrepresentation of representations and warranties in a material respect, breach of covenants, bankruptcy, and change of control. The Credit Facility also contains customary events of default with customary cure and notice provisions, including, without limitation, nonpayment, misrepresentation of representations and warranties in a material respect, breach of covenants, bankruptcy, and change of control. Each of the Corporate Credit Facility and the SPV Credit Facility permits us to fund additional loans and investments as long as we are within the conditions set out in the related agreements.
Our continued compliance with these covenants depends on many factors, some of which are beyond our control, and there are no assurances that we will continue to comply with these covenants. If we breach a covenant under the terms of the Corporate Credit Facility or the SPV Credit Facility and seek a waiver, we may not be able to obtain a waiver from the required lenders. If we breach a covenant under the terms of the Credit Facility and seek a waiver, we may not be able to obtain a waiver from the required lenders. Our failure to satisfy these covenants could result in foreclosure by our lenders, which would accelerate our repayment obligations under the Corporate Credit Facility or the SPV Credit Facility and thereby have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, results of operations, and ability to pay distributions to our shareholders. Our failure to satisfy these covenants could result in foreclosure by our lenders, which would accelerate our repayment obligations under the Credit Facility and thereby have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition, results of operations, and ability to pay distributions to our shareholders.
Because we borrow money to make investments, the potential for gain or loss on amounts invested in us is magnified and may increase the risk of investing in us.
Borrowings to fund investments, also known as leverage, magnify the potential for loss on investments in our indebtedness and gain or loss on investments in our equity capital. As we use leverage to partially finance our investments, you will experience increased risks of investing in our securities. We may borrow from banks and other lenders, including under our Corporate Credit Facility and our SPV Credit Facility, and may issue debt securities or enter into other types of borrowing arrangements in the future. We may borrow from banks and other lenders, including under our Credit Facility, and may issue debt securities or enter into other types of borrowing arrangements in the future. If the value of our assets decreases, leveraging would cause NAV to decline more sharply than it otherwise would have had we not leveraged our business. Similarly, any decrease in our income would cause net investment income to decline more sharply than it would have had we not leveraged our business. Such a decline could negatively affect our ability to pay common stock dividends, scheduled debt payments or other payments related to our securities. Use of leverage is generally considered a speculative investment technique.
As of March 31, 2024, we had $265.0 million borrowings outstanding out of $460 million of total commitments under our Corporate Credit Facility. Borrowings under the Corporate Credit Facility bear interest, on a per annum basis, equal to the applicable Adjusted Term SOFR rate plus 2.15%. Borrowings under the Credit Facility bear interest, on a per annum basis at a rate equal to the applicable LIBOR rate plus 2.15% with no LIBOR floor. We pay unused commitment fees of 0.50% to 1.00% per annum, based on utilization, on the unused lender commitments under the Corporate Credit Facility. The Corporate Credit Facility is secured by
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all of the Company's assets, except for assets held by SBIC I and Capital Southwest SPV. If we are unable to meet our financial obligations under the Corporate Credit Facility, the lenders under the Corporate Credit Facility may exercise their remedies under the Corporate Credit Facility as the result of a default by us. If we are unable to meet our financial obligations under the Credit Facility, the lenders under the Credit Facility may exercise their remedies under the Credit Facility as the result of a default by us.
As of March 31, 2024, we had no borrowings outstanding out of the $150 million of total commitments under our SPV Credit Facility. Borrowings under the SPV Credit Facility bear interest, on a per annum basis, equal to three-month Term SOFR plus an applicable margin of 2.50% during the revolving period ending on March 20, 2027 and, thereafter, three-month Term SOFR plus an applicable margin of 2.85%.We pay unused commitment fees of 0.10% per annum on the unused commitments through April 20, 2024, and thereafter, 0.35% per annum on the unused commitments. The SPV Credit Facility is secured by all of SPV's assets. If we are unable to meet our financial obligations under the SPV Credit Facility, the lenders under the SPV Credit Facility may exercise their remedies under the SPV Credit Facility as the result of a default by us. If we are unable to meet our financial obligations under the Credit Facility, the lenders under the Credit Facility may exercise their remedies under the Credit Facility as the result of a default by us.
As of March 31, 2024, the carrying amount of the January 2026 Notes was $139.4 million. The January 2026 Notes mature on January 31, 2026 and may be redeemed in whole or in part at any time prior to October 31, 2025, at par plus a "make-whole" premium, and thereafter at par. The January 2026 Notes bear interest at a rate of 4.50% per year, payable semi-annually on January 31 and July 31 of each year. The January 2026 Notes are the direct unsecured obligations of the Company and rank pari passu with our other outstanding and future unsecured unsubordinated indebtedness and are effectively subordinated to all of our existing and future secured indebtedness, including borrowings under our Credit Facility.
As of March 31, 2024, the carrying amount of the October 2026 Notes was $148.1 million. The October 2026 Notes mature on October 1, 2026 and may be redeemed in whole or in part at any time prior to July 1, 2026, at par plus a "make-whole" premium, and thereafter at par. The October 2026 Notes bear interest at a rate of 3.375% per year, payable semi-annually on April 1 and October 1 of each year. The October 2026 Notes are the direct unsecured obligations of the Company and rank pari passu with our other outstanding and future unsecured unsubordinated indebtedness and are effectively subordinated to all of our existing and future secured indebtedness, including borrowings under our Credit Facility.
As of March 31, 2024, the carrying amount of the August 2028 Notes was $69.7 million. The August 2028 Notes mature on August 1, 2028 and may be redeemed in whole or in part at any time, or from time to time, at the Company’s option on or after August 1, 2025. The August 2028 Notes bear interest at a rate of 7.75% per year, payable quarterly on February 1, May 1, August 1 and November 1 of each year. The August 2028 Notes are the direct unsecured obligations of the Company, rank pari passu with the Company's other outstanding and future unsecured unsubordinated indebtedness and are effectively or structurally subordinated to all of the Company's existing and future secured indebtedness, including borrowings under the Corporate Credit Facility, the SPV Credit Facility and the SBA Debentures. The August 2028 Notes are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol "CSWCZ."
Our ability to achieve our investment objective may depend in part on our ability to access additional leverage on favorable terms by borrowing from banks or insurance companies or by issuing debt securities and there can be no assurance that such additional leverage can in fact be achieved.
Illustration. The following table illustrates the effect of leverage on returns from an investment in our common stock assuming various annual returns, net of expenses. The calculations in the table below are hypothetical and actual returns may be higher or lower than those appearing below.
Assumed Return on Our Portfolio(1)
(net of expenses)
(1)Assumes $1,556.8 million in total assets, $779.9 million in debt principal outstanding, $755.7 million in net assets and a weighted-average interest rate of 5.64% on our indebtedness based on our financial data available on March 31, 2024. Actual interest payments may be different.
(2)In order for us to cover our annual interest payments on indebtedness, we must achieve annual returns on our March 31, 2024 total assets of at least 2.94%.
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If we do not invest a sufficient portion of our assets in qualifying assets, we could fail to qualify as a BDC or be precluded from investing according to our current business strategy.
As a BDC, we are not permitted to acquire any assets other than “qualifying assets” unless, at the time of and after giving effect to such acquisition, at least 70% of our total assets are qualifying assets.
As of March 31, 2024, 89.4 % of our total assets consisted of qualifying assets. However, we may be precluded from investing in what we believe are attractive investments if those investments are not qualifying assets for purposes of the 1940 Act. Similarly, these rules could prevent us from making follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies, or we could be required to dispose of investments at inopportune or inappropriate times to comply with the 1940 Act (which could result in the dilution of our position). If we need to dispose of investments quickly, it could be difficult to dispose of such investments on favorable terms. We may not be able to find a buyer for such investments and, even if we do find a buyer, we may have to sell the investments at a substantial loss. Any such outcomes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
A failure on our part to maintain our status as a BDC would significantly reduce our operating flexibility.
If we fail to maintain our status as a BDC, we might be regulated as a closed-end investment company that is required to register under the 1940 Act, which would subject us to additional regulatory restrictions and significantly decrease our operating flexibility. In addition, any such failure could cause an event of default under our outstanding indebtedness, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We will become subject to U.S. federal income tax imposed at corporate rates if we are unable to maintain our qualification as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Code or satisfy regulated investment company distribution requirements.
We have elected, and intend to qualify annually, to be treated as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. No assurance can be given that we will be able to maintain our qualification as a RIC. To maintain RIC tax treatment under the Code, we must meet the following annual distribution, income source and asset diversification requirements:
•The annual distribution requirement for a RIC is generally satisfied if we timely distribute to our shareholders on an annual basis at least 90% of our net ordinary taxable income and realized short-term capital gains in excess of realized net long-term capital losses. We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax, and possibly a 4% U.S. federal excise tax, on any income that we do not timely distribute to our shareholders. Our U.S. federal income tax liability may be reduced to the extent that we make certain distributions during the following calendar year and satisfy other procedural requirements.
•The source of income requirement is satisfied if we obtain at least 90% of our gross income for each taxable year from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock or other securities or foreign currencies or other income derived with respect to our business of investing in such stock, securities or currencies and net income derived from an interest in a “qualified publicly traded partnership” (as defined in the Code), or the 90% Income Test.
•The asset diversification requirement is satisfied if we meet certain asset diversification requirements at the end of each quarter of our taxable year. To satisfy this requirement, at least 50% of the value of our assets must consist of cash, cash equivalents, U.S. Government securities, securities of other RICs, and other securities, provided that such other securities will not include any securities of any one issuer, if our holdings of such issuer constitute more than 5% of the total value of our assets or if we hold more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of the issuer (which for these purposes includes the equity securities of a “qualified publicly traded partnership”). In addition, no more than 25% of the value of our assets can be invested in (i) the securities, other than U.S Government securities or securities of other RICs, of one issuer; (ii) the securities, other than securities of other RICs, of two or more issuers that are controlled, as determined under applicable tax rules, by us and that are engaged in the same or similar or related trades or businesses; or (iii) the securities of one or more “qualified publicly traded partnerships,” or the Diversification Tests.
Failure to meet these requirements may result in us having to dispose of certain unqualified investments quickly in order to prevent the loss of RIC tax treatment. If we fail to maintain RIC tax treatment for any reason and are subject to U.S. federal income tax, the resulting tax liability could substantially reduce our net assets, the amount of income available for distribution and the amount of our distributions. In addition, to the extent we have unrealized gains, we would have to establish deferred tax liabilities, which would reduce our NAV accordingly. In addition, our shareholders would lose the tax credit
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realized when we, as a RIC, decide to retain the net realized capital gain and make deemed distributions of net realized capital gains, and pay taxes on behalf of our shareholders at the end of the tax year. The loss of this pass-through tax treatment could have a material adverse effect on the total return of an investment in our common stock.
Even if the Company qualifies as a regulated investment company, it may face tax liabilities that reduce its cash flow.
