As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 22, 2024

Securities Act File No. 333-276309

Investment Company Act File No. 811-23924

 

 

 

 

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM N-2

(CHECK APPROPRIATE BOX OR BOXES)

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

  Pre-Effective Amendment No. 3

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940

  Amendment No. 3

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in Charter)

 

 

128 S Tryon St., Suite 880

Charlotte, NC 28202

 

 

Registrant’s Telephone Number, including Area Code: (704) 215-4300

Robert W. Long

Chief Executive Officer

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

(Name and address of agent for service)

 

 

COPY TO:

Richard Horowitz, Esq.

Dechert LLP

1095 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10036

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed public offering:

As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement

 

 


If the only securities being registered on this Form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, check the following box ☐

If any securities being registered on this Form will be offered on a delayed or continuous basis in reliance on Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”), other than securities offered in connection with dividend or interest reinvestment plans, check the following box ☒

If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction A.2 or a post-effective amendment thereto, check the following box ☐

If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction B or a post-effective amendment thereto that will become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction B to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box ☐

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

☐  when declared effective pursuant to Section 8(c), or as follows:

 

 

If appropriate, check the following box:

 

   This post-effective amendment designates a new effective date for a previously filed post-effective amendment.
   This Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, and the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering is:    .
   This Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, and the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering is:    .
   This Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, and the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering is:    .

Check each box that appropriately characterizes the Registrant:

 

   Registered Closed-End Fund (closed-end company that is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Investment Company Act”)).
   Business Development Company (closed-end company that intends or has elected to be regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act).
   Interval Fund (Registered Closed-End Fund or a Business Development Company that makes periodic repurchase offers under Rule 23c-3 under the Investment Company Act).
   A.2 Qualified (qualified to register securities pursuant to General Instruction A.2 of this Form).
   Well-Known Seasoned Issuer (as defined by Rule 405 under the Securities Act).
   Emerging Growth Company (as defined by Rule 12b-2 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934).
   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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.
   New Registrant (registered or regulated under the Investment Company Act for less than 12 calendar months preceding this filing).

 

    


The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until such Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 


Preliminary Prospectus

Dated May 22, 2024

Subject to Completion

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer is not permitted.

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND PROSPECTUS

 

 

LOGO

[ ]

Class T Shares

Class S Shares

Class D Shares

Class I Shares

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (the “Fund”) is a newly formed Delaware statutory trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company that is operated as an interval fund.

Investment Objectives. The Fund’s investment objectives are to seek to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation.

Principal Investment Strategies. The Fund intends to primarily use a “multi-lender” approach to achieve its investment objectives, whereby StepStone Group Private Debt LLC utilizes a variety of non-bank or corporate lenders (“Investment Partners”) to source investment opportunities for the Fund.

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets (net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes) in private credit and income-related investments (“Private Credit and Income”). The Fund defines Private Credit and Income to consist primarily of the Fund’s Lending Strategy and the Fund’s Specialty Credit Strategy (each as hereinafter defined).

In making an investment decision, an investor must rely upon his, her or its own examination of the Fund and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks involved, of acquiring shares of the Fund (“Shares”) as described in this prospectus (“Prospectus”). The Shares have not been approved or disapproved by the Securities and Exchange Commission or any other U.S. federal or state governmental agency or regulatory authority or any national securities exchange. No agency, authority or exchange has passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this Prospectus or the merits of an investment in the Shares. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.


    Per Class T
Share
  Per Class S
Share
  Per Class D
Share
  Per Class I
Share
  Total
Public Offering
Price
  At current net
asset value
  At current net
asset value
  At current net
asset value
  At current net
asset value
  Unlimited
Sales Load(1) as
a percentage of
purchase
amount
  3.50%   3.50%   None   None   Up to 3.5%
Proceeds to the
Fund(2)
  Current net asset
value minus sales
load
  Current net asset
value minus sales
load
  Current net asset
value
  Current net asset
value
  Unlimited

 

 

  (1)

Generally, the minimum initial investment for Class T Shares, Class S Shares, and Class D Shares in the Fund from each investor is at least $25,000, and the minimum initial investment for Class I Shares in the Fund from each investor is at least $1,000,000. The minimum initial investment may be reduced at the Adviser’s discretion. Investors purchasing Class T Shares or Class S Shares (as defined herein) may be charged a sales load as described above. The table assumes the maximum sales load is charged.

  (2)

Assumes the maximum sales load is charged. Shares will be offered in a continuous offering at the respective Share’s then-current net asset value, as described herein. The Fund will also bear certain ongoing offering costs associated with the Fund’s continuous offering of Shares. See “Fund Expenses.”

The Fund is offering an unlimited number of Shares in four separate classes designated as Class T (“Class T Shares”), Class S (“Class S Shares”), Class D (“Class D Shares”) and Class I (“Class I Shares”) on a continuous basis at the then-calculated net asset value (“NAV”) per Share plus any applicable sales loads. Shares are being offered through the distributor at an offering price equal to the Fund’s then-current NAV per Share, plus any applicable sales load. Shares are subject to restrictions on transferability, and liquidity will be provided by periodic repurchase offers for a portion of the Fund’s outstanding Shares. See “Share Repurchase Program.”

TO ALL INVESTORS

No person has been authorized to make any representations concerning the Fund that are inconsistent with those contained in this Prospectus. Prospective investors should not rely on any information not contained in this Prospectus. This Prospectus is intended solely for the use of the person to whom it has been delivered for the purpose of evaluating a possible investment by the recipient in the Shares and is not to be reproduced or distributed to any other persons (other than professional advisors of the prospective investor receiving this document). The Shares are subject to substantial restrictions on transferability and resale and may not be transferred or resold except as permitted under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, pursuant to registration or exemption from these provisions.

 

   

The Fund’s Shares will not be listed on an exchange, and no secondary market is expected to develop. Thus, an investment in the Fund may not be suitable for investors who may need the money they invest in a specified timeframe.

 

   

The amount of distributions that the Fund may pay, if any, is uncertain.

 

   

The Fund may pay distributions in significant part from sources that may not be available in the future and that are unrelated to the Fund’s performance, such as borrowings.

 

   

The Fund’s distributions may be funded from unlimited amounts of offering proceeds or borrowings, which may constitute a return of capital and reduce the amount of capital available to the Fund for investment. Any capital returned to Shareholders through distributions will be distributed after payment of fees and expenses.

 

   

A return of capital to Shareholders is a return of a portion of their original investment in the Fund, thereby reducing the tax basis of their investment. As a result of such reduction in tax basis,


 

Shareholders may have taxable gains in connection with the sale of Shares, even if such Shares are sold at a loss relative to the Shareholder’s original investment.

 

   

An investor in Class T or Class S Shares will pay a sales load of up to 3.50%. If you pay the maximum sales load of 3.50%, you must experience a total return on your net investment of 3.63% in order to recover these expenses.

 

   

In the near term, leverage may be used to provide the Fund with temporary liquidity to acquire investments in advance of the Fund’s receipt of proceeds from the realization of other assets or additional sales of Shares. The Fund will also use leverage for investment purposes to generate income. See “Types of Investments and Related Risks — Investment Related Risks — Leverage Utilized by the Fund.”

The Fund is an interval fund (as defined below) pursuant to which it, subject to applicable law, will conduct quarterly repurchase offers for between 5% and 25% of the Fund’s outstanding Shares. In connection with any given quarterly repurchase offer, the Fund currently intends to repurchase 5% of its outstanding Shares. It is also possible that a repurchase offer may be oversubscribed, with the result that Shareholders may only be able to have a portion of their Shares repurchased. The Fund does not currently intend to list its Shares for trading on any national securities exchange. The Shares are, therefore, not readily marketable. Even though the Fund will make quarterly repurchase offers to repurchase a portion of the Shares to provide liquidity to Shareholders, you should consider the Shares to have limited liquidity. The Fund expects the first repurchase request deadline to occur in September 2024.

Notification of each quarterly repurchase offer is made available to Shareholders at least 21 calendar days before the “Repurchase Request Deadline” (typically March 15, June 15, September 15, or December 15); however, the Fund will provide such written notification earlier but no more than 42 calendar days before the “Repurchase Request Deadline.” The net asset value will be calculated no later than the “Repurchase Pricing Date,” which will be no later than 14 calendar days after the Repurchase Request Deadline, or the next business day if the fourteenth day is not a business day. The Fund will distribute payment to Shareholders within seven calendar days after the Repurchase Pricing Date. See “Share Repurchase Program.”

This Prospectus concisely provides the information that a prospective investor should know about the Fund before investing. You are advised to read this Prospectus carefully and to retain it for future reference. Additional information about the Fund, including a statement of additional information (“SAI”) dated [   ], 2024, as supplemented to date, has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SAI and the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports and other information filed with the SEC are available upon request and without charge by writing to the Fund at c/o StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC, 128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600, Charlotte, NC 28202, by calling (704) 215-4300 or by visiting the Fund’s website, www.stepstonepw.com. The SAI, and other information about the Fund, is also available on the SEC’s website (http://www.sec.gov). The address of the SEC’s Internet site is provided solely for the information of prospective investors and is not intended to be an active link.

Shares are not deposits or obligations of, and are not guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank or other insured depository institution, and Shares are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board or any other government agency.

You should rely only on the information contained in this Prospectus. The Fund has not authorized anyone to provide you with different information. The Fund is not making an offer of Shares in any state or other jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted.

 

 


UMB Distribution Services, LLC


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

SUMMARY OF PROSPECTUS

     1  

SUMMARY OF FEES AND EXPENSES

     11  

THE FUND

     14  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     14  

STRUCTURE

     14  

INVESTMENT PROGRAM

     15  

TYPES OF INVESTMENTS AND RELATED RISKS

     24  

LIMITS OF RISK DISCLOSURES

     45  

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

     46  

FUND EXPENSES

     50  

MANAGEMENT FEE AND INCENTIVE FEES

     52  

CALCULATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

     53  

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

     56  

PURCHASES OF SHARES

     58  

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

     59  

SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM

     59  

DISTRIBUTION POLICY

     62  

VOTING

     62  

TAX ASPECTS

     62  

ERISA CONSIDERATIONS

     72  

ANTI-TAKEOVER PROVISIONS IN THE DECLARATION OF TRUST

     73  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND

     73  

INQUIRIES

     73  

STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE WEALTH LLC PRIVACY POLICY

     75  


SUMMARY OF PROSPECTUS

This summary highlights selected information contained elsewhere in this Prospectus and does not contain all of the information that you may want to consider when making your investment decision. To understand this offering fully, you should read the entire Prospectus carefully, including the section entitled “Types of Investments and Related Risks,” before making a decision to invest in our Shares.

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund is a newly formed Delaware statutory trust and is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company that is operated as an interval fund. Unless the context requires otherwise or as otherwise noted, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” and the “Fund” refer to StepStone Private Credit Income Fund; the terms “Adviser” or “StepStone Private Wealth” refer to StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC; the terms “Sub-Adviser” or “StepStone Private Debt” refer to StepStone Group Private Debt LLC; the terms “Sub-Sub-Adviser” or “SGEAIL” refer to StepStone Group Europe Alternative Investments Limited; the term “Advisers” refers to StepStone Private Wealth, StepStone Group Private Debt LLC and SGEAIL together; the term “primary offering” refers to this offering of Class T Shares, Class S Shares, Class D Shares, and Class I Shares, when referenced together “Shares” and when all shareholders referenced together “Shareholders;” and the term “Distributor” refers to UMB Distribution Services, LLC.

 

  Q:

What is the StepStone Private Credit Income Fund?

 

  A:

The Fund’s investment objectives are to seek to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation.

The Fund intends to primarily use a “multi-lender” approach to achieve its investment objectives, whereby the Advisers utilize a variety of non-bank or corporate lenders (“Investment Partners”) to source investment opportunities for the Fund.

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets (net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes) in private credit and income-related investments (“Private Credit and Income”). The Fund defines Private Credit and Income to consist primarily of the following:

 

  (1)

direct Loans to U.S. and international private companies that are privately originated and negotiated directly by a non-bank lender (for example, traditional direct lenders include asset management firms (on behalf of their investors), insurance companies, business development companies (“BDCs”) and specialty finance companies) primarily including (a) first lien senior secured and unitranche loans, (b) second lien, unsecured, subordinated or mezzanine loans and structured credit, as well as broadly syndicated loans, club deals (generally investments made by a small group of investment firms), and (c) other Loans;

 

 

  (2)

investments in bank Loans to U.S. and international private companies, including securities representing ownership or participation in a pool of such Loans;

 

 

  (3)

notes or other pass-through obligations representing the right to receive the principal and interest payments on direct Loans to U.S. and international private companies (or fractional portions thereof) (the investments described in clauses (1), (2) and (3) collectively referred to as the “Lending Strategy”);

 

 

  (4)

privately offered structured products, such as collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”);

 

 

1


  (5)

privately originated non-corporate lending (including, for example, core and transitionary real estate, structured products and infrastructure-related debt);

 

 

  (6)

other privately originated lending (including, for example, trade and supply chain finance, marketplace lending (consumers, lending to lenders, etc.), insurance-linked strategies and instruments, royalties, aviation financing, shipping, residential whole loan real estate, regulatory capital financing and net asset value lending); and

 

 

  (7)

privately originated non-performing loans (including, for example, US residential mortgage loans and business loans in the EU) (the investments described in clauses (4), (5), (6), and (7) collectively referred to as the “Specialty Credit Strategy”).

 

Loans,” as used in this Prospectus, refers to loans of any type including, but not limited to, loan promissory notes, secured or unsecured loans, debtor-in-possession loans, priority or lien loans, assignments, participations or sub-interests in loans, syndicated loans, term loans, revolving loans, delayed draw loans or synthetic interests in loans. In connection with a direct Loan, the Fund may receive non-cash income features, including payment-in-kind (“PIK”) interest and original issue discount (“OID”) and, to a lesser extent, the Fund may invest in warrants or other equity securities of borrowers. The Fund may make investments at different levels of a borrower’s capital structure or otherwise in different classes of a borrower’s securities, to the extent permitted by law.

We may make Private Credit and Income and/or opportunistic investments in asset-backed securities representing ownership or participation in a pool of direct Loans; high yield securities, including securities representing ownership or participation in a pool of such securities; special purpose vehicles (“SPVs”) and/or joint ventures that primarily hold loans or credit-like securities; CLO-related strategies (including equity, warehousing and mezzanine); convertible debt; non-corporate lending (including, for example and without limitation, core and value add real estate, structured products and infrastructure-related debt); other lending (including, for example, trade and supply chain finance, marketplace lending (consumers, lending to lenders, etc.), insurance-linked strategies and instruments, royalties, aviation financing, shipping, residential whole loan real estate, regulatory capital financing and net asset value lending); non-performing Loans (including, for example, U.S. residential mortgage loans and non-U.S. business loans); and equity of U.S. private companies. The Fund may also opportunistically invest, on a limited basis, in publicly traded securities of large corporate issuers and liquid credit (including, for example, long/short credit (including public securities)).

Private Credit and Income investments, along with all other forms of private assets in which the Fund may invest, are broadly referred to as “Private Market Assets.”

The Fund expects to implement a portion of its Lending Strategy and Specialty Credit Strategy via secondary market transactions (“Secondary Investments” or “secondaries”) where all or a substantial portion of the capital has already been invested and expects to allocate a smaller share of the Fund’s available capital on a primary basis.

The Fund expects that its allocations between significant segments of its portfolio may vary significantly over time.

For purposes of the Fund’s 80% policy, the Fund will include investments in private investment funds (primarily private funds that are excluded from the definition of “investment company” pursuant to Sections 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act) that make investments consistent with the Lending Strategy and Specialty Credit Strategy (“Investment Funds”). The Fund’s investments in private funds that are excluded from the definition of “investment company” pursuant to Section

 

2


3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act will be limited to no more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets.

While the Fund will be largely invested in U.S. issuers, the Fund may invest in issuers globally without a cap.

We cannot assure you that we will achieve our investment objectives. See “Investment Program — Investment Objectives” and “Types of Investments and Related Risks.”

 

  Q:

Who is responsible for managing the Fund?

 

  A:

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC (“StepStone Private Wealth” or the “Adviser”), a wholly-owned business of StepStone Group LP (“StepStone Group”), serves as the Adviser of the Fund and will be responsible for the overall management of the Fund’s activities, including structuring, governance, distribution, reporting and oversight.

StepStone Group Private Debt LLC (“StepStone Private Debt” or the “Sub-Adviser”) serves as the Sub-Adviser of the Fund and will provide ongoing research, recommendations and portfolio management regarding the Fund’s investment portfolio. StepStone Private Debt is an investment adviser registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and is an affiliate of StepStone Group.

StepStone Group Europe Alternative Investments Limited (“SGEAIL” or “Sub-Sub-Adviser”) serves as the Sub-Sub-Adviser of the Fund and will provide ongoing research regarding the Fund’s investment portfolio and is an affiliate of StepStone Group.

SGEAIL is an investment adviser registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended.

As affiliates of StepStone Group, StepStone Private Wealth, StepStone Private Debt, and SGEAIL (together, the “Advisers”) benefit from the organization’s scale and depth across private markets.

StepStone Group is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory and data services to its clients. StepStone Group’s clients include some of the world’s largest public and private defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies, as well as prominent endowments, foundations, family offices and private wealth clients. As of December 31, 2023, StepStone Group was responsible for $659 billion of “private market allocations” which includes $149 billion of assets under management and $510 billion of assets under advisement.1 StepStone Group has over 980 professionals across 27 cities in 16 countries. StepStone Group LP is not performing investment advisory services to the Fund.

StepStone Group Inc. is the sole managing member of StepStone Group Holdings LLC, which in turn is the general partner of StepStone Group LP. In 2020, StepStone Group Inc. listed and began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol STEP. Please see StepStone Group Inc.’s website at www.stepstonegroup.com for more information. See “Management of the Fund – General.”

 

  Q:

What are the Fund’s areas of differentiation?

 

  A:

The Advisers believe the following attributes create an attractive opportunity for investors when considering an investment in the Fund.

 

 

1 “Private market allocations” means the total amount of assets under management and assets under advisement. StepStone Group LP classifies assets under management if the StepStone Group LP has full discretion over the investment decisions in an account or has responsibility or custody of assets. Assets under advisement consists of client assets for which StepStone Group LP does not have full discretion to make investment decisions but plays a role in advising the client or monitoring their investments.

 

3


   

Proactive Investment Sourcing: The Sub-Adviser believes that its advisory practice, separate account investment management mandates and portfolio analytics and reporting capabilities serve as differentiated advantages that will enable the Fund to capitalize on attractive investment opportunities sourced directly from Investment Partners. These advantages include:

     

Approximately $10 billion of private credit primary commitments approved in 2022, making StepStone Group what we believe to be one of the top global allocators of primary capital in private credit.

     

Access to top-tier investment managers and proprietary opportunities including over 100 private credit Investment Partners.

     

Benefits of leveraging a global network that includes offices in 27 cities in 16 countries.

     

Large, stable senior team of professionals, each of whom offers their own extensive personal relationship network.

     

Ability to remain highly selective in all market environments and to select from the transactions which the Advisers believe provide the best relative value.

     

Part of StepStone Group’s broad private markets business that consistently has thousands of third-party sponsor interactions each year, oversees approximately $659 billion of private market assets as of December 31, 2023.

     

   

Deep Knowledge and Expertise in Private Debt: The Sub-Adviser utilizes a highly disciplined, research-focused investment approach with a fully scaled, global and dedicated private credit team to provide broad, educated and highly networked coverage of the private credit asset class. The Sub-Adviser believes that its dedicated and broad coverage of the private credit market differentiates StepStone Group from other private market managers, who typically cover private credit through a more generalist approach or with a smaller dedicated footprint.

     

Expertise in private credit since 1998.

     

Dedicated investment team with over 70 investment professionals focused on private credit investments.

     

Over $57 billion of private credit assets under advisement or assets under management.

     

Senior team members have an average of 19 years of experience in private debt.

 

   

Information Advantage: We believe StepStone Group’s proprietary database (“SPI”) represents one of the industry’s most comprehensive and powerful databases tracking over 16,000 general partners across 44,000 investment funds and 214,000 investments in underlying assets garnered from the over 4,300 annual investment manager meetings StepStone Group holds per year. Combined with over two decades of investment experience, StepStone Group believes that these tools enable it to identify historically top performing managers across the private credit investing landscape and make better informed underwriting decisions.

 

   

Multi-Dimensional Due Diligence Approach: The Fund will leverage the differentiated attributes and advantages of the Sub-Adviser’s global platform through an investment process that integrates StepStone Group’s analytical and investment expertise, access to proprietary information and insights gained through deep relationships with Investment Partners. The Fund will target opportunities where the Sub-Adviser’s evaluation, independent due diligence and broad reference network intersect, and will use its access to a large pool of investment opportunities to make comparisons and seek-out the most attractive opportunities, based on a relative assessment of prospective investments in the market.

 

4


   

Highly Diversified Private Debt Exposure: The Fund will seek to provide exposure that varies across sectors, markets, Investment Partners, and borrowers, with a focus on managing risk while considering the underlying investment and credit characteristics of each opportunity when assessing relative attractiveness and associated portfolio construction.

 

   

Expanded Access: The Advisers believe that individual investors have historically had limited access to private credit investments. Through a single investment in the Fund, investors can gain broad exposure to this part of the private markets with a comprehensive solution in a structure that solves for many of the common challenges that have historically restricted access to these types of investments.

 

   

Favorable Structure: Our structure solves many of the common challenges that have historically restricted access for individual investors. We believe the Fund offers a favorable structure as compared to private markets funds, including 1099 tax reporting instead of K-1s, a single investment instead of recurring capital calls, and potential liquidity in the form of a share repurchase program.

 

  Q:

Please describe the Fund’s features that would be considered ‘investor friendly’?

 

  A:

Shareholders can access Private Credit and Income through an investment product with terms that we believe are more attractive than historically available investment vehicles providing similar exposure.

 

   

Shareholders will fund their entire investment concurrent with their subscription and avoid the complexity of capital calls. Upon investment, Shareholders immediately gain broad exposure to Private Credit.

 

   

An investment in the Fund will not require Shareholders to file for an extension. Tax information is reported via a 1099-DIV or 1099-B for the current year rather than a Schedule K-1 that is typically provided later in the year, potentially past the April 15th tax deadline.

 

   

Investment minimums as low as $25,000 on initial purchases rather than the higher (in most cases, substantially higher) institutional threshold that would be required for most drawdown funds.

 

   

Liquidity provisions that require the Fund to repurchase Shares of the Fund at the then-calculated NAV on a periodic basis pursuant to a share repurchase program, as discussed below. The Fund may repurchase from 5% to 25% of its outstanding shares quarterly, and the Fund currently intends to repurchase 5% of its outstanding Shares in any quarterly repurchase offer.

 

  Q:

Will the Fund invest in the same Private Credit and Income investments as other Firm advised funds and clients?

 

  A:

To the extent permitted by law, the Fund intends to invest alongside other Firm advised funds and clients in the same assets. The 1940 Act imposes significant limits on the ability of the Fund to co-invest with other Firm advised funds and clients. The Advisers and the Fund have obtained an exemptive order from the SEC that permits the Fund to co-invest alongside its affiliates. However, the SEC exemptive order contains certain conditions that limit or restrict the Fund’s ability to participate in such transactions, including, without limitation, where StepStone Group advised funds have an existing investment in the operating company or Investment Fund.

 

  Q:

What are the Fund’s plans regarding leverage?

 

  A:

The Fund intends to use leverage to provide for investment purposes and for temporary liquidity to

 

5


 

the extent permitted by the 1940 Act. The Fund’s borrowings will always be subject to the Asset Coverage Requirement as defined below.

The 1940 Act requires a registered investment company to satisfy an asset coverage requirement of 300% of its indebtedness, including amounts borrowed, measured at the time the investment company incurs the indebtedness (the “Asset Coverage Requirement”). This requirement means that the value of the investment company’s total indebtedness may not exceed one third the value of its total assets (including the indebtedness).

In general, the use of leverage may increase the volatility of an investment in the Fund. See “Types of Investments and Related Risks — Investment Related Risks — Leverage Utilized by the Fund.”

 

  Q:

For whom may an investment in our Shares be appropriate?

 

  A:

An investment in Shares of the Fund may be appropriate if investors:

 

   

Desire to obtain the potential benefit of current income and to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation.

 

   

Can hold the Shares as a long-term investment and do not need short-term liquidity from the investment.

We cannot assure you that an investment in our Shares will allow you to realize any of these objectives.

 

  Q:

What is the purchase price for each Share?

 

  A:

Shares will be offered in a continuous offering at the respective Share’s then-current net asset value, as described herein. The initial per Share offering price for Shares will be $10.00 per share. Thereafter, revisions to the share purchase price will be made daily to reflect updated valuations and other Fund activity. See “Calculation of Net Asset Value.”

 

  Q:

What is the difference between Class T, Class S, Class D, and Class I Shares?

 

  A:

The Fund is offering four classes of Shares to provide investors with more flexibility in making their investment and to provide broker dealers with more flexibility to facilitate investment.

 

   

Class T Shares and Class S Shares are available through brokerage and transaction-based accounts. For Class T Shares and Class S Shares, the minimum initial investment is $25,000 with additional investment minimums of $5,000. The minimum initial and additional investments may be reduced at the Adviser’s discretion.

 

   

Class D Shares are generally available for purchase in this offering only (1) through fee-based programs, also known as wrap accounts, that provide access to Class D Shares, (2) through participating broker-dealers that have alternative fee arrangements with their clients to provide access to Class D Shares, (3) through transaction/brokerage platforms at participating broker-dealers, (4) through certain registered investment advisers, (5) through bank trust departments or any other organization or person authorized to act in a fiduciary capacity for its clients or customers or (6) other categories of investors that we name in an amendment or supplement to this prospectus. For Class D Shares, the minimum initial investment is $25,000 with additional investment minimums of $5,000. The minimum initial and additional investments may be reduced at the Adviser’s discretion.

 

   

Class I Shares are generally available for purchase in this offering only (1) through fee-based programs, also known as wrap accounts, that provide access to Class I Shares, (2) by endowments, foundations, pension funds and other institutional investors, (3) through participating broker-dealers that have alternative fee arrangements with their clients to provide

 

6


 

access to Class I Shares, (4) through certain registered investment advisers, (5) by the Advisers’ employees, officers and directors and their family members, and joint venture partners, consultants, other service providers, and other similar parties or (6) other categories of investors that we name in an amendment or supplement to this prospectus. For Class I Shares, the minimum initial investment is $1,000,000 with additional investment minimums of $100,000. The minimum initial and additional investments may be reduced at the Adviser’s discretion.

If you are eligible to purchase all four classes of Shares, then in most cases you should purchase Class I Shares because Class I Shares have no upfront selling commissions or shareholder servicing fees, which will reduce the NAV or distributions of the other Share classes. However, Class I Shares will not receive shareholder services. If you are eligible to purchase Class T Shares, Class S Shares, and Class D Shares but not Class I Shares, in most cases you should purchase Class D Shares because Class D Shares have no upfront selling commission, no dealer fees and lower annual shareholder servicing fees.

See “Plan of Distribution” for a discussion of the differences between our Class T Shares, Class S Shares, Class D Shares, and Class I Shares.

 

  Q:

What are the fees that investors pay with respect to the Shares they purchase in the offering?

 

  A:

There are two types of fees that you will incur:

 

   

First, for Class T Shares and Class S Shares, there are shareholder transaction expenses that are a one-time upfront fee calculated as a percentage of the offering price. Class T Shares and Class S Shares have a maximum selling commission of 3.50%.

 

   

Second, for Class T Shares, Class S Shares, and Class D Shares, there are ongoing distribution and shareholder servicing fees that are calculated as a percentage of NAV. Class T Shares have maximum aggregate annual distribution and shareholder servicing fees of 0.85%. Class S Shares have annual distribution and shareholder servicing fees of 0.85%, and Class D Shares have annual shareholder servicing fees of 0.25%.

