
Luke Humphries defeats Luke Littler to retain Players Championship Finals title
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The largest credit union credit card issuer in Canada is partnering with digital identity verification company . Collabria Financial Services serves more than 98 percent of credit unions across Canada, and by integrating Trulioo’s verification capabilities the company is hoping to deliver fast, compliant and automated onboarding. It’s expected that Collabria will allow the full automation of Trulioo’s Know Your Business review in addition to its Know Your Client process. “The partnership with Trulioo marks a pivotal step forward in enhancing our security measures, while delivering a more streamlined, customer centric process,” said Collabria CEO Jean-Marc Handifeld. Trulioo CEO Steve Munford commented: “We are proud to partner with Collabria to deliver streamlined identity verification solutions for their cardholders.” Trulioo has been seeking to expand its business in the Asia-Pacific region, which is where some of its executives have been attending events recently. Asia is of course host to some major ongoing digital transformation with numerous countries, especially in Southeast Asia, having built or in the process of building national digital identity systems. In addition, financial institutions, banks and card companies – for example Mastercard – are part of the digital transformation. Interviewed by at Singapore Fintech Festival 2024, Trulioo’s APAC director of operations Ivan Yang said that many of the company’s North American and European clients are expanding into Southeast Asia while APAC companies are seeking to scale internationally. In addition, Trulioo is experiencing strong demand within the payments, remittance and marketplace sectors, powered by APAC’s digital transformation. Yang revealed that in China and Australia, where they have strong national ID systems, Trulioo works with government agencies on streamlining verification processes; but that navigating the diverse regulatory environment across APAC means local partnerships can make a big difference. Yang singled out Singapore’s implementation of SingPass as a benchmark for digital identity standards, which has influenced Trulioo’s approach to verification across APAC. Meanwhile, Trulioo chief technology officer Hal Lonas pointed to its partnerships, like the ones it has with Airwallex and Mastercard, as strengthening its platform’s resilience and allowing further technological refinements. Trulioo chief product officer Zac Cohen was interviewed at Money 20/20 USA and highlighted the “nuance” in which enterprises operate, when considering the different demographics they serve, whether that’s the U.S. or Japan or Latin America, he said by way of example. Cohen was prompted on burgeoning transactional volume, and deferred to growing “digital participation” in the economy and emphasized equal access and a “level playing field” for the digital ecosystem. On the regulatory landscape Cohen referred to “stricter measures” around data privacy and what organizations can do with the data they process. In addition, there’s growing transparency for users to see how they’re data is being used; a greater consolidation in regulations that was begun by GDPR. Asked about what trends he’s watching in his sector as we approach the new year, Cohen replied that one of the big trends for Trulioo is the “different ways people want to identify themselves” – and went on to mention electronic IDs in Europe, mobile driver’s licenses in the U.S., and lastly the trend of “fraud intelligence.” You can watch the full interview . | | | | | | |
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World number one Luke Humphries retained his Players Championship Finals title with an 11-7 victory over teenager Luke Littler in Minehead. Littler, who won the Grand Slam of Darts last week, hit checkouts of 170, 164 and 136 as he threatened to overturn an early deficit, but Humphries held his nerve to win the last three legs. “I’m really, really proud of that one to be honest,” Humphries told Sky Sports. FOR THE SECOND TIME 🏆🏆 Luke Humphries retains his 2024 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals title, beating Luke Littler 11-7 in the final. pic.twitter.com/QUhxvSbGeu — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2024 “I didn’t feel myself this week playing-wise, I felt like I was a dart behind in a lot of the scenarios but there’s something that Luke does to you. He really drives me, makes me want to be a better player and I enjoy playing him. “He let me in really early in that first session to go 4-1 up, I never looked back and I’m proud that I didn’t take my foot off the gas. These big games are what I live for. “Luke is a special talent and he was right – I said to him I’ve got to get these (titles) early before he wins them all. “I’d love to be up here and hitting 105 averages like Luke is all the time but he’s a different calibre, he’s probably the best player in the world right now but there’s something about me that never gives up. “This is a great way to go into the worlds.” HUMPHRIES GOES BACK-TO-BACK! 🏆 Luke Humphries retains his Players Championship Finals title! Cool Hand puts on an absolute clinic to defeat Luke Littler 11-7 in an epic final! 📺 https://t.co/AmuG0PMn18 #PCF2024 | Final pic.twitter.com/nZDWPUVjWE — PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 24, 2024 Littler, who lost the world championship final to Humphries last year, said: “It was tough, missed a few doubles and if you don’t take chances early on, it’s a lot to come back. “I hit the 170 and the 164 but just didn’t have enough in the end. “It’s been a good past two weeks. I just can’t wait to go home, chill out, obviously practice at home for the worlds. That’s it now, leading up to the big one.”Eric Bieniemy out as UCLA's offensive coordinator. AP source says Tino Sunseri tabbed as replacement