If we continue to qualify for taxation as a RIC under the Code, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on income that we timely distribute to our shareholders as dividends. Income derived through the Taxable Subsidiary will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at corporate rates without regard to the Annual Distribution Requirement, and any taxes paid by the Taxable Subsidiary would decrease the cash available for distribution.
Our portfolio investments generally are not publicly traded. As a result, the fair value of these investments may not be readily determinable and will be recorded at fair value as determined in good faith by the Valuation Committee, subject to the oversight of our Board of Directors. As a result, there may be uncertainty as to the value of our portfolio investments.
Under the 1940 Act, we are required to carry our portfolio investments at market value or, if there is no readily available market quotation, at fair value as determined in good faith by the Valuation Committee, subject to the oversight of our Board of Directors. Typically, there is not a public market for the securities of the privately held companies in which we have invested and will continue to invest. As a result, the Valuation Committee values these securities quarterly at fair value based on inputs from our investment team and our third-party valuation firms, subject to the oversight of our Board of Directors.
The determination of fair value and, consequently, the amount of unrealized gains and losses in our portfolio are, to a certain degree, subjective and dependent on our valuation process. Certain factors that may be considered in determining the fair value of our investments include external events, such as private mergers, sales and acquisitions involving comparable companies. Because of the inherent uncertainty of the valuation of portfolio securities that do not have readily available market quotations, our fair value determinations may differ materially from the values a third party would be willing to pay for our portfolio securities or the values that would be applicable to unrestricted securities having a public market. Due to this uncertainty, our fair value determinations may cause our NAV on a given date to materially understate or overstate the value that we may ultimately realize on one or more of our investments. As a result, investors purchasing our common stock based on an overstated NAV may pay a higher price than the value of our investments might warrant. Conversely, investors selling shares during a period in which the NAV understates the value of our investments may receive a lower price for their shares than the value of our investments might warrant. Conversely, investors selling 23Table of Contentsshares during a period in which the NAV understates the value of our investments may receive a lower price for their shares than the value of our investments might warrant.
We are currently operating in a period of economic uncertainty. Such market conditions may materially and adversely affect debt and equity capital markets, which may have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
From time to time, capital markets may experience periods of disruption and instability. The U.S. capital markets have experienced extreme volatility and disruption following the global outbreak of COVID-19 that began in December 2019, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that began in late February 2022, and the ongoing war in the Middle East (see "Terrorist attacks, acts of war or natural disasters may affect any market for our common stock, impact the business in which we invest and harm our business, operating results and financial condition" for more information). Even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, the U.S. economy, as well as most other major economies, have continued to experience unpredictable economic conditions, and we anticipate our businesses would be materially and adversely affected by a prolonged economic downturn or recession in the United States and other major markets. In addition, disruptions in the capital markets could increase the spread between the yields realized on risk-free and higher risk securities, which could result in illiquidity in parts of the capital markets. Disruptions in the capital markets have increased the spread between the yields realized on risk-free and higher risk securities, resulting in illiquidity in parts of the capital markets.
These conditions and future market disruptions and/or illiquidity could have an adverse effect on our (and our portfolio companies') business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Ongoing unfavorable economic conditions also could increase our funding costs, limit our access to the capital markets or result in a decision by lenders not to extend credit to our portfolio companies and/or us. These events have limited and could continue to limit our investment originations and our ability to grow and could also have a material negative impact on our operating results and the fair values of our debt and equity investments. These events could limit our investment originations and our ability to grow and could also have a material negative impact on our operating results and the fair values of our debt and equity investments. We may have to access, if available, alternative markets for debt and equity capital, and a severe disruption in the global financial markets, deterioration in credit and financing conditions, high interest rates or uncertainty regarding U.S. government spending and deficit levels or other global economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Even if capital markets remain stable or improve, conditions could deteriorate again in the future. Past economic downturns or recessions have had a significant negative impact on the operating performance and fair value of middle market companies.Past economic downturns or recessions have had a significant negative impact on the operating performance and fair value of middle market companies. For example, between 2008 and 2009, the U.S. and global capital markets were unstable, as evidenced by periodic disruptions in liquidity in the debt capital markets, significant write-offs in the financial services sector, the re-pricing of credit risk in the broadly syndicated credit market and the failure of major financial institutions. Despite actions of the U.S. federal government and foreign governments, these events contributed to worsening general economic conditions that materially and adversely impacted the broader financial and credit markets and reduced the availability of debt and equity capital for the market as a whole and financial services firms in particular.
Equity capital may be difficult to raise during periods of adverse or volatile market conditions because, subject to some limited exceptions, as a BDC, we are generally not able to issue additional shares of our common stock at a price less than NAV without first obtaining approval for such issuance from our shareholders and our directors who are not "interested persons" (as such term is used under Section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act) of the Company, or independent directors. Volatility and dislocation in the capital markets also can create a challenging environment in which to raise or access debt capital. Under these conditions, it could make it difficult to refinance or extend the maturity of our existing indebtedness or obtain new indebtedness with similar terms and any failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business. The debt capital that will be available to us in the future, if at all, may be at a higher cost and on less favorable terms and conditions than what we currently experience, including being at a higher cost in a rising interest rate environment. The debt capital that will be available to us in the future, if at all, may be at a higher cost and on less favorable terms and conditions than what we currently experience, including being at a higher cost in a rising interest rate environment. If any of these conditions appear, they may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. If any of these conditions appear, they may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. These events could limit our investment originations, limit our ability to increase returns to equity holders through the effective use of leverage, and negatively impact our operating results.
In addition, significant changes or volatility in the capital markets may also have a negative effect on the valuations of our investments. While most of our investments are not publicly traded, applicable accounting standards require us to assume as part of our valuation process that our investments are sold in a principal market to market participants (even if we plan on holding an investment through its maturity). While most of our investments are not publicly traded, applicable accounting standards require us to assume as 24Table of Contentspart of our valuation process that our investments are sold in a principal market to market participants (even if we plan on holding an investment through its maturity). Significant changes in the capital markets may also affect the pace of our investment activity and the potential for liquidity events involving our investments. Thus, the illiquidity of our investments may make it difficult for us to sell our investments to access capital if required, and as a result, we could realize significantly less than the value at which we have recorded our investments if we were required to sell them for liquidity purposes. An inability to raise or access capital could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Government authorities worldwide have taken increased measures to stabilize the markets and support economic growth. The success of these measures is unknown and they may not be sufficient to address the market dislocations or avert severe and prolonged reductions in economic activity.
Certain of our portfolio companies may be impacted by inflation, which may, in turn, impact the valuation of such portfolio companies. If such portfolio companies are unable to pass any increases in their costs along to their customers, it could adversely affect their results and their ability to pay interest and principal on our loans, particularly if interest rates remain high in response to inflation. In addition, any projected future decreases in our portfolio companies’ operating results due to inflation could adversely impact the fair value of those investments. Any decreases in the fair value of our investments could result in future unrealized losses and therefore reduce our net assets resulting from operations.
Political, social and economic uncertainty creates and exacerbates risks.
Social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) could occur, potentially creating uncertainty and significantly impacting issuers, industries, governments and other systems, including the financial markets, to which companies and their investments are exposed. As global systems, economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, events that once had only local impact are now more likely to have regional or even global effects. Events that occur in one country, region or financial market will, more frequently, adversely impact issuers in other countries, regions, or markets, including in established markets, such as the United States. These impacts can be exacerbated by failures of governments and societies to adequately respond to an emerging event or threat.
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Uncertainty can result in or coincide with other phenomena, including, among other things: increased volatility in the financial markets for securities, derivatives, loans, credit and currency; a decrease in the reliability of market prices and difficulty in valuing assets (including portfolio company assets); greater fluctuations in spreads on debt investments and currency exchange rates; increased risk of default (by both government and private obligors and issuers); further social, economic, and political instability; nationalization of private enterprise; greater governmental involvement in the economy or in social factors that impact the economy; changes to governmental regulation and supervision of the loan, securities, derivatives and currency markets and market participants and decreased or revised monitoring of such markets by governments or self-regulatory organizations and reduced enforcement of regulations; limitations on the activities of investors in such markets; controls or restrictions on foreign investment, capital controls and limitations on repatriation of invested capital; the significant loss of liquidity and the inability to purchase, sell and otherwise fund investments or settle transactions (including, but not limited to, a market freeze); unavailability of currency hedging techniques; substantial, and in some periods extremely high, rates of inflation, which can last many years and have substantial negative effects on credit and securities markets as well as the economy as a whole; economic recessions or downturns; and difficulties in obtaining and/or enforcing legal judgments.
Following the November 2022 elections in the United States, the Democratic Party controls the Presidency and the Senate, with the Republican Party controlling the House of Representatives. Despite political tensions and uncertainty in a divided legislature, changes in federal policy, including tax policies, and at regulatory agencies may occur over time through policy and personnel changes, which can lead to changes involving the level of oversight and regulation of the financial services industry as well as changes in tax rates. The nature, timing and economic and political effects of potential changes to the current legal and regulatory framework affecting financial institutions remain highly uncertain.
The effect of global climate change may impact the operations and valuation of our portfolio companies.
Climate change creates physical and financial risk and some of our portfolio companies may be adversely affected by climate change. For example, the needs of customers of energy companies vary with weather conditions, primarily temperature and humidity. To the extent weather conditions are affected by climate change, energy use could increase or decrease depending on the duration and magnitude of any changes. Increases in the cost of energy could adversely affect the cost of operations of our portfolio companies if the use of energy products or services is material to their business. A decrease in energy use due to weather changes may affect some of our portfolio companies’ financial condition through, for example, decreased revenues, which may, in turn, impact the valuation of such portfolio companies. Extreme weather conditions in general require more system backup, adding to costs, and can contribute to increased system stresses, including service interruptions.
In December 2015, the United Nations adopted a climate accord (the “Paris Agreement”), which the United States rejoined in 2021, with the long-term goal of limiting global warming and the short-term goal of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included several measures designed to combat climate change, including restrictions on methane emissions. As a result, some of our portfolio companies may become subject to new or strengthened regulations or legislation, which could increase their operating costs and/or decrease their revenues, which may, in turn, impact their ability to make payments on our investments.
Environmental, social and governance factors may adversely affect our business or cause us to alter our business strategy.
Our business faces increasing public scrutiny related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) activities.26Table of ContentsOur business faces increasing public scrutiny related to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) activities. We risk damage to our brand and reputation if we fail to act responsibly in a number of areas, such as environmental stewardship, corporate governance and transparency. Adverse incidents with respect to ESG activities could impact the value of our brand, the cost of our operations and relationships with investors, all of which could adversely affect our business and results of operations. Additionally, new regulatory initiatives related to ESG could adversely affect our business. For example, pending the outcome of ongoing legal challenges to the rules, the SEC has announced that it will require disclosure of material climate-related risks and information about certain registrant's emissions if such emissions are material to its business, and may require disclosure of additional ESG-related matters in the future. Compliance with any new laws or regulations increases our regulatory burden and could make compliance more difficult and expensive, affect the manner in which we or our prospective portfolio companies conduct our businesses and adversely affect our profitability.
