SLR Investment Corp: Q3 2026 Earnings Call: Spezialfinanzierungen treiben Rekord-Neugeschäft

Wichtigste Erkenntnisse

• Der Nettoinvestitionsertrag belief sich auf 17,8 Millionen US-Dollar bzw. 0,33 US-Dollar je Aktie und deckte die vierteljährliche Ausschüttung von 0,31 US-Dollar je Aktie ab.
• Der Nettoinventarwert lag bei 972,8 Millionen US-Dollar bzw. 17,83 US-Dollar je Aktie, nach 18,00 US-Dollar in Q2 und einem Rückgang von 2,1 % im Jahresvergleich. Das Management führte den vierteljährlichen Rückgang im Wesentlichen auf einen zinslos gestellten Kredit, OmniGuide, zurück.
• SLRC vergab Neuinvestitionen im Rekordvolumen von 575 Millionen US-Dollar und verzeichnete Rückzahlungen in Höhe von 429 Millionen US-Dollar, was zu einem Nettoneugeschäft von rund 146 Millionen US-Dollar führte. Auf Specialty Finance entfielen 95 % der Neuinvestitionen.
• Das Gesamtportfolio belief sich auf rund 3,4 Milliarden US-Dollar. Rund 97,5 % bestanden aus vorrangig besicherten Krediten, mehr als 96 % waren erststellig besichert und 86 % entfielen auf Specialty Finance.
• Zwei zinslos gestellte Investitionen machten 1,2 % des Portfolios zum beizulegenden Zeitwert und 2,9 % zu Anschaffungskosten aus. Rund 98 % der Investitionen wurden auf der vierstufigen Risikoskala des Unternehmens mit 1 oder 2 bewertet.
• Das Management rechnet im kommenden Jahr mit einer Zunahme von Kreditausfällen und Liability-Management-Transaktionen im Private-Credit-Sektor und hält zugleich an seinem Fokus auf besicherte Finanzierungschancen im Bereich Specialty Finance fest.

Wichtige Finanzkennzahlen

Nach Quartalsende kaufte SLRC mehr als 884.000 Aktien für 10 Millionen US-Dollar zu einem Durchschnittspreis von 11,31 US-Dollar inklusive Provisionen zurück. Das Management geht davon aus, dass die Rückkäufe den NAV je Aktie im vierten Quartal steigern werden.

Der Verwaltungsrat beschloss eine vierteljährliche Ausschüttung von 0,31 US-Dollar je Aktie, zahlbar am 28. Dezember 2026 an die zum Stichtag 14. Dezember 2026 eingetragenen Aktionäre.

Geschäfts- und operative Entwicklung

Asset-Based Lending

Die ABL-Plattform belief sich auf 1,5 Milliarden US-Dollar bei 241 Emittenten, was mehr als 43 % des Gesamtportfolios entspricht. Das Neugeschäft in Q3 lag bei 277 Millionen US-Dollar, während die Rückzahlungen 238 Millionen US-Dollar erreichten. Die gewichtete durchschnittliche Rendite auf Vermögensebene stieg von 12,0 % in Q2 auf 12,6 %.

Nach Angaben des Managements weitet sich die Nachfrage über traditionelle Borrowing-Base- Fazilitäten hinaus aus, da Private-Equity-Sponsoren zusätzliche Liquidität für Leveraged Buyouts, Akquisitionen und Sanierungsengagements suchen. Forderungen aus dem Gesundheitswesen bleiben ein Schwerpunktbereich.

Equipment Finance

Das Equipment-Finance-Portfolio erreichte 1,2 Milliarden US-Dollar bei 570 Kreditnehmern, was 35 % des Portfolios entspricht. SLRC vergab Neuinvestitionen in Höhe von 263 Millionen US-Dollar und verzeichnete Rückzahlungen von rund 176 Millionen US-Dollar. Die gewichtete durchschnittliche Rendite des Segments lag bei 10,2 %.

SLR Equipment Finance schloss eine forderungsbesicherte Verbriefung über 250 Millionen US-Dollar zu einem festen Zinssatz von 5,6 % ab und senkte so die Fremdkapitalkosten. Das Management berichtete zudem über eine Nachfrage im Zusammenhang mit digitaler Infrastruktur sowie von Kreditnehmern, die bestehende Ausrüstungs-Leasingverträge verlängern, anstatt Geräte zu höheren, zollbereinigten Preisen neu zu erwerben.

