Barings BDC, Inc.

Greetings. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the Barings BDC Incorporated's conference call for the quarter ended September 30th, 2025. All participants are in listen-only mode. The question and answer session will follow the company's formal remarks. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Today's call is being recorded, and a replay will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call on the company's website at www.barringsbdc.com under the Investor Relations section. At this time, I will turn the call over to Joe Mazzoli, Head of Investor Relations for Barrings BDC.

Good morning, and thank you for joining today's call. Please note that this call may contain forward-looking statements that include statements regarding the company's goals, beliefs, strategies, future operating results, and cash flows. Although the company believes these statements are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. These statements are based on various underlying assumptions and are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks. including those disclosed under the sections titled Risk Factors and Forward-Looking Statements in the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2025, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Barings BDC undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements unless required by law. I will now turn the call over to Eric Lloyd, Chief Executive Officer of Barings BDC.

Thanks, Joe, and good morning, everyone. On the call today, I'm joined by Barings BDC's President, Matt Freund, Chief Financial Officer, Elizabeth Murray, Barings Head of Global Private Finance and BBDC Portfolio Manager, Brian High, as well as Barings BDC's newly announced incoming Chief Executive Officer, Tom McDonald. Before I discuss our quarterly results, I'd like to take a moment to speak about the leadership transition that we announced yesterday. As you saw in our press release, effective January 1, 2026, Tom will succeed me as Chief Executive Officer of Barings BDC, while I will continue to serve as Executive Chairman of the Board of BBDC and in my ongoing role as President of Barings LLC. This marks an important and exciting milestone for our company. Over the past decade, Barings has grown into one of the leading middle market lenders, anchored by a long-term perspective, disciplined underwriting, and strong alignment with our shareholders. Barings BDC is an efficient access point into the Barings direct lending franchise and reflects a point of strength within our business. I'm incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished together and confident that the next chapter will build on that foundation. Tom is a proven leader within Barings. During his nearly two decades at the firm, he has played a pivotal role across our U.S. high yield and global loan strategies, overseeing complex portfolios through multiple market cycles and helping to shape our credit platform into what it is today. His deep investment experience and commitment to our culture make him exceptionally well suited to lead BBDC going forward. From my vantage point, this transition represents continuity not change. Tom and I have worked very closely together for many years, and we will continue to do so in the months ahead to ensure a seamless handoff. I wholeheartedly believe he is the right person to step into this role at this time. Importantly, I will remain actively involved as Executive Chairman of the Board of BBDC and as President of Bering's LLC, supporting Tom and the overall leadership team as we continue to execute on our long-term strategy. I want to thank our shareholders, partners, and the entire Barings team for their continued trust and support. We have built something enduring here, an institution with the scale and discipline to thrive across market environments. And I am confident that under Tom's leadership, BBDC will continue to deliver strong, consistent results for our investors in the years ahead. Now turning to our results. In the third quarter, BBDC delivered strong net investment income accompanied by excellent credit performance within the bearings originated portion of the portfolio. Origination activity across the platform during the third quarter reflected continued success in our core strategies. Net deployment was influenced by fund level leverage and the third quarter reflected a period of net repayments consistent with our prior guidance. A strong portfolio combined with benign credit environment and our focus on the top of the capital structure investments and the middle market issuers has continued to serve our investors well. We focus on the core of the middle market, given its lower leverage and stronger risk adjusted returns, making it the most compelling segment for BBDC and our shareholders. Further, our emphasis on sectors that perform resiliently across economic environments provides an additional level of stability to our portfolio. This combination of senior secured financing solutions, core middle market focus, defensive non-cyclical sectors, and a global footprint offers our investors strong relative value and meaningful differentiation within the broader BDC landscape. Turning to the specifics of BBDC's financial performance in the quarter, net asset value per share was $11.10. Net investment income for the quarter was $0.32 per share. compared to 28% per share in the second quarter. Now digging a bit deeper into the portfolio, we continue to actively maximize the value in the legacy holdings acquired from NBC Capital and Sierra. We are seeking to divest these assets at attractive valuations as we did in the first quarter. As of quarter end, Barings originated positions now make up 95% of the BBDC portfolio at fair value, up from 76% at the beginning of 2022. Turning to the earnings power of the portfolio, the weighted average yields at fair value was 9.9%, reflecting a slight reduction from the prior quarter due to a reduction in base rates. Our board declared a fourth quarter dividend of 26 cents per share, consistent with the prior quarter. On an annualized basis, the dividend level equates to a 9.4% yield on our net asset value of $11.10. We believe our portfolio is on strong footing and we're advancing our strategic imperatives. As Matt will cover momentarily, BBDC is well positioned to navigate the current market volatility and deliver consistent risk-adjusted returns in the quarters ahead. I'll now turn the call over to Matt.