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save BRIDGETON — The cases of five people charged in the murder of Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office Detective Sgt. Monica Mosley will now be heard in Atlantic County after Cumberland County Assignment Judge Benjamin Telsey granted a change-of-venue motion during a hearing Friday. Jarred D. Brown, 31, of Bridgeton; Richard B. Hawkins Willis, 32, of Gloucester City, Camden County; Nyshawn Mutcherson, 29, of Vineland; and Byron Thomas, 35, of Paulsboro, Gloucester County, are each charged with murder, murder during the commission of a crime, burglary, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, certain person not to possess a weapon, hindering apprehension and obstruction of justice. Cyndia Pimentel, 38, of Paulsboro, is charged with hindering apprehension, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence. Willis and Thomas both appeared in person at the hearing, while Brown, Mutcherson and Pimentel appeared via Zoom. Jersey Shore restaurants shift gears to survive in offseason Friday’s New Jersey high school football playoff scores Not too late! Voting closes at noon for The Press Football Player of the Week Galloway Township gymnastics center co-owner charged with sexually assaulting minor Galloway man gets 3 years in Ocean City fatal crash Offshore wind company to buy vacant 1.5-acre Atlantic City lot for $1 million Atlantic City International Airport's 1 carrier, Spirit Airlines, files for bankruptcy Which players did the Cape-Atlantic League coaches pick as the best of the best in fall sports? Prosecutor still determined to find whoever is responsible for West Atlantic City killings What does Spirit Airlines' bankruptcy mean for Atlantic City International Airport? Upper Township employees disagree on morale 2 Galloway men arrested after spraying workers with rocks in Nature Preserve Ocean City introduces new fees on rentals $23 million apartment complex promises to bring new vitality to quaint Swedesboro UPDATED NHL referee taken away on stretcher at Flyers game A change of venue was sought after the attorneys for the defendants claimed their clients wouldn't get a fair trial in the county due to judiciary conflicts. Andrew Imperiale represents Mutcherson, Ron Thompson represents Pimentel, Jeffrey Hark represents Brown and public defender Alex Varghese represents Thomas. Willis was being represented by a public defender but has since retained attorney Richard Robinson. Detention hearings for Mutcherson, Brown, Willis and Thomas will be held once the cases get transferred to Atlantic County. Pimentel had her detention hearing Nov. 7 and was released from jail with conditions that she must check in with the courts weekly and have no contact with her co-defendants. The new judge will also have to determine whether Cape May County First Assistant Prosecutor Saverio Carroccia can remain on the case. In the motion, the attorneys say Carroccia worked at the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office at the same time as Mosley. New Jersey has codified two new crimes that will come with harsher penalties for individuals breaking into homes, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said Thursday. Carroccia was a senior trial attorney in the office’s homicide unit from 2012 to 2017, his biography shows. His office is handling the case since Mosley worked in Cumberland County. Carroccia didn't object to the change of venue but opposed the motion to remove him from the case. Police responded to a home in the 600 block of Buckshutem Road in Bridgeton at 10:30 p.m. Oct. 15 for a report of multiple people kicking in the front door, police said. Officers found Mosley, 51, suffering from gunshot wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene. On the night of the incident, staff at Inspira Health Center Bridgeton reported to police that an individual, later identified as Mutcherson, had arrived at the facility suffering from a gunshot wound. He falsely told detectives he was wounded in Millville, according to the affidavit of probable cause. The investigation found Brown and Willis picked up Mutcherson prior to the killing, and the three drove to a building on South Avenue to change into dark clothing before heading to Mosley’s home in a black 2012 Chevrolet Equinox registered to Pimentel. The three then entered the home and shot Mosley, who defended herself by shooting Mutcherson in the chest before dying from her injuries, court documents show. Mutcherson was driven to the hospital following the shooting, while Brown and Willis went back to South Avenue