Life Sciences

Das Life-Sciences-Portfolio belief sich auf 176 Millionen US-Dollar bei sechs Kreditnehmern, was 5 % des Portfolios entspricht. Das Neugeschäft lag bei 5 Millionen US-Dollar, bei keinen Rückzahlungen. Das Unternehmen konzentriert sich auf größere Kreditnehmer, die Kombinationen aus Life-Sciences-Krediten, revolvierenden ABL-Linien und Lizenzgebührenstrukturen nutzen können.

Cashflow-basierte Kreditvergabe

Das Cashflow-Portfolio im Bereich Sponsor Finance belief sich auf 463 Millionen US-Dollar bei 25 Kreditnehmern bzw. knapp 14 % des Portfolios. Alle Investitionen waren erstrangig besichert, mit einem gewichteten durchschnittlichen Beleihungsauslauf von unter 40 % und einem Zinsdeckungsgrad von 2,2x.

Die Investitionen in Q3 beliefen sich auf 30 Millionen US-Dollar, die Rückzahlungen auf 15 Millionen US-Dollar. Die gewichtete durchschnittliche Cashflow-Rendite lag bei knapp 10 %, verglichen mit 9,6 % in Q2. Das Engagement im Softwarebereich blieb bei unter 1 % des beizulegenden Zeitwerts des Portfolios.

Ausblick des Managements

Das Management geht davon aus, dass Specialty Finance auf absehbare Zeit der primäre Fokus bei Neukreditvergaben bleiben wird. Das Unternehmen verwies auf eine robuste Pipeline, gestützt durch seine ABL-Präsenz, die Nachfrage nach Ausrüstungsfinanzierungen, Empfehlungspartnerschaften und ein größeres Sponsoreninteresse an besicherten Liquiditätslösungen.

SLRC erwartet zudem, in den nächsten ein bis zwei Quartalen von höheren Leitzinsen zu profitieren, obwohl das Management anmerkte, dass dieser Vorteil nachlassen würde, sollten die Zinsen zu stark steigen.

Das Unternehmen verpflichtete sich zu einer Privatplatzierung unbesicherter Anleihen über 135 Millionen US-Dollar mit einem festen Zinssatz von 6,76 % und Fälligkeit am 10. Juni 2030. Die Valutierung wird für den 10. Dezember 2026 erwartet. Das Management erklärte, die Finanzierung werde dazu beitragen, die Kapitalstruktur neu auszurichten und die Specialty-Finance-Pipeline zu unterstützen.

Risiken und Beobachtungspunkte

• Das Management rechnet im kommenden Jahr mit einer Zunahme von Ausfällen und Liability-Management-Maßnahmen, stufte das Umfeld jedoch eher als normalen Abschwung im Kreditzyklus und nicht als Wiederholung von 2008 ein.
• Das Unternehmen stufte die hochverschuldeten Jahrgänge 2021 und 2022 als wesentlichen Belastungsfaktor der Branche ein. Weniger als 15 % des Gesamtportfolios von SLRC sind in diesen Jahrgängen investiert.
• Zwei zinslos gestellte Kredite machten den Großteil der Watchlist aus. OmniGuide war der Haupttreiber für den vierteljährlichen Rückgang des NAV um 90 Basispunkte.
• Höhere Finanzierungskosten, Margendruck und Kreditausfälle könnten die Ertragsvorteile aus erhöhten Leitzinsen zunichtemachen.
• Eine gedämpfte M&A-Aktivität und überschüssiges Kapital im Private-Credit-Sektor drücken die Risikoprämien bei der Cashflow-basierten Kreditvergabe weiterhin nach unten.
• Inflation und höhere Kreditkosten könnten die Liquidität der Kreditnehmer belasten. Laut SLRC überwachen die ABL-Teams Forderungen, Lagerumschlag und Liquidität auf wöchentlicher oder monatlicher Basis.