Additional details regarding the fees that investors pay with respect to purchased Shares are discussed in “Summary of Fees and Expenses.”

 

  Q:

How does the Fund compensate the Advisers for the management of the underlying assets and other administrative requirements associated with the ongoing operation of the Fund?

 

  A:

In consideration of the advisory and other services provided by the Adviser to the Fund, the Fund will pay the Adviser a monthly investment management fee (“Management Fee”) equal to 1.15% on an annualized basis of the Fund’s daily net assets. The Management Fee will be accrued daily and payable monthly in arrears within ten (10) business days after the end of the month. The Management Fee is an expense paid out of the Fund’s assets. For the avoidance of doubt, the Management Fee is applied to any assets in respect of Shares that will be repurchased by the Fund on such date.

In addition, the Fund will pay the Adviser an income-based incentive fee. The “Incentive Fee,” will be accrued daily and payable quarterly in arrears based on the Fund’s “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income” for the most recently completed calendar quarter. The Incentive Fee will be up to 10% of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income. The payment of the Incentive Fee will be subject to a quarterly hurdle rate, expressed as a rate of return on the value of the Fund’s net assets at the end of the most recently completed calendar quarter, of 1.25% (5.0% annualized) (the “Hurdle Rate”), subject to a “catch up” feature (as described below).

For this purpose, “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income” means interest income, dividend income and any other income (including any other fees, such as commitment, origination, structuring, diligence and consulting fees or other fees that the Fund (or its wholly-owned

 

7


subsidiaries) receives from portfolio companies) accrued during the calendar quarter, minus the Fund’s operating expenses for the quarter (including the Management Fee, expenses and fees paid to the Adviser under the Administration Agreement and any interest expense and dividends paid on any issued and outstanding preferred stock or credit agreements, but excluding the Incentive Fee and any shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees), net of any expense waivers or expense payments by the Advisor. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income includes, in the case of investments with a deferred interest feature (such as OID debt instruments with PIK interest and zero-coupon securities), accrued income that the Fund has not yet received in cash. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income does not include any realized capital gains, realized capital losses or unrealized appreciation or depreciation.

The calculation of the Incentive Fee for each quarter is as follows:

 

   

No Incentive Fee will be payable to the Adviser in any calendar quarter in which the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income does not exceed the Hurdle Rate;

 

   

100% of the dollar amount of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income, if any, that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than or equal to 1.3889% in any calendar quarter (5.5556% annualized) will be payable to the Adviser. This portion of the Fund’s Incentive Fee that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than or equal to 1.3889% is referred to as the “catch up” and is intended to provide the Adviser with an incentive fee of 10% on all of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income when the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income reaches 1.3889% (5.5556% annualized) on net assets in any calendar quarter; and

 

   

10% of the dollar amount of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income, if any, that exceeds 1.3889% (5.5556% annualized) on net assets in any calendar quarter will be payable to the Adviser once the Hurdle Rate and catch-up have been achieved (10% of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income thereafter will be allocated to the Adviser).

The Adviser will pay 50% of the Management Fee proceeds and 60% of the Incentive Fee to the Sub-Adviser on a monthly and quarterly basis, respectively. See “Management Fee.”

 

  Q:

If I buy Shares, will I receive distributions and how often?

 

  A:

The Fund intends to make distributions quarterly in amounts that represent substantially all net investment income and net capital gains earned each year. Additionally, the Fund may make a special distribution annually. All distribution policies will abide by standards required to qualify the Fund as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Code. The amount of distributions that the Fund may pay, if any, is uncertain. See “Distribution Policy.”

 

  Q:

May I reinvest my cash distributions in additional Shares?

 

  A:

Yes. We have adopted a dividend reinvestment plan whereby Shareholders may have their cash distributions automatically reinvested in additional Shares unless they elect to receive their distributions in cash. Reinvested distributions for all Shares will be in the respective class of Shares but will not be subject to sales load or other charge for reinvestment. The reinvested Shares will be subject to distribution and/or shareholder servicing fees where applicable.

The dividend reinvestment plan is discussed later in the document. See “Distribution Policy – Automatic Dividend Reinvestment Plan.”

 

  Q:

When can Shares be purchased?

 

  A:

This is a continuous offering of Shares without a termination date, as permitted by the federal securities laws. Shares are offered for purchase daily on any day the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) is open for business at a price based upon the Fund’s then-current NAV. See “Plan of Distribution.”

 

8


  Q:

Can I invest through my IRA, SEP or after-tax deferred account?

 

  A:

Yes, you may invest via those vehicles, subject to the suitability standards and applicable law. An approved trustee must process and forward to us subscriptions made through IRAs, Keogh plans, and 401(k) plans. In the case of investments through IRAs, Keogh plans, and 401(k) plans, our transfer agent will send the confirmation and notice of our acceptance to the trustee. Please be aware that in purchasing Shares, custodians or trustees of employee pension benefit plans or IRAs may be subject to the fiduciary duties imposed by ERISA or other applicable laws and to the prohibited transaction rules prescribed by ERISA and related provisions of the Code. In addition, prior to purchasing Shares, the trustee or custodian of an employee pension benefit plan or an IRA should determine that such an investment would be permissible under the governing instruments of such plan or account and applicable law. See “Eligible Investors” and “ERISA Considerations.”

 

  Q:

What is the tax treatment of the Fund and Fund distributions for U.S. Shareholders?

 

  A:

The Fund intends to qualify as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. For each taxable year that the Fund so qualifies, the Fund will generally not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its taxable income and gains that it distributes as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to Shareholders. The Fund intends to distribute its income and gains in a manner that it should not be subject to an entity-level income tax. These distributions generally will be taxable as ordinary income or capital gains to the Shareholders, whether or not they are reinvested in Shares. U.S. federally tax-exempt investors generally will not recognize unrelated business taxable income with respect to an investment in Shares as long as they do not borrow to make such investment. See “Tax Aspects – Distributions.”

 

  Q:

What provisions exist for the repurchase, transfer or sale of Shares by Shareholders?

 

  A:

The Shares are not a liquid investment. No Shareholder will have the right to require the Fund to repurchase such Shareholder’s Shares or any portion thereof. To provide Shareholders with limited liquidity, the Fund is structured as an interval fund and intends to conduct quarterly offers at NAV to repurchase between 5% and 25% of its outstanding Shares, pursuant to Rule 23c-3 under the 1940 Act, unless such offer is suspended or postponed in accordance with regulatory requirements (as discussed below). In connection with any given quarterly repurchase offer, the Fund currently intends to repurchase 5% of its outstanding Shares. In the event that Shareholders in the aggregate tender for repurchase more than the number of Shares that the Fund will offer to repurchase for a given repurchase offer, the Fund will repurchase the shares on a pro rata basis, which may result in the Fund not honoring the full amount of a required minimum distribution requested by a Shareholder. The Fund expects the first repurchase request deadline to occur in September 2024.

 

  Q:

Where can I find additional information on the Fund?

 

  A:

Our website, www.stepstonepw.com, is the best source for additional information on the Fund. We regularly post updated information regarding our portfolio and activity in documents such as the most recent Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, a monthly fact card, an investor presentation, a fund commentary and the portfolio holdings report, along with other news, information and updates. The website also contains a link to our SEC filings. We may change the information posted on the website over time. The information on the website is not incorporated by reference into this Prospectus, and investors should not consider it a part of this Prospectus.

 

  Q:

What will I receive in terms of fund reporting?

 

  A:

The Adviser will prepare, and make available to Shareholders, an audited annual report and an unaudited semi-annual report within 60 days after the close of the period for which the report is being made, or as otherwise required by the 1940 Act. The Adviser will also make available a report on our operations on at least a quarterly basis. See “Reports to Shareholders” located in the “Statement of Additional Information.”

 

9


  Q:

When will I receive my detailed tax information?

 

  A:

Shareholders can expect to receive tax information via a 1099-DIV or 1099-B by the end of January.

 

  Q:

What are the principal risks involved in an investment in the Fund?

 

  A:

An investment in the Fund involves several principal risks. Investing in the Shares may be considered speculative and involves a high degree of risk, including the risk of the loss of your investment. The Shares are illiquid and appropriate only as a long-term investment.

 

   

The Fund’s performance depends upon the performance of its assets.

 

   

Underlying investments involve a high degree of business and financial risk, that can result in substantial losses.

 

   

The Fund will allocate a portion of its assets to multiple Investment Funds, and Shareholders will bear two layers of fees and expenses: management fees and administrative expenses at the Fund level, and asset-based management fees, carried interests, incentive allocations or fees and expenses at the Investment Fund level.

 

   

The Fund intends to qualify as a RIC under the Code but may be subject to substantial tax liabilities if it fails to so qualify.

 

   

Although the Fund intends to implement a quarterly share repurchase program, there is no guarantee that an investor will be able to sell all of the Shares that the investor desires to sell. The Fund should therefore be considered to offer limited liquidity. There is no market exchange available for Shares of the Fund, thereby making them difficult to liquidate.

 

   

Possible utilization of leverage, as limited by the requirements of the 1940 Act, may increase the Fund’s volatility.

Accordingly, the Fund should be considered a speculative investment that entails substantial risks, and a prospective investor should invest in the Fund only if it can sustain a complete loss of its investment. A discussion of the risks associated with an investment in the Fund can be found under “Types of Investments and Related Risks” and “Other Risks.”

 

10


SUMMARY OF FEES AND EXPENSES

The following table illustrates the fees and expenses that the Fund expects to incur.

To invest in Class T Shares, Class S Shares or Class D Shares of the Fund, a prospective investor generally must maintain or open a brokerage account with a financial institution where a selling agreement has been established (“Selling Agent”). Any costs associated with opening such an account are not reflected in the following table or the Examples below. Investors should contact their broker or other financial professional for more information about the costs associated with opening such an account.

 

    

  Class T  

  

  Class S  

  

  Class D  

  

  Class I  

SHAREHOLDER FEES

           

Maximum sales load (percentage of purchase amount)(1)

   3.50%    3.50%    0.00%    None

ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES
(as a percentage of the Fund’s average net assets)

           

Management Fee

   1.15%    1.15%    1.15%    1.15%

Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses (2)

   0.26%    0.26%    0.26%    0.26%

Incentive Fee (3)

   —     —     —     — 

Interest Payments on Borrowed Funds (4)

   2.95%    2.95%    2.95%    2.95%

Distribution and/or Shareholder Servicing Fees

   0.85%    0.85%    0.25%    0.00%

Other Expenses (5), (6)

  

1.87%

  

1.87%

  

1.87%

  

1.87%

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

  

7.08%

  

7.08%

  

6.48%

  

6.23%

Less Expense Limitation and Reimbursement (7)

  

-0.50%

  

-0.50%

  

-0.50%

  

-0.50%

Total Annual Net Expenses (8)

  

6.58%

  

6.58%

  

5.98%

  

5.73%

 

 

 

(1)

Investors purchasing Class T and Class S Shares may be charged a sales load of up to 3.50% of the investment amount. The table assumes the maximum sales load is charged. A Selling Agent may, in its discretion, waive all or a portion of the sales load for certain investors. See “Plan of Distribution.”

 

(2)

The Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the Fund’s first 12 months of operations. Some or all of the Investment Funds in which the Fund intends to invest charge carried interests, incentive fees or allocations based on the Investment Funds’ performance. The Investment Funds in which the Fund intends to invest generally charge a management fee of 0.50% to 2.00% based on invested capital, and approximately 0.0% to 20% of net profits as a carried interest allocation. The Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses disclosed above are based on historic returns of the Investment Funds in which the Fund anticipates investing during the first 12 months of operations, which may change substantially over time, therefore, significantly affect Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. The 0.26% shown as Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses reflects operating expenses of the Investment Funds (e.g., management fees, administration fees and professional and other direct, fixed fees and expenses of the Investment Funds) after refunds, excluding any performance-based fees or allocations paid by the Investment Funds that are paid solely on the realization and/or distribution of gains, or on the sum of such gains and unrealized appreciation of assets distributed in-kind, as such fees and allocations for a particular period may be unrelated to the cost of investing in the Investment Funds.

 

(3)

The Fund anticipates that it may have interest income (as well as distributions from underlying funds that are classified as investment income) that could result in the payment of an Incentive Fee to the Adviser during certain periods. However, the Incentive Fee is based on the Fund’s performance and will not be paid unless the Fund achieves certain performance targets. The Fund expects the Incentive Fee the Fund pays to increase to the extent the Fund earns greater interest income through its investments in portfolio companies. The Incentive Fee is calculated and payable quarterly in arrears based upon the Fund’s “pre-incentive fee net investment income” for the most recently completed calendar quarter, and is subject to a hurdle rate, expressed as a rate of return on the Fund’s Net Assets, equal to 1.25% per quarter, or an annualized hurdle rate of 5.00%, subject to a “catch-up” feature. See “Management and Incentive Fees” for a full explanation of how the Incentive Fee is calculated.

 

11


(4)

The Advisers expect to utilize a credit facility in the first twelve months of the Fund’s operations. Expenses may include, but are not limited to, upfront credit facility fees, undrawn fees, and interest payments.

 

(5)

Other Expenses include all other expenses incurred by the Fund, such as its organizational and offering expenses, certain administrative costs, certain origination or similar fees paid with respect to Private Credit and Income investments approved by the Adviser that are sourced by Investment Partners or through Investment Funds, and expenses relating to the offering and sale of Shares. Other Expenses are estimated for the first 12 months of operations. For more details regarding the Fund’s estimated organizational and offering expenses, please see “Fund Expenses – Organizational and Offering Expenses.”

 

(6)

Includes amounts paid under an administration agreement (the “Administration Agreement”) between the Fund and StepStone Private Wealth as administrator (the “Administrator”). Under the Administration Agreement, the Fund pays the Administrator an administration fee (the “Administration Fee”) in an amount up to 0.355% on an annualized basis of the Fund’s net assets. From the proceeds of the Administration Fee, the Administrator pays UMB Fund Services, Inc. (the “Sub-Administrator”) a sub-administration fee (the “Sub-Administration Fee”) in an amount up to 0.055% on an annualized basis of the Fund’s net assets, subject to a minimum annual fee. The Sub-Administration Fee is paid pursuant to a sub-administration agreement and a fund accounting agreement each between the Administrator and the Sub-Administrator. The Administration Fee will be accrued daily based on the value of the net assets of the Fund as of the close of business on each business day (including any assets in respect of shares that will be repurchased by the Fund on such date) and payable in arrears within ten business days after the end of the month. The Sub-Administration Fee is calculated in a manner substantially similar to the Administration Fee and is payable monthly in arrears.

 

(7)

The Adviser has entered into an Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement with the Fund for the one-year term beginning on the commencement of operations for subscriptions for Shares and ending on the one-year anniversary thereof. The Adviser may extend the Limitation Period for a period of one year on an annual basis. The Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement limits the amount of the Fund’s aggregate ordinary operating expenses, excluding certain Specified Expenses listed below, borne by the Fund during the Limitation Period to an amount not to exceed 1.00% for Class T, S, D and I Shares, on an annualized basis, of the Fund’s prior day net assets (“Expense Cap”). “Specified Expenses” that are not covered by the Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement include: (i) the Management Fee; (ii) all fees and expenses of Private Credit and Income investments and other investments in which the Fund invests (including the underlying fees of the Investment Funds and other investments (the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses)); (iii) the Incentive Fee; (iv) transactional costs, including legal costs and brokerage commissions, and sourcing and servicing or related fees incurred by the Fund in connection with the servicing by non-affiliated third parties of, and other related administrative services, associated with the acquisition and disposition of the Fund’s investments; (v) interest payments incurred on borrowings by the Fund or its subsidiaries; (vi) fees and expenses incurred in connection with any credit facility obtained by the Fund or any of its subsidiaries, including any expenses for acquiring ratings related to the credit facilities; (vii) distribution and shareholder servicing fees, as applicable; (viii) taxes; and (ix) extraordinary expenses resulting from events and transactions that are distinguished by their unusual nature and by the infrequency of their occurrence, including, without limitation, costs incurred in connection with any claim, litigation, arbitration, mediation, government investigation or similar proceeding, indemnification expenses, and expenses in connection with holding and/or soliciting proxies for all annual and other meetings of shareholders. See “Fund Expenses” for additional information. If the Fund’s aggregate ordinary operating expenses, exclusive of the Specified Expenses, in respect of any Class of Shares for any day exceeding the Expense Cap, the Adviser will waive its Management Fee, waive its Incentive Fee, directly pay and/or reimburse the Fund for expenses to the extent necessary to eliminate such excess. The Adviser may also directly pay expenses on behalf of the Fund and waive its Management Fee under the Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement. To the extent that the Adviser waives its Management Fee or Incentive Fee, reimburses expenses to the Fund or pays expenses directly on behalf of the Fund, it is permitted to recoup from the Fund any such amounts for a period not to exceed three years from the month in which such fees and expenses were waived, reimbursed, or paid, even if such recoupment occurs after the termination of the Limitation Period. However, the Adviser may only recoup the waived fees, reimbursed expenses or directly paid expenses in respect of the applicable Class of Shares if (i) the aggregate ordinary operating expenses have fallen to a level below the Expense Cap and (ii) the recouped amount does not raise the level of aggregate ordinary operating expenses plus waived fees, reimbursed expenses or directly paid expenses in respect of a Class of Shares in the month of recoupment to a level that exceeds any Expense Cap applicable at that time.

 

12


(8)

Annual Net Expenses include expenses limited by the Fund’s Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement net of the Expense Cap.

EXAMPLE:

You would pay the following fees and expenses on a $1,000 investment, assuming a 5.00% annual return, and the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

If You SOLD Your Shares

    1 Year   3 Year   5 Year   10 Year  

Class T

 

$98

 

$221

 

$340

  $622   

Class S

 

$98

 

$221

 

$340

  $622   

Class D

 

$60

 

$177

 

$292

  $570   

Class I

 

$57

 

$170

 

$281

  $553   

 

If You HELD Your Shares

 

    1 Year   3 Year   5 Year   10 Year  

Class T

 

$98

 

$221

 

$340

  $622   

Class S

 

$98

 

$221

 

$340

  $622   

Class D

 

$60

 

$177

 

$292

  $570   

Class I

 

$57

 

$170

 

$281

  $553   

The examples should not be considered a representation of future expenses, and actual expenses may be greater or less than those shown. Moreover, the rate of return of the Fund may be greater or less than the hypothetical 5.00% return used in the Example.

The purpose of the table above is to assist investors in understanding the various fees and expenses Shareholders will bear directly or indirectly. For a more complete description of the various fees and expenses of the Fund, see “Fund Expenses,” “Management Fee” and “Purchases of Shares.”

 

13


THE FUND

The Fund is registered under the 1940 Act as a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund is structured as an interval fund and continuously offers its Shares. The Fund was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on December 18, 2023. The Fund’s principal office is located at 128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600, Charlotte, NC 28202, and its telephone number is (704) 215-4300. Investment advisory services are provided to the Fund by the Adviser and Sub-Adviser pursuant to an investment advisory agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”) and an investment sub-advisory agreement (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”), respectively. Responsibility for monitoring and overseeing the Fund’s investment program and its management and operation is vested in the individuals who serve on the Board of Trustees. See “Statement of Additional Information – Management of the Fund.”

USE OF PROCEEDS

Under normal circumstances, the proceeds from the sale of Shares, net of the Fund’s fees and expenses, are invested by the Fund to pursue its investment program and objectives as soon as practicable. It is anticipated that proceeds from the sale of Shares will be invested, as appropriate, in investment opportunities within three months; however, changes in market conditions could result in the Fund’s anticipated investment period extending as long as six months. See “Other Risks — Availability of Investment Opportunities” for a discussion of the timing of Investment Funds’ subscription activities, market conditions, and other considerations relevant to the timing of the Fund’s investments generally.

The Fund will pay the Adviser the full amount of the Management Fee during any period prior to which less than 80% of the Fund’s assets (including any proceeds received by the Fund from the offering of Shares) are invested in Private Credit and Income investments.

STRUCTURE

The Fund has been organized as a continuously offered, non-diversified closed-end management investment company that is operated as an interval fund. Closed-end funds differ from open-end funds (commonly known as mutual funds) in that investors in closed-end funds do not have the right to redeem their shares on a daily basis. Unlike most closed-end funds, which typically list their shares on a securities exchange, the Fund does not currently intend to list the Shares for trading on any securities exchange, and the Fund does not expect any secondary market to develop for the Shares in the foreseeable future. Therefore, an investment in the Fund, unlike an investment in a typical closed-end fund, is not a liquid investment. To provide some liquidity to Shareholders, the Fund is structured as an interval fund and conducts quarterly repurchase offers for a limited amount of the Fund’s Shares (5%-25%).

The Fund believes that a closed-end structure is most appropriate for the long-term nature of the Fund’s strategy. The Fund’s NAV per Share may be volatile. As the Shares are not traded, investors will not be able to dispose of their investment in the Fund, except through repurchases conducted through the share repurchase program, no matter how the Fund performs.

The Fund is a specialized investment vehicle that provides investors within the structure of a registered closed-end investment company with exposure to private credit investments that typically are made by investment funds not registered under the 1940 Act, often referred to as a “private investment fund.” Private investment funds are collective asset pools that typically offer their securities privately, without registering such securities under the Securities Act. The Advisers believe that securities offered by private investment funds are typically sold in large minimum denominations (often at least $5,000,000 to $20,000,000) to a limited number of institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. Compared to private investment funds, registered closed-end investment companies often impose relatively modest minimum investment requirements and offer their shares to a broader range of investors.

Investors may purchase Shares of the Fund daily based upon the Fund’s daily NAV per Share. Unlike the practices of many private investment funds, the Fund intends to offer Shares without limiting the number of Eligible Investors that can participate in its investment program.

In private investment funds, often organized as limited partnerships, investors usually commit to provide up to a certain amount of capital as and when requested by the fund’s manager or general partner. The general partner then makes private market investments on behalf of the fund, typically over a two-to-five-year period according to a

 

14


pre-defined investment strategy. The Fund’s Private Credit and Income investments typically have a five-to-seven year maturity, and the proceeds are distributed to the Fund’s investors. The private investment funds themselves typically have a duration of six to eight years. In contrast, registered closed-end funds typically reinvest most of the proceeds of realized investments and do not have a stated duration. This attribute provides investors with more consistent exposure to the underlying assets through economic cycles and maintains an investor’s intended allocation to the target asset class, such as private markets.

INVESTMENT PROGRAM

Investment Objectives

The Fund’s investment objectives are to seek to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation.

Investment Strategy

Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its total assets (net assets plus borrowings for investment purposes) in Private Credit and Income Investments, primarily through its Lending Strategy and Specialty Credit Strategy, each as discussed below. Except as otherwise disclosed in this Prospectus, we may modify or waive our investment objectives and any of our investment policies, restrictions, strategies, and techniques without prior notice and without shareholder approval. If we change our 80% Private Credit and Income policy, we will provide shareholders with at least 60 days’ advance notice of such change.

Under the Fund’s 80% policy, the Fund is not limited in relation to the investment strategies to which it has exposure, provided such investment strategies are substantially credit-related. The Fund may undertake a variety of investment strategies in connection with its Lending Strategy and Specialty Credit Strategy, as discussed further below.

The Fund intends to primarily use a “multi-lender” approach to achieve its investment objectives, whereby the Advisers utilize a variety of Investment Partners to source investment opportunities for the Fund. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives.

With respect to Private Credit and Income investments approved by the Adviser that are sourced by Investment Partners or through Investment Funds, the Fund may be required to pay an origination or similar fee in connection with making such investment, as well as any ongoing fees for administrative services provided by the Investment Partners to the Fund with respect to such investments, which fees will be directly borne by the Fund’s shareholders and are in addition to the fees charged to the Investment Funds by their managers or general partner.

The Fund will use data and analysis throughout all stages of the investment process, including in the sourcing, underwriting, and monitoring stages. The Fund will use various data sources throughout the process, including the institutional expertise of StepStone private debt and private equity teams, StepStone’s access to a network of private debt general partners, sponsors, and industry experts, and access to databases containing credit-specific data.

The Loans in which we expect to invest may pay floating interest rates based on a variable base rate. The secured debt (including first lien senior secured, unitranche and second lien debt) in which we will invest generally have stated terms of five to eight years, and the mezzanine, unsecured or subordinated debt investments that we may make will generally have stated terms of up to ten years, but the expected average life of such securities is generally between three and five years. However, there is no limit on the maturity or duration of any security we may hold in our portfolio. Loans and securities purchased in the secondary market will generally have shorter remaining terms to maturity than newly issued investments. We expect most of our debt investments will be unrated. Our debt investments may also be rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, and, in such case, generally will carry a rating below investment grade (rated lower than “Baa3” by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or lower than “BBB-” by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services). These types of loans are often called “junk” bonds. We expect that our unrated debt investments will generally have credit quality consistent with below investment grade securities.

In connection with a direct Loan, the Fund may receive non-cash income features, including PIK interest and OID and, to a lesser extent, the Fund may invest in warrants or other equity securities of borrowers. The Fund may make investments at different levels of a borrower’s capital structure or otherwise in different classes of a borrower’s

 

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securities, to the extent permitted by law.

The Advisers will allocate the Fund’s assets in such proportions as the Advisers deem appropriate from time to time, in accordance with the Advisers’ allocation policy. The Fund may invest in U.S., European and other non-U.S. companies, including to a limited extent companies in emerging markets.

We are classified as a non-diversified investment Fund within the meaning of the 1940 Act, which means that we are not limited by the 1940 Act with respect to the proportion of our assets that we may invest in securities of a single issuer. Under the 1940 Act, a “diversified” investment Fund is required to invest at least 75% of the value of its total assets in cash and cash items, government securities, securities of other investment companies and other securities limited in respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the total assets of such Fund and no more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer. As a non-diversified investment Fund, we are not subject to this requirement. To the extent that we assume large positions in the securities of a small number of issuers or within a particular industry, our NAV may fluctuate to a greater extent than that of a more diversified investment Fund as a result of changes in the financial condition or the market’s assessment of the issuer. We may also be more susceptible to any single economic or regulatory occurrence than a diversified investment Fund or to a general downturn in the economy. However, we are subject to the diversification requirements applicable to a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Code.

Notwithstanding the above, the Advisers do not follow a rigid investment policy with respect to the Fund’s investment portfolio that would restrict it from participating in any market, strategy or investment, and the Fund’s investment portfolio may be concentrated in one or more investment strategies from time to time. The Fund’s assets may be deployed in whatever investment strategies are deemed appropriate under prevailing economic and market conditions to seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objectives.

Lending Strategy

To effectuate the Fund’s Lending Strategy, the Advisers intend to utilize a variety of Investment Partners to source Private Credit and Income investments primarily consisting of the following:

 

  (1)

direct Loans to U.S. and international private companies that are privately originated and negotiated directly by a non-bank lender (for example, traditional direct lenders include asset management firms (on behalf of their investors), insurance companies, BDCs and specialty finance companies) primarily including (a) first lien senior secured and unitranche loans, (b) second lien, unsecured, subordinated or mezzanine loans and structured credit, as well as broadly syndicated loans, club deals (generally investments made by a small group of investment firms), and (c) other Loans,

 

  (2)

investments in bank Loans to U.S. and international private companies, including securities representing ownership or participation in a pool of such Loans, and

 

  (3)

notes or other pass-through obligations representing the right to receive the principal and interest payments on direct Loans to U.S. and international private companies (or fractional portions thereof).

Specialty Credit Strategy

To effectuate the Fund’s Specialty Credit Strategy, the Advisers intend to utilize a variety of Investment Partners to source Private Credit and Income investments primarily consisting of the following:

 

  (1)

Privately offered structured products, such as collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”)

 

  (2)

Privately originated on-corporate lending (including, for example, core and transitionary real estate, structured products and infrastructure-related debt);

 

  (3)

Other privately originated lending (including, for example, trade and supply chain finance, marketplace lending (consumers, lending to lenders, etc.), insurance-linked strategies and instruments, royalties, aviation financing, shipping, residential whole loan real estate,

 

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regulatory capital financing and net asset value lending); and

 

  (4)

Privately originated non-performing loans (including, for example, US residential mortgage loans and business loans in the EU).