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Downgrades of the U.S. credit rating, automatic spending cuts, or another government shutdown could negatively impact our liquidity, financial condition, and results of operations.
U.S. debt ceiling and budget deficit concerns have increased the possibility of credit-rating downgrades or a recession in the United States. U.S. lawmakers have passed legislation to raise the federal debt ceiling on multiple occasions, including, most recently, in June 2023, which suspended the debt ceiling through early 2025 unless Congress takes legislative action to further extend or defer it. Despite taking action to suspend the debt ceiling, ratings agencies have threatened to lower the long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States, including Fitch downgrading the U.S. government’s long-term rating from AAA to AA+ in August 2023 and Moody’s lowering the U.S. government’s credit rating outlook from “stable” to “negative” in November 2023. The impact of the increased debt ceiling and/or downgrades to the U.S. government’s sovereign credit rating or its perceived creditworthiness could adversely affect the U.S. and global financial markets and economic conditions. Absent further quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve, these developments could cause interest rates and borrowing costs to rise, which may negatively impact our ability to access the debt markets on favorable terms.
In addition, disagreement over the federal budget has caused the U.S. federal government to shut down for periods of time resulting in, among other things, inadequate funding for and/or the shutdown of certain government agencies, including the SEC and the SBA, on which the operation of our business may rely. Inadequate funding for and/or the shutdown of these or other government agencies prevents them from performing their normal business functions, which could impact, among other things: (i) our and our portfolio companies’ ability to access the public markets and obtain necessary capital in order to, among other things, properly capitalize, continue or expand operations, or, in the case of portfolio investments held by us, liquidate such investments; (ii) the ability for SBIC I to originate loans; and (iii) the ability of other governmental agencies to timely review and process regulatory submissions of our portfolio companies, as applicable. Inadequate funding for and/or the shutdown of these or other government agencies prevents them from performing their normal business functions, which could impact, among other things, (i) our and our portfolio companies’ ability to access the public markets and obtain necessary capital in order to, among other things, properly capitalize, continue or expand operations, or, in the case of portfolio investments held by us, liquidate such investments; (ii) the ability for SBIC I to originate loans; and (iii) the ability of other governmental agencies to timely review and process regulatory submissions of our portfolio companies, as applicable. Continued adverse political and economic conditions, including a prolonged U.S. federal government shutdown, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is dependent on bank relationships and recent strain on the banking system may adversely impact us.
The financial markets recently have encountered volatility associated with concerns about the balance sheets of banks, especially small and regional banks that may have significant losses associated with investments that make it difficult to fund demands to withdraw deposits and other liquidity needs. Although the federal government has announced measures to assist these banks and protect depositors, some banks have already been impacted and others may be materially and adversely impacted. Our business is dependent on bank relationships, including small and regional banks, and we are proactively monitoring the financial health of banks with which we (or our portfolio companies) do or may in the future do business. To the extent that our portfolio companies work with banks that are negatively impacted by the foregoing, such portfolio companies’ ability to access their own cash, cash equivalents and investments may be threatened. In addition, such affected portfolio companies may not be able to enter into new banking arrangements or credit facilities or receive the benefits of their existing banking arrangements or credit facilities. Any such developments could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results, and prevent us from fully implementing our investment plan. Continued strain on the banking system may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in the laws or regulations governing our business or the operations of our portfolio companies, changes in the interpretations thereof or of newly enacted laws or regulations, and any failure by us to comply with these laws or regulations could require changes to certain business practices of us or our portfolio companies, negatively affect the profitability of the operations, cash flows or financial condition of us or our portfolio companies, impose additional costs on us or our portfolio companies or otherwise adversely affect our business or the business of our portfolio companies.
We are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations and are subject to judicial and administrative decisions that affect our operations, including our loan originations, maximum interest rates, fees and other charges, disclosures to portfolio companies, the terms of secured transactions, collection and foreclosure procedures and other trade practices. These laws and regulations, as well as their interpretation, may be changed from time to time, and new laws and regulations may be enacted. Any change in the laws or regulations, the interpretations of such laws and regulations, or newly enacted laws or regulations could require changes to certain business practices used by us or our portfolio companies, negatively impact the operations, cash flows or financial condition of us or our portfolio companies, impose additional costs on us or our portfolio companies or otherwise adversely affect our business or the business of our portfolio companies. Any change in the laws or regulations, the interpretations of such laws and regulations, or newly enacted laws or 27Table of Contentsregulations could require changes to certain business practices used by us or our portfolio companies, negatively impact the operations, cash flows or financial condition of us or our portfolio companies, impose additional costs on us or our portfolio companies or otherwise adversely affect our business or the business of our portfolio companies. In addition, if we do not comply with applicable laws, regulations and decisions, we may lose licenses needed for the conduct of our business and/or be subject to civil fines and criminal penalties, any of which could have a material adverse effect upon our business, results of operations or financial condition.
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We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities.
We compete for attractive investment opportunities with other financial institutions, including BDCs, junior capital lenders, and banks. Some of these competitors are substantially larger and have greater financial, technical and marketing resources, and some are subject to different, and frequently less stringent, regulations. Our competitors may have a lower cost of funds and may have access to funding sources that are not available to us. Furthermore, many of our competitors are not subject to the regulatory restrictions that the 1940 Act imposes on us as a BDC and the Code imposes on us as a RIC. As a result of this competition, we may not be able to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities from time to time, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to identify and make investments that satisfy our objectives. A significant increase in the number and/or size of our competitors in our target market could force us to accept less attractive investment terms, which may impact our return on these investments. We cannot assure you that the competitive pressures we face will not have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.
Our success depends on attracting and retaining qualified personnel in a competitive environment.
Sourcing, selecting, structuring and closing our investments depends upon the diligence and skill of our management. Our management’s capabilities may significantly impact our results of operations. Our success requires that we retain investment and operations personnel in a competitive environment. Our ability to attract and retain personnel with the requisite credentials, experience and skills depends on several factors, including, but not limited to, our ability to offer competitive wages, benefits and professional growth opportunities. Many of the entities, including investment funds (such as private equity funds and debt funds) and traditional financial services companies, with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have.
The competitive environment for qualified personnel may require us to take certain measures to ensure that we are able to attract and retain experienced personnel. Such measures may include increasing the attractiveness of our overall compensation packages, altering the structure of our compensation packages through the use of additional forms of compensation or other steps. The inability to attract and retain experienced personnel could potentially have an adverse effect on our business.
Effective April 25, 2019, our asset coverage requirement was reduced from 200% to 150%, which could increase the risk of investing in the Company.
The 1940 Act generally prohibits BDCs from incurring indebtedness unless immediately after such borrowing it has an asset coverage for total borrowings of at least 200% or 150%, if certain requirements are met. On April 25, 2018, the Board of Directors, including a “required majority” (as such term is defined in Section 57(o) of the 1940 Act) of the Board of Directors, approved the application of the modified asset coverage requirements set forth in Section 61(a)(2) of the 1940 Act. As a result, the minimum asset coverage ratio applicable to the Company was decreased from 200% to 150%, which became effective April 25, 2019. Additionally, the Board of Directors also approved a resolution that limits the Company’s issuance of senior securities such that the asset coverage ratio, taking into account such issuance, would not be less than 166%, at any time after the effective date. We are required to make certain disclosures on our website and in SEC filings regarding, among other things, the receipt of approval to reduce its asset coverage requirement to 150%, its leverage capacity and usage, and risks related to leverage. In addition, on August 11, 2021, we received an exemptive order from the SEC to permit us to exclude the senior securities issued by SBIC I or any future SBIC subsidiary of the Company from the definition of senior securities in the asset coverage requirement applicable to the Company under the 1940 Act.
Leverage is generally considered a speculative investment technique and increases the risk of investing in our securities. Leverage magnifies the potential for loss on investments in our indebtedness and on invested equity capital. As we use leverage to partially finance our investments, you will experience increased risks of investing in our securities. If the value of our assets increases, then leveraging would cause the NAV attributable to our common stock to increase more sharply than it would have had we not leveraged. Conversely, if the value of our assets decreases, leveraging would cause NAV to decline more sharply than it otherwise would have had we not leveraged our business. Similarly, any increase in our income in excess of interest payable on the borrowed funds would cause our net investment income to increase more than it would without the leverage, while any decrease in our income would cause net investment income to decline more sharply than it would have had we not borrowed. Such a decline could negatively affect our ability to pay common stock dividends, scheduled debt payments or other payments related to our securities. If we incur additional leverage, you will experience increased risks of investing in our common stock.
We expend significant financial and other resources to comply with the requirements of being a public company.
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As a public entity, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the related rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC. The Exchange Act requires that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting. In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls, significant resources and management oversight are required. We have implemented procedures, processes, policies and practices for the purpose of addressing the standards and requirements applicable to public companies. These activities may divert management’s time and attention from other business concerns, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our ability to enter into transactions with our affiliates is restricted.
We are prohibited under the 1940 Act from participating in certain transactions with certain of our affiliates without the prior approval of our independent directors and, in some cases, the SEC. Any person that owns, directly or indirectly, 5% or more of our outstanding voting securities is our affiliate for purposes of the 1940 Act, and we generally are prohibited from buying or selling any security from or to an affiliate, absent the prior approval of our independent directors. The 1940 Act also prohibits certain “joint” transactions with certain of our affiliates, which could include investments in the same portfolio company (whether at the same or different times), without prior approval of our independent directors and, in some cases, the SEC. If a person acquires more than 25% of our voting securities, we are prohibited from buying or selling any security from or to that person or certain of that person’s affiliates, or entering into prohibited joint transactions with that person, absent the prior approval of the SEC. Similar restrictions limit our ability to transact business with our officers or directors or their affiliates.
Regulations governing our operation as a BDC will affect our ability to, and the way in which we, raise additional capital.
Our business requires capital to operate and grow. We may acquire such additional capital from the following sources:
Senior Securities. We may issue debt securities, preferred stock and/or borrow money from banks or other financial institutions, which we refer to collectively as senior securities. As a result of issuing senior securities, we will be exposed to additional risks, including the following:
•Under the provisions of the 1940 Act and effective April 25, 2019, we are permitted, as a BDC, to issue senior securities only in amounts such that our asset coverage, as defined in the 1940 Act, equals at least 150% immediately after each issuance of senior securities. The Board also approved a resolution that limits the Company's issuance of senior securities such that the asset coverage ratio, taking into account such issuance, would not be less than 166%, at any time after the effective date. In addition, on August 11, 2021, we received an exemptive order from the SEC to permit us to exclude the senior securities issued by SBIC I or any future SBIC subsidiary of the Company from the definition of senior securities in the asset coverage requirement applicable to the Company under the 1940 Act. If the value of our assets declines, we may be unable to satisfy this requirement. If that happens, we will be prohibited from issuing debt securities and/or borrowing money from banks or other financial institutions and may not be permitted to declare a dividend or make any distribution to shareholders or repurchase shares until such time as we satisfy this test.
