Fees, Expenses, Agreements and Related Party Transactions |
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| Related Party Transactions [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fees, Expenses, Agreements and Related Party Transactions | Fees, Expenses, Agreements and Related Party Transactions Investment Advisory Agreement
On January 20, 2022, the Company entered into an investment advisory agreement with HPS, pursuant to which HPS managed the Company on a day-to-day basis until June 30, 2023. On June 30, 2023, the Company entered into the Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Investment Advisory Agreement”) with the Adviser and HPS in connection with a corporate reorganization of the investment advisory operations with respect to the Company. The Adviser is responsible for determining the portfolio composition, making investment decisions, monitoring investments, performing due diligence on prospective portfolio companies and providing the Company with such other investment advisory and related services as may reasonably be required for the investment of capital.
The Investment Advisory Agreement was effective for an initial one-year term ending on June 30, 2024 and will remain in effect from year-to-year thereafter if approved annually by a majority of the Board or by the holders of a majority of the Company’s outstanding voting securities and, in each case, a majority of the Independent Trustees. The Company may terminate the Investment Advisory Agreement, without payment of any penalty, upon 60 days’ written notice. The Investment Advisory Agreement will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment within the meaning of the 1940 Act and related Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) guidance and interpretations. The Investment Advisory Agreement was most recently renewed and approved by the Board, on May 13, 2024, for a one-year period ending on June 30, 2025.
Under the Investment Advisory Agreement, the Company pays the Adviser a fee for its services. The fee consists of two components: a management fee and an incentive fee. The cost of both the management fee and the incentive fee are ultimately borne by the shareholders.
Base Management Fee
The management fee is payable monthly in arrears at an annual rate of 1.25% of the value of the Company’s net assets as of the beginning of the first calendar day of the applicable month. For purposes of the Investment Advisory Agreement, net assets means the Company’s total assets less the carrying value of liabilities, determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. For the first calendar month in which the Company had operations, net assets were measured as the beginning net assets as of the date on which the Company broke escrow for the Offering.
The Adviser agreed to waive the base management fee from the date on which the Company broke escrow for the Offering through December 31, 2022.
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, base management fees were $24.0 million and $63.5 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, base management fees were $13.7 million and $36.9 million, respectively. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, $8.1 million and $5.6 million, respectively, were payable to the Adviser related to management fees.
Incentive Fees
The incentive fee consists of two components that are independent of each other, with the result that one component may be payable even if the other is not. A portion of the incentive fee is based on a percentage of the Company’s income and a portion is based on a percentage of the Company’s capital gains, each as described below.
(i) Income based incentive fee
The income based incentive fee is based on the Company’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns, as defined below. “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns” means interest income, dividends, cash interest or other distributions or other cash income and any third-party fees received from portfolio companies (such as upfront fees, commitment fees, origination fee, amendment fees, ticking fees and break-up fees, as well as prepayments premiums, but excluding fees for providing managerial assistance) accrued during the quarter, minus operating expenses for the quarter (including the management fee, taxes, any expenses payable under the Investment Advisory Agreement and an administration agreement with the administrator, any expense of securitizations, and interest expense or other financing fees and any dividends paid on preferred stock, but excluding incentive fees and shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees). Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns includes, in the case of investments with a deferred interest feature (such as original issue discount, debt instruments with PIK interest and zero-coupon securities), accrued income that we have not yet received in cash. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns do not include any realized capital gains, realized capital losses or
unrealized capital appreciation or depreciation. The impact of expense support payments and recoupments are also excluded from Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns.
Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns, expressed as a rate of return on the value of the Company’s net assets at the end of the immediately preceding quarter, is compared to a “Hurdle Rate” defined as a return of 1.25% per quarter (5.0% annualized).
The Company pays the Adviser an incentive fee quarterly in arrears with respect to the Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns in each calendar quarter as follows:
i.No incentive fee will be paid on Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns in any calendar quarter in which the Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns do not exceed the Hurdle Rate;
ii.100% of the dollar amount of the Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns with respect to that portion of such Pre- Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns, if any, that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than a rate of return of 1.43% (5.72% annualized). This portion of the Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns (which exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than 1.43%) is referred to as the “Catch-Up.” The Catch-Up is meant to provide the Adviser with 12.5% of the Company’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns as if a Hurdle Rate did not apply if this net investment income exceeds 1.43% in any calendar quarter; and
iii.12.5% of the dollar amount of the Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income Returns, if any, that exceed a rate of return of 1.43% (5.72% annualized).
