Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc.

Good day and welcome to the Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Inc. Post-Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants will be in the 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 1 on a touchtone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star and then two. Please note that this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Lisa Kamps. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning. Welcome to the Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Conference call to review the company's results. On the call today will be Peter Sack, Co-Chief Executive Officer, David Kite, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Phil Silverman, Chief Financial Officer. Our results were released this morning in our earnings press release, which can be found on our investor relations section of our website, along with our supplemental files at the SEC. A live audio webcast of this call is being made available today. For those who listened to the replay of this webcast, we remind you that the remarks made herein are as of today and will not be updated subsequent to this call. During the call, certain comments and statements we make may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning prescribed by securities laws, including statements related to the future performance of our portfolio, our pipeline of potential loans, and other investments, future dividends, and financing activity. All forward-looking statements represent Chicago Atlantic's judgment as of the date of this conference call and are subject to risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Investors are urged to carefully review various disclosures made by the company, including the risks and other information disclosed in the company's filings with the SEC. We also will discuss certain non-GAAP measures, including but not limited to distributable earnings. Definitions of these non-GAAP measures and reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures are included in our filings with the SEC. I'll now turn the call over to Peter Sack. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Lisa. Good morning, everyone. This quarter, Chicago Atlantic reported a quarter of consistent results against the backdrop of continuing concerns in the private credit market, the Fed pausing the interest rate easing cycle following three consecutive rate cuts in Q4 of last year, and volatility caused by the Middle East conflict. This quarter's results reflect the strength and resilience of our business model. We are a leading capital provider in the cannabis ecosystem. Our experience in this industry provides us with the expertise, relationships, and ability to redeploy capital more quickly than the typical mortgage rate. Our rigorous underwriting and stringent risk standards, led by our cannabis-focused underwriting, real estate, and analytics team, ensures an acceptable risk-first reward. I continue to be optimistic about the current environment. The pipeline of cannabis opportunities remains strong and currently stands at 482 million, of which approximately 133 million of this pipeline is backed by real estate collateral. Given the recent medical rescheduling news in late April, I'd be remiss in not highlighting the latest major federal initiative in policy setting for the cannabis industry. The Department of Justice announced on April 23rd that it is rescheduling certain medical marijuana products to Schedule 3 from Schedule 1. This is the most significant federal policy change in years and perhaps in the history of the industry. There are nuances to work out as we wait for a more definitive framework and how this policy will apply to existing individual state laws. And we expect these policy changes to impact each operator differently based on their medical market exposure. But after many years of delays, this is a tremendous step in the right direction. How we expect to immediately benefit from this order is predominantly through the elimination of the extra tax burden on cannabis companies resulting from Section 280E and retrospective relief on legacy tax liabilities that should improve operator cash flows and strengthen balance sheets, driving higher valuation multiples and improving the credit profiles of our borrowers. The federal order requires and sets up an expedited process for state-licensed medical cannabis operators to register with the DEA. and in effect legalizing state licensed medical cannabis on a federal level. Additional benefits from this would be lowering barriers to U.S. exchanges for which we have been an advocate. An administrative hearing is scheduled for June 29th to July 15th. This hearing provides a pathway to reschedule cannabis more broadly, possibly rescheduling adult use products. We will continue to be measured in our outlook for a positive outcome and not jump ahead to any conclusions. We believe Chicagolandic is well-positioned to benefit from the initial order, and as I stated before, the success of our strategy is not dependent on any of these changes. We have remained conservative and underwrite every investment, assuming no regulatory-driven credit improvements. Leading up to the June 29th hearing, we have begun forecasting for a range of outcomes from the rulemaking process, but currently remain in a wait-and-see mode. Overall, ReFi delivered consistent, stable financial results for the first quarter of 2026 against an unstable macro environment. Our differentiated business model lending to operators and property owners in the cannabis industry enables us to operate in a niche market with limited competition, with favorable terms, and delivering competitive yields. This year is proving to be a transformative time for the cannabis industry, following the federal government's rescheduling of medical marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3, and the potential for broader policy shifts for cannabis later this year. We are encouraged by the validation of our business model and the potential impact of regulatory orders slowing through to refi. I look forward to updating you on our progress throughout the rest of this exciting year. David will now speak to the portfolio in greater detail. David?