•Any amounts that we use to service our debt will not be available for dividends to our common shareholders.
•It is likely that any senior securities or other indebtedness we issue will be governed by an indenture or other instrument containing covenants restricting our operating flexibility. Additionally, some of these securities or other indebtedness may be rated by rating agencies, and in obtaining a rating for such securities and other indebtedness, we may be required to abide by operating and investment guidelines that further restrict operating and financial flexibility.
•We and, indirectly, our shareholders will bear the cost of issuing and servicing such securities and other indebtedness.
•Any unsecured debt issued by us would rank (1) pari passu with our future unsecured indebtedness and effectively subordinated to all of our existing and future secured indebtedness, to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness (such as the Corporate Credit Facility), and (2) structurally subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness and other obligations of any of our subsidiaries (such as our SBA-guaranteed debentures and the SPV Credit Facility).
•Upon a liquidation of the Company, holders of our debt securities and lenders with respect to other borrowings would receive a distribution of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Future offerings of additional debt securities, which would be senior to our common stock upon liquidation, or equity securities, which could dilute our existing shareholders, may harm the value of our common stock.
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Additional Common Stock. The 1940 Act prohibits us from selling shares of our common stock at a price below the current NAV per share of such stock, with certain exceptions. One such exception is prior shareholder approval of issuances below current NAV per share provided that our Board of Directors determines that such sale is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. We do not intend to seek shareholder authorization to sell shares of our common stock below the then current NAV per share of our common stock at our 2024 annual meeting of shareholders. However, in the event we change our position, we will seek requisite approval of our shareholders. See “- Shareholders may incur dilution if we sell shares of our common stock in one or more offerings at prices below the then current NAV per share of our common stock or issue securities that are convertible to shares of our common stock” for a discussion of the risks related to us issuing shares of our common stock below NAV. See “-Shareholders may incur dilution if we sell shares of our common stock in one or more offerings at prices below the then current NAV per share of our common stock or issue securities that are convertible to shares of our common stock” for a discussion of the risks related to us issuing shares of our common stock below NAV. If we raise additional funds by issuing more common stock or senior securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, our common stock, the percentage ownership of our shareholders at that time would decrease, and they may experience dilution. Moreover, we can offer no assurance that we will be able to issue and sell additional equity securities in the future, on favorable terms or at all.
SBIC I has an SBIC license and is subject to SBA regulations, and any failure to comply with SBA regulations could have an adverse effect on our operations.
On April 20, 2021, SBIC I received a license from the SBA to operate as an SBIC under Section 301(c) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, as amended, and is regulated by the SBA.
The SBA places certain limitations on the financing terms of investments by SBICs in portfolio companies, regulates the types of financing, prohibits investing in small businesses with certain characteristics or in certain industries and requires capitalization thresholds that limit distributions to us. Accordingly, compliance with SBIC requirements may cause SBIC I to forego attractive investment opportunities that are not permitted under SBA regulations and/or to invest at less competitive rates in order to find investments that qualify under the SBA regulations.
Shareholders may incur dilution if we sell shares of our common stock in one or more offerings at prices below the then current NAV per share of our common stock or issue securities that are convertible to shares of our common stock.
The 1940 Act prohibits us from selling shares of our common stock at a price below the current NAV per share of such stock, with certain exceptions. One such exception is prior shareholder approval of issuances below NAV provided that our Board of Directors determines that such sale is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. We do not intend to seek shareholder authorization to sell shares of our common stock below the then current NAV per share of our common stock at our 2024 annual meeting of shareholders. However, in the event we change our position, we will seek the requisite approval of our shareholders.
If we were to sell shares of our common stock below NAV per share, such sales would result in an immediate dilution to the NAV per share. This dilution would occur as a result of the sale of shares at a price below the then current NAV per share of our common stock and a proportionately greater decrease in a shareholder’s interest in our earnings and assets and voting interest in us than the increase in our assets resulting from such issuance. Because the number of shares of common stock that could be so issued and the timing of any issuance is not currently known, the actual dilutive effect cannot be predicted. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the example below illustrates the effect of dilution to existing shareholders resulting from the sale of common stock at prices below the NAV of such shares.
In addition, if we issue securities that are convertible to shares of common stock, the exercise or conversion of such securities would increase the number of outstanding shares of our common stock. Any such exercise would be dilutive on the voting power of existing shareholders, and could be dilutive with regard to dividends and our NAV, and other economic aspects of the common stock.
Illustration: Example of Dilutive Effect of the Issuance of Shares Below NAV. Assume that Company XYZ has 1,000,000 total shares outstanding, $15,000,000 in total assets and $5,000,000 in total liabilities. The NAV per share of the
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common stock of Company XYZ is $10.00. The following table illustrates the reduction NAV and the dilution experienced by shareholder A following the sale of 100,000 shares of the common stock of Company XYZ at $9.00 per share, a price below its NAV per share.
(1)Assumes that Shareholder A does not purchase additional shares in the sale of shares below NAV.
Legislative or other actions relating to taxes could have a negative effect on us.
Legislative or other actions relating to taxes could have a negative effect on us. The rules governing U.S. federal income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. We cannot predict with certainty how any changes in the tax laws might affect us, our shareholders, or our portfolio investments. New legislation and any U.S. Treasury regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions interpreting such legislation or regulations could significantly and negatively affect our ability to qualify for tax treatment as a RIC or the U.S. federal income tax consequences to us and our shareholders of such qualification, or could have other adverse consequences. Shareholders are urged to consult with their tax advisor regarding tax legislative, regulatory, or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in our securities.
We are highly dependent on information systems and systems failures could significantly disrupt our business, which may, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our operating results and negatively affect the market price of our common stock and our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders.
Our business is highly dependent on our and third parties’ communications and information systems. Any failure or interruption of those systems, including as a result of the termination of an agreement with any third-party service providers, could cause delays or other problems in our activities. Our financial, accounting, data processing, backup or other operating systems and facilities may fail to operate properly or become disabled or damaged as a result of a number of factors, including events that are wholly or partially beyond our control and adversely affect our business. There could be:
•sudden electrical or telecommunications outages;
•natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes;
•disease pandemics;
•events arising from local or larger scale political or social matters, including terrorist acts; and
•cyber-attacks.
These events, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and negatively affect the market price of our common stock and our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders.
A failure of cybersecurity systems, as well as the occurrence of events unanticipated in our disaster recovery systems and management continuity planning, could impair our ability to conduct business effectively.31Table of ContentsA failure of cybersecurity systems, as well as the occurrence of events unanticipated in our disaster recovery systems and management continuity planning could impair our ability to conduct business effectively.
We, and others in our industry, are the targets of malicious cyber activity. A successful cyber-attack, whether perpetrated by criminal or state-sponsored actors, against us or our service providers, or an accidental disclosure of non-public information could have an adverse effect on our ability to communicate or conduct business, negatively impacting our operations and financial condition. This adverse effect can become particularly acute if those events affect our electronic data processing, transmission, storage, and retrieval systems, or impact the availability, integrity, or confidentiality of our data, especially personal and other confidential information. If a significant number of our employees were unavailable in the event of a disaster, our ability to effectively conduct our business could be severely compromised.
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We, and the third-party service providers with which we do business, depend heavily upon computer systems to perform necessary business functions. Despite our implementation of a variety of security measures, our computer systems, networks, and data, like those of other companies, could be subject to unauthorized access, acquisition, use, alteration, disruption, or destruction, such as from the insertion of malware (including ransomware), physical and electronic break-ins or unauthorized tampering. Despite our implementation of a variety of security measures, our computer systems, networks, and data, like those of other companies, could be subject to cyber-attacks and unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction, such as from physical and electronic break-ins or unauthorized tampering. We may experience threats to our data and systems, including malware and computer virus attacks, unauthorized access, or system failures and disruptions. Such an attack could cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations, misstated or unreliable financial data, misappropriation of assets, loss of personal information, or liability for stolen information, any of which could result in financial losses, litigation, regulatory enforcement action and penalties, client dissatisfaction or loss, reputational damage, and increased costs associated with mitigation of damages and remediation. We may have to make a significant investment to fix or replace any inoperable or compromised systems or to modify or enhance its cybersecurity controls, procedures and measures. Similarly, the public perception that we or our affiliates may have been the target of a cybersecurity threat, whether successful or not, also could have a material adverse effect on our reputation and lead to financial losses from loss of business, depending on the nature and severity of the threat.
Third parties with which we do business are sources of cybersecurity or other technological risks. We outsource certain functions, and these relationships allow for the storage and processing of our information, as well as counterparty, employee and borrower information. Cybersecurity failures or breaches to service providers (including, but not limited to, transfer agents and custodians), and the issuers of securities in which we invest, also have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, interference with our ability to calculate its NAV, impediments to trading, the inability of our stockholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputation damages, reimbursement of other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. Cybersecurity failures or breaches by service providers (including, but not limited to, accountants, transfer agents, and custodians), and the issuers of securities in which we invest, also have the ability to cause disruptions and impact business operations, potentially resulting in financial losses, interference with our ability to calculate its NAV, impediments to trading, the inability of our stockholders to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputation damages, reimbursement of other compensation costs, or additional compliance costs. While we engage in actions to reduce our exposure resulting from outsourcing, ongoing threats may result in unauthorized access, loss, exposure or destruction of data, or other cybersecurity incidents with increased costs and other consequences, including those as described above. In addition, substantial costs may be incurred to prevent any cyber-incidents in the future The Company does not control the cybersecurity measures put in place by third parties, and such third parties could have limited indemnification obligations to the Company and its affiliates. If such a third party fails to adopt or adhere to adequate cybersecurity procedures, or if despite such procedures its networks or systems are breached, information relating to investor transactions and/or personal information of investors may be lost or improperly accessed, used or disclosed.
Privacy and information security laws and regulatory changes, and compliance with those changes, may result in cost increases due to system changes and the development of new administrative processes. In addition, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify our protective measures and to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures arising from operational and security risks.
Terrorist attacks, acts of war or natural disasters may affect any market for our common stock, impact the businesses in which we invest and harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
Terrorist attacks, acts of war or natural disasters may disrupt our operations, as well as the operations of the businesses in which we invest. These events have created, and continue to create, economic and political uncertainties and have contributed to global economic instability. Future terrorist activities, military or security operations, or natural disasters could further weaken the domestic or global economy. These events could create additional uncertainties, which may negatively affect the businesses in which we invest directly or indirectly and, in turn, could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. Losses from terrorist attacks and natural disasters are generally uninsurable.
