Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund functions as a business development company (BDC) specializing in finance, primarily providing capital to mid-sized enterprises. Its ...
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) is a business development company (BDC) externally managed by Morgan Stanley Private Credit, a platform launched in 2010. MSDL was formed as a Delaware limited liability company on May 30, 2019, with its principal headquarters in New York City. The fund's primary investment strategy ...Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) is a business development company (BDC) externally managed by Morgan Stanley Private Credit, a platform launched in 2010. MSDL was formed as a Delaware limited liability company on May 30, 2019, with its principal headquarters in New York City. The fund's primary investment strategy is to directly originate and fund senior secured term loans to mid-sized businesses, focusing on first-lien and second-lien security interests. By providing flexible and customized financing solutions, MSDL seeks to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation, achieving attractive risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders. The fund is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MSDL and commenced trading on January 24, 2024. Key executives include Michael Occi as Chief Executive Officer, Ashwin Krishnan as Chief Investment Officer, and Orit Mizrachi and Jeff Day as Co-Presidents. MSDL operates within the financial services sector, specifically in the financial conglomerates industry. As of the latest data, the company has a market capitalization of approximately $1.29 billion, with a beta of 0.62, indicating lower volatility relative to the market. The fund has paid dividends, with the last dividend per share being $1.90, and offers a trailing twelve-month dividend yield of about 12.5%. Financially, MSDL shows a gross profit margin of 73.3% and an operating profit margin of 50.8%, reflecting efficient operations. The fund's debt-to-equity ratio stands at 1.203, indicating a leveraged structure typical of BDCs. With a price-to-book ratio of 0.785, the stock may be undervalued relative to its book value. The fund is managed by a team with extensive experience in direct lending and private credit, adhering to rigorous underwriting standards and risk management practices. MSDL continues to expand its investment portfolio, focusing on high-quality borrowers and maintaining a diversified portfolio across various sectors and geographies. The company's long-term objective is to provide stable income and capital growth for its investors while navigating the evolving landscape of the direct lending market.
Operator: Welcome to Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's second quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in 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 Sanna Johnson, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Sanna Johnson: Good morning. Welcome to Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's second quarter 2026 earnings call. I am joined this morning by Michael Occi, Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Day, Co-President, David Pessah, Chief Financial Officer, and Rebecca Shaoul, Head of Portfolio Management. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund's second quarter 2026 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 events 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 undue reliance on these Forward-Looking statements. The Forward-Looking statements contained on this call are made as of the date hereof. 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 Michael Occi.
Michael Occi: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'll begin with our second quarter performance and outlook before turning the call over to Jeff to discuss the market environment and deployment activity. David will then review our financial results in greater detail, after which we will open the call up for Q&A. Beginning with operating results, we generated net investment income of $0.45 per share compared with $0.47 per share in the prior quarter. Second quarter earnings reflected a growing contribution from the Capstone JV, offset by the income drag associated with new non-accruals added during the quarter and higher other financing costs. For the third quarter, the board declared a dividend of $0.45 per …