Highlights der Analysten-Fragerunde

• Portfoliorendite: Das Management erwartet, dass höhere Leitzinsen die Renditen in den nächsten ein bis zwei Quartalen stützen werden, auch im Bereich Specialty Finance, allerdings vorbehaltlich von Grenzen, sollten die Zinsen übermäßig hoch steigen.
• ABL-Überwachung: SLRC konzentriert sich auf die Liquidität der Kreditnehmer sowie die Auswirkungen von Inflation und Finanzierungskosten. Regelmäßige Berichte über Sicherheiten schaffen Transparenz hinsichtlich der Trends bei Forderungen und Vorräten.
• Aktienrückkäufe: Das Management bezeichnete Kurse im niedrigen 11-US-Dollar-Bereich als äußerst attraktiv für Rückkäufe, während das mittlere 12-US-Dollar-Niveau im Vergleich zu neuen Investitionsmöglichkeiten weniger attraktiv sei.
• Wettbewerbsumfeld: Nach Angaben des Managements zielen neue große Marktteilnehmer im Bereich der forderungsbesicherten Finanzierung im Allgemeinen eher auf Pools von Konsumentenkrediten ab als auf den von SLRC direkt vergebenen und überwachten ABL-Markt. Das Unternehmen nannte mehr als 200 Mitarbeiter an 20 Standorten als erhebliche Eintrittsbarriere.
• Kapitaleinsatz: Die Emission unbesicherter Anleihen über 135 Millionen US-Dollar übersteigt die Fälligkeit von 75 Millionen US-Dollar im Dezember 2026. Das Management erklärte, es beschaffe opportunistisch Kapital und bereite sich zugleich darauf vor, das weitere Wachstum im Bereich Specialty Finance zu finanzieren.

Vollständiges Transkript der Telefonkonferenz zu den Quartalsergebnissen

Vollständiges Transkript der Telefonkonferenz

Ausführungen des Managements

Operator

Hello, and welcome, everyone, joining today's Q3 2026 SLR Investment Corp. Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this call is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]

It is now my pleasure to turn the meeting over to Michael Gross, Chairman and Co-CEO. Please go ahead.

Michael Gross

Thank you very much, and good morning. Welcome to SLR Investment Corp.'s Earnings Call for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. I'm joined today by my long-term partner, Bruce Spohler, our Co-Chief Executive Officer; as well as Chief Financial Officer, Shiraz Kajee; and members of the SLR Investor Relations team.

Shiraz, before we begin, would you please start by covering the webcast and forward-looking statements?

Shiraz Kajee

Thank you, Michael. Good morning, everyone. I would like to remind everyone that today's call and webcast are being recorded. Please note that they are the property of SLR Investment Corp. and that any unauthorized broadcast in any form is strictly prohibited.

This conference call is also being webcast on the events calendar in the Investors section on our website at www.slrinvestmentcorp.com. Audio replays of this call will be made available later today as disclosed in our November 3 earnings press release.

I would also like to call your attention to the customary disclosures in our press release regarding forward-looking statements. Today's conference call and webcast may include forward-looking statements and projections. These statements are not guarantees of our future performance or financial results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Actual results may differ materially as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in our filings with the SEC. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements unless required to do so by law. To obtain copies of our latest SEC filings, please visit our website or call us at (212) 993-1670.

At this time, I would like to turn the call back over to our Chairman and Co-CEO, Michael Gross.

Michael Gross

Thank you, Shiraz, and thank you to everyone for joining our earnings call this morning. Markets firmly expect risk-free rates to remain higher for longer. AI and the new economy build-out dramatically impact capital flows, commerce and ultimately risk. As a result, questions about where we are in the credit cycle have grown louder throughout the year.

Expectations for interest coverage and direct lending facilities are moderating. We first expressed a more cautious view about the potential for rising private credit losses in the last year. That view rested on our 20-plus history of managing private credit vehicles and recognizing that the industry was approaching the middle stages of a credit cycle.

We believe these signs can no longer be dismissed. They're clearly visible through the lens of rising defaults and realized losses. The simple average net asset value per share has declined more than 5% for public BDCs year-to-date, and Fitch Ratings recently indicated that the trailing 12-month default rate is the highest on record as of the end of the third quarter.

