Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp.

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp.

Access the income and return potential of private capital

Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp. (NYSE Ticker: NCDL) is a business development company (BDC) focused primarily on investing in senior secured loans to private equity-owned U.S. middle market companies. Our investment objective is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through current income by investing primarily in senior secured loans to private equity-owned U.S. middle market companies.

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Differentiated competitive advantages

Sponsor alignment

NCDL benefits substantially from the scale and resources of Churchill’s parent company, Nuveen, and Nuveen’s ultimate parent company, TIAA. Nuveen, as the investment management division of TIAA, is one of the world’s largest asset managers with $1.3 trillion assets under management1. TIAA is one of the largest private debt investors in the world2 and is an important part of Churchill’s committed capital base, as Churchill manages TIAA’s general account allocation to U.S. middle market private capital side-by-side with Churchill’s and NCDL’s third-party investors.

Scaled platform with extensive private credit expertise

Churchill is one of the most active direct lenders in the U.S. middle market. The scale of Churchill’s platform provides NCDL with the ability to invest in larger transactions with limited concentration in its portfolio. We believe that the breadth and depth of Churchill’s expertise, coupled with its long history of disciplined investment across industries and various economic cycles, provides differentiated strengths when sourcing and evaluating large and complex investment opportunities.

Strong private equity relationships

Churchill has a long-standing portfolio of limited partner capital commitments which provides the ability to source and originate differentiated investment opportunities across the platform, often on an early look, first access basis. Churchill believes it has established itself as a highly value-additive capital provider and partner of choice for leading private equity firms given its ability to provide a full array of scaled solutions across the capital structure. NCDL has benefited from this differentiated sourcing model and disciplined and rigorous investment approach resulting in a sizable, broadly diversified portfolio and attractive dividend yield.

Well positioned for today’s market environment

NCDL’s allocation strategy, anchored in primarily senior secured loans, benefits from Churchill’s broader platform that offers exposure to a wide range of transactions including hard-to-source junior capital and private equity co-investments. Having the latitude to pivot across capital solutions differentiates Churchill compared to most other direct lenders in situations when capital requirements changed during a transaction and thereby has positioned it as the preferred capital partner for private equity sponsors.

1. As of September 30, 2024. Nuveen assets under management (AUM) is inclusive of underlying investment specialists.

2. Rankings published in the Private Debt Investor Magazine's Global Investor 50, December 2023. Private Debt Investor Magazine's research and analytics team carried out primary and secondary research on more than 100 institutions to produce rankings on the world's largest institutional private debt investors based on the market value of private debt portfolios. Nuveen submitted data to the research and analytics team. There were no fees paid in connection with this recognition.

The Churchill Edge

Churchill is one of the most active middle market private capital managers in the U.S. Learn how our scale, differentiated sourcing, unique alignment construct and track record set us apart.

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NCDL at a glance

12.1%

Annualized dividend distribution yield1

$2.0B

Investment portfolio at fair value2

90%

First-lien term loans3

$77M

Weighted average annual EBITDA4

As of September 30, 2024, estimated and unaudited.

For complete information regarding our financials, see our periodic filings.
1. Annualized Dividend yield includes the Regular Distribution per share and the Special Distribution per share divided by the NAV per share as of the respective quarter end, annualized.
2. Represents total investment portfolio at fair value. Total par value of debt investment commitments is $2,298M which includes approximately $234M of unfunded investment commitments.
3. 35% of first lien debt are unitranche positions.
4. Weighted based on fair market value of private debt investments as of September 30, 2024 for which fair value is determined by the Company’s investment adviser (the “Adviser”) in its capacity as the valuation designee of the Board of Directors, and excludes quoted assets. Amounts are weighted based on fair market value of each respective investment as of its most recent quarterly valuation, which are derived from the most recently available portfolio company financial statements. EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. For a particular portfolio company, EBITDA is generally defined as net income before net interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization. EBITDA amounts are estimated from the most recent portfolio company financial statements, have not been independently verified by NCDL and may reflect a normalized or adjusted amount. Accordingly, NCDL makes no representation or warranty in respect of this information.

Awards and recognition

#1 Most Active U.S. Buyouts Lender1
Q2 2024

#2 Most Active U.S. Direct Lender2
Q2 2024

#2 Lender of the Year (Americas)3
2023

Lender Firm of the Year4
2021-2023

Private Markets Manager of the Year5
2024

Best Place to Work in Money Management6
2021-2023

Reflects awards and recognitions awarded to Churchill Asset Management.

1 PitchBook Data's Q2 2024 Lending League Tables.

2 Direct Lending Deals’ Lender Mandates as of 30 September 2024. Based on eligible transactions from July 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024.  Eligible transactions are U.S. non-syndicated loans to private equity-backed companies. The league table comprises top 148 lenders. Ranking includes only senior transactions (Traditional Middle Market and Upper Middle Market).

3 Churchill was selected as a finalist for Americas Lender of the Year based in January 2024; after an online industry vote, Churchill was ranked third of all finalists in March 2024.

4 Selected as one of five finalists for Lender Firm of the Year in September 2021, 2022 & 2023 by an independent panel of judges appointed by the M&A Advisor. Winners announced in November 2021, 2022 & 2023. Nominal fees were required to submit nominations.

5 Named by LAPF Investment Awards in October 2024. The LAPF judging panel was comprised of individuals from seven pension funds, who determined the “Private Markets Manager of the Year” finalists and ultimate winner by evaluating investment performance, client service, stewardship, risk management and innovation.

6 Selected by Pensions & Investments (P&I) magazine in December 2021, 2022 & 2023. P&I partnered with Best Companies Group, a research firm specializing in identifying great places to work, to conduct a two-part survey process of employers and their employees.

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Why invest in private credit?

Private credit can play an important role in portfolio construction as it may help diversify sources of yield and increase overall income and return potential.

Five reasons to select a private credit strategy

Income

Risk-adjusted
total returns

Interest rate protection

Diversification/
low correlation

Volatility management

Income & risk-adjusted returns

Highly selective, diversified private credit portfolios can provide durable income & attractive-risk adjusted returns.

Interest rate protection

The floating rate nature of senior middle market loans positions the asset class well for an environment with rising interest rates, while also demonstrating relatively stable returns in declining interest rate environments.

Low correlation

Private market assets can serve as a less correlated portfolio diversifier.

Volatility management

Private debt is the Steadicam of credit markets which may offer lower mark-to-market volatility vs. public markets.