In addition to utilizing Investment Partners to source investments for its Lending Strategy and Specialty Credit Strategy, the Fund may originate loans and debt instruments, and may also have the ability to acquire investments through secondary transactions, including through loan portfolios, receivables, contractual obligations to purchase subsequently originated loans and other debt instruments. The Advisers may also invest the Fund’s assets in Loans acquired from Investment Funds managed by non-affiliated third-party managers in which the Fund is not invested. With respect to investments approved by the Advisers that are sourced by Investment Partners or through Investment Funds, the Fund may be required to pay an origination or similar fee in connection with making such investment, which fees will be indirectly borne by the Fund’s shareholders and are in addition to the fees charged to the Investment Funds by their managers or general partners. The Fund also expects to allocate a smaller share of the Fund’s available capital to “primary” transactions.

For purposes of the Fund’s 80% policy, the Fund will include investments in private investment funds (primarily private funds that are excluded from the definition of “investment company” pursuant to Sections 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act) that make investments consistent with the Lending Strategy and Specialty Credit Strategy (“Investment Funds”). The Fund’s investments in private funds that are excluded from the definition of “investment company” pursuant to Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act will be limited to no more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets.

With respect to individual companies, the Advisers believe that the increased time to liquidity of many private companies can provide a significant source of investment opportunity. As a result, Fund management teams, in some cases, pursue secondary offerings to expedite liquidity. The Advisers believe their networks and value-added approach will provide a strong pipeline of opportunities, and their versatile financing approach gives the team the flexibility to source high quality opportunities.

The Fund may undertake a variety of investment strategies including, without limitation: in asset-backed securities representing ownership or participation in a pool of direct Loans; high yield securities, including securities representing ownership or participation in a pool of such securities; special purpose vehicles (“SPVs”) and/or joint ventures that primarily hold loans or credit-like securities; CLO-related strategies (including equity, warehousing and mezzanine); convertible debt; non-corporate lending (including, for example and without limitation, core and value add real estate, structured products and infrastructure-related debt); other lending (including, for example, trade and supply chain finance, marketplace lending (consumers, lending to lenders, etc.), insurance-linked strategies and instruments, royalties, aviation financing, shipping, residential whole loan real estate, regulatory capital financing and net asset value lending); non-performing Loans (including, for example, U.S. residential mortgage loans and non-U.S. business loans); and equity of U.S. private companies.

The Fund may also opportunistically invest, on a limited basis, in publicly traded securities of large corporate issuers and liquid credit (including, for example, long/short credit (including public securities) and non-control distressed strategies).

Investment Process

The Adviser and the Sub-Adviser intend to adhere to a disciplined, focused investment screening and selection process with an emphasis on fundamental analysis and due diligence in connection with investing the Fund’s assets. The Advisers will also retain, in certain situations, external consultants, advisors and accountants to augment due diligence. The Advisers’ approach of working closely with lenders and issuers on transactions is expected to allow for a thorough due diligence process as well as providing the Advisers with the requisite time to complete each step in its screening, due diligence and monitoring process for the Fund, which will typically include the below steps in connection with the Fund’s Lending Strategy.

 

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The Adviser’s Investment Committee

The Adviser carries out portfolio management through its Investment Committee (the “Investment Committee”). The Investment Committee comprises senior personnel of the StepStone Group. The committee functions include the consideration, and if appropriate, approval of proposed investments based on investment memorandum prepared by the investment teams within the Advisers, decisions on allocations to eligible funds, ongoing monitoring of the investments and incidents, among other matters.

The Investment Committee review process is multi-step and iterative and occurs in parallel with the diligence of investments. Once the diligence process has begun, the investment team presents updates at twice-weekly Investment Committee meetings. The Investment Committee reviews all activity from the prior week, with a focus on detailed updates of ongoing situations and in-depth review of all new investment opportunities.

The ultimate results and findings of the investment analysis are compiled into an investment memorandum that is used as the basis to support the investment thesis and utilized by the Investment Committee for final investment review and approval.

The Investment Process Steps

The Adviser’s investment process for an investment opportunity spans one to two months, from the initial screen through final approval and funding. The process begins with the work of the investment team. The investment team are investment professionals in StepStone Group to whom the Adviser has access by virtue of the a resource sharing agreement.

Sourcing and Initial Review

In order to source transactions, the Adviser primarily utilizes its significant access to transaction flow through more than 100 different co-investment relationships with Investment Partners. With respect to StepStone’s origination channels, the global presence of StepStone generates access to a substantial amount of opportunities with attractive investment characteristics. The broad network of Investment Partners includes private credit asset managers, origination platforms, private equity asset managers, financial intermediaries, and other parties.

The investment team examines information furnished by the Investment Partner and, as applicable, the target company and external sources. The investment team determines whether the investment meets the Fund’s basic investment criteria and offers an acceptable probability of attractive risk adjusted returns.

Only the most attractive opportunities are pursued further, meaning that many opportunities are declined by the investment team at this stage with respective communication to the Investment Partner. For opportunities that proceed to the next stage, a list of initial due diligence questions and a request for additional diligence materials are prepared.

Evaluation and Further Review

The investment team reviews additional diligence materials to answer initial due diligence questions identified in the Initial Review.

Due Diligence

Once the diligence process has begun, the investment team presents updates at twice-weekly Investment Committee meetings. The Investment Committee conducts a thorough and rigorous review of the opportunity with the investment team to ensure the potential investment fits the Fund’s investment strategy. The investment team may examine some or all of the following deal attributes, along with other factors:

 

   

transaction dynamics such as deal rationale, use of proceeds, co-investment rationale;

 

18


   

borrower credit profile including credit metrics, size of the borrower, resiliency of business model, market position, industry fundamentals, and relative value assessment;

 

   

historical financial performance; including asset valuation, financial analysis, scenario analysis, future projections, growth assumptions, free cash flow generation, de-leveraging profile, other key financial credit metrics, and comparable credit and equity analyses;

 

   

legal considerations including the strength of the credit structure and related documentation;

 

   

performance track record of the Investment Partner who sourced the opportunity;

 

   

performance track record and experience of the private equity sponsor;

 

   

analysis of the structure and leverage of the transaction; and

 

   

analysis on how the particular investment fits into the overall investment strategy of the Fund.

To enhance the analysis of potential investments, the investment team may review additional materials including but not limited to consulting and accounting reports, legal documents and other relevant borrower information. The investment team may also conduct reference calls with other Investment Partners and industry participants. In addition, the Adviser may schedule meetings and/or calls with the private equity sponsor(s).

Final Approval

Once all investment team questions are answered appropriately, the investment team seeks final Investment Committee approval. A majority approval of the Investment Committee is required to approve any initial or follow-on investment or disposition for the Fund.

Monitoring

The Advisers will receive financial reports typically detailing operating performance, sales volumes, margins, cash flows, financial position and other key operating metrics on a quarterly basis from portfolio companies. The Advisers will use this data to conduct an ongoing assessment of the investment’s operating performance and prospects.

The Advisers will regularly monitor the Fund’s investments, including Investment Funds, with regard to their adherence to investment strategy and style, their performance and their exposure to adverse market developments.

Primary Investment Types

The Fund’s portfolio will primarily consist of the following investment types:

Direct Loans

The Fund’s portfolio will have exposure to direct Loans to U.S. and international private companies by purchasing or investing in Loans or other investments from/with non-bank lenders (for example, traditional direct lenders include asset management firms (on behalf of their investors), insurance companies, BDCs and specialty finance companies) that specialize in direct Loan originations. The Fund will utilize a variety of Investment Partners to source direct Loans. The Fund’s direct Loans will primarily include secured debt (including first lien senior secured, unitranche and second lien debt) and mezzanine loans, but may also include unsecured debt (including senior

 

19


unsecured and subordinated debt) or structured credit, as well as broadly syndicated loans and club deals (generally investments made by a small group of investment firms). First lien senior secured debt has first claim to any underlying collateral of a loan, second lien debt is secured but subordinated in payment and/or lower in lien priority to first lien holders, and unitranche loans are secured loans that combine both senior and subordinated debt into one tranche of debt, generally in a first lien position. In connection with a direct Loan, the Fund may invest in warrants or other equity securities of borrowers and may receive non-cash income features, including PIK interest and OID. The Fund may make investments at different levels of a borrower’s capital structure or otherwise in different classes of a borrower’s securities, to the extent permitted by law.

A portion of the Fund’s debt portfolio investment exposure will be made in certain high-yield securities known as mezzanine investments, which are subordinated debt securities that may be issued together with an equity security (e.g., with attached warrants). Those mezzanine investments may be issued with or without registration rights. Mezzanine investments can be unsecured and generally subordinate to other obligations of the issuer. The expected average life of the Fund’s mezzanine investments may be significantly shorter than the maturity of these investments due to prepayment rights.

Bank Loans

The Fund’s portfolio will have exposure to Loans originated by banks and other financial institutions, which will primarily consist of Loans to U.S. and international private companies. These loans may include term loans and revolving loans, may pay interest at a fixed or floating rate and may be senior or subordinated.

Loan Participations and Assignments

The Fund may acquire interests in Loans either directly (by way of sale or assignment) or indirectly (by way of participation). The purchaser of an assignment typically succeeds to all the rights and obligations of the assigning institution and becomes a lender under the credit agreement with respect to the debt obligation; however, its rights can be more restricted than those of the assigning institution. Participation interests in a portion of a debt obligation typically result in a contractual relationship only with the institution participating out the interest, not with the borrower. In purchasing participations, the Fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement, nor any rights of set-off against the borrower, and the Fund may not directly benefit from the collateral supporting the debt obligation in which it has purchased the participation. As a result, the Fund will assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the institution selling the participation.

Opportunistic Credit

The Fund expects to invest opportunistically from time to time, with a view to enhance returns, in asset-backed securities, convertible debt, loan participations, bridge loans, structured products such as CLOs, debtor-in-possession financings, lending to lenders and equity in loan portfolios or portfolios of receivables. With its opportunistic credit investments, the Fund expects to provide flexible financing solutions across the capital structure. The Fund expects to make investments in opportunities that involve complexity and structural inefficiencies and retains the ability to invest across the capital structure in both public and private markets, including senior secured credit, structurally- or lien-subordinated credit, and certain opportunities through equity and equity-linked securities. The Fund’s opportunistic credit investments may include (i) highly-structured and privately-negotiated capital solutions supporting corporate borrowers as an alternative to traditional capital markets (including through secured loans, senior subordinated debt, mezzanine debt, convertible notes, preferred equity, warrants and other debt-like instruments, as well as equity in such corporate borrowers) and (ii) event-driven opportunities that exhibit hybrid credit and equity features (e.g., asset-level investing or bank regulatory capital replacement).

Special Situations

The Fund expects to invest in directly negotiated and highly structured transactions, providing bespoke solutions for company specific needs and/or complex situations. The Fund expects to make investments in debt and equity securities of companies seeking liability management, growth or broader strategic objectives. To a lesser extent, the Fund may seek to invest in the following: (i) corporate debt instruments relating to stressed and distressed industries or issuers; (ii) rescue-capital opportunities; (iii) public and private stock issued in connection with

 

20


restructurings and reorganizations or otherwise; and (iv) other opportunistic investments resulting from periods of market dislocation, including primary and secondary market investments in liquid debt instruments that arise as a result of temporary market volatility (e.g., hung bank syndications and stressed liquid credit). A hung bank syndication occurs when a bank provides funding for a transaction, expecting it to be refinanced at a later date, and market forces cause the bank to sell the debt at a discount in order to attract investor interest to meet prior expectations.

Collateralized Loan Obligations

The Fund expects to invest in the debt and equity tranches of CLOs that are backed by senior secured corporate loans made to companies. The Fund expects this aspect of its strategy to focus on CLO investments sourced from the secondary market that are priced at a discount to par. The Fund expects that it may purchase tranches from sellers who are impacted by fund redemptions or regulatory pressures. The Fund may also invest in asset-backed securities and other structured products. CLOs are typically backed by a portfolio of senior secured loans. The Fund’s CLO investments may include senior/mezzanine CLO debt tranches (rated investment grade), mezzanine CLO debt tranches (rated below investment grade or unrated), subordinated CLO equity tranches (unrated), leveraged loans (including warehouse facilities that hold such loans) and vehicles that invest indirectly in CLO securities or leveraged loans.

Co-Investment

As stated above, the Advisers intend to utilize a variety of Investment Partners to source Loans. The Fund may also co-invest in Loans and Investment Funds alongside one or more other investment funds or investment vehicles managed, sponsored or advised by the Advisers or their affiliates. As a closed-end fund registered under the 1940 Act, the Fund is subject to certain limitations relating to co-investments and joint transactions with affiliates, which, in certain circumstances, likely may limit the Fund’s ability to make investments or enter into other transactions alongside other clients. The Adviser has received an exemptive order from the SEC that permits the Fund, among other things, to co-invest with certain other persons, including certain affiliates of the Advisers and certain funds managed and controlled by the Advisers and their affiliates, subject to certain terms and conditions.

Ancillary Investments

The Fund may also invest in ancillary liquid assets, being investments primarily in cash or equivalent instruments, including money market funds and other investment grade liquid financial instruments issued by governments or by corporate issuers such as commercial paper, fixed and/or floating rate bonds, notes, bills, deposits and certificates of deposit, to make follow-on investments, if necessary, in existing portfolio companies, for the purposes of maintaining liquidity for the Fund’s share repurchase program or to take advantage of new opportunities

The Fund may employ, utilize, acquire or dispose of derivative instruments and techniques of all kinds for investment or for the efficient management of the Fund’s assets to hedge against currency, interest rate and market risks as may be permitted by applicable law and regulation and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, to enter into (whether by way of ISDA master agreement, ancillary documentation or any other form of agreement or contract), accept, issue, write and otherwise deal with long and short sales of securities, futures contracts of any type, options, forwards, warrants, securities lending agreements, when issued, delayed delivery and forward commitment agreements, foreign currency spot and forward rate exchange contracts, forward rate agreements, synthetic agreements for foreign exchange, range forward contracts, break forward contracts, participating forward contracts, currency, interest rate or asset swaps, swaptions, collars, floors and caps, contracts for differences, convertible bonds and any foreign exchange or interest rate hedging and investment arrangements and such other instruments, whether exchanged traded or “over-the-counter” as are similar to or derived from any of the foregoing whether for the purpose of making a profit or avoiding a loss or managing a currency or interest rate exposure or any other exposure or for any other purpose. The use of such instruments will expose the Fund to counterparty and derivative risks.

For the purpose of providing margin or collateral in respect of transactions in techniques and instruments, the Fund may transfer, mortgage, charge or encumber any assets or cash.

 

21


Investment Funds

In furtherance of the Fund’s Lending Strategy and Specialty Credit Strategy, the Fund may invest in Investment Funds; however, the Fund’s investments in private investment funds and investment vehicles that are excluded from the definition of “investment company” pursuant to Sections 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act will be limited to no more than 15% of its net assets. The Fund’s investments in Investment Funds will primarily be made in private investment funds and investment vehicles that are excluded from the definition of “investment company” pursuant to Sections 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act, which are managed by non-affiliated third-party managers that operate various Private Credit-related strategies. The Fund’s investments in Investment Funds also will include investments in the equity or debt of both non-traded registered and traded closed-end funds and BDCs that primarily originate and manage private middle market and specialty finance debt, subject to compliance with the 1940 Act limitations on such investments.

Investment Funds themselves may originate loans and debt instruments, and they may also have the ability to acquire investments through secondary transactions, including through loan portfolios, receivables, contractual obligations to purchase subsequently originated loans and other debt instruments. Certain Investment Funds may invest in co-investments or secondary loan transactions in the above instruments. Investment Funds may invest in opportunistic investments with a view to enhance returns, asset-backed securities, convertible debt, loan participations, bridge loans, structured products such as CLOs, debtor-in-possession financings, lending to lenders and equity in loan portfolios or portfolios of receivables. In addition, Investment Funds may also invest in equities, including warrants and equity related to relevant debt investments on limited basis. The Fund may invest in Investments Fund through secondary or primary market activity.

The market for purchasing Investment Funds on the secondary market may be very limited and competitive, and the strategies and Investment Funds to which the Fund wishes to allocate capital may not be available for secondary investment at any given time. However, the Advisers expect to have ample opportunities for sourcing secondary investments in Investment Funds. In the Advisers’ and StepStone Group’s experience, seller motivations are myriad, and such motivations continue to increase in immediacy particularly due to enhanced time to liquidity among private credit markets. Further, the Advisers and StepStone Group also believe that larger investment firms that buy and sell limited partner interests in Investment Funds from existing limited partners continue to exhibit general indifference to many Private Credit and Income Investment Fund secondary transactions as they are often sub-scale for the larger firms and are difficult to evaluate due to a minimal level of provided or obtainable information. Additionally, investment managers of the funds in these types of transactions typically seek to avoid adding new investor relationships, posing a challenge to potential secondary buyers who are not existing investors in the funds. The Advisers believe their value-added approach will allow the Fund to garner access and more effectively transact on these opportunities. Finally, the sponsors of funds are becoming increasingly proactive about offering secondary liquidity options to existing investors as their funds approach the end of their respective terms with substantial remaining unrealized value. Examples of such liquidity options include tender offers or investment manager-led restructurings. StepStone Group believes that its position as a meaningful primary fund investor in many funds globally and its deep relationships with a large number of investment managers position StepStone Group and its affiliates as a preferred partner to lead these transactions, further enhancing possible deal flow.

The Advisers expect to allocate a smaller share of the Fund’s available capital to Investment Funds on a primary basis, leveraging StepStone Group’s longstanding relationship with historically top-performing fund managers across stage, sectors and geographies. Primary Investment Funds, or “Primaries,” refer to investments in newly established private funds which have not yet begun operation. Capital commitments in Primary Investment Funds are called down by the applicable fund and utilized to finance its investments in portfolio companies during a predefined period. An Investment Fund’s NAV will typically exhibit a “J-Curve,” undergoing a decline in the early portion of the fund’s lifecycle as investment-related expenses and fees accrue prior to the realization of investment gains from portfolio investments, with the trend typically reversing in the later portion of the fund’s lifecycle as portfolio investments are sold and gains from investments are realized and distributed. The Fund will also invest in seasoned Primary Investment Funds (“Seasoned Primaries”), a sub-category of Primary Investment Funds made after the Primary has already invested a certain percentage of its capital commitments (e.g., 25%, at the time of closing). As Seasoned Primaries are made later in an Investment Fund’s lifecycle than typical Primaries, these investments, like secondaries, may receive earlier distributions, and the investment returns from these investments may exhibit to a lesser degree the delayed cash flow and return “J-curve” performance associated with investments in Primaries. In

 

22


addition, Seasoned Primaries may enable the Fund to deploy capital more readily with less blind pool risk than investments in typical Primaries. There can be no assurance that any or all Primary Investment Funds made by the Fund will exhibit this pattern of investment returns and realization of later gains is dependent upon the performance and disposition of each Primary Investment Fund’s underlying portfolio investments.

In assessing Investment Funds, the Advisers will assess the Investment Funds’ strategies with a view to whether such strategies offer attractive risk-adjusted returns, diversified exposures, capital deployment management, market capacity and experienced investment managers. The managers or general partners of the Investment Funds may impose management fees or performance-based fees, a proportionate share of which will be borne by the Fund and, indirectly, its shareholders.

Firm Allocation Policy

Allocation decisions may arise when there is more demand from the Fund and other StepStone Group clients for a particular investment opportunity, such as the capacity in an Investment Fund or a direct investment, than supply. StepStone Group employs an allocation policy designed to ensure that all of its clients will be treated fairly and equitably over time. The Fund’s portfolio manager has discretion to lower the allocation as appropriate for portfolio construction purposes.

With respect to primary purchases of Investment Funds, StepStone Group uses its best efforts to defer the allocation decision to the relevant investment manager, mitigating the potential conflict. With regard to secondary purchases of Investment Funds, StepStone Group typically manages the allocation of the transactions across its clients. Under the StepStone Group allocation policy, if clients are similarly situated, considering all relevant facts and circumstances, allocations will be made pro rata based on the deployment pace for each client determined in accordance with StepStone Group’s standard operational processes and specified in each client’s annual portfolio plan. Allocation of direct investments is a hybrid of StepStone Group’s approach on Investment Funds; in certain cases, direct investments are allocated by the investment manager leading the transaction, while in others, StepStone Group has the ability to allocate the transaction across its clients, in which case the allocation method outlined with respect to secondaries is used. Due to these processes, StepStone Group does not believe there is a material risk of a conflict arising in the area of allocations that would disadvantage the Fund relative to another StepStone Group client. With respect to evergreen funds such as the Fund, StepStone Group may evaluate the deployment pace, investment budget and portfolio plan of such client more frequently than annually.

Importantly, StepStone Group’s allocation process is managed independently by StepStone Group’s Finance team and ratified by the StepStone Group’s Legal and Compliance department.

Leverage

The Fund’s borrowings will at all times be subject to the Asset Coverage Requirement. The 1940 Act requires a registered investment company to satisfy an asset coverage requirement of 300% of its indebtedness, including amounts borrowed, measured at the time the investment company incurs the indebtedness (the “Asset Coverage Requirement”). This requirement means that the value of the investment company’s total indebtedness may not exceed one third the value of its total assets (including the indebtedness). The 1940 Act also requires that dividends may not be declared if this Asset Coverage Requirement is breached.

The Fund’s assets may also utilize leverage in their investment activities. Borrowings at the individual investment level are not subject to the Asset Coverage Requirement. Accordingly, the Fund’s portfolio may be exposed to the risk of highly leveraged investment programs of certain assets and the volatility of the value of Shares may be great, especially during times of a “credit crunch” and/or general market turmoil, such as that experienced during late 2008 or the current global pandemic. In general, the use of leverage by the Fund’s assets may increase the volatility of their values and of the value of the Shares. See “Types of Investments and Related Risks — Investment Related Risks — Leverage Utilized by the Fund.”

 

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TYPES OF INVESTMENTS AND RELATED RISKS

General

The value of the Fund’s total net assets may be expected to fluctuate in response to fluctuations in the value of the Private Credit and Income investments in which the Fund invests. Discussed below are the investments generally made by the Fund and the principal risks that the Advisers and the Fund believe are associated with those investments. These principal risks will, in turn, have an effect on the Fund. In addition, the Fund may also make these types of investments pending the investment in Private Credit and Income investments or to maintain the liquidity necessary to effect repurchases of Shares. When the Fund takes a defensive position or otherwise makes these types of investments, it may not achieve its investment objectives.

Principal Investment Related Risks

General Economic and Market Conditions. The value of the Fund’s total net assets should be expected to fluctuate. To the extent that the Fund’s portfolio is concentrated in securities of a single issuer or issuers in a single sector, the risk of any investment decision is increased. The use of leverage is likely to cause the Fund’s average net assets to appreciate or depreciate at a greater rate than if leverage were not used.

An investment in the Fund involves a high degree of risk, including the risk that the Shareholder’s entire investment may be lost. The Fund’s performance depends largely upon the Advisers’ selection of Private Credit and Income Investments, the allocation of offering proceeds thereto and the performance of the Private Credit and Income Investments. The Fund’s investment activities involve the risks associated with private market investments generally. Risks include adverse changes in national or international economic conditions, adverse local market conditions, the financial conditions of portfolio companies, changes in the availability or terms of financing, changes in interest rates, exchange rates, corporate tax rates and other operating expenses, environmental laws and regulations, and other governmental rules and fiscal policies, energy prices, changes in the relative popularity of certain industries or the availability of purchasers to acquire companies, and dependence on cash flow, as well as acts of God, uninsurable losses, war, terrorism, earthquakes, hurricanes or floods and other factors which are beyond the control of the Fund or the underlying assets. Unexpected volatility or lack of liquidity, such as the general market conditions that had prevailed in 2008, could impair the Fund’s profitability or result in its suffering losses.

No Operating History. The Fund is a newly formed non-diversified, closed-end management investment company with no performance history that Shareholders can use to evaluate the Fund’s investment performance. The initial operating expenses for a newly formed fund, including start-up costs, which may be significant, may be higher than the expenses of an established fund.

Closed-end Interval Fund. The Fund is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company structured as an “interval fund” and designed primarily for long-term investors. The Fund is not intended to be a typical traded investment. There is no secondary market for the Fund’s Shares and the Fund expects that no secondary market will develop in the foreseeable future. An investor should not invest in the Fund if the investor needs a liquid investment. Closed-end funds differ from open-end management investment companies, commonly known as mutual funds, in that investors in a closed-end fund do not have the right to redeem their shares on a daily basis at a price based on NAV. Although the Fund, as a fundamental policy, will make quarterly offers to repurchase between 5% and 25% of its outstanding Shares at NAV, the number of Shares tendered in connection with a repurchase offer may exceed the number of Shares the Fund has offered to repurchase, in which case not all of your Shares tendered in that offer will be repurchased. In connection with any given repurchase offer, it is likely that the Fund may offer to repurchase only the minimum amount of 5% of its outstanding Shares. Hence, you may not be able to sell your Shares when and/or in the amount that you desire.

Availability of Investment Opportunities. The business of identifying and structuring investments of the types contemplated by the Fund is competitive and involves a high degree of uncertainty. The availability of investment opportunities generally is subject to market conditions as well as, in some cases, the prevailing regulatory or political climate. No assurance can be given that the Fund will be able to identify and complete attractive investments in the future or that it will be able to fully invest its subscriptions. Similarly, identification of attractive investment opportunities by investment managers is difficult and involves a high degree of uncertainty. Even if an attractive investment opportunity is identified by an investment manager, it may not be permitted to take advantage of the

 

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opportunity to the fullest extent desired. Other investment vehicles sponsored, managed or advised by the Advisers and their affiliates may seek investment opportunities similar to those the Fund may be seeking. The Advisers will allocate fairly between the Fund and such other investment vehicles any investment opportunities that may be appropriate for the Fund and such other investment vehicles. See “Conflicts of Interest — The Advisers.”

Sourcing Investment Opportunities Risk. The Advisers will rely on third-party Investment Partners to source investment opportunities. On an ongoing basis, it cannot be certain that the Advisers will be able to continue to locate a sufficient number of suitable investment opportunities through Investment Partners to allow the Fund to fully implement its investment strategy. In addition, privately negotiated investments in loans and illiquid securities of private companies and issuers require substantial due diligence and structuring, and the Fund may not be able to achieve its anticipated investment pace. Additionally, while the Fund expects that its allocation between primary and secondary investments will vary, the Advisers’ reliance on third-party Investment Partners may impact the ability of the Fund to reach its intended allocation between such investments. These factors increase the uncertainty, and thus the risk, of investing in the Fund. To the extent the Fund is unable to deploy its capital, its investment income and, in turn, the results of its operations, will likely be materially adversely affected.

Competition for Assets Risk. The current lending market in which the Fund participates is competitive and rapidly changing. The Fund may face increasing competition for access to loans and especially direct loans as the lending industry continues to evolve. The Fund may face competition from other institutional lenders such as pooled investment vehicles and commercial banks that are substantially larger and have considerably greater financial and other resources than the Fund. These potential competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments than the Fund, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments than the Fund and establish relationships with direct lending managers. A direct lending manager may have similar arrangements with other parties, thereby reducing the potential investments of the Fund through such manager. There can be no assurance that the competitive pressures the Fund may face will not erode the Fund’s ability to deploy capital. If the Fund is limited in its ability to invest in loans, it may be forced to invest in cash, cash equivalents or other assets that may result in lower returns than otherwise may be available through investments in loans. If the Fund’s access to loans is limited, it would also be subject to increased concentration and counterparty risk. The lending business is highly competitive. Without a sufficient number of new qualified loan requests, there can be no assurances that the Fund will be able to compete effectively for loans with other market participants. General economic factors and market conditions, including the general interest rate environment, unemployment rates, and perceived consumer demand may affect borrower willingness to seek loans and investor ability and desire to invest in such loans.