and changed into different clothes. Carroccia said during Pimentel’s detention hearing that Mosley was shot in her right knee and left wrist before being shot in the back of the head. In the days that followed, Brown, Willis and Pimentel worked to discard, destroy and conceal evidence of the home invasion and Mosley’s murder, the affidavit states. A change-of-venue motion in the cases of five people charged in the murder of Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office Detective Sgt. Monica Mosley is scheduled to be heard next week. Pieces from inside the vehicle along with gloves and a bloody boot were found at a property on Middlesex Avenue in Gloucester City. Pimentel then allegedly drove the vehicle with Willis from her home in Paulsboro to a garage in Philadelphia in an attempt to prevent law enforcement from finding it, Carroccia said. Detectives used cellphone data, license plate readers, surveillance video, DNA analysis, ballistics analysis and recorded statements during the investigation. Mutcherson Brown Pimentel Hawkins Willis Thomas Contact John O'Connor: 609-272-7261 joconnor@pressofac.com Twitter @acpressoconnor Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Author email {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
PM Images Listen here or on the go via Apple Podcasts and Spotify Trinity Capital ( NASDAQ: TRIN ) CEO Kyle Brown explains how they're an asset manager in BDC clothing (1:40). Dividend stability and growth (7:45). NAV stability and growth, EPS, ROE the metrics most focused on (10:50). TRIN stock valuation and momentum (12:00). Reasons for recent buyback (18:10). Private credit is real and liquidity is important (20:15). Transcript Rena Sherbill: Excited to bring you my conversation with Kyle Brown, CEO of Trinity Capital today, a special kind of BDC which he explains shortly its place in the financial sector, its place in the market. What the macro picture means for BDCs and the financial sector. Something we talk about is Trinity Capital's valuation and its momentum rating on Seeking Alpha's factor grades . Kyle later wrote what I thought worthy of sharing with investors. Kyle wrote: Momentum does not take into account earnings distributed which is also returns to investors. And a very important aspect of BDCs in the last six months, even though the stock price is down by approximately 4%. Since we distributed the dollar and since we distributed a dollar and two cents in the same time frame, the actual returns are positive approximately 2.5%. I hope that sheds some light on their take on the momentum grades. Hope you enjoy the full conversation. Let us know what you think in the comments. Kyle Brown, CEO of Trinity Capital ( TRIN ). Welcome to Seeking Alpha. Thanks for joining us. Kyle Brown: Thanks for having me, Rena. RS : It's great to have you. I feel like a great place to start is maybe sharing with investors, sharing with listeners, your part in the BDC industry, and maybe where you see BDCs in the financial world. KB : Sure. So I think maybe even just starting off, we are a BDC, but we're very different than 90-plus percent of the other BDCs. We are internally managed , which means there is no management fee, there are no incentive fees, there's not some other management company that's managing this entity. I work for the organization along with our executive team. I own the same shares as any one of your listeners who might own a TRIN share. So we have the same incentives. And that really is a massive differentiator between us and really any other BDC that's out there. There's really, I think, there's only four internally-managed BDCs. And so what that means is we're really focused on return on equity. We're really focused on earnings per share, very focused on maintaining and building the dividend. It's less so focused on AUM growth because there's really no incentives to build AUM and grow for the sake of growth. I'd say, maybe first and foremost, that's the biggest differentiator. We're an asset manager in BDC clothing and it works because we have five underlying businesses that we manage that are all lending businesses. They all generate current income. And so a BDC formation is really a great - it works for us because we generate a lot of income and we distribute out that income to investors. So a BDC is a great place for us to sit. But biggest differentiator there, we're not just a pool of assets. When you buy our stock, you're buying, yes, a pool of assets, but you're also buying into 100-person organization, an organization that also owns an RIA, manages third-party capital and generates income in a lot of different ways. So that's not known by most investors, but it's one of the ways and it gives us the ability to continue to grow earnings, which you've seen for us now for 19 straight quarters. RS : Can I ask a question in terms of how you're differentiated, was there ever a question at the beginning to do it like most of the rest of the industry? And why do you think so much of the industry doesn't do what Trinity does? KB : Absolutely. We used to be a fund manager. We used to have a management company before we were BDC and we were forced to make that decision. Do we do an externally-managed BDC and just create a pool of assets that we manage for a