With this backdrop, we continue to believe investors are looking for private credit portfolios that are less exposed to areas of private credit exuberance during the past 5 years. We believe our comprehensive portfolio of largely commercial finance assets positions us to provide durable current income and total return. We think the strength of our portfolio today reflects how we structure and select investments, not where we sit in the current cycle or the amount of capital we need to deploy.

Much of today's market participants have never underwritten through a true downturn and rapid capital formation loosened cash flow underwriting as non-listed BDCs grew into tens of billions of dollars under management in a very short period.

The stress is concentrated in the 2021 and 2022 vintages underwritten at high leverage in the low interest rate environment and are now facing a large way of cyclicals and software loan maturities. Importantly, less than 15% of our comprehensive portfolio is invested in these vintages.

Floating rate direct lending would normally benefit from an increase in base rates, but higher financing costs, margin compression and rising credit losses are thus far offsetting this tailwind.

Continued lackluster M&A activity and excess supply of capital further widen the supply-demand imbalance and extend a highly competitive environment for good cash flow assets. As a result, sourcing good risk return in Sponsor Finance remains challenging.

We expect default and liability management exercises to rise throughout the next year. This is a typical credit cycle downturn, not a crisis comparable to 2008. However, we believe that defaults will be higher than many expect.

Weaker documentation and unitranche structures that sit deeper in the capital structure leave less cushion beneath lenders, so loss given default rates could run higher than many assume. The current environment favors experienced collateral-based lenders as sponsors with capital structures that cannot refinance in the traditional market need liquidity and working capital solutions.

Our portfolio is built for this environment. It primarily consists of first lien loans against collateral that we can monitor and liquidate selective cash flow exposure and a small watch list. Our ABL teams are a countercyclical sourcing engine when liquidity and capital are scarce.

In this market phase, credit dispersion is expected to widen and manager and asset selection will matter more. We will stay disciplined and are prepared for either a typical downturn or a more benign outcome. Nearly all of originations in the second -- in the third quarter were in specialty finance, and we expect that focus to continue for the foreseeable future.

Turning to our Q3 results. For the third quarter, SLRC reported net investment income, or NII, of $0.33 per share against a distribution of $0.31 per share. At September 30, the company had a net asset value per share of $17.83, down approximately 90 basis points from the prior quarter and down only 2.1% year-over-year, which is less than half the industry experience. The NAV decline in Q3 is driven by the decline in fair value of one loan on nonaccrual. Bruce will provide more detail on this investment.

Importantly, this investment's challenges are idiosyncratic and not reflective of our broader portfolio's health. In fact, our watch list declined this quarter with only 2% of our portfolio at fair value in that category.

We continue to have strong conviction in the credit quality of our portfolio. Consistent with the prior quarter, our exposure to the software industry consisting of only 2 borrowers stands at less than 1% of fair value. Furthermore, only 2% of our gross income is derived from restructured PIK. Both portfolio metrics remain well below private credit portfolio averages.

With our conservatively positioned portfolio, we are focused on attractive investment opportunities in asset-based lending. During the third quarter, SLRC originated $575 million of new investments across the comprehensive portfolio. This volume weighted 95% of specialty finance represents a record for SLRC and highlights our ability to originate attractive investments during periods of muted activity in the traditional direct lending market.

During the third quarter, we received repayments of $429 million for net originations of approximately $146 million. We view this level of portfolio to trade favorably as the repayments represented successful realizations at par or better and the associated prepayment exit fees add a further source of income. We continue to have a robust specialty finance pipeline fueled by our ABL team's broad geographic footprint, resulting in strong traction in local markets and increasing sponsor interest in ABL solutions.

With our strategic focus on specialty finance, we are executing growth strategies to expand our footprint through new hires, acquisitions and investment sourcing partnerships. Our recently finalized partnership with a super-regional bank has begun to produce referral opportunities. As the partnership progresses, we will share more details. We remain active in the cash flow market in our core industry, healthcare and are ready to pivot to this asset class if it becomes more attractive.

At September 30, including available credit facility capacity at SSLP and our specialty finance portfolio companies, SLRC had over $850 million of available capital to deploy subject to borrowing base limits. Our liquidity portfolio and minimal watchlist position us to deploy capital as the cycle turns, whether it means stepping in as banks pull back or meeting sponsors' needs of liquidity.