Leverage Utilized by the Fund. The Fund may borrow money in connection with its investment activities and to otherwise provide the Fund with liquidity — i.e., the Fund may utilize leverage. Specifically, the Fund may borrow money through a credit facility or other arrangements to fund investments in Private Credit and Income investments up to the limits of the Asset Coverage Requirement. Leverage may be used to provide the Fund with temporary liquidity to acquire investments in advance of the Fund’s receipt of proceeds from the realization of other assets or additional sales of Shares. The Fund is expected to enter into the credit agreement for such purposes. See “Investment Program—Leverage.”The use of leverage is speculative and involves certain risks. Although leverage will increase the Fund’s investment return if the Fund’s interest in an asset purchased with borrowed funds earns a greater return than the interest expense the Fund pays for the use of those funds, the use of leverage will decrease the return on the Fund if the Fund fails to earn as much on its investment purchased with borrowed funds as it pays for the use of those funds. The use of leverage will in this way magnify the volatility of changes in the value of an investment in the Fund, especially in times of a “credit crunch” or during general market turmoil, such as that experienced during late 2008. The Fund may be required to maintain minimum average balances in connection with its borrowings or to pay a commitment or other fee to maintain a line of credit; either of these requirements would increase the cost of borrowing over the stated interest rate. In addition, a lender to the Fund may terminate or refuse to renew any credit facility into which the Fund has entered. If the Fund is unable to access additional credit, it may be forced to sell its interests in Investment Funds at inopportune times, which may further depress the returns of the Fund.The 1940 Act’s Asset Coverage Requirement requires a registered investment company to satisfy an asset coverage requirement of 300% of its indebtedness, including amounts borrowed, measured at the time the investment company incurs the indebtedness. This requirement means that the value of the investment company’s total indebtedness may not exceed one third of the value of its total assets (including the indebtedness). The 1940 Act also requires that dividends may not be declared if this Asset Coverage Requirement is breached. The Fund’s borrowings will at all times be subject to the Asset Coverage Requirement.

 

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Investments in the Debt Securities of Small or Middle-Market Portfolio Companies. Our investments may consist of loans to small and/or less well-established privately held companies. While smaller private companies may have potential for rapid growth, investments in private companies pose significantly greater risks than investments in public companies. For example, private companies:

 

   

have reduced access to the capital markets, resulting in diminished capital resources and the ability to withstand financial distress;

 

   

may have limited financial resources and may be unable to meet their obligations under their debt securities, which may be accompanied by a deterioration in the value of any collateral and a reduction in the likelihood of realizing any guarantees that may have obtained in connection with the investment;

 

   

may have shorter operating histories, narrower product lines and smaller market shares than larger businesses, which tend to render them more vulnerable to competitors’ actions and changing market conditions, as well as general economic downturns;

 

   

generally, are more likely to depend on the management talents and efforts of a small group of persons; therefore, the death, disability, resignation or termination of one or more of these persons could have a material adverse impact on a portfolio company and, in turn, on the Investment Fund that has invested in the portfolio company; and

 

   

generally, have less predictable operating results, may from time to time be parties to litigation, may be engaged in rapidly changing businesses with products subject to a substantial risk of obsolescence, and may require substantial additional capital to support their operations, finance expansion or maintain their competitive position.

Investments in smaller capitalization companies often involve significantly greater risks than the securities of larger, better-known companies because they may lack the management expertise, financial resources, product diversification and competitive strengths of larger companies. The prices of the securities of smaller companies may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements than those of larger, more established companies, as these securities typically are less liquid, traded in lower volume and the issuers typically are more subject to changes in earnings and prospects. In addition, when selling large positions in small capitalization securities, the seller may have to sell holdings at discounts from quoted prices or may have to make a series of small sales over a period of time.

In addition, investments in private companies tend to be less liquid. The securities of many of the companies in which we invest are not publicly traded or actively traded on the secondary market and are, instead, traded on a privately negotiated over-the-counter secondary market for institutional investors only. Such securities may be subject to legal and other restrictions on resale. As such, we may have difficulty exiting an investment promptly or at a desired price prior to maturity or outside of a normal amortization schedule. As a result, the relative lack of liquidity and the potential diminished capital resources of target portfolio companies may affect our investment returns.

First Lien Senior Secured Loans, Second Lien Senior Secured Loans and Unitranche Debt. When we invest, directly or indirectly, in first lien senior secured loans, second lien senior secured loans, and unitranche debt of portfolio companies, we will generally seek to take a security interest in the available assets of those portfolio companies, including the equity interests of the portfolio companies’ subsidiaries. There is a risk that the collateral securing these loans may decrease in value over time or lose its entire value, may be difficult to sell in a timely manner, may be difficult to appraise and may fluctuate in value based upon the success of the business and market conditions, including as a result of the inability of the portfolio company to raise additional capital. To the extent a debt investment is collateralized by the securities of a portfolio company’s subsidiaries, such securities may lose some or all of their value in the event of the bankruptcy or insolvency of the portfolio company. Also, in some circumstances, the Fund’s lien may be contractually or structurally subordinated to claims of other creditors. In addition, deterioration in a portfolio company’s financial condition and prospects, including its inability to raise additional capital, may be accompanied by deterioration in the value of the collateral for the loan. Loans that are under-collateralized involve a greater risk of loss. Consequently, the fact that a loan is secured does not guarantee that we will receive principal and interest payments according to the loan’s terms, or at all, or that we will be able to collect on the loan should the remedies be enforced. Finally, particularly with respect to a unitranche debt structure, unitranche debt will generally have higher leverage levels than a standard first lien term loan.

 

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Mezzanine Investments. We may, directly or indirectly, invest in mezzanine loans. Structurally, mezzanine loans usually rank subordinate in priority of payment to senior debt, such as senior bank debt, and are often unsecured. However, mezzanine loans rank senior to common and preferred equity in a borrower’s capital structure. Mezzanine debt is often used in leveraged buyout and real estate finance transactions. Typically, mezzanine loans have elements of both debt and equity instruments, offering the fixed returns in the form of interest payments associated with senior debt, while providing lenders an opportunity to participate in the capital appreciation of a borrower, if any, through an equity interest. This equity interest typically takes the form of warrants. Due to their higher risk profile and often less restrictive covenants as compared to senior loans, mezzanine loans generally earn a higher return than senior secured loans. The warrants associated with mezzanine loans are typically detachable, which allows lenders to receive repayment of their principal on an agreed amortization schedule while retaining their equity interest in the borrower. Mezzanine loans also may include a “put” feature, which permits the holder to sell its equity interest back to the borrower at a price determined through an agreed-upon formula. Mezzanine investments may be issued with or without registration rights. Similar to other high yield securities, maturities of mezzanine investments are typically seven to ten years, but the expected average life is significantly shorter at three to six years. Mezzanine investments are usually unsecured and subordinate to other debt obligations of an issuer.

Risks Associated with Covenant-Lite Loans. A significant number of leveraged loans in the market may consist of loans that do not contain financial maintenance covenants (“Covenant-Lite Loans”). While the Fund does not intend to invest in Covenant-Lite Loans as part of its principal investment strategy, it is possible that such loans may comprise a small portion of the Fund’s portfolio. Such loans do not require the borrower to maintain debt service or other financial ratios. Ownership of Covenant-Lite Loans may expose the Fund to different risks, including with respect to liquidity, price volatility, ability to restructure loans, credit risks and less protective loan documentation than is the case with loans that also contain financial maintenance covenants.

High Yield Securities and Distressed Securities. Our Private Market Assets may include investments in fixed income securities rated investment grade or non-investment grade (commonly referred to as high yield securities or “junk” securities) and may include investments in unrated fixed income securities. Non-investment grade securities are fixed income securities rated below Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) or lower than “BBB-” by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services by Standard & Poor’s Rating Group, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”), or if unrated considered by an investment manager to be equivalent quality. Non-investment grade debt securities in the lowest rating categories or unrated debt securities determined to be of comparable quality may involve a substantial risk of default or may be in default. Private Market Assets in non-investment grade securities expose it to a substantial degree of credit risk. Non-investment grade securities may be issued by companies that are restructuring, are smaller and less creditworthy or are more highly indebted than other companies, and therefore they may have more difficulty making scheduled payments of principal and interest. Non-investment grade securities are subject to greater risk of loss of income and principal than higher rated securities and may be considered speculative. Non-investment grade securities may experience reduced liquidity, and sudden and substantial decreases in price. An economic downturn affecting an issuer of non-investment grade debt securities may result in an increased incidence of default. In the event of a default, an Investment Fund or the Fund may incur additional expenses to seek recovery. In addition, the market for lower grade debt securities may be thinner and less active than for higher grade debt securities.

Certain Private Credit and Income investments may be in transition, out of favor, financially leveraged or troubled, or potentially troubled, and may be or have recently been involved in major strategic actions, restructurings, bankruptcy, reorganization or liquidation. The characteristics of these companies can cause their securities to be particularly risky, although they also may offer the potential for high returns. These companies’ securities may be considered speculative, and the ability of the companies to pay their debts on schedule could be affected by adverse interest rate movements, changes in the general economic climate, economic factors affecting a particular industry or specific developments within the companies. These securities may also present a substantial risk of default. An Investment Fund’s or the Fund’s investment in any instrument is subject to no minimum credit standard and a significant portion of the obligations and preferred stock in which an Investment Fund or the Fund may invest may be non-investment grade (commonly referred to as “junk” securities), which may result in the Investment Fund or the Fund experiencing greater risks than it would if investing in higher rated instruments.

Special Situations and Distressed Investments. We may, directly or indirectly, invest in securities and other obligations of companies that are in special situations involving significant financial or business distress, including

 

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companies involved in bankruptcy or other reorganization and liquidation proceedings. Although such investments may result in significant returns, they involve a substantial degree of risk. The level of analytical sophistication, both financial and legal, necessary for successful investment in distressed assets is unusually high. There is no assurance that we or an investment manager will correctly evaluate the value of the assets securing these debt investments or the prospects for a successful reorganization or similar action in respect of any company. In any reorganization or liquidation proceeding relating to such companies, the Fund may lose its entire investment, may be required to accept cash or securities with a value less than the original investment and/or may be required to accept payment over an extended period of time. Troubled company investments and other distressed asset-based investments require active monitoring.

Financial Institutions Risk. Financial institutions in which the Fund may invest, directly or indirectly, are subject to extensive government regulation. This regulation may limit both the amount and types of loans and other financial commitments a financial institution can make, and the interest rates and fees it can charge. In addition, interest and investment rates are highly sensitive and are determined by many factors beyond a financial institution’s control, including general and local economic conditions (such as inflation, recession, money supply and unemployment) and the monetary and fiscal policies of various governmental agencies such as the Federal Reserve Board. These limitations may have a significant impact on the profitability of a financial institution since profitability is attributable, at least in part, to the institution’s ability to make financial commitments such as loans. Profitability of a financial institution is largely dependent upon the availability and cost of the institution’s funds and can fluctuate significantly when interest rates change.

U.S. and global markets recently have experienced increased volatility, including as a result of the recent failures of certain U.S. and non-U.S. banks, which could be harmful to a Fund and issuers in which it invests. For example, if a bank in which the Fund or issuer has an account fails, any cash or other assets in bank accounts may be temporarily inaccessible or permanently lost by the Fund or issuer. If a bank that provides a subscription line credit facility, asset-based facility, other credit facility and/or other services to an issuer fails, the issuer could be unable to draw funds under its credit facilities or obtain replacement credit facilities or other services from other lending institutions with similar terms. Even if banks used by issuers in which the Fund invests remain solvent, continued volatility in the banking sector could cause or intensify an economic recession, increase the costs of banking services or result in the issuers being unable to obtain or refinance indebtedness at all or on as favorable terms as could otherwise have been obtained. Conditions in the banking sector are evolving, and the scope of any potential impacts to the Fund and issuers, both from market conditions and also potential legislative or regulatory responses, are uncertain. Continued market volatility and uncertainty and/or a downturn in market and economic and financial conditions, as a result of developments in the banking industry or otherwise (including as a result of delayed access to cash or credit facilities), could have an adverse impact on the Fund and issuers in which it invests.

Geographic Concentration Risks. Our investments may be concentrated in specific geographic regions. This focus may constrain the liquidity and the number of portfolio companies available for investment. In addition, our investments will be disproportionately exposed to the risks associated with the region of concentration.

Emerging Markets. We may invest, directly and indirectly, in companies located in emerging industrialized or less developed countries or that derive their revenues principally from such countries. Risks particularly relevant to such emerging markets may include greater dependence on exports and the corresponding importance of international trade, higher risk of inflation, more extensive controls on foreign investment and limitations on repatriation of invested capital, increased likelihood of governmental involvement in, and control over, the economies, decisions by the relevant government to cease its support of economic reform programs or to impose restrictions, and less established laws and regulations regarding fiduciary duties of officers and directors and protection of investors.

Non-U.S. Risk. Certain Private Credit and Income investments may include assets outside of the United States. Non-U.S. securities or instruments involve certain factors not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities or instruments, including risks relating to (i) currency exchange matters, including fluctuations in the rate of exchange between the U.S. dollar and the various non-U.S. currencies in which the Fund’s non-U.S. investments are denominated, and costs associated with conversion of investment principal and income from one currency into another; (ii) differences in conventions relating to documentation, settlement, corporate actions, stakeholder rights and other matters; (iii) differences between the U.S. and non-U.S. securities markets, including higher rates of inflation,

 

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higher transaction costs and potential price volatility in, and relative illiquidity of, some non-U.S. securities markets; (iv) the absence of uniform accounting, auditing and financial reporting standards, practices and disclosure requirements and less governmental supervision and regulation in some countries; (v) certain economic, social and political risks, including potential exchange control regulations and restrictions on non-U.S. investment and repatriation of capital, the risks of political, economic or social instability, including the risk of sovereign defaults, and the possibility of expropriation or confiscatory taxation and adverse economic and political development; (vi) the possible imposition of non-U.S. taxes on income and gains recognized with respect to such securities or instruments; (vii) differing, and potentially less well developed or well-tested laws regarding creditor’s rights (including the rights of secured parties), corporate governance, fiduciary duties and the protection of investors; (viii) difficulty in enforcing contractual obligations; (ix) differences in the legal and regulatory environment or enhanced legal and regulatory compliance; (x) reliance on a more limited number of commodity inputs, service providers and/or distribution mechanisms; (xi) political hostility to investments by foreign or private investment fund investors; and (xii) less publicly available information.

Additionally, certain Private Credit and Income investments may include or invest in foreign portfolio companies that do not maintain internal management accounts or adopt financial budgeting, internal audit or internal control procedures to standards normally expected of companies in the United States. Accordingly, information supplied regarding the Private Market Assets may be incomplete, inaccurate and/or significantly delayed. The Fund and the Investment Funds may therefore be unable to take or influence timely actions necessary to rectify management deficiencies in such portfolio companies, which may ultimately have an adverse impact on the NAV of the Fund.

The Fund’s Private Credit and Income investments could be negatively impacted by geopolitical conflicts, including direct and indirect effects on their operations and financial condition. In the event these hostilities escalate, the impact could more significant. Certain of the Private Credit and Income investments in which the Fund may invest may operate in, or have dealings with, countries subject to sanctions or embargos imposed by the U.S. government, foreign governments, or the United Nations or other international organizations.

Debt Securities. Under normal market conditions, the Fund expects to primarily invest in debt and debt-related securities. One of the fundamental risks associated with such investments is credit risk, which is the risk that an issuer will be unable to make principal and interest payments on its outstanding debt obligations when due. Adverse changes in the financial condition of an issuer or in general economic conditions (or both) may impair the ability of such issuer to make such payments and result in defaults on, and declines in, the value of its debt. The Fund’s return to Shareholders would be adversely impacted if an issuer of debt securities in which the Fund invests becomes unable to make such payments when due. Other risk factors include interest rate risk (a rise in interest rates causes a decline in the value of debt securities) and prepayment risk (the debtor may pay its obligation early, reducing the amount of interest payments). These risks could affect the value of a particular investment, possibly causing the Fund’s share price and total return to be reduced and fluctuate more than other types of investments.

Direct Lending Risk. To the extent the Fund is the sole lender in privately offered debt, it may be solely responsible for the expense of servicing that debt, including, if necessary, taking legal actions to foreclose on any security instrument securing the debt (e.g., the mortgage or, in the case of a mezzanine loan, the pledge). This may increase the risk and expense to the Fund compared to syndicated or publicly offered debt.

Direct Origination Risk. A significant portion of the Fund’s investments may be originated. The results of the Fund’s operations depend on several factors, including the availability of opportunities for the origination or acquisition of target investments, the level and volatility of interest rates, the availability of adequate short and long-term financing, conditions in the financial markets and economic conditions. Further, the Fund’s inability to raise capital and the risk of portfolio company defaults may materially and adversely affect the Fund’s investment originations, business, liquidity, financial condition, results of operations and its ability to make distributions to its Shareholders. In addition, competition for originations of and investments in the Fund’s target investments may lead to the price of such assets increasing or the decrease of interest income from loans originated by the Fund, which may further limit its ability to generate desired returns. Also, as a result of this competition, desirable investments in the Fund’s target investments may be limited in the future, and the Fund may not be able to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities from time to time, as the Fund can provide no assurance that the Advisers will be able to identify and make investments that are consistent with its investment objective.

 

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Interest Rate Risk. The Fund is subject to the risks of changes in interest rates. While it is expected that the majority of the Fund’s investments will be in floating rate loans, which typically re-price every 90 days, some of the Fund’s investments may be in fixed rate loans and similar debt obligations. The value of such fixed rate loans is susceptible to general changes in interest rates. A decline in interest rates could reduce the amount of current income the Fund is able to achieve from interest on fixed-income securities and convertible debt. An increase in interest rates could reduce the value of any fixed income securities and convertible securities owned by the Fund. To the extent that the cash flow from a fixed income security is known in advance, the present value (i.e., discounted value) of that cash flow decreases as interest rates increase; to the extent that the cash flow is contingent, the dollar value of the payment may be linked to then prevailing interest rates. Moreover, the value of many fixed income securities depends on the shape of the yield curve, not just on a single interest rate. Thus, for example, a callable cash flow, the coupons of which depend on a short term rate, may shorten (i.e., be called away) if the long rate decreases. In this way, such securities are exposed to the difference between long rates and short rates.

The Fund expects to invest the majority of its assets in variable and floating rate securities. Variable and floating rate securities generally are less sensitive to interest rate changes but may decline in value if their interest rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as interest rates in general. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. When the Fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the NAV of the Fund’s shares.

Interest rates in the United States and many other countries have risen in recent periods and may continue to rise in the future. Because longer-term inflationary pressure may result from the U.S. government’s fiscal policies, the Fund may experience rising interest rates, rather than falling rates, over its investment horizon. To the extent the Fund borrows money to finance its investments, the Fund’s performance will depend, in part, upon the difference between the rate at which it borrows funds and the rate at which it invests those funds. In periods of rising interest rates, the Fund’s cost of funds could increase. Adverse developments resulting from changes in interest rates could have a material adverse effect on the Fund’s financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, a decline in the prices of the debt the Fund owns could adversely affect the Fund’s NAV. Changes in market interest rates could also affect the ability of operating companies in which the Fund invests to service debt, which could materially impact the Fund in which the Fund may invest, thus impacting the Fund.

Extension Risk. Rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of long-term, fixed rate securities, making them more sensitive to changes in interest rates. The value of longer-term securities generally changes more in response to changes in interest rates than shorter-term securities. As a result, in a period of rising interest rates, securities may exhibit additional volatility and may lose value.

Prepayment Risk. When interest rates decline, fixed income securities with stated interest rates may have their principal paid earlier than expected. This may result in the Fund having to reinvest that money at lower prevailing interest rates, which can reduce the returns of the Fund.

Reinvestment Risk. Income from the Fund’s portfolio will decline if and when the Fund invests the proceeds from matured, traded or called debt obligations at market interest rates that are below the portfolio’s current earnings rate. For instance, during periods of declining interest rates, an issuer of debt obligations may exercise an option to redeem securities prior to maturity, forcing the Fund to invest in lower-yielding securities. The Fund also may choose to sell higher yielding portfolio securities and to purchase lower yielding securities to achieve greater portfolio diversification because the portfolio manager believes the current holdings are overvalued or for other investment-related reasons. A decline in income received by the Fund from its investments is likely to have a negative effect on dividend levels, NAV and/or overall return of the Fund’s shares.

Inflation/Deflation Risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from the Fund’s investments will be worth less in the future as inflation decreases the value of payments at future dates. As inflation increases, the real value of the Fund’s portfolio could decline. Deflation risk is the risk that prices throughout the economy decline over time. Deflation may have an adverse effect on the creditworthiness of issuers and may make issuer default more likely, which may result in a decline in the value of the Fund’s portfolio.

PIK Interest. To the extent that the Fund invests in loans with a PIK interest component and the accretion of PIK interest constitutes a portion of the Fund’s income, the Fund will be exposed to risks associated with the

 

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requirement to include such non-cash income in taxable and accounting income prior to receipt of cash, including the following: (i) loans with a PIK interest component may have higher interest rates that reflect the payment deferral and increased credit risk associated with these instruments, and PIK instruments generally represent a significantly higher credit risk than coupon loans; (ii) loans with a PIK interest component may have unreliable valuations because their continuing accruals require continuing judgments about the collectability of the deferred payments and the value of any associated collateral; (iii) the deferral of PIK interest increases the loan-to-value ratio, which is a fundamental measure of loan risk; and (iv) even if the accounting conditions for PIK interest accrual are met, the borrower could still default when the borrower’s actual payment is due at the maturity of the loan.

Bank Loans. The Fund may invest in loans originated by banks and other financial institutions. The loans invested in by the Fund may include term loans and revolving loans, may pay interest at a fixed or floating rate and may be senior or subordinated. Special risks associated with investments in bank loans and participations include (i) the possible invalidation of an investment transaction as a fraudulent conveyance under relevant creditors’ rights laws, (ii) so-called lender-liability claims by the issuer of the obligations, (iii) environmental liabilities that may arise with respect to collateral securing the obligations, (iv) the risk that bank loans may not be securities and therefore may not have the protections afforded by the federal securities laws, and (v) limitations on the ability of the Fund to directly enforce its rights with respect to participations. Successful claims in respect of such matters may reduce the cash flow and/or market value of the investment. In addition, the bank loan market may face illiquidity and volatility. There can be no assurance that future levels of supply and demand in bank loan trading will provide an adequate degree of liquidity or the market will not experience periods of significant illiquidity in the future.

In addition to the special risks generally associated with investments in bank loans described above, the Fund’s investments in second-lien and unsecured bank loans will entail additional risks, including (i) the subordination of the Fund’s claims to a senior lien in terms of the coverage and recovery from the collateral and (ii) with respect to second-lien loans, the prohibition of or limitation on the right to foreclose on a second-lien or exercise other rights as a second-lien holder, and with respect to unsecured loans, the absence of any collateral on which the Fund may foreclose to satisfy its claim in whole or in part. In certain cases, therefore, no recovery may be available from a defaulted second-lien or unsecured loan. The Fund’s investments in bank loans of below investment grade companies also entail specific risks associated with investments in non-investment grade securities.

Loan Participations And Assignments. The Fund may acquire interests in loans either directly (by way of sale or assignment) or indirectly (by way of participation). The purchaser of an assignment typically succeeds to all the rights and obligations of the assigning institution and becomes a lender under the credit agreement with respect to the debt obligation; however, its rights can be more restricted than those of the assigning institution. Participation interests in a portion of a debt obligation typically result in a contractual relationship only with the institution participating out the interest, not with the borrower. In purchasing participations, the Fund generally will have no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement, nor any rights of set-off against the borrower, and the Fund may not directly benefit from the collateral supporting the debt obligation in which it has purchased the participation. As a result, the Fund will assume the credit risk of both the borrower and the institution selling the participation. A selling institution voting in connection with a potential waiver of a default by a borrower may have interests different from those of the Fund, and the selling institution might not consider the interests of the Fund in connection with its vote. Notwithstanding the foregoing, many participation agreements with respect to loans provide that the selling institution may not vote in favor of any amendment, modification or waiver that forgives principal, interest or fees, reduces principal, interest or fees that are payable, postpones any payment of principal (whether a scheduled payment or a mandatory prepayment), interest or fees or releases any material guarantee or collateral without the consent of the participant (at least to the extent the participant would be affected by any such amendment, modification or waiver). In addition, many participation agreements with respect to loans that provide voting rights to the participant further provide that if the participant does not vote in favor of amendments, modifications or waivers, the selling institution may repurchase such participation at par.

Non-Performing Loans. The Fund may invest in non-performing and sub-performing loans which often involve workout negotiations, restructuring and the possibility of foreclosure. These processes are often lengthy and expensive. In addition, the Fund’s investments may include securities and debt obligations of financially distressed issuers, including companies involved in bankruptcy or other reorganization and liquidation proceedings. As a result, the Fund’s investments may be subject to additional bankruptcy related risks, and returns on such investments may not be realized for a considerable period of time.

 

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Business Development Companies (“BDCs”). The Fund may invest in private BDCs and publicly traded BDCs. A BDC is a type of closed-end investment company regulated under the Investment Company Act. BDCs typically invest in and lend to small and medium-sized private and certain public companies that may not have access to public equity or debt markets for capital raising. BDCs invest in such diverse industries as healthcare, chemical and manufacturing, technology and service companies. At least 70% of a BDC’s investments must be made in private and certain public U.S. businesses, and BDCs are required to make available significant managerial assistance to their portfolio companies. Unlike corporations, BDCs are not taxed on income at the corporate level, provided the income is distributed to their shareholders and that the BDC complies with the applicable requirements of Subchapter M of Subtitle A, Chapter 1 of the Code.

Investments in BDCs may be subject to a high degree of risk. BDCs typically invest in small and medium-sized private and certain public companies that may not have access to public equity or debt markets for capital raising. As a result, a BDC’s portfolio typically will include a substantial amount of securities purchased in private placements, and its portfolio may carry risks similar to those of a private equity or venture capital fund. Securities that are not publicly registered may be difficult to value and may be difficult to sell at a price representative of their intrinsic value. Small and medium-sized companies also may have fewer lines of business so that changes in any one line of business may have a greater impact on the value of their stock than is the case with a larger company. To the extent a BDC focuses its investments in a specific sector, the BDC will be susceptible to adverse conditions and economic or regulatory occurrences affecting the specific sector or industry group, which tends to increase volatility and result in higher risk. Investments in BDCs are subject to various risks, including management’s ability to meet the BDC’s investment objective and to manage the BDC’s portfolio when the underlying securities are redeemed or sold, during periods of market turmoil and as investors’ perceptions regarding a BDC or its underlying investments change. Private BDCs are illiquid investments, and there is no guarantee the Fund will be able to liquidate or sell its private BDC investments.

Certain BDCs may use leverage in their portfolios through borrowings or the issuance of preferred stock. While leverage may increase the yield and total return of a BDC, it also subjects the BDC to increased risks, including magnification of any investment losses and increased volatility. In addition, a BDC’s income may fall if the interest rate on any borrowings of the BDC rises.

To comply with the Investment Company Act, the investment manager may be required to vote shares of a BDC held by the Fund in the same general proportion as shares held by other shareholders of the BDC. Please see “Investment Fund Risk” above for additional information regarding recent SEC regulations with respect to the Fund’s investments in other investment companies.

Asset-Backed Securities Risk. Asset-backed securities often involve risks that are different from or more acute than risks associated with other types of debt instruments. For instance, asset-backed securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in prevailing interest rates. In addition, the underlying assets are subject to prepayments that shorten the securities’ weighted average maturity and may lower their return. Asset-backed securities are also subject to risks associated with their structure and the nature of the assets underlying the security and the servicing of those assets. Payment of interest and repayment of principal on asset-backed securities is largely dependent upon the cash flows generated by the assets backing the securities and, in certain cases, supported by letters of credit, surety bonds or other credit enhancements. The values of asset-backed securities may be substantially dependent on the servicing of the underlying asset pools, and are therefore subject to risks associated with the negligence by, or defalcation of, their servicers. Furthermore, debtors may be entitled to the protection of a number of state and federal consumer credit laws with respect to the assets underlying these securities, which may give the debtor the right to avoid or reduce payment. In addition, due to their often complicated structures, various asset-backed securities may be difficult to value and may constitute illiquid investments. If many borrowers on the underlying loans default, losses could exceed the credit enhancement level and result in losses to investors in asset-backed securities.