management fee and incentive fee? Or do we go this different route? And historically, and if you look at internally-managed BDCs right now, they are the top-performing BDCs in the country. They generate higher ROE, they trade at a premium to NAV, they've been able to grow their earnings. They just trade at higher multiples. And so when we formed the entity in late 2019, we sat around and said, all right, we have ambition to really grow this thing to be the number one lender to growth-oriented businesses in the country. We need access to a lot of capital. And so the best formation for that would be the type of structure where incentives are aligned between management and shareholders. And so we chose this, we chose to be kind of long-term greedy in the idea – in the sense that if we performed and we did well, we would have access to capital and we would be able to grow this while also growing earnings for shareholders. There's not been a lot of BDCs that have been formed recently who have gone public, but this is a better structure for shareholders. Long-term, it's a better structure for management and employees, I think. Short-term, an externally-managed BDC is better for management and better for the owners of a management company. So those are the kind of the key differentiators. We are long-term greedy here. We really do want to build a large successful business that has growing earnings for shareholders. RS : Do you hear a lot of enthusiasm? I know it's hard to hear enthusiasm from shareholders much of the time. But do you hear enthusiasm from shareholders around the makeup and around your strategy in general? Is there – are there questions around it, pushback? What do you hear from the community? KB : We've got institutional investors that still make up around 30-plus percent of our shareholder base. We've been doing this since 2008. So we have investors that have been with us for over 15 years, high net worth, family office, and they love this structure. We just had an investor event in New York for institutional investors the other night. And I just had multiple groups that said, hey, I bought shares in 2020. I still have them. And you've distributed out over $7 per share in that timeframe and you're still doing it. So thank you. I think investors who have been with us for the long-term, they get it, they're holding. We have continued to see our kind of primary institutional investors either hold or buy more over time. That's all - that's public. You can see it. For new entrants and new investors that are considering us, they can look at our track record and they can say, they can see that, hey, this is a great dividend and they've consistently increased their earnings per share and they've been able to cover that dividend and they're excited about that. So I see enthusiasm. You see in the stock, we've traded a premium to NAV because we're generating so much income for investors. And so I think the feedback has been good. I think the dividend is extremely high right now because the stock is traded kind of below, I think, its inherent value. And it's a nice entry point for investors right now. RS : Well, maybe let's stick with the dividend for a second as long as we're there. What would you say to those maybe cautiously concerned about the dividend and the stability of that dividend? How do you encourage investors to think about your dividend? KB : So we've stayed steady or grown for 19 straight quarters, and we've over-earned the dividend in every one of those quarters. Sometimes it's higher than other quarters. That's more of a reflection of maybe payoffs that we might have in any quarter. We might have some more gains that we've seen, but we've been able to cover that dividend and safely cover it for some time. The reason is that $0.51 right now, and really kind of high, is because our core earnings are high. And as a BDC, we have to distribute out 90-plus percent of our income. And so the dividend is where it is because we feel comfortable with our ability to earn it, and then legally we have to distribute it to investors. We have continued to show that we can earn the dividend, over-earn the dividend, create spillover income, and continue to deliver that dividend to investors. RS : What would you say or how do you think about the macro factor in terms of interest rates? How do you think about that in context of how you're trying to grow the business? KB : So, I mean, we saw rates shoot up. We've seen rates now start trickling down . And during that timeframe, we've actually increased earnings per share. So I hope that could be a good reflection of what we think about it. We're showing it through our earnings per share. It hasn't impacted our ability to deliver on that dividend. We actually have pretty limited down exposure to rate sensitivity. The majority of our portfolio, you can see it right in our Schedule Of Investments. The majority of our portfolio, 90-plus percent, has floor rates that are over 12%. And so when rates come down, as they can – if they can continue to come down, we actually have pretty – some great kind of downside protections there because we have floating rates for our corporate debt. We have a $500 million revolver with KeyBanc. When rates go down, our cost of capital goes down. So does our