Now I'll turn the call back over to Shiraz, our CFO, to take you through third quarter financial highlights.

Shiraz Kajee

Thank you, Michael. SLR Investment Corp.'s net asset value at September 30, 2026, was $972.8 million or $17.83 per share compared to $18 per share at June 30, 2026. At quarter end, SLR sees on balance sheet investment portfolio at a fair value of approximately $2 billion in 77 portfolio companies compared to a fair value of $2.1 billion in 79 portfolio companies at June 30.

Our investment portfolio continues to be funded by a combination of our multi-lender revolving credit facilities and the issuance of term debt in the unsecured debt markets to institutional investors. The company is investment-grade rated by Fitch, Moody's and DBRS, and more than 43% of the company's debt capital is comprised of unsecured debt as of September 30.

At September 30, the company had approximately $1.1 billion of debt outstanding with a net debt-to-equity ratio of 1.1x within our target range of 0.9 to 1.25x. We have ample liquidity to fund our unfunded commitments and for future portfolio growth.

Looking forward, the company has unsecured debt maturities of $75 million in December 2026, $135 million in January 2027 and $50 million in March 2027. On October 28, the company committed to a private offering of $135 million of unsecured notes with a fixed interest rate of 6.76% and a maturity date of June 10, 2030. This issuance is anticipated to close and fund on December 10, 2026. We expect to continue to prudently access the debt capital markets and issue unsecured debt as and when needed.

Moving to the P&L. For the 3 months ended September 30, gross investment income totaled $49.3 million versus $48.8 million for the 3 months ended June 30. Net expenses totaled $31.5 million for the 3 months ended September 30. This compares to $31.1 million for the June quarter. Accordingly, the company's net investment income for the 3 months ended September 30, 2026, totaled $17.8 million or $0.33 per average share, in line with the prior quarter.

Below the line, the company had net realized and unrealized losses of $10.2 million in the third quarter versus net realized and unrealized losses of $9.5 million for the second quarter of 2026. As a result, the company had a net increase in net assets resulting from operations of $7.6 million for the 3 months ended September 30 compared to a net increase of $8.3 million for the 3 months ended June 30.

Post quarter end, the company purchased over 884,000 shares of SLRC at an average price of $11.31, inclusive of commissions. These purchases totaled $10 million and were executed through our 10b5-1 stock repurchase plan previously authorized by our Board of Directors. We expect these purchases to be accretive to NAV per share in the fourth quarter.

On November 3, 2026, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly distribution of $0.31 per share, payable on December 28, 2026, to holders of record as of December 14, 2026.

With that, I'll turn the call over to our Co-CEO, Bruce Spohler.

Bruce Spohler

Thank you, Shiraz. Before discussing our portfolio, let me comment on our specialty finance strategies. Because we're typically the sole lender in our specialty finance strategies, the majority of our exposure is unique to SLRC. Consequently, our investment portfolio overlap with other public BDC portfolios is one of the lowest in the industry.

According to a Q2 '26 research report, our shared investment exposure with other BDCs represents less than 20% of our portfolio. This compares to a weighted average overlap of over 50% for many of our peers. This provides our investors with greater diversification across their holdings. Both the low correlation to other managers as well as to asset classes as well as the strong downside protection to our collateral coverage make our specialty finance strategies an attractive value proposition.

Our investment strategies are extremely high touch with deep expertise and experience, a prerequisite for both the underwriting as well as the active monitoring of collateral throughout our loan's life. These strategies are not conducive to manager tourism and take, in our view, at least a decade to build from the ground up. Because of this, competition remains limited, which preserves our ability to generate alpha at the time that mainstream direct lending is evolving into a beta asset class.

Now let me turn to the portfolio. At quarter end, the comprehensive portfolio was approximately $3.4 billion with an average exposure of $4 million. At fair value, approximately 97.5% of our portfolio consisted of senior secured loans with over 96% invested in first lien loans.