These calculations are prorated for any period of less than three months, including the first quarter the Company commenced operations, and are adjusted for any share issuances or repurchases during the relevant quarter.
The Adviser agreed to waive the income based incentive fee from the date on which the Company broke escrow for the Offering through December 31, 2022. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, income based incentive fees were $29.3 million and $81.8 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, income based incentive fees were $18.7 million and $50.1 million, respectively. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, $29.3 million and $20.3 million, respectively, were payable to the Adviser relating to income based incentive fees.
(ii) Capital gains incentive fee
The second component of the incentive fee, the capital gains incentive fee, is payable at the end of each calendar year in arrears. The amount payable equals 12.5% of cumulative realized capital gains from inception through the end of such calendar year, computed net of all realized capital losses and unrealized capital depreciation on a cumulative basis, less the aggregate amount of any previously paid incentive fee on capital gains as calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP. U.S. GAAP requires that the capital gains incentive fee accrual consider the cumulative aggregate unrealized capital appreciation in the calculation, as a capital gains incentive fee would be payable if such unrealized capital appreciation were realized, even though such unrealized capital appreciation is not permitted to be considered in calculating the fee actually payable under the Investment Advisory Agreement. This U.S. GAAP accrual is calculated using the aggregate cumulative realized capital gains and losses and aggregate cumulative unrealized capital depreciation included in the calculation of the capital gains incentive fee plus the aggregate cumulative unrealized capital appreciation, net of any expense associated with cumulative unrealized capital depreciation or appreciation. If such amount is positive at the end of a period, then U.S. GAAP requires the Company to record a capital gains incentive fee equal to 12.5% of such cumulative amount, less the aggregate amount of actual capital gains incentive fees paid or capital gains incentive fees accrued under GAAP in all prior periods.
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, capital gains incentive fees accrued were $0.4 million and $10.0 million, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, capital gains incentive fees accrued were $2.2 million and $2.2 million, respectively. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company accrued $13.5 million and $3.5 million, respectively, of capital gains incentive fees, none of which were payable under the Investment Advisory Agreement.
Administration Agreement
On January 20, 2022, the Company entered into an agreement (the “Administration Agreement”), subsequently amended on June 30, 2023, with the Administrator under which the Administrator provides, or oversees the performance of, administrative and compliance services, including, but not limited to, maintaining financial records, overseeing the calculation of the Company’s NAV, compliance monitoring (including diligence and oversight of other service providers), preparing reports to shareholders and reports filed with the SEC and other regulators, preparing materials and coordinating meetings of the Company’s Board, managing the payment of expenses, the payment and receipt of funds for investments and the performance of administrative and professional services rendered by others and
providing office space, equipment and office services. The Company reimburses the Administrator for the costs and expenses incurred by the Administrator in performing its obligations under the Administration Agreement. Such reimbursement includes the Company’s allocable portion of compensation (including salaries, bonuses and benefits), overhead (including rent, office equipment and utilities) and other expenses incurred by the Administrator in performing its administrative obligations under the Administration Agreement, including but not limited to: (i) the Company’s chief compliance officer, chief financial officer and their respective staffs; (ii) investor relations, legal, operations and other non-investment professionals at the Administrator that perform duties for the Company; and (iii) any internal audit group personnel of the Administrator or any of its affiliates, subject to the limitations described in Investment Advisory and Administration Agreements. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Administration Agreement, the Administrator may delegate its obligations under the Administration Agreement to an affiliate or to a third party and the Company will reimburse the Administrator for any services performed for the Company by such affiliate or third party.
The amount of the reimbursement payable to the Administrator for administrative services will be the lesser of (1) Administrators’ actual costs incurred in providing such services and (2) the amount that the Company estimates it would be required to pay alternative service providers for comparable services in the same geographic location. The Administrator is required to allocate the cost of such services to the Company based on factors such as assets, revenues, time allocations and/or other reasonable metrics. The Company does not reimburse the Administrator for any services for which it receives a separate fee, or for (1) rent or depreciation, utilities, capital equipment and other administrative items of the Administrator, and (2) salaries, fringe benefits, travel expenses and other administrative items incurred or allocated to any “Controlling Person” (as defined in the North American Securities Administrators Association’s Omnibus Guidelines Statement of Policy, as amended from time to time) of the Administrator.
