Fidus Investment Corporation

Good day and welcome to the FIDUS first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on a touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jody Berfening. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Debbie, and good morning, everyone. And thank you for joining us for FIDUS Investment Corporation's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. With me this morning are Ed Ross, FIDUS Investment Corporation's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Shelby Sherrod, Chief Financial Officer. Titus Investment Corporation issued a press release yesterday afternoon with the details of the company's quarterly financial results. A copy of the press release is available on the investor relations page of the company's website at FDUS.com. I'd also like to call your attention to the customary safe harbor disclosure regarding forward-looking information included on today's call. The conference call today will contain forward-looking statements including statements regarding the goals, strategies, beliefs, future potential, operating results, and cash flows of FIDUS Investment Corporation. Although management believes these statements are reasonable based on estimates, assumptions, and projections as of today, May 7, 2026, these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Time-sensitive information may no longer be accurate at the time of any telephonic or webcast replay. Actual results may differ materially as a result of risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including but not limited to the factors set forth in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Finus undertakes no obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Ed. Good morning, Ed.

Good morning, Jody, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. On today's call, I'll start with a review of our first quarter performance in our portfolio at quarter end, and then share with you our outlook for 2026. Shelby will cover the first quarter financial results and our liquidity position. After we have completed our prepared remarks, we'll be happy to take your questions. VITAS's first quarter results were extremely strong from an income statement perspective, with an adjusted NII of $0.62 per share, our debt portfolio continued to over earn our base dividend of $0.43 per share and to support a payout of excess earnings to shareholders. Adjusted NII grew 14.8% to $23.7 million, reflecting a 13.1% increase in interest income on higher average income producing assets along with higher fee income than last year. We ended the quarter with estimated spillover income of $1.14 per share. Deal activity was relatively modest during the quarter, including M&A transactions completed by our portfolio companies. Overall, our portfolio remains healthy, characterized by niche market leaders with traits that provide long-term barriers to entry and that ensure their value proposition, and competitive positioning. Through our strict underwriting process, we ensure that we are selecting companies with proven resilient business models that generate recurring revenue and cash flow to service debt and to provide capital for growth. We remain focused on industries we know well in the lower middle market, leveraging our established relationships with deal sponsors. For the second quarter of 2026, the Board of Directors declared a total dividend of $0.62 per share, which consists of a base dividend of $0.43 per share and a supplemental dividend of $0.19 per share, equal to 100% of the surplus in adjusted NII over the base dividend from the prior quarter, which will be payable on June 29, 2026 to stockholders of record as of June 16. At asset value held steady at $742 million at quarter end, or $19.55 per share. Originations in the first quarter amounted to $118.7 million, nearly all of which consisted of first lien debt investments in support of both M&A transactions and debt recapitalizations. We also invested $1.8 million in equity securities of two new portfolio companies, consistent with our investment strategy of maintaining a portfolio that is structured to produce both high levels of current and recurring income and the potential for capital gains from monetizing equity investments. Subsequent to quarter end, we invested an additional $21.5 million in one new portfolio company. Proceeds from repayments and realizations totaled $73.1 million for the first quarter, resulting from a mix of M&A and refinancing activity, and we monetized equity investments in two portfolio companies, generating $3.9 million in realized gains. Offsetting these gains was a total of approximately $15 million in realized losses in connection with the conversion of student connectors' debt into equity. Looking at net investment activity, which takes debt recapitalizations into an account, our portfolio grew by $46 million in Q1. First lien investments comprised 87% of the debt portfolio, reflecting the ongoing migration towards first lien securities. Combined with our $149.6 million equity portfolio, We ended the quarter with a portfolio totaling $1.4 billion on a fair value basis equal to 102.5% of cost. Overall, the portfolio remains healthy from a credit quality perspective supported by very solid underlying portfolio company performance. We ended the quarter with only one portfolio company on non-accrual, that accounted for less than 1% of the total portfolio on both a fair value and cost basis. Our portfolio remains well diversified by industry, consisting of a mix of manufacturing, distribution, and services companies. In addition, we have a well-diversified group of software and IT services names within our portfolio that are exposed to both opportunities and risks associated with AI. This group represents about 32% of our total portfolio on a fair value basis. We haven't seen any negative impacts from AI on this portfolio. Importantly, nearly all of our debt investments in these companies are in highly structured first lien securities with at least two maintenance covenants. And all portfolio companies, except for one, are backed by high-quality sponsors with proven track records in the space. The weighted average loan-to-value for this portfolio was approximately 42 percent this quarter, below our total portfolio weighted average loan-to-value of approximately 45 percent on a cost basis. In addition, the current contractual duration of our debt investments in this category is 2.2 years, enhancing our ability to manage any tougher situations we might encounter down the road. Equity investments in software and IT services companies totaled $16.1 million, or approximately 11% of our total equity portfolio on a fair value basis. In closing, our portfolio remains well positioned to continue to generate adjusted NII in excess of our base dividend and to realize gains from monetizing equity investments. Although M&A activity is currently lackluster in light of the geopolitical uncertainties and associated market volatility, our pipeline of investment opportunities is decent and our longstanding relationships with deal sponsors and lower middle market expertise position us to identify high quality companies that meet our rigorous underwriting standards for investment. We will, as always, manage the business for the long term, staying focused on our goals of preserving capital and generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders. Now I'll turn the call over to Shelby to provide details on our financial and operating results. Shelby?