UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 8-K

 

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 26, 2020

 

 

Blackstone / GSO Secured Lending Fund

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   814-01299   82-7020632

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

 

(Commission

File Number)

 

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

 

345 Park Avenue, 31st Floor

New York, NY

  10154
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 503-2100

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

☐

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

☐

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

☐

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

☐

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

 

Title of each class

 

Trading

Symbol(s)

 

Name of each exchange

on which registered

                                                                  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 or Rule 12b–2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Emerging growth company  ☒

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

 

 

 

Item 5.02.

Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

Effective August 26, 2020, the board of trustees (the “Board”) of Blackstone / GSO Secured Lending Fund (the “Company”) appointed Vicki L. Fuller to the Board and as a member of the Board’s Audit Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee. Ms. Fuller’s appointment brings the total number of trustees on the Board to seven, four of whom are not “interested persons” of the Company as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

Ms. Fuller has served as a director of The Williams Companies, Inc. since 2018. Ms. Fuller joined the board of The Williams Companies, Inc. after retirement from the New York State Common Retirement Fund (“NYSCRF”) where she served as Chief Investment Officer beginning in August 2012. NYSCRF is the third largest public pension fund in the nation and holds and invests the assets of the New York State and Local Retirement System on behalf of more than one million state and local government employees and retirees and their beneficiaries. Prior to joining NYSCRF, Ms. Fuller spent 27 years in leadership positions at AllianceBernstein Holding L.P., which has approximately $500 billion in assets under management. She joined the company in 1993 from the Equitable Capital Management Corporation, which was acquired by Alliance Capital Management LP (in 2000, the company became AllianceBernstein LP after the company acquired Sanford C. Bernstein). In December 2019, Ms. Fuller was appointed to the board of directors of Treliant, LLC, an international multi-industry consulting firm specializing in regulatory requirements. In 2018, Ms. Fuller was appointed to the Board of Trustees for Fidelity Equity and High Income Funds. Ms. Fuller, who was inducted into the National Association of Securities Professionals Wall Street Hall of Fame, was named to Chief Investment Officer Magazine’s “Power 100” and received the Urban Technology Center’s Corporate Leadership Award. She has also been named one of the most powerful African Americans on Wall Street by Black Enterprise.

Ms. Fuller has not been elected to serve as a trustee pursuant to any agreement or understanding with the Company or any other person and there are no transactions in which Ms. Fuller has an interest requiring disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K. Ms. Fuller will receive the standard compensation paid by the Company to its trustees that are not “interested persons.”

 

Item 9.01.

Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

 

EXHIBIT

NUMBER

  

DESCRIPTION

99.1    Press Release dated August 27, 2020.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

    BLACKSTONE / GSO SECURED LENDING FUND
Date: August 27, 2020     By:   /s/ Marisa J. Beeney
    Name:   Marisa J. Beeney
    Title:   Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary

Exhibit 99.1

Vicki L. Fuller, Former NYS Common CIO and AllianceBernstein Executive, Joins Blackstone / GSO Secured Lending Fund Board of Trustees

NEW YORK—August 27, 2020, Blackstone / GSO Secured Lending Fund (“BGSL” or the “Company”) today announced that Vicki L. Fuller, former New York State Common Retirement Fund (“NYS Common”) Chief Investment Officer (“CIO”) and AllianceBernstein Executive, has joined the Company’s board of trustees effective August 26, 2020.

Ms. Fuller retired in 2018 as CIO at NYS Common, the third largest public pension fund in the United States with more than $216 billion in assets. At NYS Common, Ms. Fuller was responsible for building and executing investment strategies to ensure the fund continued to deliver superior returns for more than one million employees and retirees.

Prior to NYS Common, Ms. Fuller had a 27-year career at AllianceBernstein in New York City, a leading, global investment manager with more than $500 billion in assets under management. At AllianceBernstein, Ms. Fuller’s final position was Managing Director, a senior member of the institutional team responsible for business development, sales and client service to the large public pension plan market.

Commenting on the appointment, Brad Marshall, Chief Executive Officer of the Company and a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome a world-class leader like Vicki to our board. Her nearly 30-year career at AllianceBernstein and success as CIO of NYS Common have provided her with a wealth of experience and a diversity of perspectives which will inform our strategies and mission.”

Vicki Fuller added: “I’m excited to join the Blackstone team and help guide BGSL’s direct lending efforts.”

Ms. Fuller currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Williams Companies and Fidelity Investments’ $2 trillion Equity & High Income Funds. She also serves on Roosevelt University’s Board of Trustees and previously served on KeySpan’s Board. She earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, BSBA from Roosevelt University, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Ms. Fuller’s leadership and accomplishments have been recognized throughout her career. She was previously inducted into the National Association of Securities Professionals Wall Street Hall of Fame, named to Chief Investment Officer Magazine’s “Power 100” and received the Financial Women’s Association’s Woman of the Year Award. Additionally, Black Enterprise named her one of the most powerful African Americans on Wall Street.

About BGSL

BGSL is a business development company that focuses primarily on making originated senior secured, floating rate loans to private U.S. companies, specifically small and middle market companies. BGSL is externally managed by GSO Asset Management LLC, a subsidiary of GSO Capital Partners LP.

About GSO Capital Partners

GSO Capital Partners LP is the global credit investment platform of Blackstone. Our credit segment, which consists principally of GSO, has approximately $138 billion of assets under management. GSO is one of the largest alternative managers in the world focused on the leveraged-finance, or non-investment grade related, marketplace. GSO seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns in its business by investing in a broad array of strategies including mezzanine debt, distressed investing, leveraged loans and other special-situation strategies. Its funds are major providers of credit for small and middle-market companies and they also advance rescue financing to help distressed companies.

Contact

Kate Holderness

+1 917 318 6818

kate.holderness@blackstone.com