An investment in subordinated (residual) classes of asset-backed securities is typically considered to be an illiquid and highly speculative investment, as losses on the underlying assets are first absorbed by the subordinated classes. The risks associated with an investment in such subordinated classes of asset-backed securities include credit risk, regulatory risk pertaining to the Fund’s ability to collect on such securities and liquidity risk.

Collateralized Loan Obligations (“CLOs”) and Collateralized Debt Obligations (“CDOs”). The Fund may invest in CLOs and CDOs. CLOs and CDOs are created by the grouping of certain private loans and other lender

 

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assets/collateral into pools. A sponsoring organization establishes a SPV to hold the assets/collateral and issue securities. Interests in these pools are sold as individual securities. Payments of principal and interest are passed through to investors and are typically supported by some form of credit enhancement, such as a letter of credit, surety bond, limited guaranty or senior/subordination. Payments from the asset pools may be divided into several different tranches of debt securities, offering investors various maturity and credit risk characteristics. Some tranches entitled to receive regular installments of principal and interest, other tranches entitled to receive regular installments of interest, with principal payable at maturity or upon specified call dates, and other tranches only entitled to receive payments of principal and accrued interest at maturity or upon specified call dates. Different tranches of securities will bear different interest rates, which may be fixed or floating.

Investors in CLOs and CDOs bear the credit risk of the assets/collateral. Tranches are categorized as senior, mezzanine, and subordinated/equity, according to their degree of credit risk. If there are defaults or the CDO’s collateral otherwise underperforms, scheduled payments to senior tranches take precedence over those of mezzanine tranches, and scheduled payments to mezzanine tranches take precedence over those to subordinated/equity tranches. Senior and mezzanine tranches are typically rated, with the former receiving S&P of A to AAA and the latter receiving ratings of B to BBB. The ratings reflect both the credit quality of underlying collateral as well as how much protection a given tranche is afforded by tranches that are subordinate to it.

Because the loans held in the pool often may be prepaid without penalty or premium, CLOs and CDOs can be subject to higher prepayment risks than most other types of debt instruments. Prepayments may result in a capital loss to the Fund to the extent that the prepaid securities purchased at a market discount from their stated principal amount will accelerate the recognition of interest income by the Fund, which would be taxed as ordinary income when distributed to the Shareholders. The credit characteristics of CLOs and CDOs also differ in a number of respects from those of traditional debt securities. The credit quality of most CLOs and CDOs depends primarily upon the credit quality of the assets/collateral underlying such securities, how well the entity issuing the securities is insulated from the credit risk of the originator or any other affiliated entities, and the amount and quality of any credit enhancement to such securities.

CLOs and CDOs are typically privately offered and sold, and thus, are not registered under the securities laws, which means less information about the security may be available as compared to publicly offered securities and only certain institutions may buy and sell them. As a result, investments in CLOs and CDOs may be characterized by the Fund as illiquid securities. An active dealer market may exist for CLOs and CDOs that can be resold in Rule 144A transactions, but there can be no assurance that such a market will exist or will be active enough for the Fund to sell such securities. The Fund’s investments in (i) CLOs, (ii) CDOs, and (iii) warehouses, which are financing structures created prior to and in anticipation of CLO or CDO closings and issuing securities and are intended to aggregate direct loans, corporate loans and/or other debt obligations that may be used to form the basis of CLO or CDO vehicles (“Warehouses”), in each case structured as 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) funds, are not included for purposes of the Fund’s 15% limitation on private investment funds.

In addition to the typical risks associated with fixed-income securities and asset-backed securities, CLOs and CDOs carry other risks including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the risk that the collateral may default, decline in value or quality, or be downgraded by a rating agency; (iii) the Fund may invest in tranches of CLOs and CDOs that are subordinate to other tranches, diminishing the likelihood of payment; (iv) the structure and complexity of the transaction and the legal documents could lead to disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results; (v) risk of forced “fire sale” liquidation due to technical defaults such as coverage test failures; and (vi) the manager of the CLO or CDO may perform poorly.

Structured Products. The CLOs and other CDOs in which the Fund may invest are structured products. Holders of structured products bear risks of the underlying assets and are subject to counterparty risk.

The Fund may have the right to receive payments only from the structured product and generally does not have direct rights against the issuer or the entity that sold the assets to be securitized. While certain structured products enable the investor to acquire interests in a pool of securities without the brokerage and other expenses associated with directly holding the same securities, investors in structured products generally pay their share of the structured product’s administrative and other expenses. Although it is difficult to predict whether the prices of assets underlying structured products will rise or fall, these prices (and, therefore, the prices of structured products) will be influenced by the same types of political and economic events that affect issuers of securities and capital markets generally. If

 

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the issuer of a structured product uses shorter-term financing to purchase longer-term securities, the issuer may be forced to sell its securities at below-market prices if it experiences difficulty in obtaining short-term financing, which may adversely affect the value of the structured products owned by the Fund.

Certain structured products may be thinly traded or have a limited trading market. CLOs, CDOs and credit-linked notes are typically privately offered and sold. As a result, investments in structured products may be characterized by the Fund as illiquid securities. In addition to the general risks associated with fixed-income securities, structured products carry additional risks, including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the quality of the collateral may decline in value or default; (iii) the possibility that the investments in structured products are subordinate to other classes or tranches thereof; and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment and may produce disputes with the issuer or unexpected investment results.

Distressed Securities. Certain of the companies in whose securities the Fund may invest may be in transition, out of favor, financially leveraged or troubled, or potentially troubled, and may be or have recently been involved in major strategic actions, restructurings, bankruptcy, reorganization or liquidation. The characteristics of these companies can cause their securities to be particularly risky, although they also may offer the potential for high returns. These companies’ securities may be considered speculative, and the ability of the companies to pay their debts on schedule could be affected by adverse interest rate movements, changes in the general economic factors affecting a particular industry or specific developments within the companies. Such investments can result in significant or even total losses. In addition, the markets for distressed investment assets are frequently illiquid. Also, among the risks inherent in investments in a troubled issuer is that it frequently may be difficult to obtain information as to the true financial condition of such issuer. The Advisers’ judgment about the credit quality of a financially distressed issuer and the relative value of its securities may prove to be wrong.

In liquidation (both in and out of bankruptcy) and other forms of corporate reorganization, there exists the risk that the reorganization either will be unsuccessful (due to, for example, failure to obtain requisite approvals), will be delayed (for example, until various liabilities, actual or contingent, have been satisfied) or will result in a distribution of cash or a new security the value of which will be less than the purchase price to the Fund of the security in respect to which such distribution was made. Consequently, the Fund will be subject to significant uncertainty as to when, and in what manner, and for what value obligations evidenced by securities of financially distressed issuers will eventually be satisfied (e.g., through a liquidation of the issuer’s assets, an exchange offer or plan of reorganization, or a payment of some amount in satisfaction of the obligation). In certain transactions, the Fund may not be “hedged” against market fluctuations, or, in liquidation situations, may not accurately value the assets of the company being liquidated. This can result in losses, even if the proposed transaction is consummated.

Default Risk. The ability of the Fund to generate income through its loan investments is dependent upon payments being made by the borrower underlying such loan investments. If a borrower is unable to make its payments on a loan, the Fund may be greatly limited in its ability to recover any outstanding principal and interest under such loan.

A portion of the loans in which the Fund may invest will not be secured by any collateral, will not be guaranteed or insured by a third party and will not be backed by any governmental authority. The Fund may need to rely on the collection efforts of third parties, which also may be limited in their ability to collect on defaulted loans. The Fund may not have direct recourse against borrowers, may not be able to contact a borrower about a loan and may not be able to pursue borrowers to collect payment under loans. To the extent a loan is secured, there can be no assurance as to the amount of any funds that may be realized from recovering and liquidating any collateral or the timing of such recovery and liquidation and hence there is no assurance that sufficient funds (or, possibly, any funds) will be available to offset any payment defaults that occur under the loans. Loans are credit obligations of the borrowers and the terms of certain loans may not restrict the borrowers from incurring additional debt. If a borrower incurs additional debt after obtaining a loan through a platform, the additional debt may adversely affect the borrower’s creditworthiness generally, and could result in the financial distress, insolvency or bankruptcy of the borrower. This circumstance would ultimately impair the ability of that borrower to make payments on its loans and the Fund’s ability to receive the principal and interest payments that it expects to receive on such loan. To the extent borrowers incur other indebtedness that is secured, the ability of the secured creditors to exercise remedies against the assets of that borrower may impair the borrower’s ability to repay its loans, or it may impair a third party’s ability to collect, on

 

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behalf of the Fund, on the loan upon default. To the extent that a loan is unsecured, borrowers may choose to repay obligations under other indebtedness (such as loans obtained from traditional lending sources) before repaying an unsecured loan because the borrowers have no collateral at risk. The Fund will not be made aware of any additional debt incurred by a borrower or whether such debt is secured.

If a borrower files for bankruptcy, any pending collection actions will automatically be put on hold and further collection action will not be permitted absent court approval. It is possible that a borrower’s liability on its loan will be discharged in bankruptcy. In most cases involving the bankruptcy of a borrower with an unsecured loan, unsecured creditors will receive only a fraction of any amount outstanding on the loan, if anything.

Secured Debt. Secured debt holds the most senior position in the capital structure of a borrower. Secured debt in most circumstances is fully collateralized by assets of the borrower. Thus, it is generally repaid before unsecured bank loans, corporate bonds, subordinated debt, trade creditors, and preferred or common stockholders. However, there is a risk that the collateral securing the Fund’s loans may decrease in value over time, may be difficult to sell in a timely manner, may be difficult to appraise, and may fluctuate in value based upon the success of the business and market conditions, including as a result of the inability of the borrower to raise additional capital. Also, substantial increases in interest rates may cause an increase in loan defaults as borrowers may lack resources to meet higher debt service requirements. In some circumstances, the Fund’s security interest could be subordinated to claims of other creditors. In addition, any deterioration in a borrower’s financial condition and prospects, including any inability on its part to raise additional capital, may result in the deterioration in the value of the related collateral. Consequently, the fact that debt is secured does not guarantee that the Fund will receive principal and interest payments according to the investment terms or at all, or that the Fund will be able to collect on the investment should the Fund be forced to enforce its remedies. Moreover, the security for the Fund’s investments in secured debt may not be recognized for a variety of reasons, including the failure to make required filings by lenders, trustees or other responsible parties and, as a result, the Fund may not have priority over other creditors as anticipated.

Secured debt usually includes restrictive covenants, which must be maintained by the borrower. The Fund may have an obligation with respect to certain senior secured term loan investments to make additional loans, including delayed draw term loans and revolving facilities, upon demand by the borrower. Such instruments, unlike certain bonds, usually do not have call protection. This means that such interests, while having a stated term, may be prepaid, often without penalty. The rate of such prepayments may be affected by, among other things, general business and economic conditions, as well as the financial status of the borrower. Prepayment would cause the actual duration of a senior loan to be shorter than its stated maturity.

Secured debt typically will be secured by pledges of collateral from the borrower in the form of tangible and intangible assets. In some instances, the Fund may invest in secured debt that is secured only by stock of the borrower or its Subsidiaries or affiliates. The value of the collateral may decline below the principal amount of the senior secured term loans subsequent to an investment by the Fund.

Unsecured Loans. The Fund may make unsecured loans to borrowers, meaning that such loans will not benefit from any interest in collateral of such borrowers. Liens on such a borrower’s collateral, if any, will secure the borrower’s obligations under its outstanding secured debt and may secure certain future debt that is permitted to be incurred by the borrower under its secured loan agreements. The holders of obligations secured by such liens will generally control the liquidation of, and be entitled to receive proceeds from, any realization of such collateral to repay their obligations in full before the Fund. In addition, the value of such collateral in the event of liquidation will depend on market and economic conditions, the availability of buyers and other factors. There can be no assurance that the proceeds, if any, from sales of such collateral would be sufficient to satisfy the Fund’s unsecured loan obligations after payment in full of all secured loan obligations. If such proceeds were not sufficient to repay the outstanding secured loan obligations, then the Fund’s unsecured claims generally would rank equally with the unpaid portion of such secured creditors’ claims against the borrower’s remaining assets, if any.

Equity Investments. When the Fund invests in loans and debt securities, the Fund may acquire warrants or other equity securities of borrowers as well. The Fund may also invest in warrants and equity securities directly. To the extent the Fund holds equity investments, the Fund will attempt to dispose of them and realize gains upon the disposition of such equity investments. However, the equity interests the Fund receives may not appreciate in value and may decline in value. As a result, the Fund may not be able to realize gains from its equity interests, and any gains that the Fund does realize on the disposition of any equity interests may not be sufficient to offset any other losses the Fund experiences.

 

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Warrants are securities that give the holder the right, but not the obligation, to purchase equity securities of the company issuing the warrants, or a related company, at a fixed price either on a date certain or during a set period. The price of a warrant tends to be more volatile than, and may not correlate exactly to, the price of the underlying security. If the market price of the underlying security is below the exercise price of the warrant on its expiration date, the warrant will generally expire without value. Investing in warrants can provide a greater potential for profit or loss than an equivalent investment in the underlying security, and, thus, can be a speculative investment. The value of a warrant may decline because of a decline in the value of the underlying security, the passage of time, changes in interest rates or in the dividend or other policies of the company whose equity underlies the warrant or a change in the perception as to the future price of the underlying security, or any combination thereof. Warrants do not carry with them the right to dividends or voting rights with respect to the securities that they entitle the holder to purchase, and they do not represent any rights in the assets of the issuer.

Private Investment Funds Risk. The Fund may invest in private Investment Funds that are not registered as investment companies. As a result, the Fund as an investor in these funds would not have the benefit of certain protections afforded to investors in registered investment companies. The Fund may not have the same amount of information about the identity, value, or performance of the private ‘Investment Funds’ investments as such private ‘Investment Funds’ managers. Investments in private Investment Funds generally will be illiquid and generally may not be transferred without the consent of the fund. The Fund may be unable to liquidate its investment in a private Investment Fund when desired (and may incur losses as a result), or may be required to sell such investment regardless of whether it desires to do so. Upon its withdrawal of all or a portion of its interest in a private Investment Fund, the Fund may receive securities that are illiquid or difficult to value. The Fund may not be able to withdraw from a private Investment Fund except at certain designated times, thereby limiting the ability of the Fund to withdraw assets from the private fund due to poor performance or other reasons. The fees paid by private Investment Funds to their advisers and general partners or managing members often are higher than those paid by registered funds and generally include a percentage of gains. The Fund will bear its proportionate share of the management fees and other expenses that are charged by a private Investment Fund in addition to the management fees and other expenses paid by the Fund.

Investment Fund Risk. The Fund will incur higher and duplicative expenses, including advisory fees, when it invests in shares of mutual funds (including money market funds), BDCs, closed-end funds, ETFs and other registered and private investment funds (“Investment Funds”). There is also the risk that the Fund may suffer losses due to the investment practices of the Investment Funds (such as the use of derivatives). The ETFs in which the Fund invests that attempt to track an index may not be able to replicate exactly the performance of the indices they track, due to transactions costs and other expenses of the ETFs. The existence of extreme market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for an ETF’s shares could result in such shares trading at a significant premium or discount to their NAV. The shares of listed closed-end funds may also frequently trade at a discount to their NAV. There can be no assurance that the market discount on shares of any closed-end fund purchased by the Fund will ever decrease, and it is possible that the discount may increase.

The SEC adopted revisions to the rules permitting funds to invest in other investment companies to streamline and enhance the regulatory framework applicable to fund of funds arrangements. While Rule 12d1-4 permits more types of fund of fund arrangements without reliance on an exemptive order or no-action letters, it imposes certain conditions, including limits on control and voting of acquired funds’ shares, evaluations and findings by investment advisers, fund investment agreements, and limits on most three-tier fund structures. The requirements of Rule 12d1-4 have been implemented by the Fund with respect to its fund of funds arrangements.

Secondary Investments Risks. The performance of the Fund’s secondary investments will be influenced, in part, by the acquisition price paid, which can be determined through negotiations relying on incomplete or imperfect information. There is a risk that investors who exit a co-investment or an investment fund through a secondary transaction may have access to superior knowledge regarding the value of their investment. As a result, the Fund may end up paying a higher price for a secondary investment compared to what it would have paid if it had the same information. In certain instances, the Fund may acquire certain secondary investments as a portfolio, and in such situations, it may not be feasible for the Fund to selectively exclude investments that the Advisers deem less appealing due to commercial, tax, legal, or other considerations. When the Fund acquires a secondary investment fund, it is typically not empowered to make modifications or amendments to the constituent documents (e.g., limited partnership agreements) of that secondary investment fund. Additionally, the Fund usually does not have the authority to negotiate the economic terms of the interests it is acquiring except with regard to the acquisition price paid which is negotiated directly with and affected to the sellers of such positions, rather than the underlying general partner of said investment

 

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fund(s). Furthermore, it is important to note that the costs and resources necessary for investigating the commercial, tax, and legal aspects of secondary investments may be higher compared to those associated with primary investments. When the Fund acquires a secondary investment fund, it may also assume contingent liabilities related to that interest. Specifically, if the seller of the interest has previously received distributions from the relevant secondary investment fund and, subsequently, the secondary investment fund demands the return of any portion of those distributions, the Fund (as the purchaser of the interest) may be obliged to pay an equivalent amount to the secondary investment fund. While the Fund may have the option to seek reimbursement from the seller for any funds paid to the secondary investment fund, there is no guarantee that the Fund would possess such a right or succeed in such a claim.

Lack Of Control Over Private Investment Funds And Other Portfolio Investments. Once the Fund has invested in a private investment fund or other similar investment vehicle, the Advisers generally will have no control over the investment decisions made by such investment fund. The Advisers may be constrained by the withdrawal limitations imposed by private investment funds, which may restrict the Fund’s ability to terminate investments in private investment funds that are performing poorly or have otherwise had adverse changes. The Advisers will be dependent on information provided by the private investment funds, including quarterly unaudited financial statements, which if inaccurate, could adversely affect the Adviser’s ability to manage the Fund’s investment portfolio in accordance with its investment objectives and/or the Fund’s ability to calculate its net asset value accurately. By investing in the Fund, a Shareholder will not be deemed to be an investor in any investment fund and will not have the ability to exercise any rights attributable to an investor in any such investment fund related to their investment.

Illiquid Portfolio Investments. The Fund is expected to invest in securities that are subject to legal or other restrictions on transfer or for which no liquid market exists. The market prices, if any, for such securities may be volatile and the Fund may not be able to sell them when the Advisers desires to do so or to realize what the Advisers perceives to be their fair value in the event of a sale. The sale of restricted and illiquid securities often requires more time and results in higher brokerage charges or dealer discounts and other selling expenses than does the sale of securities eligible for trading on national securities exchanges or in the over the counter markets. Restricted securities may sell at prices that are lower than similar securities that are not subject to restrictions on resale.

Investors acquiring direct loans hoping to recoup their entire principal must generally hold their loans through maturity. Direct loans may not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and are not listed on any securities exchange. Accordingly, those loan investments may not be transferred unless they are first registered under the Securities Act and all applicable state or foreign securities laws or the transfer qualifies for an exemption from such registration. A reliable secondary market has yet to develop, nor may one ever develop for direct loans and, as such, these investments should be considered illiquid. Until an active secondary market develops, the Fund intends to primarily hold its direct loans until maturity. The Fund may not be able to sell any of its direct loans even under circumstances when the Advisers believes it would be in the best interests of the Fund to sell such investments. In such circumstances, the overall returns to the Fund from its direct loans may be adversely affected. Moreover, certain direct loans may be subject to certain additional significant restrictions on transferability. Although the Fund may attempt to increase its liquidity by borrowing from a bank or other institution, its assets may not readily be accepted as collateral for such borrowing.

Lender Liability Considerations And Equitable Subordination. A number of U.S. judicial decisions have upheld judgments obtained by borrowers against lending institutions on the basis of various evolving legal theories, collectively termed “lender liability.” Generally, lender liability is founded on the premise that a lender has violated a duty (whether implied or contractual) of good faith, commercial reasonableness and fair dealing, or a similar duty owed to the borrower or has assumed an excessive degree of control over the borrower resulting in the creation of a fiduciary duty owed to the borrower or its other creditors or shareholders. Because of the nature of its investments, the Fund may be subject to allegations of lender liability.

In addition, under common law principles that in some cases form the basis for lender liability claims, if a lender or bondholder (a) intentionally takes an action that results in the undercapitalization of a borrower to the detriment of other creditors of such borrower, (b) engages in other inequitable conduct to the detriment of such other creditors, (c) engages in fraud with respect to, or makes misrepresentations to, such other creditors or (d) uses its influence as s stockholder to dominate or control a borrower to the detriment of other creditors of such borrower, a court may elect to subordinate the claim of the offending lender or bondholder to the claims of the disadvantaged creditor or creditors, a remedy called “equitable subordination.”

 

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Because affiliates of, or persons related to, the Advisers may hold equity or other interests in obligors of the Fund, the Fund could be exposed to claims for equitable subordination or lender liability or both based on such equity or other holdings.

Risks Associated with Changes in Reference Rates. Certain of the Fund’s investments, payment obligations and financing terms may be based on floating interest rates, such as the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), the Euro Interbank Offer Rate (“EURIBOR”), the Sterling Overnight Interbank Average Rate (“SONIA”), the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), rates derived from SOFR, such as the SOFR Averages (“SOFR Averages”) published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (“FRBNY”), rates determined with reference to markets related to SOFR, such as the CME Term SOFR Rates (“Term SOFR”) published by the CME Group, and other similar types of reference rates (“Reference Rates”).

As a result of supervisory guidance and requirements of law, regulated entities have generally ceased investing in LIBOR contracts. Moreover, most LIBOR settings have ceased to be published. Some LIBOR settings continue to be published but only on a temporary, synthetic and non-representative basis. All such synthetic LIBOR settings are expected to be discontinued by September 30, 2024. When publication ceases of applicable synthetic LIBOR settings, any still outstanding instruments or investments using synthetic LIBOR settings are expected to transition to alternative floating rate Reference Rates. On March 15, 2022, the Consolidation Appropriations Act of 2022, which includes the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act (“LIBOR Act”), was signed into law in the United States. This legislation established a uniform benchmark replacement process for certain financial contracts that mature after June 30, 2023 that do not contain clearly defined or practicable LIBOR fallback provisions. The legislation also created a safe harbor that shields lenders from litigation if they choose to utilize a replacement rate provided for in the LIBOR Act. Many legacy LIBOR contracts have been transitioned away from LIBOR either as a result of contractual fallbacks, negotiated amendments or as a result of the LIBOR Act. Some legacy contracts continue to use synthetic LIBOR. The expected discontinuance of synthetic LIBOR may require the Fund to renegotiate credit agreements that continue to use synthetic LIBOR with the Fund’s portfolio companies, in order to replace synthetic LIBOR with an alternative Reference Rate, which may have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to receive attractive returns.

Although the transition process away from LIBOR has become increasingly well-defined in advance of LIBOR’s anticipated discontinuation date, there remains uncertainty regarding the future utilization of LIBOR and the nature of any replacement Reference Rate with respect to LIBOR. Synthetic LIBOR, which is largely determined by reference to Term SOFR plus a credit spread adjustment, is likely to perform differently than LIBOR has in the past and, ultimately, is expected to cease to exist as a global benchmark going forwSard. With regards to replacement Reference Rates for LIBOR, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a group of large U.S. banks working with the Federal Reserve, announced in 2017 its selection of SOFR, which is intended to be a broad measure of secured overnight U.S. Treasury repo rates and certain other related Reference Rates such as the SOFR Averages or Term SOFR, as appropriate replacements for LIBOR. Similarly, bank working groups and regulators in other countries have suggested other alternatives for their markets, including the SONIA in England. No alternative Reference Rate may become generally accepted and regularly implemented in the market in the same way that LIBOR was.

The elimination of a Reference Rate, including LIBOR, or any other changes or reforms to the determination or supervision of Reference Rates could have an adverse impact on the market for, or value of, any securities or payments linked to those Reference Rates. The potential effect of a transition away from any Reference Rate, including LIBOR, on the Fund or the financial instruments in which the Fund may invest may not be able to be determined in advance, but will depend on a variety of factors, including (i) existing fallback or termination provisions in individual contracts and (ii) whether, how, and when industry participants develop and adopt new Reference Rates for both legacy and new products and instruments. Any substitute Reference Rate and any pricing adjustments imposed by a regulator or by counterparties or otherwise may adversely affect the Fund’s performance and/or net asset value. The Fund’s business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely impacted by the market transition or reform of certain Reference Rates, including LIBOR. There can be no assurances that the Fund will be able to manage its business in a profitable manner before, during or after any Reference Rate transition, such as the pending transition with respect to LIBOR.

SOFR Risk. SOFR and other related Reference Rates such as SOFR Averages and Term SOFR may perform differently than LIBOR and other Reference Rates. SOFR and related Reference Rates such as SOFR Averages and

 

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Term SOFR are fundamentally different from LIBOR. LIBOR was intended to be an unsecured rate that represents interbank funding costs for different short-term maturities or tenors. LIBOR was a forward-looking rate reflecting expectations regarding interest rates for the applicable tenor. Thus, LIBOR was intended to be sensitive, in certain respects, to bank credit risk and to term interest rate risk. In contrast, SOFR and related Reference Rates such as SOFR Averages and Term SOFR are largely insensitive the same sort of credit-risk considerations and to short-term interest rate risks. SOFR, for example, is intended to be a broad measure of the cost of borrowing funds overnight in transactions that are collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities. SOFR has also been more volatile at times compared to other Reference Rates like LIBOR. For these reasons, among others, there is no assurance that SOFR, or related rates such as SOFR Averages and Term SOFR, will perform in the same or similar way as LIBOR would have performed at any time, and there is no assurance that such SOFR-based rates will be a suitable substitute for LIBOR. All SOFR-related rates have a limited history, SOFR having been first published in April 2018. The future performance of SOFR, and SOFR-related rates, cannot be predicted based on SOFR’s history or otherwise. Levels of SOFR in the future, including following the discontinuation of LIBOR, may bear little or no relation to historical levels of SOFR, LIBOR or other rates.

Force Majeure Risk. Issuers may be affected by force majeure events (i.e., events beyond the control of the party claiming that the event has occurred, including, without limitation, acts of God, fire, flood, earthquakes, outbreaks of an infectious disease, pandemic or any other serious public health concern, war, terrorism and labor strikes). Some force majeure events may adversely affect the ability of a party (including an issuer or a counterparty to the Fund or an issuer) to perform its obligations until it is able to remedy the force majeure event. In addition, the cost to an issuer or the Fund of repairing or replacing damaged assets resulting from such force majeure event could be considerable. Certain force majeure events (such as war or an outbreak of an infectious disease) could have a broader negative impact on the world economy and international business activity generally, or in any of the countries in which the Fund may invest specifically. Additionally, a major governmental intervention into industry, including the nationalization of an industry or the assertion of control over one or more issuers or its assets, could result in a loss to the Fund, including if its investment in such issuer is canceled, unwound or acquired (which could be without what the Fund considers to be adequate compensation). Any of the foregoing may therefore adversely affect the performance of the Fund and its investments.

