2015 Non-Traded BDC Sales Down 28.9%, End Year Trending Upward
Sales of non-traded business development companies were in a slump in 2015, according to the December issue of the Stanger Market Pulse. BDC sales topped out at $3.90 billion in 2015 compared to the $5.49 billion raised in the previous year – a 28.9 percent decrease.
On a brighter note, sales within the BDC category increased steadily during the last three months of the year. In October, November and December of 2015, equity raising reached $228 million, $247.3 million and $295.5 million, respectively. However, sales were still 15.6 percent less than the last three months of 2014.
Franklin Square was the top sponsor that focused exclusively on BDCs, taking home a whopping 47.9 percent of market share with $1.87 billion in sales for the year. However, this is a 28.8 percent decrease from the year before when the firm raised $2.63 billion.
Franklin Square’s FS Investment Corporation III was the top selling BDC program with sales reaching $1.32 billion in equity for the year. Sales for the program were up approximately 38 percent compared to 2014, when it raised $955 million.
CNL Financial Group’s Corporate Capital Trust came in second with a $680.2 million equity raise – which constituted 17.4 percent of market share. Sales for the program were down 13.4 percent compared to 2014.
ICON Investments raised $487.2 million through their CION Investment Corporation program – and garnered 12.5 percent of the BDC market. The company experienced a 31.5 percent jump compared to last year’s sales. ICON Investments was also the second highest equity raising sponsor that focuses solely on BDC investments.
Overall, BDC’s fared better than their REIT counterparts, which experienced a 36.2 percent decline in sales 2015, as The DI Wire reported yesterday.