The continued threat of global terrorism and the impact of military and other action will likely continue to cause volatility in the economies of certain countries, contribute to increased market volatility and economic uncertainties or deterioration in the United States and worldwide and various aspects thereof, including in prices of commodities. Our portfolio investments may involve significant strategic assets having a national or regional profile. The nature of these assets could expose them to a greater risk of being the subject of a terrorist attack than other assets or businesses. The nature of these assets could 32Table of Contentsexpose them to a greater risk of being the subject of a terrorist attack than other assets or businesses. In late February 2022, Russia launched a large scale military attack on Ukraine. The invasion significantly amplified already existing geopolitical tensions among Russia, Ukraine, Europe, NATO and the West, including the United States. In response to the ongoing military action by Russia, various countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and European Union issued broad-ranging economic sanctions against Russia. Such sanctions included, among other things, a prohibition on doing business with certain Russian companies, large financial institutions, officials and oligarchs; a commitment by certain countries and the European Union to remove selected Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (“SWIFT”), the electronic banking network that connects banks globally; and restrictive measures to prevent the Russian Central Bank from undermining the impact of the sanctions. Additional sanctions may be imposed in the future. Such sanctions (and any future sanctions) and other actions against Russia may adversely impact, among other things, the Russian economy and various sectors of the economy, including but not limited to, financials, energy, metals and mining, engineering and defense
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and defense-related materials sectors; result in a decline in the value and liquidity of Russian securities; result in boycotts, tariffs, and purchasing and financing restrictions on Russia’s government, companies and certain individuals; weaken the value of the ruble; downgrade the country’s credit rating; freeze Russian securities and/or funds invested in prohibited assets and impair the ability to trade in Russian securities and/or other assets; and have other adverse consequences on the Russian government, economy, companies and region.
In addition, the recent outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East and escalating tensions in the region may create volatility and disruption of global markets.
The ramifications of the hostilities and sanctions, however, may not be limited to Russia and the Middle East and Russian and Middle Eastern companies, respectively, but may spill over to and negatively impact other regional and global economic markets (including Europe and the United States), companies in other countries (particularly those that have done business with Russia) and on various sectors, industries and markets for securities and commodities globally, such as oil and natural gas. Accordingly, the actions discussed above and the potential for a wider conflict could increase financial market volatility, cause severe negative effects on regional and global economic markets, industries, and companies and have a negative effect on the Company’s investments and performance, which may, in turn, impact the valuation of such portfolio companies. In addition, parties in such conflicts may take retaliatory actions and other countermeasures, including cyberattacks and espionage against other countries and companies around the world, which may negatively impact such countries and the companies in which the Company invests. In addition, Russia may take retaliatory actions and other countermeasures, including cyberattacks and espionage against other countries and companies around the world, which may negatively impact such countries and the companies in which the Company invests. The extent and duration of the military action or future escalation of such hostilities, the extent and impact of existing and future sanctions, market disruptions and volatility, and the result of any diplomatic negotiations cannot be predicted. These and any related events could have a significant impact on the Company’s performance and the value of an investment in the Company.
Our business and operations may be negatively affected if we become subject to securities litigation or shareholder activism, which could cause us to incur significant expense, hinder execution of our investment strategy and impact our stock price.
In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class-action litigation has often been brought against that company. Shareholder activism, which could take many forms or arise in a variety of situations, has been increasing in the BDC space. While we are currently not subject to any securities litigation or shareholder activism, due to the potential volatility of our stock price and for a variety of other reasons, we may in the future become the target of securities litigation or shareholder activism. Securities litigation and shareholder activism, including potential proxy contests, could result in substantial costs and divert management’s and our Board of Directors’ attention and resources from our business. Additionally, such securities litigation and shareholder activism could give rise to perceived uncertainties as to our future, adversely affect our relationships with service providers and make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel. Also, we may be required to incur significant legal fees and other expenses related to any securities litigation and activist shareholder matters. Further, our stock price could be subject to significant fluctuation or otherwise be adversely affected by the events, risks and uncertainties of any securities litigation and shareholder activism.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR INVESTMENTS
Our investments in portfolio companies involve a number of significant risks.
We primarily invest in privately held U.S. middle market companies. Investments in privately held middle market companies involve a number of significant risks, including the following:
•These companies are more likely to depend on the management talents and efforts of a small group of key employees. Therefore, the death, disability, resignation, termination, or significant under-performance of one or more of these persons could have a material adverse impact on our portfolio company and, in turn, on us.
•These companies may have unpredictable operating results, could become parties to litigation, may be engaged in rapidly changing businesses with products subject to a substantial risk of obsolescence and may require substantial additional capital to support their operations, finance expansion or maintain their competitive position.
•Private companies generally have less publicly available information about their businesses, operations and financial condition. Consequently, we rely on the ability of our management team and investment professionals to obtain adequate information to evaluate the potential returns from making investments in these portfolio companies. If we are unable to uncover all material information about the portfolio company, we may not make a fully informed investment decision and may lose all or part of our investment.
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•These companies may have shorter operating histories, narrower product lines, smaller market shares and/or more significant customer concentration than larger businesses, which tend to render them more vulnerable to competitors’ actions and market conditions, as well as general economic downturns.
•These companies may have limited financial resources and may be unable to meet their obligations under their debt instruments that we hold, which may be accompanied by a deterioration in the value of any collateral and a reduction in the likelihood of us realizing any guarantees from subsidiaries or affiliates of our portfolio companies that we may have obtained in connection with our investment, as well as a corresponding decrease in the value of the equity components of our investments.
In addition, in the course of providing significant managerial assistance to certain of our portfolio companies, certain of our officers and directors may serve as directors on the boards of these companies. To the extent that litigation arises out of our investments in these companies, our officers and directors may be named as defendants in such litigation, which could result in an expenditure of funds for claims in excess of our directors’ and officers’ insurance coverage (through our indemnification of our officers and directors) and the diversion of management’s time and resources.
We are subject to risks associated with our investments in senior loans.
We invest in senior loans, which are usually rated below investment grade or also may be unrated. As a result, the risks associated with senior loans may be considered by credit rating agencies to be similar to the risks of below investment grade fixed-income instruments. Investment in senior loans rated below investment grade is considered speculative because of the credit risk of the company incurring the indebtedness. Such companies are more likely than investment grade issuers to default on their payments of interest and principal owed to us, and such defaults could have a material adverse effect on our performance.These events, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and negatively affect the market price of our common stock and our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders. An economic downturn would generally lead to a higher non-payment rate, and a senior loan may lose significant market value before a default occurs. Moreover, any specific collateral used to secure a senior loans may decline in value or become illiquid, which would adversely affect the senior loan’s value.
There may be less readily available and reliable information about most senior loans than is the case for many other types of securities, including securities issued in transactions registered under the Securities Act or registered under the Exchange Act. As a result, we will rely primarily on our own evaluation of a borrower’s credit quality rather than on any available independent sources.
In general, the secondary trading market for senior secured loans is not well developed. No active trading market may exist for certain senior loans, which may make it difficult to value them. Illiquidity and adverse market conditions may mean that we may not be able to sell senior loans quickly or at a fair price. To the extent that a secondary market does exist for certain senior loans, the market for them may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods.
The lack of liquidity in our investments may adversely affect our business.
We invest, and will continue to invest, in portfolio companies whose securities are not publicly traded. These securities generally are subject to legal and other restrictions on resale or will otherwise be less liquid than publicly traded securities. As a result, we do not expect to achieve liquidity in our investments in the near-term. The illiquidity of these investments may make it difficult for us to sell these investments when desired. In addition, if we are required to liquidate all or a portion of our portfolio quickly, we may realize significantly less than the value at which we had previously recorded these investments and, as a result, we may suffer losses.
We may be subject to risks associated with “covenant-lite” loans.
We may invest in “covenant-lite” loans, which generally refers to loans that do not have a complete set of financial maintenance covenants. Generally, “covenant-lite” loans provide borrower companies more freedom to negatively impact lenders because their covenants are incurrence-based, which means they are only tested and can only be breached following an affirmative action of the borrower, rather than by a deterioration in the borrower’s financial condition. Accordingly, to the extent we are exposed to “covenant-lite” loans, we may have a greater risk of loss on such investments as compared to investments in or exposure to loans with financial maintenance covenants.
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Defaults by our portfolio companies could harm our operating results.
Our business is at risk if one of our borrowers defaults. Portfolio companies may fail to satisfy financial, operating or other covenants imposed by us or other lenders, which could lead to non-payment of interest and other defaults and, potentially, acceleration of its loans and foreclosure on its secured assets. These events could trigger cross-defaults under other agreements and jeopardize the portfolio company’s ability to meet its obligations, including under the debt or equity securities we hold. We may also incur expenses to the extent necessary to recover upon a default or to negotiate new terms, which may include the waiver of certain financial covenants, with the defaulting portfolio company.
We may not realize gains from our equity investments.
We may purchase common stock and other equity securities, including warrants, alongside our debt investments. Although equity securities have historically generated higher average total returns than fixed-income securities over the long term, equity securities have also experienced significantly more volatility in those returns. The equity securities we acquire may fail to appreciate and may decline in value or become worthless, and our ability to recover our investment depends on our portfolio company's success. Investments in equity securities involve a number of significant risks, including the risk of further dilution as a result of additional issuances, inability to access additional capital and failure to pay current distributions. Investments in preferred securities involve special risks, such as the risk of deferred distributions, credit risk, illiquidity and limited voting rights. In addition, we may from time to time make non-control, equity investments in portfolio companies. Our goal is ultimately to realize gains upon our disposition of these equity interests. However, the equity interests we receive may not appreciate in value and, in fact, may decline in value. Accordingly, we may not be able to realize gains from our equity interests, and any gains that we do realize on the disposition of any equity interests may not be sufficient to offset any other losses we experience. We also may be unable to realize any value if a portfolio company does not have a liquidity event, such as a sale of the business, recapitalization or public offering, which would allow us to sell the underlying equity interests. We often seek puts or similar rights to give us the right to sell our equity securities back to the portfolio company issuer; however, we may be unable to exercise these put rights for the consideration provided in our investment documents if the issuer is in financial distress.
Prepayments of our debt investments by our portfolio companies could adversely impact our results of operations and reduce our return on equity.
We are subject to the risk that the debt investments we make in our portfolio companies may be prepaid prior to maturity, the specific timing of which we do not control. When this occurs, we will generally reinvest these proceeds in temporary investments, pending their future investment in new portfolio companies. These temporary investments will typically have substantially lower yields than the debt being prepaid and we could experience significant delays in reinvesting these amounts. Any future investment in a new portfolio company may also be at lower yields than the debt that was repaid. As a result, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected if one or more of our portfolio companies elect to prepay amounts owed to us. Additionally, prepayments could negatively impact our return on equity, which could result in a decline in the market price of our securities.
The loans we make in portfolio companies may become non-performing.
