BlackRock TCP Capital Corp.

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome everyone to BlackRock TCP Capital Corp's second quarter 2023 earnings conference call. Today's conference call is being recorded for replay purposes. During the presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the company's formal remarks. To ask a question, please press the star key followed by the digit one. I will repeat these instructions before we begin the Q&A sessions. And now, I would like to turn the call over to Katie McGlynn, Director of BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. Investor Relations Team. Katie, please proceed.

Thank you, Bailey. Before we begin, I'll note that this conference call may contain forward-looking statements based on the estimates and assumptions of management at the time of such statements and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those projected. Any forward-looking statements made on this call are made as of today and are subject to change without notice. Additionally, certain information discussed and presented may have been derived from third party sources and has not been independently verified. Accordingly, we make no representation or warranty with respect to such information. Earlier today, we issued our earnings release for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023. We also posted a supplemental earnings presentation to our website at www.tcpcapitals.com. To view the slide presentation, which we will refer to on today's call, please click on the Investor Relations link and select Events and Presentations. These documents should be reviewed in conjunction with the company's Form 10-Q, which was filed with the SEC earlier today. I will now turn the call over to our Chairman and CEO, Raj Vick.

Thanks, Katie, and thank you all for joining us for TCP's second quarter 2023 earnings call. I will begin with an overview of our second quarter results. I will then turn the call over to our President and Chief Operating Officer, Phil Tseng, who will provide an update on our portfolio and investment activity, and our CFO, Eric Cuellar, will then review our financial results as well as our capital and liquidity positioning in greater detail. I will conclude with a few closing remarks before we take your questions. Turning now to the highlights from the quarter. For the second quarter, TCPC delivered net investment income of 48 cents per share, representing a 30% increase year over year and an approximate 15% annualized net investment income return on equity. Given the floating rate nature of our portfolio and a higher proportion of our liabilities at our fixed rate, our net investment income continues to benefit from strong underwriting in an environment of higher base rates as well as marginally wider spreads. Our run rate NII as of the end of the second quarter is among the highest in TCP's history as a public company. Our board of directors today reaffirmed a third quarter dividend of 34 cents per share, which is reflective of the two cent dividend increase the board has announced since the third quarter of last year. The two dividend increases since the board has announced since the third quarter of last year. The third quarter dividend is payable on September 29th to shareholders of record on September 15th. In addition, and as an acknowledgement of TCP's strong earnings year to date, our board also announced a $0.10 special dividend payable on September 29th to shareholders of record on September 15th. This announcement is consistent with our disciplined approach to the dividend and our emphasis on stability and strong coverage from our recurring net investment income. As a reminder, throughout TCPC's history, we have consistently and comfortably covered our dividends with recurring net investment income. Phil will discuss our second quarter investment activity in more detail, but in summary, transaction volumes remain muted in this uncertain environment, increasing the importance of our disciplined approach to deploying new capital. Consistent with our historical activity, we've reviewed a substantial number of transactions during the quarter, and invested in only a small percentage of those opportunities. Given the slowdown in private equity deal volumes, we continue to be reminded of the benefits of our channel agnostic approach to deal sourcing. Because of our direct relationships with management teams and other industry participants, as well as our team's deep experience investing across cycles and our ability to draw upon the power of the BlackRock platform, our pipeline continues to build and we are encouraged by the compelling opportunities we are identifying. Our underwriting continues to prove very effective, with NAV declining a de minimis 0.5% during the quarter, with the unrealized losses being driven primarily by mark-to-market impact on quoted names. The credit quality of our portfolio remains solid, but loans to just two portfolio companies are not accrual as of the end of the second quarter, totaling just 0.3% of total investments at fair value, a level that continues to be among the lowest non-accruing levels in TCPC's history. Finally, while we do not have an explicit forward view on rates, we do believe we will be in a slower growth and elevated rate environment for the foreseeable future with a range of macroeconomic uncertainties. It is in complex periods like this that our historical experience and deep industry knowledge are an advantage and have resulted in strong results throughout various market cycles. Looking back at our historical performance as a public company, Since 2012, we have generated a 10.3% annualized return on invested assets and a total annualized cash return of 9.5%, much of which we delivered while base rates were much lower than they are today. We believe this performance remains at the high end of our peer group and reflects our ability to consistently identify attractive opportunities at premium yields and deliver exceptional returns for our shareholders across market cycles. Now I will turn it over to Phil to discuss our investment activity and portfolio positioning. Phil?