ability to raise bonds and private debt, that goes down, but our underlying portfolio does not decrease in the same way. And so income is really not at risk. If rates go down, we actually have this slide in our presentation. If rates go down another 100 basis points, that's only $0.02 per quarter. We've already got that covered in our earnings per share. And then we also believe that the RIA that we launched, which we're now generating new income above and beyond the loans that we have issued out there, that is more than making up for any kind of rate decreases and sensitivity that we have there. So we feel really comfortable, kind of regardless of what rates do in our ability to keep that dividend steady and growing. RS : What would you say are the metrics that you're most focused on, either in this particular moment or in general as CEO? KB : Yeah. So NAV stability and NAV growth that reflects portfolio health and it also reflects the ability for Trinity to leverage the management side of our business and grow these new earnings off the balance sheet. So NAV stability. Earnings per share, we're really focused on growing that. We've done a great job of that over time, and dividend stability. So we really want to see that dividend just stay stable and grow. And then ROE, return on equity, that's a great reflection of really our ability to generate best-in-class returns for investors and the equity that we're working with. Internally, those are really our key metrics that we're focused on. When someone is buying TRIN, they should know that those are the things we care about, high ROE, best-in-class, kind of earnings per share, and then it's really stability of the NAV, which should give you a nice reflection of our portfolio health. RS : I'm curious how you think or how you discuss the valuation of the stock at this point. Also specifically, so Seeking Alpha has these ratings and Valuation for Trinity is an A+ and then Momentum is lower down, in the D category. How do you articulate your thoughts around Momentum and Valuation right now? KB : So if you look at other internally-managed BDCs, they are trading at 140% to 180% of NAV. We're trading at 110% of NAV. If we just simply move towards the mean of other internally-managed BDCs over time, there's some real upside there, and just the stock price. Forget about growth of earnings per share, dividend, et cetera. I'm just talking about where we are at today. We're inherently undervalued. The dividend being at 15%, I don't know where it ended today or where it's at right now, but 14%, 15%, I would call that extremely high. It's not a reflection of the risk we're taking out there, it's just a reflection of the stock price being too low. I think it's low. I just bought a bunch of shares. We just sent that release out, so did our Board and our other members of our management team. And that was not some planned thing. That's just what people did because it's paying - the dividends too high. We're not going to lower the dividend. Again, we're a BDC. Regulations require us to distribute out 90-plus percent of our income. Our core income has continued to increase to where we have to distribute it out. So it is what it is. We're going to distribute out that income. I think over time, we'll probably get credit for being stable and being consistent. I don't know where the kind of derating over time comes from. You'd have to tell me and then I could give you some feedback on that. But our analysts who cover us, we've got, I think, Buys across the board, except for maybe one bank that we never talked to. The rest of them have Buys across the board because they see our ability to continue to deliver that earnings per share, cover the dividend. RS : So what would you say you're most focused on in terms of keeping consistent while also growing? KB : Yeah. So we run five unique businesses at Trinity. We have a venture debt business, which is about 30% of our deployment. That's run by a team of professionals and an industry leader, 20-plus year veteran. They've got their own sales team, their own portfolio management team, credit team. It's 30% of our deployment. We have an equipment finance business, non-correlated to the venture market. They're financing mission-critical equipment. It's really asset-backed lending. That's a big part of what we do. Independent team, we have a life science and healthcare business. That's run by again, an industry pro who's built multiple businesses. We have a warehouse lending, that's just traditional ABL, advances against financial receivables. And then we have a sponsor finance business, which is P/E buyout. It's kind of $3 million to $50 million of EBITDA, primarily enterprise SaaS companies. Each of these businesses are unique to one another. They have a different risk profile. They are all somewhere between late-stage VC, think about a pre-IPO, pre-M&A, into lower middle market, $3 million to $50 million of EBITDA. Each is growing at their own kind of clip and pace, but that is a really niche great place to be right now. You have a massive amount of retail dollars and institutional dollars that are flowing to private credit. It's a big buzzword, right? Private credit, private credit. The majority of that capital is flowing to 12 large trillion-dollar firms. Those