A loan or debt obligation may become non-performing for a variety of reasons. Such non-performing loans may require substantial workout negotiations or restructuring that may entail, among other things, a substantial reduction in the interest rate, a substantial write-down of the principal amount of the loan and/or the deferral of payments. In addition, such negotiations or restructuring may be quite extensive and protracted over time, and therefore may result in substantial uncertainty with respect to the ultimate recovery. Our investment objective is to produce attractive risk-adjusted returns by generating current income from our debt investments and capital appreciation from our equity and equity related investments. We also may incur additional expenses to the extent that it is required to seek recovery upon a default on a loan or participate in the restructuring of such obligation. The liquidity for defaulted loans may be limited, and, to the extent that defaulted loans are sold, it is highly unlikely that the proceeds from such sale will be equal to the amount of unpaid principal and interest thereon. In connection with any such defaults, workouts or restructuring, although we exercise voting rights with respect to an individual loan, we may not be able to exercise votes in respect of a sufficient percentage of voting rights with respect to such loan to determine the outcome of such vote.
We are exposed to risks associated with changes in interest rates.
Because we have borrowed and intend to continue to borrow money to make investments, our net investment income depends, in part, upon the difference between the rate at which we borrow funds and the rate at which we invest those funds. As a result, we can offer no assurance that a significant change in market interest rates will not have a material adverse effect on our net investment income. In response to market indicators showing a rise in inflation, since March 2022, the Federal Reserve
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has been rapidly increasing interest rates and has indicated that it may consider additional rate hikes in response to ongoing inflation concerns. Although the Federal Reserve left its benchmark rates steady in the first quarter of 2024, it has indicated that additional rate increases in the future may be necessary to mitigate inflationary pressures and there can be no assurance that the Federal Reserve will not make upwards adjustments to the federal funds rate in the future. It is possible that the Federal Reserve's tightening cycle could also result in a recession in the United States.
If interest rates rise, there is a risk that portfolio companies in which we hold floating rate loans will be unable to pay escalating interest amounts, which could increase the risk of payment defaults and cause the portfolio companies to defer or cancel needed investment.If interest rates continue to rise, there is also a risk that portfolio companies in which we hold floating rate loans will be unable to pay escalating interest amounts, which could increase the risk of payment defaults and cause the portfolio companies to defer or cancel needed investment. Any failure of one or more portfolio companies to repay or refinance its debt at or prior to maturity or the inability of one or more portfolio companies to make ongoing payments following an increase in contractual interest rates could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. The value of our securities could also be reduced from an increase in market credit spreads as rates available to investors could make an investment in our securities less attractive than alternative investments.
Further, rising interest rates could also adversely affect our performance if such increases cause our borrowing costs to rise at a rate in excess of the rate that our investments yield. In the current and any future periods of rising interest rates, to the extent we borrow money subject to a floating interest rate (such as under the Corporate Credit Facility and the SPV Credit Facility), our cost of funds would increase, which could reduce our net investment income if there is not a corresponding increase in interest income generated by our investment portfolio.In the current and any future periods of rising interest rates, to the extent we borrow money subject to a floating interest rate (such as under the Credit Facility), our cost of funds would increase, which could reduce our net investment income if there is not a corresponding increase in interest income generated by our investment portfolio. Conversely, if interest rates decline, there will be a decrease in investment income generated by our portfolio companies partially offset by a decrease in interest expense on our Credit Facilities, thereby decreasing our net investment income.
Additionally, rising interest rates could adversely affect our performance if we hold investments with floating interest rates, subject to specified minimum (or “floor”) interest rates, while at the same time engaging in borrowings subject to floating interest rates not subject to such minimums. In such a scenario when interest rates are below the floor set for the investments we hold, rising interest rates may temporarily increase our interest expense, even though our interest income from investments is not increasing in a corresponding manner if market rates remain lower than the existing floor rate.
There may be circumstances in which our debt investments could be subordinated to claims of other creditors or we could be subject to lender liability claims.
Even though we may have structured our investments as secured debt, if one of our portfolio companies were to go bankrupt, depending on the facts and circumstances, and based upon principles of equitable subordination, a bankruptcy court could subordinate all or a portion of our claim to that of other creditors and transfer any lien securing our subordinated claim to the bankruptcy estate. The principles of equitable subordination based on case law generally provide that a claim may be subordinated only if its holder is guilty of misconduct or where the secured debt is re-characterized as an equity investment and the senior lender has actually provided significant managerial assistance to the bankrupt debtor. We may also be subject to lender liability claims for actions taken by us with respect to a borrower’s business or instances where we exercise control over the borrower. It is possible that we could become subject to a lender’s liability claim, including as a result of actions taken in rendering significant managerial assistance or actions to compel and collect payments from the borrower outside the ordinary course of business.
As a RIC, we may have certain regulatory restrictions that could preclude us from making additional investments in our portfolio companies.
We may not have the ability to make additional investments in our portfolio companies. After our initial investment in a portfolio company, we may be called upon from time to time to provide additional funds to that company or have the opportunity to increase our investment or make follow-on investments. Any decisions not to make a follow-on investment or any inability on our part to make such an investment may have a negative impact on a portfolio company in need of such an investment, may result in a missed opportunity for us to increase our participation in a successful operation, or may reduce the expected return on the investment.
The alternative reference rates that have replaced LIBOR in our credit arrangements and other financial instruments may not yield the same or similar economic results as LIBOR over the life of such transactions.
The London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) is an index rate that historically was widely used in lending transactions and was a common reference rate for setting the floating interest rate on private loans. LIBOR was typically the reference rate used in floating-rate loans extended to our portfolio companies.
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The ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”) (the entity that is responsible for calculating LIBOR) ceased providing overnight, one, three, six and twelve months USD LIBOR tenors on June 30, 2023. In addition, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), which oversees the IBA, now prohibits entities supervised by the FCA from using LIBORs, including USD LIBOR, except in very limited circumstances.
In the United States, the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) is the preferred alternative rate for LIBOR. SOFR is a measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight, collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities, and is based on directly observable U.S. Treasury-backed repurchase transactions. SOFR is published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York each U.S. Government Securities Business Day, for transactions made on the immediately preceding U.S. Government Securities Business Day. Alternative reference rates that may replace LIBOR, including SOFR for USD transactions, may not yield the same or similar economic results as LIBOR over the lives of such transactions.
All of our loans that referenced LIBOR have been amended to reference the forward-looking term rate published by CME Group Benchmark Administration Limited based on the secured overnight financing rate (“CME Term SOFR”). CME Term SOFR rates are forward-looking rates that are derived by compounding projected overnight SOFR rates over one, three, and six months taking into account the values of multiple consecutive, executed, one-month and three-month CME Group traded SOFR futures contracts and, in some cases, over-the-counter SOFR Overnight Indexed Swaps as an indicator of CME Term SOFR reference rate values. CME Term SOFR and the inputs on which it is based are derived from SOFR. Since CME Term SOFR is a relatively new market rate, there will likely be no established trading market for credit agreements or other financial instruments when they are issued, and an established market may never develop or may not be liquid. Market terms for instruments referencing CME Term SOFR rates may be lower than those of later-issued CME Term SOFR indexed instruments. Similarly, if CME Term SOFR does not prove to be widely used, the trading price of instruments referencing CME Term SOFR may be lower than those of instruments indexed to indices that are more widely used.
We generally will not control our portfolio companies.
We do not, and do not expect to, control most of our portfolio companies, even though we may have board representation or board observation rights, and our debt agreements may contain certain restrictive covenants. As a result, we are subject to the risk that a portfolio company in which we invest may make business decisions with which we disagree, and the management of such company, as representatives of the holders of their common equity, may take risks or otherwise act in ways that do not serve our interests as debt investors. Due to the lack of liquidity of our investments in private companies, we may not be able to dispose of our interests in our portfolio companies as readily as we would like or at an appropriate valuation. As a result, a portfolio company may make decisions that could decrease the value of our portfolio holdings.
Second priority liens on collateral securing loans that we make to our portfolio companies may be subject to control by senior creditors with first priority liens. Further, in cases where we invest in unsecured subordinated debt, we would not have any lien on the collateral. In each of these cases, if there is a default, the value of the collateral may not be sufficient to repay in full both the first priority creditors and us.
Certain loans that we make are either secured by a second priority security interest in the same collateral pledged by a portfolio company to secure senior debt owed by the portfolio company to commercial banks or other traditional lenders, or in the case of unsecured subordinated debt, we have no lien at all on the assets. Often the senior lender has procured covenants from the portfolio company prohibiting the incurrence of additional secured debt without the senior lender’s consent. Prior to and as a condition of permitting the portfolio company to borrow money from us secured by the same collateral pledged to the senior lender, or in the case where we invest in unsecured subordinated debt, the senior lender will require assurances that it will control the disposition of any collateral in the event of bankruptcy or other default. In many cases, the senior lender will require us to enter into an “intercreditor agreement” prior to permitting the portfolio company to borrow from us. Typically, the intercreditor agreements we are requested to execute expressly subordinate our debt instruments to those held by the senior lender and further provide that the senior lender will control: (1) the commencement of foreclosure or other proceedings to liquidate and collect on the collateral, subject to a negotiated “standstill period” after which we can initiate; (2) the nature, timing and conduct of foreclosure or other collection proceedings, subject to a negotiated “standstill period” after which we can initiate; (3) the amendment of any collateral document; (4) the release of the security interests in respect of any collateral; and (5) the waiver of defaults under any security agreement. Because of the control we may cede to senior lenders under intercreditor agreements we may enter, we may be unable to realize the proceeds of any collateral securing some of our loans.
Our portfolio companies may incur debt that ranks equally with, or senior to, our investments in those companies.
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We invest primarily in the secured term debt of middle market companies and equity issued by middle market companies. Our portfolio companies may have, or may be permitted to incur, other debt that ranks equally with, or senior to, the debt in which we invest. By their terms, these debt instruments may entitle the holders to receive payment of interest or principal on or before the dates on which we are entitled to receive payments with respect to the debt instruments in which we invest. Also, in the event of insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of a portfolio company, holders of debt instruments ranking senior to our investment in that portfolio company would typically be entitled to receive payment in full before we receive any distribution. After repaying its senior creditors, the portfolio company may not have any remaining assets to use for repaying its obligation to us. In the case of debt ranking equally with debt instruments in which we invest, we would have to share on an equal basis any distributions with other creditors holding such debt in the event of an insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of the relevant portfolio company. In the case of debt ranking equally with debt instruments in which we invest, we 37Table of Contentswould have to share on an equal basis any distributions with other creditors holding such debt in the event of an insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of the relevant portfolio company.
Changes in healthcare laws and other regulations, or the enforcement or interpretation of such laws or regulations, applicable to some of our portfolio companies’ businesses may constrain their ability to offer their products and services.
Our investments in the healthcare sector are subject to substantial risk. The laws and rules governing the business of healthcare companies and interpretations of those laws and rules are subject to frequent change. Broad latitude is given to the agencies administering those regulations. Existing or future laws and rules could force our portfolio companies engaged in healthcare to change how they do business, restrict revenue, increase costs, change reserve levels and change business practice, require significant systems enhancements, or render their products or services less profitable or obsolete, any of which could have a material adverse effect on their results of operations. Healthcare companies often must obtain and maintain regulatory approvals to market many of their products, change prices for certain regulated products and consummate some of their acquisitions and divestitures. Delays in obtaining or failing to obtain or maintain these approvals could reduce revenue or increase costs. There has also been an increased political and regulatory focus on healthcare laws in recent years, and new legislation could have a material effect on the business and operations of some of our portfolio companies.