The 1% of our portfolio in second lien investments consists entirely of asset-based loans, which contain borrowing bases and no second lien cash flow loans. At quarter end, over 86% of the portfolio is comprised of specialty finance investments. At quarter end, the weighted average asset level yield on the portfolio was 11.2%, up slightly from last quarter and consistent with the past year's performance.

Overall, we believe the portfolio has been less impacted by changes in base rates and spread compression compared to the BDC peer group due to our higher allocation to specialty finance loans. We continue to have just 2 loans on nonaccrual, with one of those accounting for the decline in our NAV of 90 bps this quarter. This investment is OmniGuide. Our workout team is actively focused on maximizing our recovery for both OmniGuide and our other nonperforming loans.

Outside of these 2 investments, which account for the majority of our watchlist, our portfolio continues to perform well. At quarter end, the weighted average investment risk rating was under 2 based on our 1 to 4 risk rating scale, with 1 representing the least amount of risk. Approximately 98% of the portfolio is rated 1 or 2 at quarter end.

Outside of our 2 nonaccruals, which represent 1.2% of the portfolio at fair value and 2.9% at cost, our portfolio companies continue to exhibit healthy business fundamentals and perform at or above expectation. In addition, 2% of our gross income is derived from PIK interest that resulted from amendments.

Now let me touch on each of our 4 investment verticals, starting with our specialty finance segments. Asset-based lending. Our teams are extremely active with an expanded opportunity set consisting of their traditional borrowing base as well as increasing interest from our Sponsor Finance clients who are seeking incremental liquidity through ABL solutions for their portfolio companies.

Private equity firms are increasingly using ABL structures to supplement the financing of LBOs, strategic acquisitions, as well as turnaround asset purchases. In particular, we are seeing traction with healthcare sponsors given our understanding of complex healthcare accounts receivable.

The SLR team has been financing healthcare receivables for over 30 years and understands the reimbursement nuances of healthcare accounts receivable. This asset level diligence is often what separates a lender capable of structuring around complexity from one that simply lacks the decades of experience with healthcare accounts receivable collectability.

Our priority remains a first lien position on liquid current assets, predominantly accounts receivable and inventory, which has historically minimized our risk exposure. At quarter end, our ABL platform totaled $1.5 billion across 241 issuers, representing over 43% of the total portfolio.

For the third quarter, we originated $277 million of new ABL investments and had repayments of $238 million. Weighted average asset level yield on the ABL portfolio was 12.6%, up from 12% in the prior quarter. We are continuing to advance partnership opportunities as well as evaluate strategic transactions such as portfolio and business acquisitions. Additionally, we're continuing to expand the origination team across our ABL verticals.

Now let me touch on equipment finance. We are pleased with the progress across our equipment finance businesses and have seen an increase in demand for equipment financings more broadly, which resulted in portfolio growth this quarter as well as a larger pipeline as we head into year-end. The opportunity set includes equipment leasing opportunities related to the infrastructure build-out of the digital economy as well as the greater need for financings for companies in traditional industries as many of our peer lenders turn their focus solely to data center financings.

At quarter end, the equipment finance portfolio totaled $1.2 billion, representing 35% of our total portfolio and was highly diversified across 570 borrowers. Credit profile of this portfolio was stable quarter-over-quarter.

During the third quarter, we originated $263 million of new investments and had repayments of approximately $176 million. Weighted average asset level yield for this portfolio was 10.2%.

Our investment pipeline has expanded in equipment finance. Additionally, we're continuing to see demand from existing borrowers seeking to extend their existing leases on equipment rather than buying new equipment at higher tariff-adjusted prices.

Also achieved during the quarter was an important marker for our SLR Equipment Finance team. They were able to finance the portfolio with a $250 million asset-backed securitization. This facility lowered the company's cost of debt capital, pricing at a fixed rate of 5.6%.

Now let me turn to life sciences. Our life science team continues to evaluate new opportunities. In response to the challenging conditions in this segment, our team is focused on larger companies that can benefit from comprehensive solutions involving not only life science loans, but also ABL revolvers and royalty structures. Our platform has a unique competitive advantage in its ability to offer this full suite of products, which is bolstering our pipeline.

During the third quarter, we had originations of $5 million and no repayments in life sciences. At quarter end, the portfolio was $176 million across 6 different borrowers, representing 5% of the total portfolio. Activity has increased, and we are optimistic about our pipeline heading into next year.