firms are all chasing the same deals in the upper middle market, and it's been a race to the bottom on pricing. And they're all chasing beta-type returns at this point. They can't write $20 million to $100 million checks and we can’t. And we love that kind of lower middle market space, particularly with enterprise SaaS deals. There's actually a massive amount of opportunity right now. And M&A activity for us has picked up 20% quarter-over-quarter, 15% year-over-year in Q3. We're seeing a lot of acquisitions begin. And so the opportunities there, there's less competition because the bigger alternative asset managers have moved upstream and then banks are lending less because of regulations that have come down on them since the banking volatility began. So we're seeing just great opportunities, great spreads, less competition. And that's giving us the ability to generate great kind of low to mid-teens kind of gross yields, which ends up being a great return for our shareholders. And so we're thinking about, how do we capitalize this business? If the growth is there and the opportunity is there, how do we do it in a way that's accretive and good for investors? And we do it in two ways. 1, I mentioned the RIA, we got SEC approval last year for TRIN, the public company, to own an RIA, and it's really just a management company, okay? TRIN shareholders own 100% of the benefits of this entity. Most folks don't even know we have it, but we got SEC approved for last year. We now manage about $500 million of third-party capital and that's growing. We're out there raising money right now. The big part of our success in the future will be continuing to raise third-party capital from pension funds, institutional investors, and down into even a retail. We're charging management fees and incentive fees on that capital. We use it to just co-invest with the public company, but we charge management fees, incentive fees, 100% of that benefit flows to our shareholders. And so you're seeing NAV accretion there. Last quarter, you saw about $0.04 of new earnings flowing from that entity. And we have the ability to grow that asset management business kind of infinitely. And so a lot of our success in the future is going to be finding new ways to raise capital, so that we can grow the business, but grow it profitably for investors. RS : And how does the recent buyback figure into this conversation and your plans for growth? KB : I mean, I've given you my opinion on the stock and I think it's low. And to the extent that we start trading at or around NAV, that means that we're getting zero value or very minimal value for being an internally-managed BDC and having a management company and generating fee income above and beyond our loans. To the extent we get close to NAV, we're absolutely going to be buying back shares because it's trading at a massive discount. RS : If anything, what has you the most concerned, either in general or in this upcoming year, let's say? KB : So liquidity is really important. Equity, liquidity and money flowing is really important, I think, for really kind of all of our businesses. There's a massive amount of dry powder sitting on the sidelines and it has been for a couple of years. Record amounts of venture capital, record amounts of private equity. Money flowing is really important. I think right now with the administration changing over, there's a lot of uncertainty. This could be good, but it could also, I don't know, there's scenarios where maybe it's not great for the industry, or maybe inflation sticks around longer than we thought. But I don't know. I think primarily our biggest concerns from like a macro sense are that we cannot figure out this debt situation, which is going to drag down all industries and all kind of financial stocks. We have a really significant kind of overhang on debt in this country. And we continue to kind of kick the ball, kick the can down the road. And that's a problem for all stocks, but certainly for financial stocks. Our ability to raise capital in our private funds is really important. So I'm not losing sleep over it and I don't even see it as a problem. I'm just pointing it out as it is something that is a big differentiator for us. And if we're really going to continue to stand out compared to our peers, we got to be successful raising that capital. RS : What else would you say about the financial sector and things that investors should be paying attention to, broadly speaking? KB : I kind of touched on it. But private credit is real. I think it's here to stay. Banks are going to be lending less. They have regulation that's coming down on them. They have less deposits, which means they can lend less. And so I think just generally speaking, banks are going to be lending less and they're going to be doing more receivable-type financing. So there's a gap, right? Everyone is looking for access to private credit and the majority of investors have decided over the last couple of years to move it into large entities. Those entities are having a very difficult time deploying that capital, which has created less than desirable returns, I think. And larger asset managers are really dependent upon M&A activity picking up. And with the new administration, there's a lot of euphoria around