Barings BDC, Inc.

All participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the company's formal remarks. 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 under the Investor Relations section. At this time, I'll turn the call over to to Albert Perley, Head of Investor Relations for Barings BDC.

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 these projected and 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 June 30, 2026, and in other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Barron's BDC undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements unless required by law. I will now turn the call over to Tom McDonnell, Chief Executive Officer of Barings BDC.

Thanks, Albert, and good morning, everyone. On the call today, I am joined by Barings BDC's President and Co-Portfolio Manager, Matt Freund, and BBDC's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Elizabeth Murray. I will begin with a brief overview of the quarter and then frame how we are viewing the market. Matt will follow with a more detailed discussion of the private credit environment and credit performance. Elizabeth will then walk through our financial results. The second quarter was a strong quarter for BBDC. We generated net investment income of $0.28 per share and out-earned our quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share. We believe that earnings power reflects the durability of the portfolio, the benefit of our floating rate asset base, and the value of disciplined capital deployment. Net asset value per share was $10.94 as of June 30, compared to $11.02 as of March 31. The modest decline in NAV was driven primarily by net unrealized depreciation on select investments that were on our watch list in the prior quarter. These were partially offset by net realized gains and over-earning the dividend, all of which Elizabeth will discuss in greater detail momentarily. Overall, while NAV was down modestly, the underlying earnings profile of the portfolio remained strong and credit quality remained stable. We were active on the deployment front during the quarter. BBDC originated $262 million of investments and had $167 million of sales and repayments, resulting in net originations of approximately $95 million. The investment portfolio increased to approximately $2.46 billion at fair value and the weighted average yield on debt and other income-producing securities increased to 10.2% as of quarter end, up from 10.1% in the prior quarter. The most significant structural accomplishment during the quarter was the termination of the Legacy Sierra Credit Support Agreement. That termination freed approximately $67 million for redeployment into income-producing assets, while a new, smaller and more targeted CSA was put in place. We view this as a meaningful step in simplifying BBDC's balance sheet and continuing the transition away from legacy acquired assets toward a more fully-bearings-originated portfolio. Credit performance remains a key area of focus across the private credit market. For BBDC, credit quality was improved quarter over quarter. Non-accruals not covered by the CSA represented only 0.2% of the portfolio at fair value, and total non-accruals represented 0.6% of the portfolio for value. Stepping back, private credit continues to face a significant amount of public attention. Investor focus remains high around redemption activity and non-traded perpetual BDCs, AI-related disruption in software, geopolitical volatility, and the path of interest rates. We welcome a more rigorous discussion of these issues. We have always believed that private credit is not a monolithic asset class. Manager selection matters, underwriting matters, portfolio construction matters, and workout experience matters. One of the themes we have been focused on this year has been the expectation of manager dispersion, which we believe continues to unfold. The past several years have rewarded capital formation and scale. The next stage of a cycle should reward disciplined underwriting, strong documentation, funding flexibility, and the ability to manage through idiosyncratic credit issues. We believe BBDC is well positioned in that environment. Our strategy remains consistent. We focus on middle market issuers, senior secured investments, defensive sectors and directly originated opportunities where bearings can influence structure, documentation and outcomes. That discipline is particularly important as investors begin to look beyond headline yields and focus more deeply on the sustainability of earnings and the resiliency of portfolio companies. With that overview, I will turn the call over to Matt to discuss market backdrop and BBDC portfolio in more detail.