Horizon Technology Finance Corporation

Greetings and welcome to the Horizon Technology Finance Corporation third quarter 2024 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. The question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance, please press star one or star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Megan Bacon. Thank you. You may begin.

Thank you, and welcome to Horizon Technology Finance Corporation's third quarter 2024 conference call. Representing the company today are Rob Pomeroy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jerry Michaud, President, Dan Dvoracic, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer, and Dan Trollio, Chief Financial Officer. I would like to point out that the Q3 earnings press release and Form 10-Q are are available on the company's website at horizontechfinance.com. Before we begin our formal remarks, I remind everyone that during this conference call, the company will make certain forward-looking statements, including statements with regard to the future performance of the company. Words such as believes, expects, anticipates, intends, or similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to the inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Certain factors could cause actual results to differ on a material basis from those projected in these forward-looking statements. And some of these factors are detailed in the risk factor discussion in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Rob Pomeroy.

Welcome, everyone, and thank you for your interest in Horizon. Today, we will update you on our performance and our current overall operating environment. Dan DeVorsitz will take us through recent business and portfolio developments, Jerry will then discuss the current status of the venture lending market, and Dan Trollio will detail our operating performance and financial condition. We will then take some questions. As we expected, our portfolio grew in the third quarter while we improved our credit profile. Our advisor and its experienced and expert team will remain focused on our portfolio's credit quality and originating high-quality investments in order to maximize the value of our portfolio over the long term. Turning to our specific results for the quarter, we generated net investment income of 32 cents per share, one cent below our declared distribution level. As we grow our portfolio in the future quarters, it is our goal to deliver NII at or above our declared distributions over time. Based on our outlook, and our undistributed spillover income, our board declared regular monthly distributions of 11 cents per share through March of 2025. We once again achieved a portfolio yield on debt investments at or near the top of the BDC industry. We enhanced our investment capacity by raising equity from our at-the-market program. Finally, we grew the size of our portfolio by 6% and increased our committed and approved backlog providing us with a solid base of opportunities to further grow our portfolio. As the macro environment improves and the venture ecosystem recovers, we are continuing to work closely with and support our portfolio companies as we focus on our overall credit profile and maximizing the value of our stressed investments. As we close out 2024, we remain optimistic about Horizon's prospects for the following reasons. Our portfolio is growing, and our portfolio yield remains among the industry's highest. Our pipeline is full with quality new customer opportunities. Our liquidity and balance sheet are strong. And finally, our markets are active and demand for venture debt capital is growing. We are uniquely capable of providing such capital and look forward to doing so. Finally, before I turn the call over, I want to comment on the strategic partnership that Monroe Capital announced last week. As you know, Monroe, the owner of our advisor, has announced his plans to partner with Wendell Group, a French investment company, through Wendell's purchase of an ownership interest in Monroe Capital, as well as a $1 billion commitment of capital to support new and existing investment strategies of the Monroe platform including venture debt. Monroe, and by extension our advisor, will continue to operate independently, and its investment process, strategy, and operations will remain the same. As part of the Monroe family, Horizon will benefit from the additional capital, scale, and commitment of the partnership between Monroe and Wendell Group. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. Again, we appreciate your continued interest and support in the Horizon Technology Finance Platform. I will now turn the call over to Dan, Jerry, and Dan to give you the details of our third quarter results and progress. Dan?