Unless earlier terminated as described below, the Administration Agreement was effective for a one-year term ending on June 30, 2024 and will remain in effect from year-to-year thereafter if approved annually by a majority of the Board or by the holders of a majority of the Company’s outstanding voting securities and, in each case, a majority of the Independent Trustees. The Company may terminate the Administration Agreement, without payment of any penalty, upon 120 days’ written notice. The Administration Agreement will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment within the meaning of the 1940 Act and related SEC guidance and interpretations. The Administration Agreement was most recently renewed and approved by the Board, on May 13, 2024, for a one-year period ending on June 30, 2025.
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company incurred $0.9 million and $2.6 million, respectively, in expenses under the Administration Agreement, which are recorded in “administrative service expenses” in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company incurred $0.5 million and $1.6 million, respectively, in expenses under the Administration Agreement. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, there was $2.8 million and $2.5 million, respectively, of administrative service expenses payable by the Company which are included in “due to affiliates” in the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities.
Sub-Administration and Fund Accounting Servicing Agreements
HPS previously engaged U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC (“U.S. Bancorp”) to assist in the provision of sub-administrative and fund accounting services. U.S. Bancorp received compensation for these services under sub-administration and fund accounting servicing agreements. On August 30, 2023, the Company provided notice for the termination of the sub-administration agreement dated as of November 30, 2021 by and among the Company, HPS and U.S. Bancorp.
On August 28, 2023, the Company entered into a Sub-Administration Agreement (the “Sub-Administration Agreement”) with HPS and Harmonic Fund Services (“Harmonic”) as the Company’s sub-administrator. Pursuant to the Sub-Administration Agreement, Harmonic provides certain administrative services necessary for the operations of the Company. The Company will bear all fees to be paid to Harmonic under the Sub-Administration Agreement and Harmonic will be entitled to receive reimbursement from the Company for all out-of-pocket expenses properly incurred by Harmonic in respect of the services provided pursuant to the Sub-Administration Agreement.
Managing Dealer Agreement
On April 11, 2024, the Company entered into a managing dealer agreement (the “Managing Dealer Agreement”) with HPS Securities. In connection with the transition to HPS Securities as the Company’s Managing Dealer, the Company provided notice for the termination of the managing dealer agreement dated as of August 3, 2021 by and between the Company and Emerson Equity LLC, which termination was effective as of April 11, 2024.
Under the terms of the Managing Dealer Agreement, the Managing Dealer will serve as the Managing Dealer for the Offering. The Managing Dealer will be entitled to receive distribution and/or shareholder servicing fees monthly in arrears at an annual rate of 0.25%, 0.50% and 0.85% of the value of the Company’s net assets attributable to Class D shares, Class F shares and Class S shares, respectively, as of the beginning of the first calendar day of the month. No distribution and/or shareholding servicing fees will be paid with respect to Class I. The distribution and/or shareholder servicing fees will be payable to the Managing Dealer, but the Managing Dealer anticipates that all or a portion of the shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees will be retained by, or reallowed (paid) to, participating broker-dealers. The Company will not pay any other fees to the Managing Dealer. As set forth in and pursuant to the managing dealer agreement with Emerson Equity LLC, the Company paid Emerson Equity LLC, the Company’s managing dealer prior to April 11, 2024, certain fees, including a $35,000 engagement fee that was previously paid, a $250,000 fixed managing dealer fee payable quarterly (which commenced in the first quarter of 2022) in arrears in five equal quarterly installments that was paid, and a two basis point (0.02%) variable managing dealer fee that was payable on any new capital raised in the offering following the expiration of the initial 15-month period of the Offering. In addition, in connection with services provided by Emerson Equity LLC with respect to the sale of shares registered pursuant to the registration statement filed on Form N-2 on June 30, 2023 related to a follow-on offering of shares of the Company, HPS agreed to pay and paid a one-time fee of $60,000 to Emerson Equity LLC. For the avoidance of doubt, such fee was borne and paid in its entirety solely by HPS, and such fee (or any portion thereof) was not borne or paid directly or indirectly by the Company or the shareholders.
