This study finds that U.S. business development companies have produced returns in line with those of private funds engaged in direct lending. Analysis suggests that alpha may result from regulatory arbitrage or a peso problem.
Abstract
I examine the performance of US business development companies (“BDC”). BDCs have produced returns in line with those of private funds engaged in direct lending. Leveraged loan and small-cap value equity returns explain a significant part of BDC performance, and the alpha of BDCs is zero on a marketvalue basis but a statistically significant 2.74% per annum based on net asset value (NAV) valuations. I find no evidence of an illiquidity premium, which suggests that the alpha could result from regulatory arbitrage or a peso problem. Cross-sectional BDC returns are widely dispersed and exhibit strong persistence in top- and bottom-quartile manager performance.