Valuation of the Fund’s Interests in Investment Funds. The valuation of the Fund’s investments in Investment Funds is ordinarily determined based upon valuations provided by the investment managers on a quarterly basis. Although such valuations are provided on a quarterly basis, the Fund will provide valuations, and will issue Shares, on a daily basis. A large percentage of the securities in which the Fund invests will not have a readily ascertainable market price and will be fair valued by the investment manager. In this regard, an investment manager may face a conflict of interest in valuing the securities, as their value may affect the investment manager’s compensation or its ability to raise additional funds. No assurances can be given regarding the valuation methodology or the sufficiency of systems utilized by any investment manager, the accuracy of the valuations provided by the investment managers, that the investment managers will comply with their own internal policies or procedures for keeping records or making valuations, or that the investment managers’ policies and procedures and systems will not change without notice to the Fund. As a result, an investment manager’s valuation of the securities may fail to match the amount ultimately realized with respect to the disposition of such securities.

An investment manager’s information could also be inaccurate due to fraudulent activity, mis-valuation or inadvertent error. The Fund may not uncover errors in valuation for a significant period of time, if ever.

Valuations Subject to Adjustment. The Fund determines its NAV daily based upon the quarterly valuations reported by the investment managers, which may not reflect market or other events occurring subsequent to the quarter-end. The Fund will fair value its holdings in Investment Funds to reflect such events, consistent with its valuation policies; however, there is no guarantee the Fund will correctly fair value such investments. Additionally, the valuations reported by investment managers may be subject to later adjustment or revision. For example, fiscal year-end NAV calculations of the Investment Funds may be revised as a result of audits by their independent auditors. Other adjustments may occur from time to time. Because such adjustments or revisions, whether increasing or decreasing the NAV of the Fund, and therefore the Fund, at the time they occur, relate to information available only at the time of the adjustment or revision, the adjustment or revision may not affect the amount of the repurchase proceeds of the Fund received by Shareholders who had their Shares repurchased prior to such adjustments and received their repurchase proceeds. As a result, to the extent that such subsequently adjusted valuations from the

 

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investment managers or revisions to the NAV of an Investment Fund adversely affect the Fund’s NAV, the remaining outstanding Shares may be adversely affected by prior repurchases to the benefit of Shareholders who had their Shares repurchased at a NAV higher than the adjusted amount. Conversely, any increases in the NAV resulting from such subsequently adjusted valuations may be entirely for the benefit of the outstanding Shares and to the detriment of Shareholders who previously had their Shares repurchased at a NAV lower than the adjusted amount. The same principles apply to the purchase of Shares. New Shareholders may be affected in a similar way.

Commitment Strategy. The Fund may maintain a sizeable cash position in anticipation of funding capital calls. The Fund will be required to make incremental contributions pursuant to capital calls issued from time to time by Investment Funds. The overall impact on performance due to holding a portion of the investment portfolio in cash or cash equivalents could be negative.

The Fund will employ an “over-commitment” strategy, which could result in an insufficient cash supply to fund unfunded commitments to Investment Funds. Such a short fall would have negative impacts on the Fund, including an adverse impact on the Fund’s ability to pay for redemptions of Shares by Shareholders, pay distributions or to meet expenses generally. Moreover, if the Fund defaults on its unfunded commitments or fails to satisfy capital calls in a timely manner then, generally, it will be subject to significant penalties, including the complete forfeiture of the Fund’s investment in the Investment Fund. Any failure by the Fund to make timely capital contributions in respect of its unfunded commitments may (i) impair the ability of the Fund to pursue its investment program, (ii) force the Fund to borrow, indirectly cause the Fund, and, indirectly, the Shareholders to be subject to certain penalties from the Investment Funds (including the complete forfeiture of the Fund’s investment in an Investment Fund), or (iv) otherwise impair the value of the Fund’s investments (including the devaluation of the Fund).

Allocation Risk. StepStone Group advises clients and sponsors, administers, manages and/or advises traditional and non-traditional investment funds and investment programs, accounts and businesses (collectively, together with any new or successor funds, programs, accounts or businesses, the “Related Investment Accounts”). Certain Related Investment Accounts may have investment objectives and/or utilize investment strategies that are similar or comparable to those of the Fund (the “Related Funds”). As a result, certain investments may be appropriate for the Fund and also for other Related Investment Accounts.

Decisions as to the allocation of investment opportunities among the Fund and other Related Investment Accounts present numerous inherent conflicts of interest, particularly where an investment opportunity has limited availability. In order to address these conflicts of interest, StepStone Group adopted allocation policies and procedures that were designed to require that all investment allocation decisions made by the investment team are being made fairly and equitably among Related Investment Accounts over time.

Subject to applicable law, StepStone Group will allocate opportunities among the Fund and the Related Investment Accounts in its sole discretion. StepStone Group will determine such allocations among its Related Investment Accounts in its sole discretion in accordance with their respective guidelines and based on such factors and considerations as it deems appropriate. Subject to the foregoing and the paragraph below, available capacity with respect to each investment opportunity generally will be allocated among the various Related Investment Accounts for which the investment has been approved pro rata.

The 1940 Act imposes significant limits on co-investments with affiliates of the Fund. The Advisers and the Fund have obtained an exemptive order from the SEC that permits the Fund to co-invest alongside its affiliates in privately negotiated investments. However, the SEC exemptive order contains certain conditions that limit or restrict the Fund’s ability to participate in such transactions, including, without limitation, where StepStone Group’s advised funds have an existing investment in the operating company or Investment Fund. Additionally, third parties, such as the investment managers of primary investments, may not prioritize an allocation to the Fund when faced with a more established pool of capital also competing for allocation. Ultimately, an inability to receive the desired allocation to certain Private Credit and Income investments could represent a risk to the Fund’s ability to achieve the desired investment returns. See “Investment Program — StepStone Group’s Allocation Policy.”

Non-Diversified Status. The Fund is a “non-diversified” investment company for purposes of the 1940 Act, which means that it is not subject to percentage limitations under the 1940 Act on the percentage of its assets that may be invested in the securities of any one issuer. The Fund’s NAV may therefore be subject to greater volatility than that of an investment company that is subject to such a limitation on diversification. In addition, while the Fund is a “non-

 

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diversified” fund for purposes of the 1940 Act, the Fund intends to maintain its qualification to be treated as a RIC under the Code. To qualify as a RIC under the Code, the Fund must, among other things, diversify its holdings so that, at the end of each quarter of each taxable year, (A) at least 50% of the market value of the Fund’s assets is represented by cash, cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other regulated investment companies and other securities, with such other securities of any one issuer limited for the purposes of this calculation to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets and 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer and (B) not more than 25% of the market value of the Fund’s total assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities and the securities of other regulated investment companies) of (1) any one issuer, (2) any two or more issuers that the Fund controls and that are determined to be engaged in the same business or similar or related trades or businesses, or (3) any one or more “qualified publicly traded partnerships.” As such, the Advisers typically endeavor to limit the Fund’s investments in any one issuer to no more than 25% of the Fund’s gross assets (measured at the time of purchase).

Participation On Creditors’ Committees And Boards Of Directors. The Advisers or their affiliates, on behalf of the Fund or of other funds or accounts they manage, may participate on committees formed by creditors to negotiate with the management of financially troubled companies that may or may not be in bankruptcy. The Advisers may also seek to negotiate directly with debtors with respect to restructuring issues. In the situation where a representative of the Advisers choose to join a creditors’ committee, the representative would likely be only one of many participants, each of whom would be interested in obtaining an outcome that is in its individual best interest. There can be no assurance that the representative would be successful in obtaining results most favorable to the Fund in such proceedings, although the representative may incur significant legal fees and other expenses in attempting to do so. As a result of participation by the representative on such committees, the representative may be deemed to have duties to other creditors represented by the committees, which might thereby expose the Fund to liability to such other creditors who disagree with the representative’s actions.

Need For Follow-On Investments. Following an initial investment in a portfolio company, the Fund may make additional investments in that portfolio company as “follow-on” investments, including exercising warrants, options or convertible securities that were acquired in the original or subsequent financing; in seeking to: (i) increase or maintain in whole or in part the Fund’s position as a creditor or the Fund’s equity ownership percentage in a portfolio company; or (ii) preserve or enhance the value of the Fund’s investment. The Fund has discretion to make follow-on investments, subject to the availability of capital resources. Failure to make follow-on investments may, in some circumstances, jeopardize the continued viability of an underlying portfolio company and the Fund’s initial investment, or may result in a missed opportunity for the Fund to increase its participation in a successful operation. Even if the Fund has sufficient capital to make a desired follow-on investment, the Advisers may elect not to make a follow-on investment because the Advisers may not want to increase the Fund’s level of risk or because the Advisers prefer other opportunities for the Fund.

Preferred Securities. The Fund may invest in preferred securities. There are various risks associated with investing in preferred securities, including credit risk, interest rate risk, deferral and omission of distributions, subordination to bonds and other debt securities in a company’s capital structure, limited liquidity, limited voting rights and special redemption rights. Interest rate risk is, in general, the risk that the price of a debt security falls when interest rates rise. Securities with longer maturities tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer of a security may not be able to make principal and interest or dividend payments on the security as they become due. Holders of preferred securities may not receive dividends, or the payment can be deferred for some period of time. In bankruptcy, creditors are generally paid before the holders of preferred securities.

Convertible Securities. The Fund may invest in convertible securities. Convertible securities are hybrid securities that have characteristics of both bonds and common stocks and are subject to risks associated with both debt securities and equity securities. Convertible securities are similar to fixed-income securities because they usually pay a fixed interest rate (or dividend) and are obligated to repay principal on a given date in the future. The market value of fixed-income and preferred securities tends to decline as interest rates increase and tends to increase as interest rates decline. Convertible securities have characteristics of a fixed-income security and are particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates when their conversion value is lower than the value of the bond or preferred share. Fixed-income and preferred securities also are subject to credit risk, which is the risk that an issuer of a security may not be able to make principal and interest or dividend payments on the security as they become due. In addition, the Fund may invest in fixed-income and preferred securities rated less than investment grade that are sometimes referred to as high yield. These securities are speculative investments that carry greater risks and are more susceptible to real or perceived

 

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adverse economic and competitive industry conditions than higher quality securities. Fixed-income and preferred securities also may be subject to prepayment or redemption risk. If a convertible security held by the Fund is called for redemption, the Fund will be required to surrender the security for redemption, convert it into the issuing company’s common stock or cash or sell it to a third party at a time that may be unfavorable to the Fund. Such securities also may be subject to resale restrictions. The lack of a liquid market for these securities could decrease the Fund’s share price. Convertible securities with a conversion value that is the same as the value of the bond or preferred share have characteristics similar to common stocks. The price of equity securities may rise or fall because of economic or political changes. Stock prices in general may decline over short or even extended periods of time. Market prices of equity securities in broad market segments may be adversely affected by a prominent issuer having experienced losses or by the lack of earnings or such an issuer’s failure to meet the market’s expectations with respect to new products or services, or even by factors wholly unrelated to the value or condition of the issuer, such as changes in interest rates.

Derivative Instruments. The Fund may use options, swaps, futures contracts, forward agreements, reverse repurchase agreements and other similar transactions. The Fund’s derivative investments have risks, including the imperfect correlation between the value of such instruments and the underlying asset, rate or index, which creates the possibility that the loss on such instruments may be greater than the gain in the value of the underlying asset, rate or index; the loss of principal; the possible default of the other party to the transaction; and illiquidity of the derivative investments. If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations under a derivative contract due to financial difficulties, the Fund may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery under the derivative contract in a bankruptcy or other reorganization proceeding, or may not recover at all. In addition, in the event of the insolvency of a counterparty to a derivative transaction, the derivative contract would typically be terminated at its fair market value. If the Fund is owed this fair market value in the termination of the derivative contract and its claim is unsecured, the Fund will be treated as a general creditor of such counterparty and will not have any claim with respect to the underlying security. Certain of the derivative investments in which the Fund may invest may, in certain circumstances, give rise to a form of financial leverage, which may magnify the risk of owning such instruments. The ability to successfully use derivative investments depends on the ability of the Advisers to predict pertinent market movements, which cannot be assured. In addition, amounts paid by the Fund as premiums and cash or other assets held in margin accounts with respect to the Fund’s derivative investments would not be available to the Fund for other investment purposes, which may result in lost opportunities for gain.

Rule 18f-4 under the Investment Company Act permits a fund to enter into derivatives transactions (as defined below) and certain other transactions notwithstanding the restrictions on the issuance of senior securities contained in Section 18 of the Investment Company Act, provided that the fund complies with the conditions of the Rule. The fund’s use of derivatives transactions and other similar instruments is generally subject to a value-at-risk leverage limit, derivatives risk management program, and reporting requirements under Rule 18f-4 unless the fund qualifies as a “limited derivatives user” as defined in the rule or the fund’s use of such an instrument satisfies the conditions of certain exemptions under the rule. Derivatives, reverse repurchase agreements and other such instruments may represent a form of economic leverage and create special risks. The use of these forms of leverage increases the volatility of the fund’s investment portfolio and could result in larger losses to shareholders than if these strategies were not used.

Under Rule 18f-4, “Derivatives Transactions” include the following: (1) any swap, security-based swap (including a contract for differences), futures contract, forward contract, option (excluding purchased options), any combination of the foregoing, or any similar instrument, under which a fund is or may be required to make any payment or delivery of cash or other assets during the life of the instrument or at maturity or early termination, whether as margin or settlement payment or otherwise; (2) any short sale borrowing; (3) reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions (e.g., recourse and non-recourse tender option bonds, and borrowed bonds), if a fund elects to treat these transactions as Derivatives Transactions under Rule 18f-4; and (4) when-issued or forward-settling securities (e.g., firm and standby commitments, including to-be-announced (“TBA”) commitments, and dollar rolls) and non-standard settlement cycle securities, unless the fund intends to physically settle the transaction and the transaction will settle within 35 days of its trade date (the “Delayed-Settlement Securities Provision”). The ultimate impact of the new rule remains unclear, but it may limit the Fund’s ability to engage in derivatives transactions and/or increase the costs of such transactions.

 

   

Foreign Currency Forwards. Forward foreign currency contracts do not eliminate fluctuations in the value of non-U.S. securities but rather allow the Fund to establish a fixed rate of exchange for a future point in

 

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time. This strategy can have the effect of reducing returns and minimizing opportunities for gain. In order to execute such an agreement, the Fund would contract with a foreign or domestic bank, or foreign or domestic securities dealer, to make or take future delivery of a specified amount of a particular currency. There are no limitations on daily price moves in such forward contracts, and banks and dealers are not required to continue to make markets in such contracts. There have been periods during which certain banks or dealers have refused to quote prices for such forward contracts or have quoted prices with an unusually widespread between the price at which the bank or dealer is prepared to buy and that at which it is prepared to sell. Governmental imposition of credit controls might limit any such forward contract trading. With respect to its trading of forward contracts, if any, the Fund will be subject to the risk of bank or dealer failure and the inability of, or refusal by, a bank or dealer to perform with respect to such contracts. Any such default would deprive the Fund of any profit potential or force the Fund to cover its commitments for resale, if any, at the then market price and could result in a loss to the Fund.

 

   

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. Reverse repurchase agreements involve the risk that the buyer of the securities sold by the Fund might be unable to deliver them when the Fund seeks to repurchase. In the event that the buyer of securities under a reverse repurchase agreement files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, the buyer, trustee or receiver may receive an extension of time to determine whether to enforce the Fund’s obligation to repurchase the securities, and the Fund’s use of the proceeds of the reverse repurchase agreement may effectively be restricted pending such decision.

 

   

Futures. A futures contract is a standardized agreement to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying instrument at a specific price at a specific future time. The value of a futures contract tends to increase and decrease in tandem with the value of the underlying instrument. Depending on the terms of the particular contract, futures contracts are settled through either physical delivery of the underlying instrument on the settlement date or by payment of a cash settlement amount on the settlement date. A decision as to whether, when and how to use futures involves the exercise of skill and judgment, and even a well-conceived futures transaction may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected events. In addition to the derivatives risks discussed above, the prices of futures can be highly volatile, using futures can lower total return, and the potential loss from futures can exceed the Fund’s initial investment in such contracts.

 

   

Options. If the Fund buys an option, it buys a legal contract giving it the right to buy or sell a specific amount of the underlying instrument or futures contract on the underlying instrument at an agreed-upon price typically in exchange for a premium paid by the Fund. If the Fund sells an option, it sells to another person the right to buy from or sell to the Fund a specific amount of the underlying instrument or futures contract on the underlying instrument at an agreed-upon price typically in exchange for a premium received by the Fund.

A decision as to whether, when and how to use options involves the exercise of skill and judgment, and even a well-conceived option transaction may be unsuccessful because of market behavior or unexpected events. The prices of options can be highly volatile, and the use of options can lower total returns.

 

   

Swaps. A swap contract is an agreement between two parties pursuant to which the parties exchange payments at specified dates on the basis of a specified notional amount, with the payments calculated by reference to specified securities, indexes, reference rates, currencies or other instruments. Most swap agreements provide that when the period payment dates for both parties are the same, the payments are made on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with only the net amount paid by one party to the other). The Fund’s obligations or rights under a swap contract entered into on a net basis will generally be equal only to the net amount to be paid or received under the agreement, based on the relative values of the positions held by each counterparty. Swap agreements are particularly subject to counterparty credit, liquidity, valuation, correlation and leverage risk. Certain standardized swaps are now subject to mandatory central clearing requirements, and others are now required to be exchange-traded. While central clearing and exchange-trading are intended to reduce counterparty and liquidity risk, they do not make swap transactions risk-free. Swaps could result in losses if interest rate or foreign currency exchange rates or credit quality changes are not correctly anticipated by the Fund or if the reference index, security or investments do not perform as expected. The Fund’s use of swaps may include those based on the credit of an underlying security, commonly referred to as “credit default swaps.” Where the Fund is the buyer of a credit default swap contract, it would be entitled to receive the par (or other agreed-upon) value of a

 

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referenced debt obligation from the counterparty to the contract only in the event of a default or similar event by a third party on the debt obligation. If no default occurs, the Fund would have paid to the counterparty a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract and received no benefit from the contract. When the Fund is the seller of a credit default swap contract, it receives the stream of payments but is obligated to pay an amount equal to the par (or other agreed-upon) value of a referenced debt obligation upon the default or similar event of that obligation. The use of credit default swaps can result in losses if the Fund’s assumptions regarding the creditworthiness of the underlying obligation prove to be incorrect.

Derivatives Management Risk. Certain portfolio management techniques, such as, among other things, entering into swap agreements, using reverse repurchase agreements, futures contracts or other derivative transactions, may be considered senior securities under the Investment Company Act. Under Rule 18f-4 under the Investment Company Act, a fund’s derivatives exposure is limited through a value-at-risk test. Funds whose use of derivatives is more than a limited specified exposure amount are required to adopt and implement a value-at-risk based limit to their use of certain derivatives instruments, maintain a comprehensive derivatives risk management program, subject to oversight by a fund’s board of trustees, and appoint a derivatives risk manager. Rule 18f-4 categorizes funds for purposes of compliance into one of three types: funds that are not derivatives users, funds that are “limited derivatives users” and funds that are derivatives users that must adopt a derivatives risk management program in compliance with Rule 18f-4. A fund that limits its use of derivatives instruments is not subject to the full requirements of Rule 18f-4 and qualifies as a “limited derivatives user.” The Fund will comply with Rule 18f-4. Rule 18f-4 also governs a fund’s use of certain other transactions that create future payment and/or delivery obligations by the fund, such as short sale borrowings and reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions, and certain transactions entered into on a when-issued, delayed-delivery or forward-commitment basis. In addition, Rule 18f-4 may restrict the Fund’s ability to engage in certain derivatives transactions and certain other transactions noted above and/or increase the cost of such transactions, which could adversely impact the value or performance of the Fund.

Currency Risk. The Fund may engage in practices and strategies that will result in exposure to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, in which case the Fund will be subject to foreign currency risk. The Fund’s shares are priced in U.S. dollars and the distributions paid by the Fund to Shareholders are paid in U.S. dollars. However, a portion of the Fund’s assets may be denominated directly in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or in securities that trade in, and receive revenues in, foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, or in derivatives that provide exposure to foreign (non-U.S.) currencies, it will be subject to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar, or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged.

Currency rates in foreign (non-U.S.) countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, rates of inflation, balance of payments and governmental surpluses or deficits, intervention (or the failure to intervene) by U.S. or foreign (non-U.S.) governments, central banks or supranational entities such as the International Monetary Fund, or by the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the United States or abroad. These fluctuations may have a significant adverse impact on the value of the Fund’s portfolio and/or the level of Fund distributions made to Shareholders. The Fund intends to hedge exposure to reduce the risk of loss due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar. There is no assurance, however, that these strategies will be available or will be used by the Fund or, if used, that they will be successful. As a result, the Fund’s investments in foreign currency-denominated securities may reduce the returns of the Fund.

Currency risk may be particularly high to the extent that the Fund invests in foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or engages in foreign currency transactions that are economically tied to emerging market countries. These currency transactions may present market, credit, currency, liquidity, legal, political and other risks different from, or greater than, the risks of investing in developed foreign (non-U.S.) currencies or engaging in foreign currency transactions that are economically tied to developed foreign countries.

Investments In Cash, Cash-Equivalent Investments or Money Market Funds. A portion of the Fund’s assets may be invested in cash, cash-equivalent investments or money market funds when, for example, other investments are unattractive, to provide a reserve for anticipated obligations of the Fund or for other temporary purposes. Although such a practice may assist in the preservation of capital, the assumption of cash positions may also impact overall investment return. Cash investment practices of the Fund may be expected, therefore, to affect total investment performance of the Fund. Although a money market fund seeks to preserve a $1.00 per share NAV, it cannot guarantee

 

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it will do so. The sponsor of a money market fund has no legal obligation to provide financial support to the money market fund and investors in money market funds should not expect that the sponsor will provide support to a money market fund at any time.

Uncertain Tax Treatment. The Fund may invest a portion of its net assets in below investment grade instruments. Investments in these types of instruments may present special tax issues for the Fund. U.S. federal income tax rules are not entirely clear about issues such as when the Fund may cease to accrue interest, OID or market discount, when and to what extent deductions may be taken for bad debts or worthless instruments, how payments received on obligations in default should be allocated between principal and income and whether exchanges of debt obligations in a bankruptcy or workout context are taxable. These and other issues will be addressed by the Fund to the extent necessary in connection with the Fund’s intention to distribute sufficient income each tax year to minimize the risk that it becomes subject to U.S. federal income or excise tax. If the treatment of these instruments prevents the Fund from complying with the requirements of a RIC under the Code, the Fund may become subject to U.S. federal income or excise tax, which would reduce a Shareholder’s return on investment.

Warehouse Investment Risk. The Fund may invest in Warehouses, which are financing structures created prior to and in anticipation of CLO or CDO closings and issuing securities and are intended to aggregate direct loans, corporate loans and/or other debt obligations that may be used to form the basis of CLO or CDO vehicles. To finance the acquisition of a Warehouse’s assets, a financing facility (a “Warehouse Facility”) is often opened by (i) the entity or affiliates of the entity that will become the collateral manager of the CLO or CDO upon its closing and/or (ii) third-party investors that may or may not invest in the CLO or CDO. The period from the date that a Warehouse is opened and asset accumulation begins to the date that the CLO or CDO closes is commonly referred to as the “warehousing period.” In practice, investments in Warehouses (“Warehouse Investments”) are structured in a variety of legal forms, including subscriptions for equity interests or subordinated debt investments in SPVs that obtain a Warehouse Facility secured by the assets acquired in anticipation of a CLO or CDO closing.

A Warehouse Investment generally bears the risk that (i) the warehoused assets (typically senior secured corporate loans) will drop in value during the warehousing period, (ii) certain of the warehoused assets default or for another reason are not permitted to be included in a CLO or CDO and a loss is incurred upon their disposition, and (iii) the anticipated CLO or CDO is delayed past the maturity date of the related Warehouse Facility or does not close at all, and, in either case, losses are incurred upon disposition of all of the warehoused assets. In the case of (iii), a particular CLO or CDO may not close for many reasons, including as a result of a market-wide material adverse change, a manager-related material adverse change or the discretion of the manager or the underwriter.

There can be no assurance that a CLO or CDO related to Warehouse Investments will be consummated. In the event a planned CLO or CDO is not consummated, investors in a Warehouse (which may include the Fund) may be responsible for either holding or disposing of the warehoused assets. Because leverage is typically used in Warehouses, the potential risk of loss may be increased for the owners of Warehouse Investments. This could expose the Fund to losses, including in some cases a complete loss of all capital invested in a Warehouse Investment.

The Warehouse Investments represent leveraged investments in the underlying assets of a Warehouse. Therefore, the value of a Warehouse Investment is often affected by, among other things, (i) changes in the market value of the underlying assets of the Warehouse; (ii) distributions, defaults, recoveries, capital gains, capital losses and prepayments on the underlying assets of the Warehouse; and (iii) the prices, interest rates and availability of eligible assets for reinvestment. Due to the leveraged nature of a Warehouse Investment, a significant portion (and in some circumstances all) of the Warehouse Investments made by the Fund may not be repaid.

LIMITS OF RISK DISCLOSURES

The above discussions of the various risks associated with the Fund reflect all principal risks with respect to an investment in the Fund. Some risks may not be known or anticipated to be material to the Fund at this time. Prospective investors should read this entire Prospectus and consult with their own advisors before deciding whether to invest in the Fund. In addition, as the Fund’s investment program changes or develops over time, an investment in the Fund may be subject to risk factors not described in this Prospectus. The Fund will update this Prospectus to account for any material changes in the risks involved with an investment in the Fund.

 

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MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

General

The Fund’s Board of Trustees provides broad oversight over the operations and affairs of the Fund. A majority of the Fund’s Board of Trustees is comprised of persons who are independent trustees. StepStone Private Wealth serves as the Fund’s Adviser, StepStone Private Debt serves as the Fund’s Sub-Adviser and SGEAIL serves as the Fund’s Sub-Sub-Adviser

The Adviser, StepStone Private Wealth, is an investment platform designed to expand access to the private markets for high-net-worth investors. The Adviser intends to create innovative solutions for investors by focusing on convenience, efficiency and transparency. The Adviser’s mission is to convert the private market advantages enjoyed by institutional investors into opportunities for individual investors. The Adviser is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The Adviser, established in 2019, is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Please see StepStone Private Wealth’s website at www.stepstonepw.com for the most up-to-date information.

StepStone Private Debt and SGEAIL, each an investment adviser registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Swiss Capital Alternative Investments AG (“SCAI”). SCAI is a subsidiary of StepStone Group Inc., which is the sole managing member of StepStone Group Holdings LLC, which in turn is the general partner of StepStone Group LP.

As affiliates of StepStone Group, the Advisers benefit from the organization’s scale and depth across private markets. StepStone Group is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory and data services to its clients. StepStone Group’s clients include some of the world’s largest public and private defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies, as well as prominent endowments, foundations, family offices and private wealth clients. As of December 31, 2023, StepStone Group was responsible for $659 billion of “private market allocations” which includes $149 billion of assets under management and $510 billion of assets under advisement.2 StepStone Group has over 980 professionals across 27 cities in 16 countries. StepStone Group LP is not performing investment advisory services to the Fund.

StepStone Group Inc. is the sole managing member of StepStone Group Holdings LLC, which in turn is the general partner of StepStone Group LP. StepStone Group Inc. is listed and trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol STEP. Please see StepStone Group Inc.’s website at www.stepstonegroup.com for additional information.

StepStone Group advises and/or manages accounts other than that of the Fund, which may give rise to certain conflicts of interest. See “Conflicts of Interest.”

Under the terms of the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser is responsible for the overall management of the Fund’s activities. The Adviser is responsible for formulating and updating (as needed) the overall investment strategy of the Fund. The Adviser is also responsible for the structuring and distribution functions for the Fund. In addition, the Adviser is responsible for the operational and governance aspects of the Fund, including the selection and management of the Fund’s service providers and the management of the Fund’s repurchase offers and distributions and dividend reinvestment plan. The Adviser is also responsible for the Fund’s SEC and other regulatory reporting obligations. The Adviser is subject to the ultimate supervision of, and any policies established by, the Board of Trustees.

