Understand the lending business.
Explain what a BDC owns, distinguish trading liquidity from borrower liquidity, and find the relevant filing.
Before you start
No accounting background required. Start with the difference between a fund share and a loan to a borrower.
Four guides · Free · Self-paced. Difficulty is not a professional certification.
- 01
What is a BDC? Follow the fund, the borrowers and the shareholder
Understand the closed-end structure, the difference between borrower interest and shareholder distributions, and why a traded share is not a redeemable loan.
- 02
From origination to repayment: how a BDC investment earns and loses money
Trace a loan through commitment, funding, recognized income, amendments, valuation and exit without confusing commitments with invested assets.
- 03
Internal and external BDC management: follow the expense contract
Compare management arrangements by what shareholders actually bear, including asset-based fees, incentive compensation, reimbursements and waivers.
- 04
Read a BDC filing in order: four statements and the investment schedule
Build a source map for portfolio assets, recognized income, distributions and cash before collecting ratios or copying a presentation.
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.