We may be subject to risks associated with our investments in the business services industry.
Portfolio companies in the business services sector are subject to many risks, including the negative impact of regulation, changing technology, a competitive marketplace and difficulty in obtaining financing. Portfolio companies in the business services industry must respond quickly to technological changes and understand the impact of these changes on customers’ preferences. Adverse economic, business, or regulatory developments affecting the business services sector could have a negative impact on the value of our investments in portfolio companies operating in this industry, and therefore could negatively impact our business and results of operations.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR SECURITIES
The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly.
The market price of our common stock will fluctuate with market conditions and other factors. Our common stock is intended for long-term investors and should not be treated as a trading vehicle. The market price and liquidity of the market for shares of our common stock may be significantly affected by numerous factors, some of which are beyond our control and may not be directly related to our operating performance. These factors include:
•significant volatility in the market price and trading volume of securities of BDCs or other companies in our sector, which is not necessarily related to the operating performance of these companies;
•exclusion of our common stock from certain market indices, such as the Russell 2000 Financial Services Index, which could reduce the ability of certain investment funds to own our common stock and put short-term selling pressure on our common stock;
•changes in regulatory policies, accounting pronouncements or tax guidelines, particularly with respect to BDCs or RICs;
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•failure to qualify for RIC tax treatment;
•our origination activity, including the pace of, and competition for, new investment opportunities;
•changes or perceived changes in earnings or variations of operating results;
•changes or perceived changes in the value of our portfolio of investments;
•any shortfall in our investment income or net investment income or any increase in losses from levels expected by investors or securities analysts;
•proposed, or completed, offerings of our securities, including securities other than our common stock;
•departure of our key personnel;
•operating performance of companies comparable to us;
•credit market changes;
•general economic trends and other external factors; and
•loss of a major funding source.
Investing in shares of our common stock may involve an above average degree of risk.
The investments we make in accordance with our investment objectives may result in a higher amount of risk, volatility or loss of principal than alternative investment options. Our investments in portfolio companies may be highly speculative, and therefore, an investment in our common stock may not be suitable for investors with lower risk tolerance.
Shares of closed-end investment companies, including BDCs, may trade at a discount to their NAV.
Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market. Shareholders desiring liquidity may sell their shares on The Nasdaq Global Select Market at current market value, which could be below NAV. Shares of closed-end investment companies frequently trade at discounts from NAV, which is a risk separate and distinct from the risk that a fund’s performance will cause its NAV to decrease. We cannot predict whether our common stock will trade at, above or below NAV. In addition, if our common stock trades below our NAV per share, we will generally not be able to issue additional common stock at the market price unless our shareholders approve such a sale and our Board of Directors make certain determinations. See “Shareholders may incur dilution if we sell shares of our common stock in one or more offerings at prices below the then current NAV per share of our common stock or issue securities that are convertible to shares of our common stock” for a discussion of the risks related to us issuing shares of our common stock below NAV.
The January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes, and the August 2028 Notes are unsecured and therefore are effectively subordinated to any existing and future secured indebtedness, including indebtedness under our Corporate Credit Facility.The January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes are unsecured and therefore are effectively subordinated to any existing and future secured indebtedness, including indebtedness under our Credit Facility.
Each of the January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes, and the August 2028 Notes (collectively, the “Notes”) are not secured by any of our assets or any of the assets of any of our subsidiaries.Each of the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes (collectively, the “Notes”) are not secured by any of our assets or any of the assets of any of our subsidiaries. As a result, the Notes are effectively subordinated to any secured indebtedness we or our subsidiaries have currently incurred (including our Corporate Credit Facility) or may incur in the future (or any indebtedness that is initially unsecured as to which we subsequently grant a security interest) to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness. As a result, the Notes are effectively subordinated to any secured indebtedness we or our subsidiaries have currently incurred (including our Credit Facility) or may incur in the future (or any indebtedness that is initially unsecured as to which we subsequently grant a security interest) to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness. In any liquidation, dissolution, bankruptcy or other similar proceeding, the holders of any of our secured indebtedness or secured indebtedness of our subsidiaries may assert rights against the assets pledged to secure that indebtedness in order to receive full payment of their indebtedness before the assets may be used to pay other creditors, including the holders of the Notes. As of March 31, 2024, we had $265.0 million in outstanding indebtedness under our Corporate Credit Facility, which is secured by (1) all of the present and future property and assets of the Company and the guarantors and (2) 100.0% of the equity interests in the Company’s wholly owned subsidiaries (except for the assets held in SBIC I and SPV). As of March 31, 2023, we had $235.0 million in outstanding indebtedness under our Credit Facility, which is secured by (1) substantially all of the present and future property and assets of the Company and the guarantors and (2) 100.0% of the equity interests in the Company’s wholly owned subsidiaries (except for the assets held in SBIC I).
The January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes, and the August 2028 Notes are structurally subordinated to the indebtedness and other liabilities of our subsidiaries, including the SBA-guaranteed debentures and the SPV Credit Facility.
The Notes are obligations exclusively of the Company, and not of any of our subsidiaries. None of our subsidiaries are a guarantor of the Notes, and the Notes are not required to be guaranteed by any subsidiary we may acquire or create in the future. Any assets of our subsidiaries will not be directly available to satisfy the claims of our creditors, including holders of the Notes. Except to the extent we are a creditor with recognized claims against our subsidiaries, all claims of creditors of our subsidiaries will have priority over our equity interests in such entities (and therefore the claims of our creditors, including holders of the Notes) with respect to the assets of such entities. Even if we are recognized as a creditor of one or more of these entities, our claims would still be effectively subordinated to any security interests in the assets of any such entity and to any indebtedness or other liabilities of any such entity senior to our claims. Consequently, the Notes will be structurally
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subordinated to all indebtedness and other liabilities, including trade payables, of any of our existing or future subsidiaries (including the SBA-guaranteed debentures and the SPV Credit Facility). As of March 31, 2024, we had $153.0 million in SBA-guaranteed debentures outstanding, and we had no outstanding indebtedness under our SPV Credit Facility, which is secured by all of SPV's assets.
The respective indentures under which the January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes, and the August 2028 Notes were issued contain limited protection for holders of the January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes, and the August 2028 Notes.
The respective indenture under which each of the Notes were issued offer limited protection to holders of the Notes. The terms of the respective indenture and the Notes do not restrict our or any of our subsidiaries’ ability to engage in, or otherwise be a party to, a variety of corporate transactions, circumstances or events that could have a material adverse impact on the investment of the holders of the Notes, respectively. The terms of the respective indenture and the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes do not restrict our or any of our subsidiaries’ ability to engage in, or otherwise be a party to, a variety of corporate transactions, circumstances or events that could have a material adverse impact on the investment of the holders of the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes, respectively. In particular, the terms of the respective indenture and the Notes will not place any restrictions on our or our subsidiaries’ ability to:
•issue securities or otherwise incur additional indebtedness or other obligations, including (1) any indebtedness or other obligations that would be equal in right of payment to the Notes, (2) any indebtedness or other obligations that would be secured and therefore rank effectively senior in right of payment to the Notes to the extent of the values of the assets securing such debt, (3) indebtedness of ours that is guaranteed by one or more of our subsidiaries and which therefore is structurally senior to the Notes and (4) securities, indebtedness or obligations issued or incurred by our subsidiaries that would be senior to our equity interests in those entities and therefore rank structurally senior to the Notes with respect to the assets of our subsidiaries, in each case other than an incurrence of indebtedness or other obligation that would cause a violation of Section 18(a)(1)(A) as modified by Section 61(a)(2) of the 1940 Act or any successor provisions, whether or not we continue to be subject to such provisions of the 1940 Act, but giving effect, in each case, to any exemptive relief granted to us by the SEC. Currently, these provisions generally prohibit us from incurring additional borrowings, including through the issuance of additional debt securities, unless our asset coverage, as defined in the 1940 Act, equals at least 150% after such borrowings;
•pay dividends on, or purchase or redeem or make any payments in respect of, capital stock or other securities ranking junior in right of payment to the Notes, including subordinated indebtedness, except that we have agreed that, for the period of time during which the Notes are outstanding, we will not violate Section 18(a)(1)(B) as modified by (i) Section 61(a)(2) of the 1940 Act or any successor provisions and after giving effect to any exemptive relief granted to us by the SEC and (ii) the following two exceptions: (A) we will be permitted to declare a cash dividend or distribution notwithstanding the prohibition contained in Section 18(a)(1)(B) as modified by Section 61(a)(2) of the 1940 Act or any successor provisions, but only up to such amount as is necessary for us to maintain our status as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code; and (B) this restriction will not be triggered unless and until such time as our asset coverage has not been in compliance with the minimum asset coverage required by Section 18(a)(1)(B) as modified by Section 61(a)(2) of the 1940 Act or any successor provisions (after giving effect to any exemptive relief granted to us by the SEC) for more than six consecutive months. If Section 18(a)(1)(B) as modified by Section 61(a)(2) of the 1940 Act were currently applicable to us in connection with this offering, these provisions would generally prohibit us from declaring any cash dividend or distribution upon any class of our capital stock, or purchasing any such capital stock if our asset coverage, as defined in the 1940 Act, were below 150% at the time of the declaration of the dividend or distribution or the purchase and after deducting the amount of such dividend, distribution or purchase;
•sell assets (other than certain limited restrictions on our ability to consolidate, merge or sell all or substantially all of our assets);
•enter into transactions with affiliates;
•create liens (including liens on the shares of our subsidiaries) or enter into sale and leaseback transactions;
•make investments; or
•create restrictions on the payment of dividends or other amounts to us from our subsidiaries.
In addition, the respective indenture governing the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes will require us to make an offer to purchase the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes in connection with a change of control or any other event, respectively. See "We may not be able to repurchase the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event" for more information.We may not be able to repurchase the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event.
Furthermore, the terms of the respective indenture and the Notes do not protect holders of the Notes, respectively, in the event that we experience changes (including significant adverse changes) in our financial condition, results of operations or credit ratings, if any, as they do not require that we or our subsidiaries adhere to any financial tests or ratios or specified levels of net worth, revenues, income, cash flow, or liquidity.
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Our ability to recapitalize, incur additional debt (including additional debt that matures prior to the maturity of the Notes), and take a number of other actions that are not limited by the terms of each of the Notes may have important consequences for you as a holder of the Notes, including making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to the Notes or negatively affecting the market value of the Notes.
Other debt we issue or incur in the future could contain more protections for its holders than the respective indenture and the Notes, including additional covenants and events of default.Other debt we issue or incur in the future could contain more protections for its holders than the respective indenture and the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes, including additional covenants and events of default. The issuance or incurrence of any such debt with incremental protections could affect the market for, trading levels, and prices of the Notes. The issuance or incurrence of any such debt with incremental protections could affect the market for, trading levels, and prices of the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes.