Cash flow lending. With muted M&A activity and large capital inflows for the largest private credit managers, cash flow lending has remained a competitive market where the risk premium has narrowed. SLRC currently takes an opportunistic approach to this asset class.

Our broad platform expertise in healthcare enables us to continue to serve as a valuable cash flow loan provider to companies in this industry during periods of overheated market conditions. Sponsors have been focused on troubled portfolio companies and amend and extend executions with the looming 2027 and 2030 maturity wall approaching.

At quarter end, our Sponsor Finance cash flow portfolio totaled $463 million across 25 borrowers or just under 14% of the total portfolio. Our software exposure accounts for less than 1%. The weighted average EBITDA of the portfolio was approximately $117 million. 100% of this portfolio are first lien investments, and we had a weighted average LTV of just under 40%.

Our borrower fundamentals remain strong with single-digit growth in average year-over-year revenue and EBITDA. The weighted average interest coverage on our cash flow portfolio was 2.2x, consistent over the past year.

During the quarter, we made investments of $30 million and experienced repayments of $15 million. At quarter end, our weighted average cash flow yield was just under 10% compared to 9.6% last quarter.

Now let me touch on our SSLP. During the quarter, we invested $7 million and had approximately $10 million of repayments. Our net leverage is just around 0.9x. Company earned $1.3 million from its investment in SSLP during the quarter, which represented an annualized yield of 11% compared to 11.8% in Q2. At quarter end, we had $62 million of undrawn debt capacity, and we expect to grow this portfolio opportunistically conditions in the Sponsor Finance market warrant.

Now, let me turn the call back to Michael.

Michael Gross

Thank you, Bruce. In conclusion, at this stage of the credit cycle, with risk not being rewarded as it once was in the direct lending market, we are staying focused on our specialty finance strategies. These collateral-based loans, which make up the vast majority of our recent originations, provide the underpinning of the stability and solid credit quality of our portfolio.

We feel confident in the health of our overall performance and believe we are well positioned to weather this higher-for-longer interest rate environment. While we are comfortable with our portfolio's current earnings power given our conservative investment approach, particularly in today's market, we are pleased with our specialty finance team's traction.

As issuers facing liquidity challenges seek alternative sources of capital, our broad range of solutions are being well received. Our teams thrive in challenging markets, and our portfolio's stable credit quality enabled them to remain focused on the opportunity set.

The SLR team owns over 9% of the company's stock today as a significant percentage of the annual incentive compensation invested in SLR stock each year, including purchases that took place in the first quarter.

We thank you again for your time today, especially on a busy day of BDC earnings releases. Operator, will you please open the line for questions?

Operator

[Operator Instructions] We will take our first question from Erik Zwick with Lucid Capital Markets.

Fragen und Antworten

Erik Zwick

Understanding that your portfolio structure makes you -- the yield kind of less sensitive to changes in interest rates, is there anything else that could lead to any changes in the portfolio yield going forward, anything in terms of changes in spreads or portfolio mix shift that we can see any changes over the next, say, quarter or 2?

Michael Gross

I think while we are not highly correlated to base rates, in the near term, we do benefit even our specialty finance strategies from the pickup in base rates. So at some point, it gets too high. And so we won't see that pass through to our returns. But I think in the next quarter or 2, you will see the pickup just as you would in a cash flow deal in terms of that additional increase in base rate yield.

Erik Zwick

And then kind of transitioning to the asset-based lending strategies. We've seen a little bit of a pickup in inflation in some of the measures. Whether that's going to be sustained, I think, is still out for debate. But can you just talk about the considerations that you need to kind of monitor and take into account as you continue to both monitor the existing ABL portfolio as well as new originations and how a higher inflationary environment could impact that management style?

Michael Gross

That's a great question. The good news is we've got several hundred investments across borrowers throughout the U.S. in a variety of industries. So we have a very good lens into the underlying performance of the U.S. economy. What we would say is because we have such insight, we do get, as you may know, information around receivable turns, inventory turns on a weekly and monthly basis. So we have a lot of inputs.