The Company or the Adviser may also pay directly, or reimburse the Managing Dealer if the Managing Dealer pays on the Company’s behalf, any organization and offering expenses (other than any upfront selling commissions and shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees).
The Company will cease paying the distribution and/or shareholder servicing fees on the Class D shares, Class F shares and Class S shares on the earlier to occur of the following: (i) a listing of Class I shares, (ii) a merger or consolidation with or into another entity, or the sale or other disposition of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets or (iii) the date following the completion of the primary portion of the Offering on which, in the aggregate, underwriting compensation from all sources in connection with the Offering, including the distribution and/or shareholder servicing fees and other underwriting compensation, is equal to 10% of the gross proceeds from the Offering.
In addition, at the end of the month in which the Managing Dealer in conjunction with the transfer agent determines that total transaction or other fees, including upfront placement fees or brokerage commissions, and shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees paid with respect to any single share held in a shareholder’s account would exceed, in the aggregate, 10% of the gross proceeds from the sale of such share (or a lower limit as determined by the Managing Dealer or the applicable selling agent), the Company will cease paying the shareholder servicing and/or distribution fee on either (i) each such share that would exceed such limit or (ii) all Class D shares, Class F shares and Class S shares in such shareholder’s account. At the end of such month, the applicable Class D shares, Class F shares or Class S shares in such shareholder’s account will convert into a number of Class I shares (including any fractional shares), with an equivalent aggregate NAV as such Class D, Class F or Class S shares.
The Managing Dealer is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA.
The Managing Dealer Agreement may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of a majority of the Company’s trustees who are not “interested persons”, as defined in the 1940 Act, of the Company and who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Company’s distribution plan or the Managing Dealer Agreement or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Company, on not more than 60 days’ written notice to the Managing Dealer or the Adviser. The Managing Dealer Agreement will automatically terminate in the event of its assignment, as defined in the 1940 Act.
Either party may terminate the Managing Dealer Agreement upon 60 days’ written notice to the other party or immediately upon notice to the other party in the event such other party failed to comply with a material provision of the Managing Dealer Agreement. The Company’s obligations under the Managing Dealer Agreement to pay the shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees with respect to the Class S, Class D shares and Class F shares distributed shall survive termination of the agreement until such shares are no longer outstanding (including such shares that have been converted into Class I shares, as described above).
Distribution and Servicing Plan
On August 9, 2021, the Board approved a distribution and servicing plan (the “Distribution and Servicing Plan”). The following table shows the shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees the Company pays the Managing Dealer with respect to the Class I, Class D, Class F, and Class S on an annualized basis as a percentage of the Company’s NAV for such class.
The shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees are paid monthly in arrears, calculated using the net asset value of the applicable class as of the beginning of the first calendar day of the month and subject to FINRA and other limitations on underwriting compensation. The Managing Dealer agreed to waive shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees for Class D shares and Class F shares for the first nine months following the date on which the Company broke escrow for the Offering.
The Managing Dealer will reallow (pay) all or a portion of the shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees to participating brokers and servicing brokers for ongoing shareholder services performed by such brokers, and will waive shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees to the extent a broker is not eligible to receive it for failure to provide such services. Because the shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees with respect to Class D, Class F or Class S shares are calculated based on the aggregate net asset value for all of the outstanding shares of each such class, it reduces the net asset value with respect to all shares of each such class, including shares issued under the Company’s distribution reinvestment plan.
Eligibility to receive the shareholder servicing and/or distribution fee is conditioned on a broker providing the following ongoing services with respect to the Class D, Class F or Class S shares: assistance with recordkeeping, answering investor inquiries regarding the Company, including regarding distribution payments and reinvestments, helping investors understand their investments upon their request, and assistance with share repurchase requests. If the applicable broker is not eligible to receive the shareholder servicing and/or distribution fee due to failure to provide these services, the Managing Dealer will waive the shareholder servicing fee and/or distribution that broker would have otherwise been eligible to receive. The shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees are ongoing fees that are not paid at the time of purchase.
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company incurred distribution and/or shareholder servicing fees of $0.6 million and $1.7 million attributable to Class D shares, respectively, $5.1 million and $14.2 million attributable to Class F shares, respectively, and $0.6 million and $1.2 million attributable to Class S shares, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company incurred distribution and/or shareholder servicing fees of $0.4 million and $1.0 million attributable to Class D shares, respectively, and $3.4 million and $9.3 million attributable to Class F shares, respectively. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, there was $2.2 million and $1.5 million, respectively, of distribution and/or shareholder servicing fees payable to the Managing Dealer.
