Stress the capital and fee structure.
Read advisory incentives, isolate financing and rate sensitivities, and distinguish tax distribution rules from cash funding.
Before you start
Be able to explain NII, PIK, fair value and non-accruals without treating one measure as a safety score.
Four guides · Free · Self-paced. Difficulty is not a professional certification.
- 01
BDC leverage and asset coverage: a descriptive ratio is not a compliance test
Connect debt, common equity and asset values while distinguishing a debt/equity worksheet from statutory asset coverage and borrowing covenants.
- 02
Floating rates and floors: why a BDC is not a one-way rate bet
Build separate asset and liability repricing maps, identify floors and hedges, and distinguish interest sensitivity from borrower-credit effects.
- 03
Incentive fees: model the hurdle and catch-up before adjusting NII
Trace a hypothetical piecewise fee schedule, distinguish income and capital-gains fees, and test the effect of noncash income without double counting.
- 04
BDC distributions, RIC tax status and spillover: keep three records separate
Distinguish BDC regulation from RIC treatment, separate tax distribution requirements from NII coverage, and understand why spillover is not a cash reserve.
Apply the route.
Complete each guide’s worked exercise. Retain the period, units, source and assumptions with every result. The final exercise asks you to explain what remains unknown.