Business Development Company List
Largest BDCs by Net Assets
BDC Baby Bonds (and Preferreds) List
BDC ETFs
BDC Dividends
What Is A Business Development Company?
Highest Yielding BDCs

More BDC Screens
10 Highest Price/NAV BDCs
10 Lowest Price/NAV BDCs
10 Highest Yielding BDCs
10 Highest Yield On NAV
10 BDCs With Highest Yr/Yr NAV Growth
10 BDCs With Highest Yr/Yr Dividend Growth
RankBDCPrice/NAV 
#1  HTGC 1.58x 
#2  MAIN 1.58x 
#3  CSWC 1.41x 
#4  TSLX 1.21x 
#5  HRZN 1.17x 
#6  BXSL 1.14x 
#7  TRIN 1.12x 
#8  GLAD 1.08x 
#9  OXSQ 1.08x 
#10  GAIN 1.07x 
• • •   
Business Development Companies — BDCs for short — are an important income sector due to the structural requirement to distribute 90% of taxable income to shareholders (much like Real Estate Investment Trusts — REITs for short).

With a requirement to invest primarily in private companies in the United States, BDCs were created in 1980 by Congress to encourage the flow of public equity capital to private U.S. businesses. Today, there are a variety of "non-traded" BDCs available for investment by the public, as well as publicly traded BDCs that can be bought and sold just like any other stock, on the public stock exchanges. Our website aims to provide news and information about those BDCs traded publicly, with a current coverage universe of 49 BDCs. Learn more about BDCs at our Introduction To BDCs page, compare BDCs via our BDC Screens, follow the latest BDC News & Articles, and select by ticker symbol from the coverage universe menu to learn more about each BDC.
RankBDCYield 
#1  TPVG 17.76% 
#2  ICMB 15.95% 
#3  PTMN 14.40% 
#4  MRCC 14.27% 
#5  OXSQ 13.95% 
#6  FSK 13.90% 
#7  OFS 13.84% 
#8  TRIN 13.82% 
#9  RWAY 13.62% 
#10  TCPC 13.49% 
• • •   
RankBDCYield on NAV 
#1  TPVG 17.37% 
#2  TRIN 15.47% 
#3  OXSQ 15.11% 
#4  HTGC 14.00% 
#5  CSWC 13.60% 
#6  HRZN 13.59% 
#7  GSBD 12.31% 
#8  PTMN 12.13% 
#9  SCM 12.07% 
#10  RWAY 11.85% 
• • •   
RankBDCYoY NAV/Sh Chg 
#1  PFX 23.17% 
#2  GECC 16.40% 
#3  MAIN 8.71% 
#4  HTGC 8.55% 
#5  SSSS 8.12% 
#6  GLAD 6.07% 
#7  RAND 5.37% 
#8  ARCC 4.57% 
#9  TSLX 3.40% 
#10  CSWC 3.20% 
• • •   
RankBDCYoY Div/Sh Chg 
#1  SAR 35.19% 
#2  BXSL 28.33% 
#3  PNNT 27.27% 
#4  RAND 25.00% 
#5  FDUS 19.44% 
#6  GBDC 18.18% 
#7  GLAD 17.86% 
#8  SCM 17.65% 
#9  BCSF 16.67% 
#10  OFS 13.33% 
• • •   

BDC Investor FAQ

What does BDC stand for?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: In the stock market context, BDC stands for Business Development Company, a type of corporate structure popular for its high dividends, in which the company must pay out the vast majority of its earnings to shareholders.

Are all BDCs publicly traded?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: No, in addition to the publicly traded BDC stocks there are also non-traded BDCs as well.

When were BDCs created?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: BDC regulation was created by Congress in 1980.

Why were BDCs created?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: Congress created BDCs to encourage the flow of public capital to private companies throughout the USA.

Do BDCs have to pay dividends?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: To be treated as a Regulated Investment Company (RIC), a BDC must distribute at least 90% of its taxable income to shareholders. That normally means BDCs have to pay dividends, but, if there are no taxable earnings then no dividend is required (stated differently, the level of dividends will be tied to the level of a BDC's profits). In theory a BDC could also elect not to be treated as a RIC. But since being a RIC means the BDC avoids corporate level income tax, there are very limited circumstances where it would make sense to give up the RIC election.

Are BDCs safe investments?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: Typically a BDC maintains a diversified portfolio made up of equity and/or debt that is below investment grade. However, a diversified portfolio of below investment grade credit instruments can often support an investment grade rating at the BDC level itself, with many BDCs having issued investment grade debt — one recent issuance we noticed garnered an A- rating from a nationally recognized statistical ratings organization (NRSRO). Some BDCs also issue exchange traded debt and/or preferred shares, which rank senior to the common stock, offering a higher degree of safety than the common, in exchange for a lower yield than is offered by the common stock. (See our BDC Baby Bonds page).

Can anyone invest in a BDC?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: Any publicly traded BDC can be bought or sold just like any other stock on the exchange, without restriction. There are also stock options (puts and calls) traded for many of the BDCs.

Do BDCs issue K-1's or 1099's?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: BDCs issue 1099's, not K-1's. It is important to remember that by paying 90% of their taxable earnings as dividends, BDCs avoid income tax at the corporate level. This also means that BDCs held in a taxable account generate dividends that are typically taxable at ordinary income rates, as opposed to the qualified dividend rate, although there is company-by-company and year-by-year variation in tax characteristics and each individual BDC will announce its own tax reporting information each year.

What is BDC in private equity?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: Business Development Companies, or BDCs for short, are found among the top components of the PSP private equity ETF. BDCs often take equity stakes in private companies, making them private equity players in that sense, but more often BDCs invest in private debt (buying private bonds or extending loans to a privately held business).

How does a BDC make money?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: BDCs make money by investing in either the debt or equity of private companies. In the case of an equity investment, the BDC would make money if the value of the portfolio company increases over time. In the case of a debt investment, much like any other type of loan the borrower would be required to pay interest. That interest income then flows to the top line of the BDC.

Can BDCs invest in real estate?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: BDCs are generally required to invest at least 70% of their assets in the debt or equity of private U.S. companies (or very small public companies). That leaves a 30% bucket with which the BDC can invest in other areas, such as real estate. However, investors interested in real estate are better off looking into Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), an asset class to which BDCs are often compared due to the similar requirement to pay out the bulk of taxable income in the form of shareholder dividends.

Are all BDCs externally managed?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: No. Although many BDCs are managed by an external advisor and do not actually have their own employees, internally managed BDCs also exist. Here at BDC Investor we have an information page for each BDC (use the drop-down list in the menu bar), and there is a section on each page describing the management structure. Two example internally managed BDCs are MAIN and CSWC.

Where can I find your BDC message boards / discussion forum?
✔ï¸Accepted answer: Our BDC Investor message boards have moved to BDCs.valueforum.com.

 

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