the idea that, hey, things are going to be better in the economy and that will probably lead to this dam breaking and M&A activity picking up. I don't know that that happens. I think it's leaking. But what's happened in 2021 and 2022, or companies with that policy, zero interest rate policy was companies receive valuations that were just astronomical. And over the last two or three years, they have really been trying to work into those valuations, but they did that with rates increasing, with a lot of macroeconomic and geopolitical kind of issues going on. They haven't been able to work into those valuations. So for the dam to really break and for M&A activity to pick up and for P/E dollars to flow and for all of this to happen, it's going to require companies to kind of face the music on a valuation standpoint and take the dilution that's really been continued to just get kicked down the road. And so there's a lot of money. There's a lot of money that wants to do deals in that. And once it starts, that money flows. It flows downstream. It flows back to private equity. It helps with fundraising. It flows into the VC world. It helps with fundraising that flows to companies like it will all be good. But it does require companies to bite the bullet on valuations that are just unrealistic. RS : Do you find that there's points in the market where people are more interested in BDCs than they are less interested? What do you feel like is that's predicated on for the most part? KB : Well, there certainly has been an increase in interest in BDCs. That's more of a statement on just private credit. Investors are trying to understand how do I get into private credit, right? And you really, you have limited options if you're a high net worth or family office, you can dump your money into Blackstone's umpteenth fund that they just launched, or you can search outside of that. And BDCs, it’s a really interesting entry point for investors who are wanting to invest in debt in private companies. And so the reason it's picked up is because there's been more interest there for groups trying to figure out more niche and different strategies other than some of the big boys. RS : Just curious, you mentioned the funds. I'm curious your thoughts about the nature of the market these days, the preponderance of ETFs out there. Any thoughts about that? KB : No, not really. It's definitely an expensive way, right, to invest. And there's a race to prop up an ETF for just about everything, right? TBD on whether that's a good strategy or not, or whether they're getting that diverse kind of exposure that they claim. So, the proof is in the pudding, I think we'll see what happens over time there. RS : Kyle, I appreciate this conversation. I'm curious in your time as CEO, as we're winding down the conversation, if there's been anything that has surprised you that you haven't been able to do that you wanted to do, or on the flip side, something maybe you thought you wouldn't be able to do and you were able to do it much sooner-than-expected. KB : What's interesting is as being a public company, we're running a business where we lend primarily to private companies. Those companies are funded by private sponsors, for the most part. And our – the business and the operation of our business is really not correlated to the stock market. It's just not. And – but the stock is correlated to the stock market. So I'd say that maybe that was just a naive mindset thinking that, hey, we're not correlated to the stock market, our underlying business isn't, but the stock certainly is. And so it's been interesting to see those swings in valuation for seemingly, in my opinion, kind of no reason, right. When you perform, that should be reflected in the stock price. And I think with BDCs right now, it's just – it’s still a developing environment, right? And so investors are entering it. There'll be more stability with more volume and more understanding of what they are and how they work. But we've seen more volatility than we had probably hoped for or imagined all while delivering growing and consistent returns. So maybe wishful thinking for me over time to see some real stability that kind of corresponds and correlates to the actual underlying performance of the business. RS : Happy for you to share where investors can find out more about Trinity, where they may be able to get in touch with you, happy for you to share that. KB : Our site has got a lot of great information, trinitycap.com. You can see the investments we're making, but I think I'd leave where I started. And when investors understand this, it's to their benefit. We are an internally-managed BDC. When you buy us, you're also buying into a management company with 100 employees, the ability to generate growing returns. And our goal, Trinity's goal is to be the number one performing BDC in the country with really stable NAV and growing earnings per share while being best-in-class on return on equity. And so that's been our goal since we launched this thing in the beginning of 2020 and it's still our goal today. And I think we have continued to perform in the top five really kind of BDCs since then. And it feels like we're just getting going. So I'll leave you with that.
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