Expense Support and Conditional Reimbursement Agreement
On January 20, 2022, the Company entered into an expense support and conditional reimbursement agreement with the Adviser. On June 30, 2023, the Company and the Adviser entered into an Amended and Restated Expense Support and Conditional Reimbursement Agreement (the “Expense Support Agreement”) in connection with the corporate reorganization of the investment advisory operations with respect to the Company. Pursuant to the Expense Support Agreement, on a monthly basis, the Adviser is obligated to advance all of the Company’s Other Operating Expenses (as defined hereafter) (each, a “Required Expense Payment”) to the extent that such expenses exceed 1.00% (on an annualized basis) of the Company’s NAV. The Adviser may elect to pay an additional portion of the Company’s expenses from time to time, which the Company will be obligated to reimburse to the Adviser at a later date if certain conditions are met.
“Other Operating Expenses” means the Company’s total organization and offering expenses, professional fees, trustee fees, administration fees, and other general and administrative expenses (including the Company’s allocable portion of compensation (including salaries, bonuses and benefits), overhead (including rent, office equipment and utilities) and other expenses incurred by the Administrator in performing its administrative obligations under the Administration Agreement).
Any Required Expense Payment must be paid by the Adviser to the Company in any combination of cash or other immediately available funds and/or offset against amounts due from the Company to the Adviser or its affiliates.
The Adviser may elect to pay certain additional expenses on behalf of the Company (each, a “Voluntary Expense Payment” and together with a Required Expense Payment, the “Expense Payments”), provided that no portion of the payment will be used to pay any interest expense or distribution and/or shareholder servicing fees of the Company. Any Voluntary Expense Payment that the Adviser has committed to pay must be paid by the Adviser to the Company in any combination of cash or other immediately available funds no later than 45 days after such commitment was made in writing, and/or offset against amounts due from the Company to the Adviser or its affiliates.
Following any calendar month in which Available Operating Funds (as defined below) exceed the cumulative distributions accrued to the Company’s shareholders based on distributions declared with respect to record dates occurring in such calendar month (the amount of such excess being hereinafter referred to as “Excess Operating Funds”), the Company shall pay such Excess Operating Funds, or a portion thereof, to the Adviser until such time as all Expense Payments made by the Adviser to the Company within three years prior to the last business day of such calendar month have been reimbursed. Any payments required to be made by the Company shall be referred to herein as a “Reimbursement Payment.”
“Available Operating Funds” means the sum of (i) the Company’s net investment company taxable income (including net short-term capital gains reduced by net long-term capital losses), (ii) the Company’s net capital gains (including the excess of net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses) and (iii) dividends and other distributions paid to the Company on account of investments in portfolio companies (to the extent such amounts listed in clause (iii) are not included under clauses (i) and (ii) above).
The Company’s obligation to make a Reimbursement Payment shall automatically become a liability of the Company on the last business day of the applicable calendar month, except to the extent the Adviser has waived its right to receive such payment for the applicable month.
For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Adviser made no Expense Payments on behalf of the Company and there were no Reimbursement Payments made to the Adviser.
Controlled/Affiliated Portfolio Companies
Under the 1940 Act, the Company is required to separately identify non-controlled investments where it owns 5% or more of a portfolio company’s outstanding voting securities and/or has the power to exercise control over the management or policies of such portfolio company as investments in “affiliated” companies. In addition, under the 1940 Act, the Company is required to separately identify investments where it owns more than 25% of a portfolio company’s outstanding voting securities and/or has the power to exercise control over the management or policies of such portfolio company as investments in “controlled” companies. Under the 1940 Act, “non-affiliated investments” are defined as investments that are neither controlled investments nor affiliated investments. Detailed information with respect to the Company’s non-controlled, non-affiliated; non-controlled, affiliated; and controlled affiliated investments is contained in the accompanying consolidated financial statements, including the Consolidated Schedules of Investments.
The Company has made an investment in a joint venture, ULTRA III, which is considered a controlled/affiliated company. For a further description of ULTRA III, see “Note 11. Joint Venture.”
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