Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund

Welcome to Morgan Stanley Direct Lending First Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the prepared remarks. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Ms. Sanna Johnson. Please go ahead, ma'am.

Good morning, and welcome to Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's First Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. Joining me this morning are Jeff Levin, Chief Executive Officer, Michael Osi, President, David Pessa, Chief Financial Officer, and Rebecca Shaul, Head of Portfolio Management. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's first quarter 2025 financial results were released yesterday after market close and can be accessed on the investor relations section of our website at www.msdl.com. We have arranged for a replay of today's event that will be accessible from the Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund website. During this call, I want to remind you that we may make forward-looking statements based on current expectations. The statements on this call that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and are subject to uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including and without limitation market conditions, uncertainty surrounding interest rates, changing economic conditions, and other factors we have identified in our filings with the SEC. Although we believe that the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of those assumptions can prove to be inaccurate, and as a result, the forward-looking statements based on those assumptions can be incorrect. You should not place under-reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained on this call are made as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or subsequent events. To obtain copies of SEC-related filings, please visit our website. With that, I will now turn the call over to Jeff Levin.

Thank you, Santa. Thank you for joining us today for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending's first quarter 2025 conference call. We generated strong performance in the first quarter as we continued to deploy capital prudently in the face of what has been a more volatile environment for financial markets. I will first begin with a summary of our performance in the first quarter before handing it to Michael to discuss the market. Dave will then provide updates on our portfolio and comment on the financial results. Our team delivered solid operating results for the first quarter supported by strong underlying credit performance. We generated net investment income of 52 cents per share. This exceeded the 50 cent dividend declared and was once again of high quality with low contributions from payment in kind and other income. For the first quarter, New investment commitments totaled approximately $233 million, which represented a meaningful increase in gross deployment relative to the prior quarter. Repayments accelerated in the first quarter amounted to $202 million with seven portfolio companies fully repaid. During the quarter, MSDL's debt to NAV increased modestly from 1.08 times to 1.11 times. Our deployment activity in the quarter showcased, once again, our ability to leverage our unique origination engine to drive quality deal flow, even amidst a slower-than-anticipated start to the year for M&A. Consistent with the trend that we had highlighted for the full year of 2024, more than 70% of the non-refinancing gross deployment in the first quarter was to new borrowers. While LBO activity remained subdued, As private equity awaits more clarity on government reform, our unique sourcing platform has produced high-quality investing opportunities with businesses that are new to our platform. Our thought leadership and market visibility are also validated by the proportion of new platforms that we are leading. In the first quarter, we led or co-led all the facilities for new borrowers. As we have discussed on previous calls, we continue to benefit from the broader Morgan Stanley platform, which we continue to leverage in the current volatile macro backdrop. We believe that sponsors are drawn to the quality of our team and our ability to be a value-add partner, which are enhanced by our position within the broader Morgan Stanley ecosystem. We believe that these factors have helped our sponsor-backed direct lending business here in North America surpass $20 billion in committed capital, which is an important milestone for us. While significant, our breadth and depth of sponsor relationships allows us to see a vast range of deal flow, and that deal flow exceeds our capital base, which breeds selectivity. We believe that this selectivity on the investment side is the engine that will help us to continue to source and underwrite lending opportunities that produce strong risk-adjusted returns for shareholders. Furthermore, our transparent revenue model, relatively low operating expense base, and thoughtful fee structure also serves to demonstrate strong alignment with shareholders and our continued focus on executing our defensive investment strategy to optimize performance and drive shareholder value. With that, I would like to hand the call over to Michael, who will provide some commentary on the market.