The Adviser has entered into a Sub-Advisory Agreement with StepStone Private Debt. The Sub-Adviser will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s assets and activities. The Sub-Adviser will provide ongoing research, recommendations, and portfolio management regarding the Fund’s investment portfolio subject to the overall supervision of the Adviser and the Fund’s officers and Board of Trustees.

 

 

2 “Private market allocations” means the total amount of assets under management and assets under advisement. StepStone Group LP classifies assets under management if the StepStone Group LP has full discretion over the investment decisions in an account or has responsibility or custody of assets. Assets under advisement consists of client assets for which StepStone Group LP does not have full discretion to make investment decisions but plays a role in advising the client or monitoring their investments.

 

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The Sub-Adviser has entered into a Sub-Sub-Advisory Agreement with SGEAIL, which will provide ongoing research regarding the Fund’s investment portfolio.

A description of the factors considered by the Fund’s Board of Trustees in approving the Advisory Agreement, the Sub-Advisory Agreement and the Sub-Sub-Advisory Agreement will be included in either the Fund’s first annual or semi-annual report following the commencement of operations.

Management Team

The personnel of the Advisers principally responsible for management of the Fund are experienced and educated investment professionals with a long performance record in private market investments. They have identified, evaluated, structured, managed and monitored billions of dollars in a wide range of private market investments globally and maintain a strong network within the private markets investment community as a result of their prior and ongoing experience. The Advisers believe that, as a result of these relationships, the Fund should have access to a large number of Private Credit and Income opportunities from which to select.

StepStone Private Wealth Team

Bob Long

Bob Long is the Chief Executive Officer of StepStone Private Wealth. Mr. Long has three decades of experience in the private markets and has served as the CEO of two publicly traded companies focused on expanding access for high-net-worth investors. He is a founding Director of the Defined Contribution Alternatives Association and chairs its Public Policy Committee.

Mr. Long has served as the CEO of a Nasdaq-listed business development company managed by Oak Hill Advisors, a leading global credit investment firm. He was the co-founder and CEO of Conversus Capital, and along with Mr. Smith, led the $2 billion IPO of this innovative permanent capital vehicle that was the largest publicly traded fund of private equity funds. Mr. Long also ran Bank of America’s $7 billion AUM Strategic Capital Division, which held investments in over 1,000 private market funds and co-investments.

Early in his career, Mr. Long served as the lead in-house counsel for a large portion of Bank of America’s Investment Banking Division and worked as a securities lawyer for a major law firm. He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia School of Law.

A frequent commentator on private market topics, Mr. Long was named one of 50 Game Changers by Private Equity International, has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, and guest hosted CNBC Squawk Box Europe on numerous occasions. He currently serves on the Gift of Adoption Strategic Advisory Council and previously served on the board of the Children’s Home Society of North Carolina.

Tom Sittema

Tom Sittema is the Executive Chairman of StepStone Private Wealth. In his four decades of capital markets experience, Mr. Sittema has served as the CEO of an industry-leading private markets asset manager and the Chairman of the Board of numerous publicly registered funds designed for individual investors. He serves on the Board of the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives, a private markets industry group, and during his term as Chairman, led several of its strategic initiatives.

Mr. Sittema served as the CEO of CNL Financial Group, a $10 billion asset manager providing access for individual investors to the private markets where he recruited Mr. Menard. Mr. Sittema held a variety of leadership roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch / Bank of America over a 27-year career, including the U.S. Head of Real Estate Investment Trusts and Lodging Investment Banking, and worked closely with Mr. Long for over 10 years.

Mr. Sittema graduated from Dordt College and Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He serves as Board Chair of Advent Health’s Consumer Innovation Advisory Board and is the co-founder and board chair of LIFT Orlando, an organization established to break the cycle of generational concentrated poverty in a community in Central Florida. Mr. Sittema is Director of the Florida Council of 100 and has received numerous economic development and civic awards, including Central Florida Social Entrepreneur of the Year.

 

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Neil Menard

Neil Menard is the President of Distribution for StepStone Private Wealth. Mr. Menard is a seasoned distribution leader with over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Over his career, he has built a broad and deep network within the financial advisor and broker dealer communities. He has led sales teams distributing billions of dollars of private capital to hundreds of advisory firms, including the largest players in several verticals.

Mr. Menard served as the President of CNL Securities Corporation and CNL Capital Markets where he oversaw the capital raising efforts of the firm then led by Mr. Sittema. Previously, he served as senior vice president of Franklin Square Capital Partners, where he was responsible for creating a new business unit to sell business development companies to registered investment advisors (RIAs), strategically setting a vision for the products and executing that vision in the marketplace. Additionally, he sat on the firm’s management committee where he led the firm’s initiatives in building relationships, as well as creating its RIA team and growing market share in the RIA space.

Mr. Menard spent nine years at Steben & Company Inc., a leading provider of managed futures to independent broker-dealers and RIAs. He was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the firm, and he was the head of distribution.

Mr. Menard has served on the board of the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives, a private markets industry group. He is on the board of the Florida Hospital Cardiovascular Institute and graduated from Colby College.

Tim Smith

Tim Smith is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of StepStone Private Wealth. Mr. Smith brings over 30 years of operational experience working in private equity, private markets distribution and asset management businesses. During that time, he has served as the CFO and CEO of two publicly traded companies.

Mr. Smith co-founded Carolon Capital UK Limited, a U.K. based distribution firm focusing on long-only strategies for asset managers. He also co-founded Carolon Investment Funds headquartered in Dublin, Ireland to assist asset managers with fund structuring and regulatory oversight.

Mr. Smith worked with Mr. Long to launch Conversus Capital and was the CFO of the publicly traded entity. Mr. Smith led all facets of Conversus’ operations, finance, treasury and investor relations activities and led the sale of Conversus’ $2 billion portfolio in 2012.

Mr. Smith is a Certified Public Accountant, has an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and a graduate degree from the University of Richmond. Mr. Smith is active with the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry and serves on the board of the Emergency Medical Center at the University of Virginia.

Kimberly Zeitvogel

Ms. Zeitvogel is a member of StepStone Private Wealth.

Prior to joining StepStone, Ms. Zeitvogel spent 12 years at Chapter IV Investors, LLC, an investment adviser that managed a privately held hedge fund with $300 million of assets under management, where she was CFO and CCO. Prior to joining Chapter IV, Ms. Zeitvogel was the CFO of a structured finance firm focused on the acquisition, securitization and value enhancement of distressed debt. Previously, she worked for Wachovia Securities in Investment Banking Finance supporting various business units, including private equity, mergers & acquisitions, leveraged capital and fund investing. Ms. Zeitvogel began her professional career in public accounting at Arthur Andersen, LLP.

Ms. Zeitvogel has her BS from Appalachian State University and is a Certified Public Accountant. Ms. Zeitvogel also serves on the board of RunningWorks and is on the steering committee for the Charlotte Chapter of CFO Leadership Council.

 

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Dean Caruvana

Dean Caruvana serves as General Counsel of StepStone Private Wealth and Senior Associate General Counsel of StepStone, where he is responsible for legal matters for StepStone Private Wealth and its investment products, with a focus on securities law and corporate governance matters.

Prior to joining StepStone Private Wealth, Mr. Caruvana was Principal at Blue Owl Capital, where he was responsible for legal oversight of the firm’s BDCs. Mr. Caruvana previously was Vice President at BlackRock, Inc., where he focused on U.S. registered products including open-end funds, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds and BDCs. Mr. Caruvana began his career an associate in the Asset Management group at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

Mr. Caruvana received a B.S. in Accounting and Finance and a M.S. in Accounting from Wagner College and a J.D. from Cornell Law School.

StepStone Private Debt Team

As portfolio managers, Gary Gipkhin and Ariel Goldblatt have primary responsibility for ongoing research, recommendations, and portfolio management regarding the Fund’s investment portfolio.

Gary Gipkhin

Gary Gipkhin is a director and member of the private debt investment team at StepStone Group. Prior to joining StepStone Group, Mr. Gipkhin worked in investment banking at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, where he originated and executed a variety of M&A, debt and equity transactions for clients in the industrials space. Mr. Gipkhin received his BS in finance and accounting from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Ariel Goldblatt

Ariel Goldblatt is a partner and member of the private debt team at StepStone Group. Prior to joining StepStone Group in April 2019, Ms. Goldblatt was a director of business development at CNBC, Inc., where she led business development and M&A activity. Prior to that, Ms. Goldblatt was a senior analyst at Eachwin Capital, L.P. an institutionally oriented investment management firm, from February 2013 to February 2017. Before that she worked in private equity, private credit and investment banking at Apax Partners LLP, Crescent Capital Group L.P. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Ms. Goldblatt received her MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and her BS in finance from the Schreyer Honors College, Pennsylvania State University.

Control Persons

A control person generally is a person who beneficially owns more than 25% of the voting securities of a company or has the power to exercise control over the management or policies of such company. StepStone Group has provided the initial investment for the Fund. For so long as StepStone Group has a greater than 25% interest in the Fund, it may be deemed to be a “control person” of the Fund for purposes of the 1940 Act.

Administrator

StepStone Private Wealth serves as the Fund’s Administrator under an Administration Agreement with the Fund, and performs certain administrative, accounting and other services for the Fund. In consideration of these administrative services, the Fund pays the Administrator the Administration Fee in an amount up to 0.355% on an annual basis of the Fund’s net assets. The Administration Fee will be accrued daily based on the value of the net assets of the Fund as of the close of business on the prior business day (including any assets in respect of shares that will be repurchased by the Fund on such date). The Administration Fee is due and payable in arrears within ten business days after the end of the month. The Administration Fee is an expense paid out of the Fund’s net assets. The Administrator’s principal business address is 128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600, Charlotte, NC 28202. The Administrator may delegate or sub-contract certain of its services to other entities, including a sub-administrator, and has done so as described below.

 

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Sub-Administrator

UMB Fund Services, Inc. serves as the Fund’s Sub-Administrator to provide certain sub-administration and sub-accounting services for the Fund. Pursuant to a sub-administration agreement and a fund accounting agreement, the Administrator pays the Sub-Administration Fee to the Sub-Administrator from the proceeds of the Administration Fee in an amount up to 0.055% on an annual basis of the Fund’s net assets, subject to a minimum annual fee. The Sub-Administration Fee is calculated in a manner substantially similar to the Administration Fee and is payable monthly in arrears. The Sub-Administrator’s principal business address is 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212.

Custodian and Transfer Agent

UMB Bank, N.A. (the “Custodian”) serves as the custodian of the Fund’s assets. The Custodian’s principal business address is 928 Grand Blvd., 5th Floor, Kansas City, Missouri 64106.

UMB Fund Services, Inc. (the “Transfer Agent”) serves as transfer agent with respect to maintaining the registry of the Fund’s Shareholders and processing matters relating to subscriptions for, and repurchases of, Shares. The Transfer Agent’s principal business address is 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212.

FUND EXPENSES

The Advisers bear all of their own costs incurred in providing investment advisory services to the Fund. As described below, however, the Fund bears all other expenses related to its investment program. The Administrator provides or arranges for certain administrative services to be provided to the Fund, among those services are: providing office space, adequate personnel, and communications and other facilities necessary for administration of the Fund, performing certain administrative functions to support the Fund and its service providers, supporting the Fund’s Board and providing it with information, providing accounting and legal services in support of the Fund, compliance testing services, analyzing the value of the Fund’s assets, and reviewing and arranging for payment of the Fund’s expenses and other support services. Such administrative services are included in the Administration Fee. In addition to the services above, the Administrator is responsible for overseeing the Sub-Administrator.

Expenses borne by the Fund (and thus indirectly by Shareholders) include:

 

   

all expenses related to its investment program, including, but not limited to, expenses borne indirectly through the Fund’s investments in the underlying assets, including any fees and expenses charged by the investment managers (including management fees, carried interest or incentive fees and redemption or withdrawal fees, however titled or structured), all costs and expenses directly related to due diligence of portfolio transactions for the Fund such as direct and indirect expenses associated with the Fund’s investments (whether or not consummated), and enforcing the Fund’s rights in respect of such investments, transfer taxes and premiums, taxes withheld on non-U.S. dividends, fees for data and software providers, research expenses, professional fees (including, without limitation, the fees and expenses of consultants, attorneys and experts) and, if applicable, brokerage commissions, interest and commitment fees on loans and debit balances, borrowing charges on securities sold short, dividends on securities sold but not yet purchased and margin fees;

 

   

attorneys’ fees and disbursements associated with preparing and updating the Fund’s registration statement and other regulatory filings, and with reviewing potential investments to be made and executing the Fund’s investments;

 

   

fees and disbursements of all accountants or auditors engaged by the Fund, expenses related to the annual audit of the Fund, expenses related to the unaudited financial statements of the Fund and expenses related to the preparation, review, approval and filing of the Fund’s tax information;

 

   

recordkeeping, custody and transfer agency fees and expenses;

 

   

the costs of errors and omissions/Trustees’ and officers’ liability insurance and a fidelity bond;

 

   

the Management Fee, the Incentive Fee and the Administration Fee;

 

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fees paid to third-party consultants or service providers relating to the Fund’s establishment or operations and fees paid to third-party providers for due diligence and valuation services;

 

   

the costs of preparing and mailing reports and other communications, including proxy, repurchase offer correspondence, annual reports or similar materials, to Shareholders;

 

   

fees of Trustees who are not “interested persons” and travel and administrative expenses of Trustees who are not “interested persons” relating to meetings of the Board of Trustees and committees thereof;

 

   

costs and charges related to electronic or other platforms through which investors may access, complete and submit subscription and other fund documents or otherwise facilitate activity with respect to their investment in the Fund;

 

   

costs of administrative, sub-accounting, recordkeeping or investor related services charged by financial intermediaries in conjunction with processing through the National Securities Clearing Corporation’s Fund/SERV and Networking or similar systems;

 

   

all costs and charges for equipment or services used in communicating information regarding the Fund’s transactions among the Adviser and any custodian or other agent engaged by the Fund;

 

   

any extraordinary expenses (as defined below), including indemnification expenses as provided for in the Fund’s organizational documents; and

 

   

other expenses not explicitly borne by the Adviser or Administrator associated with the investment operations of the Fund; and all reasonable costs and expenses incurred in connection with the formation and organization of, and offering and sale of Shares in, the Fund, as determined by the Adviser, including all out-of-pocket legal, accounting, registration and filing fees and expenses will be borne by the Fund. The Fund will also bear certain administrative costs.

The Adviser and Administrator will be reimbursed by the Fund for any of the above expenses that it pays on behalf of the Fund, except as otherwise provided above.

Expense Limitation Agreement

The Adviser has entered into an Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement with the Fund for the one-year term beginning on the commencement of operations for subscriptions for Shares and ending on the one-year anniversary thereof. The Adviser may extend the Limitation Period for a period of one year on an annual basis. The Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement limits the amount of the Fund’s aggregate ordinary operating expenses, excluding certain Specified Expenses listed below, borne by the Fund during the Limitation Period to an amount not to exceed 1.00% for Class T, S, D and I Shares, on an annualized basis, of the Expense Cap.

“Specified Expenses” that are not covered by the Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement include: (i) the Management Fee; (ii) all fees and expenses of Private Credit and Income investments and other investments in which the Fund invests (including the underlying fees of the Investment Funds and other investments (the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses)); (iii) the Incentive Fee; (iv) transactional costs, including legal costs and brokerage commissions, and sourcing and servicing or related fees incurred by the Fund in connection with the servicing by non-affiliated third parties of, and other related administrative services, associated with the acquisition and disposition of the Fund’s investments; (v) interest payments incurred on borrowings by the Fund or its subsidiaries; (vi) fees and expenses incurred in connection with any credit facility obtained by the Fund or any of its subsidiaries, including any expenses for acquiring ratings related to the credit facilities; (vii) distribution and shareholder servicing fees, as applicable; (viii) taxes; and (ix) extraordinary expenses resulting from events and transactions that are distinguished by their unusual nature and by the infrequency of their occurrence, including, without limitation, costs incurred in connection with any claim, litigation, arbitration, mediation, government investigation or similar proceeding, indemnification expenses, and expenses in connection with holding and/or soliciting proxies for all annual and other meetings of shareholders.

 

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If the Fund’s aggregate ordinary operating expenses, exclusive of the Specified Expenses, in respect of any Class of Shares for any day exceeding the Expense Cap, the Adviser will waive its Management Fee, waive its Incentive Fee, directly pay and/or reimburse the Fund for expenses to the extent necessary to eliminate such excess. The Adviser may also directly pay expenses on behalf of the Fund and waive its Management Fee under the Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement. To the extent that the Adviser waives its Management Fee or Incentive Fee, reimburses expenses to the Fund or pays expenses directly on behalf of the Fund, it is permitted to recoup from the Fund any such amounts for a period not to exceed three years from the month in which such fees and expenses were waived, reimbursed, or paid, even if such recoupment occurs after the termination of the Limitation Period. However, the Adviser may only recoup the waived fees, reimbursed expenses or directly paid expenses in respect of the applicable Class of Shares if (i) the aggregate ordinary operating expenses have fallen to a level below the Expense Cap and (ii) the recouped amount does not raise the level of aggregate ordinary operating expenses plus waived fees, reimbursed expenses or directly paid expenses in respect of a Class of Shares in the month of recoupment to a level that exceeds any Expense Cap applicable at that time.

Expenses of Investment Funds

The Fund’s Investment Funds bear various expenses in connection with their operations similar to those incurred by the Fund. Investment managers generally assess asset-based fees to, and receive performance or incentive-based fees from, the Investment Funds (or their investors), which effectively will reduce the investment returns of the Fund. These expenses and fees will be in addition to those incurred by the Fund itself. As an investor in the Investment Funds, the Fund will bear its proportionate share of their expenses and fees and will also be subject to incentive fees to the investment managers.

Organizational and Offering Costs

The initial operating expenses for a new fund, including start-up costs, which may be significant, may be higher than the expenses of an established fund. The Fund is expected to incur organizational and offering expenses of approximately $494,915 in connection with the initial offering of Shares.

Organizational costs include, among other things, the cost of organizing as a Delaware statutory trust, including the cost of legal services and other fees pertaining to the Fund’s organization. These costs will be paid by the Adviser on behalf of the Fund prior to commencement of operations.

The Fund’s initial offering costs include, among other things, legal, printing and other expenses pertaining to this offering. Any offering costs paid by the Adviser on behalf of the Fund prior to commencement of operations will be disclosed in the Fund’s seed audited Financial Statements as commitments and contingencies of the Fund and reimbursed to the Adviser upon commencement of operations. Costs associated with the offering of its shares, capitalized as deferred offering costs, are amortized over a twelve-month period from the date of the associated offering. Following such time, costs associated with the organization and offering of the Fund will be expensed as incurred.

All organizational and offering costs of the Fund paid by the Adviser shall be subject to recoupment by the Adviser under the terms of the Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement.

MANAGEMENT FEE AND INCENTIVE FEES

In consideration of the advisory and other services provided by the Adviser to the Fund, the Fund will pay the Adviser a Management Fee equal to 1.15% on an annualized basis of the Fund’s daily net assets. The Management Fee will be accrued daily and payable monthly in arrears within ten (10) business days after the end of the month. The Management Fee is an expense paid out of the Fund’s net assets. For the avoidance of doubt, the Management Fee is applied to any assets in respect of Shares that will be repurchased by the Fund on such date.

In addition, the Fund will pay the Adviser an income-based incentive fee. The “Incentive Fee,” will be accrued daily and payable quarterly in arrears based on the Fund’s “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income” for the most recently completed calendar quarter. The payment of the Incentive Fee will be subject to a quarterly hurdle rate, expressed as a rate of return on the value of the Fund’s net assets at the end of the most recently completed calendar quarter, of 1.25% (5.00% annualized) (the “Hurdle Rate”), subject to a “catch up” feature (as described below).

For this purpose, “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income” means interest income, dividend income and any other income (including any other fees, such as commitment, origination, structuring, diligence and consulting fees or other fees that the Fund (or its wholly-owned subsidiaries) receives from portfolio companies) accrued during the calendar quarter, minus the Fund’s operating expenses for the quarter (including the Management Fee, expenses and fees paid to the Adviser under the Administration Agreement and any interest expense and dividends paid on any issued and outstanding preferred stock or credit agreements, but excluding the Incentive Fee and any shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees), net of any expense waivers or expense payments by the Advisor. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income includes, in the case of investments with a deferred interest feature (such as OID debt instruments with PIK interest and zero-coupon securities), accrued income that the Fund has not yet received in cash. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income does not include any realized capital gains, realized capital losses or unrealized appreciation or depreciation.

The calculation of the Incentive Fee for each quarter is as follows:

 

   

No Incentive Fee will be payable to the Adviser in any calendar quarter in which the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income does not exceed the Hurdle Rate;

 

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100% of the dollar amount of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income, if any, that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than or equal to 1.3889% in any calendar quarter (5.5556% annualized) will be payable to the Adviser. This portion of the Fund’s Incentive Fee that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than or equal to 1.3889% is referred to as the “catch up” and is intended to provide the Adviser with an incentive fee of 10% on all of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income when the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income reaches 1.3889% (5.5556% annualized) on net assets in any calendar quarter; and

 

   

10% of the dollar amount of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income, if any, that exceeds 1.3889% (5.5556% annualized) on net assets in any calendar quarter will be payable to the Adviser once the Hurdle Rate and catch-up have been achieved (10% of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income thereafter will be allocated to the Adviser).

The Adviser will pay 50% of the Management Fee proceeds and 60% of the Incentive Fee to the Sub-Adviser on a monthly and quarterly basis, respectively.

The following is a graphical representation of the calculation of the Incentive Fee:

Quarterly Incentive Fee

Fund’s pre-incentive fee net investment income

(expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s Net Assets)

LOGO

CALCULATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

The Fund will calculate its NAV as of the close of business on each business day, in accordance with the procedures described below or as may be determined from time to time in accordance with policies approved by the Board (each, a “Determination Date”). In determining the Fund’s NAV, the Adviser will value the Fund’s investments as of the relevant Determination Date. The NAV of the Fund will equal, unless otherwise noted, the value of the total assets of the Fund, less all of its liabilities, including accrued fees and expenses, each determined as of the relevant Determination Date.

The Class T Shares’ NAV plus the Class S Shares’ NAV plus the Class D Shares’ NAV plus the Class I Shares’ NAV equals the total value of the net assets of the Fund. The different share NAVs will be calculated separately based on the fees and expenses applicable to each class. Because of differing class fees and expenses, the per share NAV of the classes will vary over time.

The Board has designated the Adviser as the Fund’s valuation designee (the “Valuation Designee”) for purposes of Rule 2a-5 under the 1940 Act. The Board has approved the valuation policy for the Fund and the Adviser (the “Valuation Policy”).

As a general matter, to value the Fund’s investments, the Adviser will use current market values when readily available, and otherwise value the Fund’s investments with fair value methodologies set forth in the Valuation Policy.

Additionally, the values of the Fund’s direct loan investments may be adjusted daily based on the estimated total return that the asset will generate. The Valuation Designee monitors these estimates regularly and updates them as necessary if macro or individual changes warrant any adjustments. At the end of the quarter, each direct loan’s value is adjusted based on the actual income and appreciation or depreciation realized by such loan when its quarterly valuation is reported. This information is updated as soon as the information becomes available.

 

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These fair value calculations will involve significant professional judgment by the Adviser in the application of both observable and unobservable attributes, and it is possible that the fair value determined for an investment may differ materially from the value that could be realized upon the sale of the investment. There is no single standard for determining fair value of an investment. Likewise, there can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to purchase or sell an investment at the fair value price used to calculate the Fund’s NAV. Rather, in determining the fair value of an investment for which there are no readily available market quotations, the Adviser may consider several factors, including the below depending on the type of investment:

Publicly Traded Securities

For securities or investments that are quoted, traded or exchanged in an accessible, active market, the Adviser will value the asset by multiplying the number of securities held by the quoted market price as of the measurement (or reporting) date. The Adviser does not apply any liquidity or restriction discount regardless of ownership structure or the ability to control the sale of the asset.

Private Credit/Debt/Debt-Like Securities

In determining the estimated fair value of private credit/debt or debt-like securities for which there is no actively traded market, the Adviser’s estimate of fair value will consider such factors as the current market environment relative to that of the investment held, the tenor of maturity date of the investment, the operating performance of the issuer, the concern for maintaining any covenant levels embedded in the instrument, the ability of the issuer to call the security (and the associated redemption price) and the general overall credit quality of the security over the life of the investment.

The Adviser’s Valuation Committee will assign an internal credit rating on all private credit/debt and debt-like positions. The ratings are based on fundamental information available at the time of the Valuation Committee meeting and are used in conjunction with market inputs to create an estimate of fair value. Certain assets are considered for additional or alternative procedures for obtaining a fair value, which will include but are not limited to a review of market inputs and performance and other relevant information on comparable assets.

Defaulted private credit/debt positions are valued using a number of methods including the following: discounting the expected cash flows of the investment; valuing the net assets of the company; reviewing comparable precedent transactions involving similar companies; and using a performance multiple or market-based approach.

Investment Funds

The Valuation Policy provides that the Fund will value its investments in Investment Funds at fair value. The fair value of such investments as of each Determination Date ordinarily will be the capital account value of the Fund’s interest in such investments as provided by the relevant investment manager as of or prior to the relevant Determination Date; provided that such values will be adjusted for any other relevant information available at the time the Adviser values the Fund’s portfolio, including capital activity and material events occurring between the reference dates of the investment manager’s valuations and the relevant Determination Date. In fair valuing certain equity investments, the Adviser may consider a number of factors such as the Fund’s cost, latest round of financing, company operating performance, market-based performance multiples, announced capital markets activity and any other relevant information will be considered at the time the Adviser values the Fund’s portfolio.

The valuation of the Fund’s investments in private fund or limited partnership (“LP”) investments is performed in accordance with Topic 820 — Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures. Generally, investment managers value investments at their market price if market quotations are readily available. In the absence of observable market prices, investment managers value investments using valuation methodologies applied on a consistent basis. For some investments little market activity may exist. The Investment Managers’ determination of fair value is then based on the best information available in the circumstances and may incorporate management’s own assumptions and involves a significant degree of judgment, taking into consideration a combination of internal and external factors, including the appropriate risk adjustments for nonperformance and liquidity risks. Investments for which market prices are not observable include private investments in the equity of operating companies, projects, properties or certain debt positions. Market quotations will not be readily available for most of the Fund’s investments.

 

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The actual realized returns on the investment managers’ unrealized investments will depend on, among other factors, future operating results, the value of the assets and market conditions at the time of disposition, any related transaction costs and the timing and manner of sale, all of which may differ from the assumptions on which the investment managers’ valuations are based. Neither the Fund nor the Adviser has oversight or control over the implementation of the investment managers’ valuation process.

In reviewing the valuations provided by investment managers, the Valuation Policy requires the consideration of all relevant information reasonably available at the time the Adviser values the Fund’s portfolio. The Adviser will consider such information and may conclude in certain circumstances that the information provided by the investment manager does not represent the fair value of a particular Private Credit and Income asset. In accordance with the Valuation Policy, the Adviser will consider whether it is appropriate, in light of all relevant circumstances, to value such interests based on the NAV reported or expected to be reported by the relevant investment manager, or whether to adjust such value to reflect a premium or discount to such NAV.

Notwithstanding the above, Investment Managers unaffiliated with the Fund may adopt a variety of valuation bases and provide differing levels of information concerning Private Market Assets, and there will generally be no liquid markets for such investments. Consequently, there are inherent difficulties in determining the fair value that cannot be eliminated. Neither the Board nor the Adviser will be able to confirm independently the accuracy of valuations provided by any investment managers (which are generally unaudited).

The Adviser may use independent pricing services to assist in calculating the value of the Fund’s investments. In addition, market prices for foreign securities are not determined at the same time of day as the NAV for the Fund. In computing the NAV, the Adviser values foreign securities held by the Fund at the latest closing price on the exchange in which they are traded immediately prior to closing of the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”). Prices of foreign securities quoted in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars at current rates. If events materially affecting the value of a security in the Fund’s portfolio, particularly foreign securities, occur after the close of trading on a foreign market but before the Adviser prices the Fund’s Shares, the security will be valued at fair value. For example, if trading in a portfolio security is halted and does not resume before the Adviser calculates the Fund’s NAV, the Adviser may need to price the security using the Fund’s fair value pricing guidelines.