We may not be able to repurchase the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes upon a Change of Control Repurchase Event.
While a trading market developed after issuing the January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes, and the August 2028 Notes, we cannot assure you that an active trading market for the January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes, and the August 2028 Notes will be maintained.
While a trading market developed after issuing the Notes, we cannot assure you that an active and liquid market for the Notes will be maintained. We do not intend to list the January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes on any securities exchange or for quotation of the January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes on any automated dealer quotation system. If the January 2026 Notes or October 2026 Notes are traded after their initial issuance, they may trade at a discount to their public offering price depending on prevailing interest rates, the market for similar securities, our credit ratings, our financial condition, performance and prospects, general economic conditions. If the January 2026 Notes or the October 2026 Notes are traded after their initial issuance, they may trade at a discount to their public offering price depending on prevailing interest rates, the market for similar securities, our credit ratings, our financial condition, performance and prospects, general economic conditions, including the impact of COVID-19, or other relevant factors.
Although the August 2028 Notes are listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol "CSWCZ," we cannot assure you that an active and liquid trading market will be maintained for the August 2028 Notes or that holders will be able to sell their August 2028 Notes. In addition, the August 2028 Notes may trade at a discount from their initial offering price depending on prevailing interest rates, the market for similar securities, our credit rating, general economic conditions, our financial condition, performance and prospects and other factors.
The respective underwriters may discontinue market-making in the Notes at any time at their sole discretion. In addition, any market-making activity will be subject to limits imposed by law.
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If we default on our obligations to pay our other indebtedness, we may not be able to make payments on the January 2026 Notes, the October 2026 Notes, and the August 2028 Notes.
Any default under the agreements governing our indebtedness, including a default under our Corporate Credit Facility, our SPV Credit Facility, the respective indenture governing the Notes, or other indebtedness to which we may be a party that is not waived by the required lenders or holders, and the remedies sought by lenders or the holders of such indebtedness could make us unable to pay principal, premium, if any, and interest on the Notes and substantially decrease the market value of the Notes.Any default under the agreements governing our indebtedness, including a default under our Credit Facility, the respective indenture governing the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes, or other indebtedness to which we may be a party that is not waived by the required lenders or holders, and the remedies sought by lenders or the holders of such indebtedness could make us unable to pay principal, premium, if any, and interest on the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes and substantially decrease the market value of the Notes. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow and are otherwise unable to obtain funds necessary to meet required payments of principal, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness, or if we otherwise fail to comply with the various covenants, including financial and operating covenants, in the instruments governing our indebtedness (including the Corporate Credit Facility, the SPV Credit Facility and the Notes), we could be in default under the terms of the agreements governing such indebtedness, including the Notes. In the event of such default, the holders of such indebtedness could elect to declare all the funds borrowed thereunder to be due and payable, together with accrued and unpaid interest, the lenders under the Corporate Credit Facility, the SPV Credit Facility or other debt we may incur in the future could elect to terminate their commitment, cease making further loans and institute foreclosure proceedings against our assets, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation. In the event of such default, the holders of such indebtedness could elect to declare all the funds borrowed thereunder to be due and payable, together with accrued and unpaid interest, the lenders under the Credit Facility or other debt we may incur in the future could elect to terminate their commitment, cease making further loans and institute foreclosure proceedings against our assets, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.
Our ability to generate sufficient cash flow in the future is, to some extent, subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative and regulatory factors as well as other factors that are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that our business will generate cash flow from operations, or that future borrowings will be available to us under the Corporate Credit Facility, the SPV Credit Facility or otherwise, in an amount sufficient to enable us to meet our payment obligations under the Notes, our other debt, and to fund other liquidity needs. We cannot assure you that our business will generate cash flow from operations, or that future borrowings will be available to us under the Credit Facility or otherwise, in an amount sufficient to enable us to meet our payment obligations under the Notes, our other debt, and to fund other liquidity needs.
If our operating performance declines and we are not able to generate sufficient cash flow to service our debt obligations, we may in the future need to refinance or restructure our debt, including the Notes, sell assets, reduce or delay capital investments, seek to raise additional capital or seek to obtain waivers from the lenders under the Corporate Credit Facility, the SPV Credit Facility, the holders of the Notes, or other debt that we may incur in the future to avoid being in default. If we are unable to implement one or more of these alternatives, we may not be able to meet our payment obligations under the Notes and our other debt. If we breach our covenants under the Corporate Credit Facility, the SPV Credit Facility, the respective indenture governing the Notes, or any of our other debt and seek a waiver, we may not be able to obtain a waiver from the required lenders or holders thereof. If we breach our covenants under the Credit Facility, the respective indenture governing the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes, or any of our other debt and seek a waiver, we may not be able to obtain a waiver from the required lenders or holders thereof. If this occurs, we would be in default under the Corporate Credit Facility, the SPV Credit Facility, the Notes, the respective indenture governing the Notes, or other debt, the lenders or holders could exercise rights as described above, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation. If this occurs, we would be in default under the Credit Facility, the Notes, the respective indenture governing the January 2026 Notes and the October 2026 Notes, or other debt, the lenders or holders could exercise rights as described above, and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation. If we are unable to repay debt, lenders having secured obligations could proceed against the collateral securing the debt. Because each of the Corporate Credit Facility and the SPV Credit Facility has, and any future credit facilities will likely have, customary cross-default provisions, if the indebtedness under the Notes, the Corporate Credit Facility, the SPV Credit Facility or under any future credit facility is accelerated, we may be unable to repay or finance the amounts due.
Terms relating to redemption may materially adversely affect the return on our debt securities.41Table of ContentsTerms relating to redemption may materially adversely affect the return on our debt securities.
We currently intend to pay quarterly dividends. However, in the future we may not pay any dividends depending on a variety of factors.
While we intend to pay dividends to our shareholders out of taxable income available for distribution, there can be no assurance that we will do so. Any dividends that we do pay may be payable in cash, in our common stock, or in stock in any of our holdings or in a combination of all three. All dividends will be paid at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon our financial condition, maintenance of our RIC tax treatment, and compliance with applicable BDC regulations.
We currently pay dividends in cash. However, in the future we may choose to pay dividends in our own stock, in which case you may be required to pay tax in excess of the cash you receive.
We may distribute taxable dividends that are payable in part in our common stock. Under certain applicable provisions of the Code and the Treasury regulations, distributions payable by us in cash or in shares of stock (at the
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shareholders election) would satisfy the annual distribution requirement for a RIC. The IRS has issued a revenue procedure providing that a dividend payable in stock or in cash at the election of the shareholders will be treated as a taxable dividend eligible for the dividends paid deduction provided that at least 20% of the total dividend is payable in cash and certain other requirements are satisfied. Taxable shareholders receiving such dividends will be required to include the full amount of the dividend as ordinary income (or as long-term capital gain to the extent such dividend is properly reported as a capital gain dividend) to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, a U.S. shareholder may be required to pay tax with respect to such dividends in excess of any cash received. If a U.S. shareholder sells the stock it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our common stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to non-U.S. shareholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividends payable in stock. If a significant number of our shareholders determine to sell shares of our common stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividends, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock.
We may not be able to invest a significant portion of the net proceeds from future capital raises on acceptable terms, which could harm our financial condition and operating results.
Delays in investing the net proceeds raised in an offering may cause our performance to be worse than that of other fully invested BDCs or other lenders or investors pursuing comparable investment strategies. We cannot assure you that we will be able to identify any investments that meet our investment objective or that any investment that we make will produce a positive return. We may be unable to invest the net proceeds of any offering on acceptable terms within the time period that we anticipate or at all, which could harm our financial condition and operating results.
In the event that we cannot invest our net proceeds as desired we will invest the net proceeds from any offering primarily in cash, cash equivalents, U.S. Government securities and other high-quality debt investments that mature in one year or less from the time of investment. These securities may have lower yields than our other investments and accordingly may result in lower distributions, if any, during such period.
Provisions of Texas law and our charter could deter takeover attempts and have an adverse impact on the price of our common stock.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
The Company maintains and, at least annually, reviews its information technology ("IT") and cybersecurity policies and procedures (the "Cybersecurity Program"). The Cybersecurity Program is aligned to the National Institute of Standards of Technology Cybersecurity Framework. The Cybersecurity Program includes technical security controls, policy enforcement mechanisms, monitoring systems, tools and related services, which include tools and services from third-party providers, and management oversight to assess, identify and manage risks from cybersecurity threats. Management has implemented and continues to implement risk-based controls designed to prevent, detect and respond to information security threats.
As part of our overall cybersecurity risk management process, our management engages at least annually in the review and evaluation of our risks relating to our Cybersecurity Program. Additionally, as part of our Rule 38a-1 compliance program, we review at least annually the compliance policies and procedures of our key service providers, including documentation discussing each service providers' information security controls. Any failure in our key service providers' cybersecurity systems could have a material impact on our operating results. See "Risk Factors - Risks Related to our Business and Structure - A failure of cybersecurity systems, as well as the occurrence of events unanticipated in our disaster recovery systems and management continuity planning, could impair our ability to conduct business effectively.31Table of ContentsA failure of cybersecurity systems, as well as the occurrence of events unanticipated in our disaster recovery systems and management continuity planning could impair our ability to conduct business effectively. "
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Additionally, the Cybersecurity Program includes quarterly general cybersecurity awareness and data protection training for employees as well as regular phishing simulations. The Company also has annual certification requirements for employees with respect to certain policies supporting the cybersecurity program including the IT, Cybersecurity and Physical Security Policies and Procedures, the Disaster Recovery Business Continuity Plan, the Electronic Communications Policy and the Privacy Policy.
Our Cybersecurity Program is administered by our Corporate Controller and our Chief Compliance Officer. These individuals, along with our external legal counsel and third party IT providers serve as the crisis response team in connection with any material cybersecurity incident under our Incident Response Plan. The Incident Response Plan provides guidelines for responding to a cybersecurity incident and facilitates coordination between the necessary parties. This includes notification to our senior management, and if material, reported to Board of Directors. We also utilize the services of IT and cybersecurity consultants and experts in the evaluation and periodic testing of our IT and cybersecurity systems to recommend improvements to our Cybersecurity Program. The Company maintains a cybersecurity insurance policy, which includes services of additional third party experts in the event of a cyber incident. The Company has not experienced any material cybersecurity incident, and the Company is not aware of any cybersecurity risks that are reasonably likely to materially affect its business.
The Board has the primary responsibility for overseeing and reviewing the guidelines and policies with respect to risk management, including cybersecurity. The Board receives quarterly updates to the Cybersecurity Program from the Company's management. These updates include the results of the cybersecurity risk assessments, the planning and results of the periodic testing by our third party IT and cybersecurity consultants, updates and enhancements to the Cybersecurity Program and the Incident Response Plan, and reporting of additional cybersecurity data metrics.
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