I think the thing that we are most focused on in the ABL portfolio, because we benefit from underlying collateral, we're really looking for liquidity and a sense of a company's liquidity, how is inflation and increased borrowing costs impacting their liquidity profile. That's the first thing that we are very, very focused on, make sure that they have a long runway to support the business during this inflationary period. And again, we benefit from very quick and deep insights into those impacts on a weekly to monthly basis.

Erik Zwick

That's helpful. And then last one for me. With regards to the end of October private offering of $135 million, that's more than enough to cover your upcoming maturity of $75 million. So should we read that as a kind of optimistic offering raise in terms of your ability to execute on the pipeline and continue to grow the portfolio?

Michael Gross

Yes. I think we will, as we have been for the last 20 years, been opportunistic as we go to the private placement market to Shiraz's comments. We like to be able to go when it's appropriate rather than at a position of need. So -- but we are, yes, to your question, resetting the cap stack. You've seen us, over time, increase the size of our revolver as well to take advantage of what we see to be a continued strong pipeline in specialty finance investments.

Operator

We will move next with Jason Stewart with Compass Point.

Dylan Ritter

Dylan Ritter filling in for Jason here. Our question is, how did you determine the appropriate level of share repurchases in October? And what made that level attractive from a capital allocation standpoint? And looking ahead, is there a specific price level or metric where you would favor repurchases over deploying capital into new investments?

Michael Gross

Look, I think we kind of always view the $50 million plan we put in place as opportunistic. It was meant to last a year since we have a long time left on it, and we'll continue to look at it opportunistically in the low 11s as being very attractive. In the mid-12s is less attractive given kind of where our investor opportunity is at. So we'll continue to watch it opportunistically, and we'll see what happens.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] We will move next with Heli Sheth with Raymond James.

Heli Sheth

So kind of following up with asset-based financing, we've kind of seen a rise in the space in ABS and just more opportunities there. How landscape changing is this for the space?

Michael Gross

So what you're alluding to is the fact that there's been a lot of talk and activity in kind of ABS and ABF and a lot of the larger fund complexes kind of entering the space. What we're seeing is they're going after parts of the market that are dramatically different from what we do.

For the most part, where you're seeing activity is in consumer-based products, whether it's portfolios of student loans, car loans, credit card receivables, mortgages where you can put large package together and repackage them and distribute them. It's very different from what we do. Everything we do in the asset-based lending world is truly about direct lending, where we are directly originating to a counterparty, we're directly underwriting it and we're directly monitoring it. So the activity we're seeing from these bigger players really has had little or no impact on what we do and the competitive landscape of what we do really hasn't changed at all.

Heli Sheth

Got it. That's helpful. And being that you guys have been in the ABS space for so much longer and are kind of the leaders and the experts in the area, we've kind of seen in other areas such as venture lending, new entrants with poor execution can still cause years of disruption to a space. Is there any cause for concern about new entrants into the space? And how much of that is a negative prospect to deploying capital for you?

Michael Gross

That is a great question. And for example, we actually saw that their life science strategy. We saw some new entrants come in and thought -- who thought they had the expertise and they bid on a bunch of deals, they got them and they didn't work out so well.

The big difference, though, is that to go into the receivable financing facilities or credit card receivable -- receivable inventory facilities, you can't just raise your hand and say you want to be in it. You have to have the infrastructure in place to put a facility in place to manage it. So it's very difficult for tourists to come in and out of the business.

Bruce alluded to earlier, you have to have the -- you spent the 15 years building out the infrastructure to do it. No borrower is going to take money from an asset-based lender who doesn't have the ability to kind of execute.

Bruce Spohler

Just to put a finer point on that, we have over 200 people in 20 offices around the country focused on sourcing and then monitoring collateral. That is, to Michael's point, a huge barrier to entry.

Operator

Thank you. And at this time, I will turn the meeting back to Michael Gross for closing comments.

Michael Gross

Thank you. At this time, we do not have any more comments other than to thank you for your participation today. And to reiterate that if any of you or anyone else has any questions, please feel free to reach out to any of us. We'll be happy to talk. Have a great day.

Operator

Thank you. This brings us to the end of today's meeting. We appreciate your time and participation. You may now disconnect.