With respect to any portion of the Fund’s assets that are invested in one or more open-end management investment companies registered under the 1940 Act, the Fund’s NAV is calculated based upon the NAVs of those open-end management investment companies, and the prospectuses for these companies explain the circumstances under which those companies will use fair value pricing and the effects of using fair value pricing.

As a result of investments by the Fund or other investment vehicles accessed by the Fund, if any, in foreign securities or other instruments denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, the NAV of the Fund’s Shares may be affected by changes in the value of currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar. The value of these instruments denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar may be affected significantly on a day that the NYSE is closed, and an investor is not able to purchase, redeem or exchange Shares.

The Adviser or its affiliates act as investment advisers to other clients that may invest in securities for which no public market price exists. Valuation determinations by the Adviser or its affiliates for other clients may result in different values than those ascribed to the same security owned by the Fund. Consequently, the fees charged to the Fund may be different than those charged to other clients, since the method of calculating the fees takes the value of all assets, including assets carried at different valuations, into consideration.

Expenses of the Fund, including the Management Fee and Administration Fees are accrued on a daily basis and taken into account for the purpose of determining the Fund’s daily NAV.

Prospective investors should be aware that situations involving uncertainties as to the value of portfolio positions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s NAV if the judgments of the Adviser or the investment managers regarding appropriate valuations, should prove incorrect.

 

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CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The Advisers

The Advisers or their affiliates provide or may provide investment advisory and other services to various entities. The Advisers and certain of their investment professionals and other principals, may also carry-on substantial investment activities for their own accounts, for the accounts of family members and for other accounts (collectively, with the other accounts advised by the Advisers and their affiliates, “Other Accounts”). The Fund has no interest in these activities. The Advisers and their affiliates may receive payments from investment managers in connection with such activities, such as advisory and sub-advisory fees received as consideration for advisory or sub-advisory services rendered with respect to Other Accounts. As a result of the foregoing, the Advisers and the investment professionals who, on behalf of the Advisers, will manage the Fund’s investment portfolio will be engaged in substantial activities other than on behalf of the Fund, may have differing economic interests in respect of such activities, and may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and activity between the Fund and Other Accounts. Such persons will devote only so much of their time as in their judgment is necessary and appropriate.

There also may be circumstances under which the Advisers will cause one or more Other Accounts to commit a larger percentage of its assets to an investment opportunity than to which the Advisers will commit the Fund’s assets. There also may be circumstances under which the Advisers will make investments for Other Accounts in which the Advisers do not invest on behalf of the Fund, or vice versa.

Investment opportunities are made available to the Fund and other clients of StepStone Group where the investment is within the parameters of the applicable strategy. Further, investment opportunities may arise where there is more demand from the Fund and other clients of StepStone Group for a particular investment opportunity than supply. StepStone Group has adopted an Allocation Policy designed to reasonably ensure that all of its clients will be treated fairly and equitably over time. See “Investment Program — StepStone Group’s Allocation Policy.”

The 1940 Act imposes significant limits on co-investments with affiliates of the Fund. The Advisers and the Fund have obtained an exemptive order from the SEC that permits the Fund to co-invest alongside its affiliates in Private Credit. However, the SEC exemptive order contains certain conditions that limit or restrict the Fund’s ability to participate in such transactions, including, without limitation, where StepStone Group’s advised funds have an existing investment in the operating company or Investment Fund.

The Adviser also intends to compensate, from its own resources, third-party securities dealers, other industry professionals and any affiliates thereof (“financial intermediaries”) in connection with the distribution of Shares in the Fund or for their ongoing servicing of Shares acquired by their clients. Such compensation may take various forms, including a fixed fee, a fee determined by a formula that considers the amount of client assets invested in the Fund, the timing of investment or the overall NAV of the Fund, or a fee determined in some other method by negotiation between the Adviser and such financial intermediaries. Financial intermediaries may also charge investors, at the financial intermediaries’ discretion, a placement fee based on the purchase price of Shares purchased by the investor. As a result of the various payments that financial intermediaries may receive from investors and the Adviser, the amount of compensation that a financial intermediary may receive in connection with the sale of Shares in the Fund may be greater than the compensation it may receive for the distribution of other investment products. This difference in compensation may create an incentive for a financial intermediary to recommend the Fund over another investment product.

Financial intermediaries may be subject to certain conflicts of interest with respect to the Fund. For example, the Fund, the Advisers, Investment Funds or portfolio companies or investment vehicles managed or sponsored by the Advisers or investment managers may (i) purchase securities or other assets directly or indirectly from, (ii) enter into financial or other transactions with or (iii) otherwise convey benefits through commercial activities to a financial intermediary. As such, certain conflicts of interest may exist between such persons and a financial intermediary. Such transactions may occur in the future and generally there is no limit to the amount of such transactions that may occur.

Financial intermediaries may perform investment advisory and other services for other investment entities with investment objectives and policies similar to those of the Fund or an Investment Fund. Such entities may compete with the Fund or the Investment Fund for investment opportunities and may invest directly in such investment

 

56


opportunities. Financial intermediaries that invest in an Investment Fund or a portfolio company may do so on terms that are more favorable than those of the Fund.

Financial intermediaries that act as selling agents for the Fund also may act as distributor for an Investment Fund in which the Fund invests and may receive compensation in connection with such activities. Such compensation would be in addition to the placement fees described above. Financial intermediaries may pay all or a portion of the fees paid to it to certain of their affiliates, including, without limitation, financial advisors whose clients purchase Shares of the Fund. Such fee arrangements may create an incentive for a financial intermediary to encourage investment in the Fund, independent of a prospective Shareholder’s objectives.

A financial intermediary may provide financing, investment banking services or other services to third parties and receive fees therefore in connection with transactions in which such third parties have interests which may conflict with those of the Fund or an Investment Fund. A financial intermediary may give advice or provide financing to such third parties that may cause them to take actions adverse to the Fund, an Investment Fund or a portfolio company. A financial intermediary may directly or indirectly provide services to, or serve in other roles for compensation for, the Fund, an Investment Fund or a portfolio company. These services and roles may include (either currently or in the future) managing trustee, managing member, general partner, investment manager or advisor, investment sub-advisor, distributor, broker, dealer, selling agent and investor servicer, custodian, transfer agent, fund administrator, prime broker, recordkeeper, shareholder servicer, interfund lending servicer, Fund accountant, transaction (e.g., a swap) counterparty and/or lender. A financial intermediary is expected to provide certain such services to the Fund in connection with the Fund obtaining a credit facility, if any such facility is obtained.

In addition, issuers of securities held by the Fund or its underlying Investment Funds may have publicly or privately traded securities in which a financial intermediary is an investor or makes a market. The trading activities of financial intermediaries generally will be carried out without reference to positions held by the Fund or its underlying Investment Funds and may have an effect on the value of the positions so held, or may result in a financial intermediary having an interest in the issuer adverse to the Fund or the underlying Investment Fund. No financial intermediary is prohibited from purchasing or selling the securities of, otherwise investing in or financing, issuers in which the Fund or its underlying Investment Funds has an interest.

A financial intermediary may sponsor, organize, promote or otherwise become involved with other opportunities to invest directly or indirectly in the Fund or an Investment Fund. Such opportunities may be subject to different terms than those applicable to an investment in the Fund or the Investment Fund, including with respect to fees and the right to receive information.

Set out below are practices that the Advisers may follow. Although the Advisers anticipate that the investment managers will follow practices similar to those described below, no guarantee or assurances can be made that similar practices will be followed or that an investment manager will abide by, and comply with, its stated practices. An investment manager may provide investment advisory and other services, directly or through affiliates, to various entities and accounts other than Private Credit.

Participation in Investment Activities

Directors, principals, officers, employees and affiliates of the Advisers may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts and may have actual or potential conflicts of interest with respect to investments made on behalf of the Fund or its underlying investments. As a result of differing trading and investment strategies or constraints, positions may be taken by directors, principals, officers, employees and affiliates of the Advisers, or by the Advisers for the Other Accounts, or any of their respective affiliates on behalf of their own other accounts (“Investment Manager Accounts”) that are the same as, different from or made at a different time than, positions taken for the Fund or a Private Credit and Income investment.

Other Matters

An investment manager may, from time to time, cause an Investment Fund to effect certain principal transactions in securities with one or more Investment Manager Accounts, subject to certain conditions. Future investment activities of the investment managers, or their affiliates, and the principals, partners, directors, officers or employees of the foregoing, may give rise to additional conflicts of interest.

 

57


The Advisers and their affiliates will not purchase securities or other property from, or sell securities or other property to the Fund, except that the Fund may, in accordance with rules under the 1940 Act, engage in transactions with accounts that are affiliated with the Fund as a result of common officers, directors, advisers, members or managing general partners. These transactions would be effected in circumstances in which the Advisers determined that it would be appropriate for the Fund to purchase and another client to sell, or the Fund to sell and another client to purchase, the same security or instrument on the same day.

Future investment activities of the Advisers and their affiliates and their principals, partners, members, directors, officers or employees may give rise to conflicts of interest other than those described above.

PURCHASES OF SHARES

Purchase Terms

The Fund offers four classes of Shares. Investors purchasing Class T Shares or Class S Shares in the Fund may be charged a sales load of up to 3.50% of the investment amount. A Selling Agent may, in its discretion, waive all or a portion of the sales load for certain investors.

The minimum initial investment for Class T Shares, Class S Shares, and Class D Shares in the Fund from each investor is at least $25,000, and the minimum additional investment in the Fund is $5,000. The minimum initial and additional investments may be reduced at the Adviser’s discretion. The Fund reserves the right to repurchase all of the Shares held by a Shareholder if the Shareholder’s account balance in the Fund, as a result of repurchase or transfer requests by the Shareholder, is less than $5,000.

The minimum initial investment for Class I Shares in the Fund from each investor is at least $1,000,000, and the minimum additional investment in the Fund is $100,000, except for additional purchases pursuant to our dividend reinvestment plan. The minimum initial and additional investments may be reduced at the Adviser’s discretion. The Fund reserves the right to repurchase all of the Shares held by a Shareholder if the Shareholder’s account balance in the Fund, as a result of repurchase or transfer requests by the Shareholder, is less than $5,000.

Shares will generally be offered for purchase on each business day, except that Shares may be offered more or less frequently as determined by the Fund in its sole discretion. The Board may also suspend or terminate offerings of Shares at any time.

Initial and any additional purchases of Shares of the Fund by any Shareholder must be made via wire transfer of funds or another method of immediately available funds. Payment for each initial or subsequent additional purchases of Shares must be made in one installment. Except as otherwise permitted by the Board, initial and subsequent purchases of Shares will be payable in cash. Orders will be priced at the appropriate price next computed after the order is received by the Administrator. The Fund reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to accept or reject any subscription to purchase Shares in the Fund at any time. In the event that cleared funds and/or a properly completed investor application are not received from a prospective investor prior to the cut-off times pertaining to a particular offering, the Fund may hold the relevant funds and investor application for processing in the next offering.

In general, an investment will be accepted if a completed order submission and funds are received in good order in advance of the cut-off dates identified in a particular offering. The Fund reserves the right to reject, in its sole discretion, any request to purchase Shares in the Fund at any time.

Outstanding Securities

The following table sets forth information about the Fund’s outstanding Shares as of December 31, 2023:

 

     Amount Authorized    Amount Held by the
Fund for its Own
Account
   Amount Outstanding

Class T Shares

   Unlimited    None    — 

Class S Shares

   Unlimited    None    — 

Class D Shares

   Unlimited    None    — 

Class I Shares

   Unlimited    None    10,000

 

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PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

The Fund is offered on a continuous basis. UMB Distribution Services, LLC acts as the Distributor of the Fund, subject to various conditions. The minimum initial investment is $25,000 for Class T Shares, Class S Shares, and Class D Shares. The minimum initial investment for Class I Shares is $1,000,000. The minimum initial investment may be reduced at the Adviser’s discretion. Subscriptions will be effective only upon the Fund’s acceptance, and the Fund reserves the right to reject any subscription in whole or in part in certain limited circumstances (including, without limitation, when it has reason to believe that a purchase of Shares would be unlawful). Shares will be sold only to Eligible Investors (as defined herein). Shares will not be listed on any national securities exchange. See “Fund Expenses.” Shares are not available in certificated form.

The Fund has entered into a Distribution Agreement under which the Distributor, with principal offices at 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212, distributes the Shares of the Fund. The Distributor is authorized to enter into Sub-Distribution Agreements with brokers, dealers and certain RIAs and other financial intermediaries to effect the distribution of Shares of the Fund. To operate in a manner consistent with Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, the Fund will pay a distribution and/or shareholder servicing fee out of the net assets of Class T Shares and Class S Shares at the annual rate of 0.85% of the aggregate NAV of Class T Shares and Class S Shares, respectively, determined and accrued on each business day (before any repurchases of Shares). To operate in a manner consistent with Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, the Fund will pay a distribution and/or shareholder servicing fee out of the net assets of Class D Shares at the annual rate of 0.25% of the aggregate NAV of Class D Shares. Class I Shares are not subject to any distribution and/or shareholder servicing fee.

Selling Agents may receive the Distribution and/or Shareholder Servicing Fee which they will use to compensate their brokerage representatives for Class T Shares, Class S Shares or Class D Shares sales and support. Sales Loads may be assessed at the time of purchase, on Class T Shares and on Class S Shares, up to a maximum of 3.50% of the investment amount. Class I and Class D Shares are not subject to any sales load at the time of purchase.

Class I Shares may be purchased through an RIA that has entered into an arrangement with the Distributor for such RIA to offer Shares in conjunction with a “wrap” fee, asset allocation or other managed asset program sponsored by such RIA.

The Fund and/or the Adviser may also enter into agreements with certain financial intermediaries under which payments are made to the intermediaries in recognition of the transfer agency costs avoided by the Fund associated with the intermediaries’ maintenance of investor accounts or in recognition of the services provided by intermediaries through fund or similar platforms. Payments made by the Fund under such agreements are generally based on either (1) a percentage of the average daily net asset value of the Shares serviced by the intermediary, often up to a set maximum, or (2) a per account fee assessed against each account serviced by such intermediary, often up to a set maximum. These payments may be in addition to other payments described herein.

The Adviser may pay additional compensation out of its own resources (i.e., not Fund assets) to certain brokers, dealers or other financial intermediaries that have agreed to participate in the distribution of the Fund’s Shares, including the Distributor, for sales and wholesaling support, and also for other services including due diligence support, account maintenance, provision of information and support services.

Shares may be purchased daily at the then-current NAV per share for the relevant Class. See “Purchases of Shares.”

SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM

The Fund does not currently intend to list its Shares on any securities exchange and does not expect any secondary market for them to develop in the foreseeable future. Therefore, Shareholders should expect that they will be unable to sell their Shares for an indefinite time or at a desired price. No Shareholder will have the right to require the Fund to repurchase such Shareholder’s Shares or any portion thereof. Shareholders may not transfer their investment from the Fund to any other registered investment company. Because no public market exists for the Shares,

 

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and none is expected to develop in the foreseeable future, Shareholders will not be able to liquidate their investment, other than through the Fund’s share repurchase program, or, in limited circumstances, as a result of transfers of Shares to other investors. Thus, the Shares are appropriate only as a long-term investment. Shareholders who require minimum annual distributions from a retirement account through which they hold Shares should consider the Fund’s schedule for repurchase offers and submit repurchase requests accordingly.

To provide Shareholders with limited liquidity, the Fund is structured as an interval fund and intends to conduct quarterly offers at NAV to repurchase between 5% and 25% of outstanding Shares, pursuant to Rule 23c-3 under the 1940 Act, unless such offer is suspended or postponed in accordance with regulatory requirements (as discussed below). In connection with any given quarterly repurchase offer, the Fund currently intends to repurchase 5% of its outstanding Shares.

The timeline below summarizes the key dates in the repurchase process:

 

(21 to 42 days)

          (No more than 14 days)        (No more than 7 days)              
|______________________________________|________________________|_______________________________|   

Shareholder Notification

    

Repurchase

  

Repurchase

  

Repurchase

  
    

Request

  

Pricing Date

  

Payment

  
    

Deadline

  

(determine NAV

  

Deadline

  
       

at which shares will

     
       

be repurchased)

     

Quarterly repurchases will occur in the months of March, June, September and December. The offer to purchase Shares is a fundamental policy that may not be changed without the vote of the holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities (as defined in the 1940 Act). A Shareholder Notification (as defined below) will be made available to Shareholders at least 21 calendar days before the “Repurchase Request Deadline” (typically March 15, June 15, September 15, or December 15); however, the Fund will provide such written notification earlier but no more than 42 calendar days before the “Repurchase Request Deadline.” The NAV will be calculated no later than the “Repurchase Pricing Date,” which will be no later than 14 calendar days after the Repurchase Request Deadline, or the next business day if the fourteenth day is not a business day. The Fund will distribute payment to Shareholders within seven calendar days after the Repurchase Pricing Date. The Fund’s repurchase offers may subject the Fund and Shareholders to special risks.

Determination of Repurchase Offer Amount

The Board, in its sole discretion, will determine the number of Shares that the Fund will offer to repurchase (the “Repurchase Offer Amount”) for a given Repurchase Request Deadline. The Repurchase Offer Amount, however, will be between 5% and 25% of the total number of Shares outstanding on the Repurchase Request Deadline. In connection with any given quarterly repurchase offer, the Fund currently intends to repurchase 5% of its outstanding Shares.

Notice to Shareholders

No less than 21 days and no more than 42 days before each Repurchase Request Deadline, the Fund shall make available to each Shareholder of record and to each beneficial owner of the Shares that are the subject of the repurchase offer a notification (“Shareholder Notification”). The Shareholder Notification will contain information Shareholders should consider in deciding whether to tender their Shares for repurchase.

The notice also will include detailed instructions on how to tender Shares for repurchase, state the Repurchase Offer Amount and identify the dates of the Repurchase Request Deadline, the scheduled Repurchase Pricing Date, and the date the repurchase proceeds are scheduled for payment (the “Repurchase Payment Deadline”). The notice also will set forth the NAV that has been computed no more than seven days before the date of notification, and how Shareholders may ascertain the NAV after the notification date.

 

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Repurchase Price

The repurchase price of the Shares will be the Fund’s NAV as of the close of regular trading on the NYSE on the Repurchase Pricing Date. You may call 877-772-7724 to learn the NAV. The notice of the repurchase offer also will provide information concerning the NAV, such as the NAV as of a recent date or a sampling of recent NAVs, and a toll-free number for information regarding the repurchase offer.

Repurchase Amounts and Payment of Proceeds

Shares tendered for repurchase by Shareholders prior to any Repurchase Request Deadline will be repurchased subject to the aggregate Repurchase Offer Amount established for that Repurchase Request Deadline. Payment pursuant to the repurchase offer will be made to the Shareholder’s address of record or credited directly to a predetermined bank account on the Purchase Payment Date, which will be no more than seven calendar days after the Repurchase Pricing Date. The Board may establish other policies for repurchases of Shares that are consistent with the 1940 Act, regulations thereunder and other pertinent laws.

If Shareholders tender for repurchase more than the Repurchase Offer Amount for a given repurchase offer, the Fund may, but is not required to, repurchase an additional amount of Shares not to exceed 2% of the outstanding Shares of the Fund on the Repurchase Request Deadline. If the Fund determines not to repurchase more than the Repurchase Offer Amount, or if Shareholders tender Shares in an amount exceeding the Repurchase Offer Amount plus 2% of the outstanding Shares on the Repurchase Request Deadline, the Fund will repurchase the Shares on a pro rata basis. However, the Fund may accept all Shares tendered for repurchase by Shareholders who own less than one hundred Shares and who tender all of their Shares, before prorating other amounts tendered. With respect to any required minimum distributions from an IRA or other qualified retirement plan, it is the obligation of the shareholder to determine the amount of any such required minimum distribution and to otherwise satisfy the required minimum. In the event that shareholders in the aggregate tender for repurchase more than the Repurchase Offer Amount for a given repurchase offer, the Fund will repurchase the shares on a pro rata basis, which may result in the Fund not honoring the full amount of a required minimum distribution requested by a shareholder.

 

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DISTRIBUTION POLICY

As required in connection with the Fund’s intention to qualify as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code, the Fund will, at a minimum, make distributions quarterly in amounts that represent substantially all of the net investment income and net capital gains, if any, earned each year. The NAV of each Share that you own will be reduced by the amount of the distributions or dividends that you receive from that Share.

Automatic Dividend Reinvestment Plan

Pursuant to the dividend reinvestment plan established by the Fund (the “DRIP”), each Shareholder whose Shares are registered in its own name will automatically be a participant under the DRIP and have all ordinary income dividends and/or capital gains dividend distributions automatically reinvested in additional Shares unless such Shareholder specifically elects to receive all ordinary income and capital gain dividend distributions paid in cash. A Shareholder is free to change this election at any time. If, however, a Shareholder requests to change its election within 30 days prior to a distribution, the request will be effective only with respect to distributions after the 30-day period. A Shareholder whose Shares are registered in the name of a nominee must contact the nominee regarding its status under the DRIP, including whether such nominee will participate on such Shareholder’s behalf.

A Shareholder may elect to:

 

   

reinvest both ordinary income dividends and capital gain dividend distributions; or

 

   

receive both ordinary income dividends and capital gain dividend distributions in cash.

Generally, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, Shareholders receiving Shares under the DRIP will be treated as having received a distribution equal to the amount payable to them in cash as a distribution had the Shareholder not participated in the DRIP.

Shares will be issued pursuant to the DRIP at their NAV determined on the relevant Determination Date. There is no sales load or other charge for reinvestment, but distribution and/or shareholder servicing fees will be charged where applicable. The Fund may terminate the DRIP at any time. Any expenses of the DRIP will be borne by the Fund. The reinvestment of dividends pursuant to the DRIP will increase the Fund’s net assets on which the Management Fee and Administration Fee are payable.

VOTING

Each Shareholder has the right to cast a number of votes equal to the number of Shares held by such Shareholder at a meeting of Shareholders called by the Fund’s Board of Trustees. Shareholders will be entitled to vote on any matter on which shareholders of a registered investment company organized as a corporation would be entitled to vote, including certain elections of a Trustee and approval of the Advisory Agreement, in each case to the extent that voting by shareholders is required by the 1940 Act. Notwithstanding their ability to exercise their voting privileges, Shareholders in their capacity as such are not entitled to participate in the management or control of the Fund’s business and may not act for or bind the Fund.

TAX ASPECTS

The following is a summary of certain U.S. federal income tax considerations relevant to the acquisition, holding and disposition of Shares. This discussion offers only a brief outline of the U.S. federal income tax consequences of investing in the Fund and is based upon present provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), the regulations promulgated thereunder, and judicial and administrative ruling authorities, all of which are subject to change, which change may be retroactive. The discussion is limited to persons who hold their Shares as capital assets (generally, property held for investment) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This summary does not address all of the U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to a particular Shareholder or to Shareholders who may be subject to special treatment under U.S. federal income tax laws, such as U.S. financial institutions, insurance companies, broker-dealers, traders in securities that have made an election for U.S. federal income tax purposes to mark-to-market their securities holdings, tax-exempt organizations, partnerships, Shareholders

 

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who are not “United States Persons” (as defined in the Code), Shareholders liable for the alternative minimum tax, persons holding Shares through partnerships or other pass-through entities, or persons that have a functional currency (as defined in Section 985 of the Code) other than the U.S. dollar. No ruling has been or will be obtained from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) regarding any matter relating to the Fund or the Shares. No assurance can be given that the IRS would not assert a position contrary to any of the tax aspects described below. The discussion set forth herein does not constitute tax advice. Prospective Shareholders and Shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors as to the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, holding and disposition of Shares of the Fund, as well as the effects of state, local and non-U.S. tax laws.

UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, REFERENCES IN THIS DISCUSSION TO THE FUND’S INVESTMENTS, ACTIVITIES, INCOME, GAIN AND LOSS, INCLUDE THE CO-INVESTMENTS OR CO-INVESTMENTS, ACTIVITIES, INCOME, GAIN AND LOSS OF THE FUND, AS WELL AS THOSE INDIRECTLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE FUND AS A RESULT OF THE FUND’S INVESTMENT IN ANY INVESTMENT FUND (OR OTHER ENTITY) THAT IS PROPERLY CLASSIFIED AS A PARTNERSHIP OR DISREGARDED ENTITY FOR U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX PURPOSES (AND NOT AN ASSOCIATION OR PUBLICLY TRADED PARTNERSHIP TAXABLE AS A CORPORATION).

Qualification as a Regulated Investment Company; Tax Treatment

It is expected that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a RIC under the Code. If the Fund so qualifies and distributes (or is deemed to have distributed) each taxable year to Shareholders dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes of an amount at least equal to the sum of 90% of its investment company taxable income (which includes, among other items, dividends, interest and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses, but determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid) plus 90% of any net tax-exempt income for the Fund’s taxable year, the Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal corporate income taxes on any amounts it distributes as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes, including distributions (if any) derived from the Fund’s net capital gain (i.e., the excess of the net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses) to Shareholders. The Fund intends to distribute to its Shareholders, at least annually, substantially all of its investment company taxable income, net tax-exempt income, and net capital gains.

In addition, amounts not distributed on a timely basis in accordance with a separate calendar year distribution requirement are subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax. To prevent imposition of the excise tax, the Fund generally must be considered to have distributed dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes in respect of each calendar year an amount at least equal to the sum of (1) 98% of its ordinary income (not taking into account any capital gains or losses), determined on a calendar year basis, (2) 98.2% of its capital gain net income, determined under prescribed rules for this purpose (which is generally determined on the basis of the one-year period ending on October 31st of such calendar year, and adjusted for certain ordinary losses), and (3) any ordinary income and capital gain net income from previous years that was not distributed during those years and on which the Fund incurred no U.S. federal income tax. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, dividends declared by the Fund in October, November or December to Shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month and paid during January of the following calendar year are taxable to such Shareholders, and deductible by the Fund, as if paid on December 31 of the calendar year declared. The Fund generally intends to make distributions sufficient to avoid imposition of the excise tax, although there can be no assurance that it will be able to do so.

In order to qualify as a RIC, the Fund must, among other things: (a) derive in each taxable year (the “gross income test”) at least 90% of its gross income from (i) dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, and gains from the sale or other disposition of stocks, securities or foreign currencies, or other income (including but not limited to gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stocks, securities or currencies, and (ii) net income from interests in “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (as defined in the Code) (all such income items, “qualifying gross income”); and (b) diversify its holdings (the “asset diversification test”) so that, at the end of each quarter of the taxable year, (i) at least 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets is represented by cash and cash items (including receivables), U.S. Government securities, the securities of other RICs and other securities, with such other securities of any one issuer limited for the purposes of this calculation to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its total assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. Government securities or the securities of other RICs) of a single issuer, two or more

 

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issuers that the Fund controls and that are engaged in the same, similar or related trades or businesses or one or more “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (as defined in the Code).

For the purpose of determining whether the Fund satisfies the gross income test, the character of the Fund’s distributive share of items of income, gain and loss derived through any Investment Funds that are properly treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes (other than certain publicly traded partnerships) generally will be determined as if the Fund realized such tax items in the same manner as realized by those Investment Funds. Similarly, for the purpose of the asset diversification test, the Fund, in appropriate circumstances, will “look through” to the assets held by such Investment Funds.

A RIC that fails the gross income test for a taxable year shall nevertheless be considered to have satisfied the test for such taxable year if (i) the RIC satisfies certain procedural requirements, and (ii) the RIC’s failure to satisfy the gross income test is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. However, in such case, a tax is imposed on the RIC for the taxable year in which, absent the application of the above cure provision, it would have failed the gross income test equal to the amount by which the RIC’s non-qualifying gross income exceeds one-ninth of the RIC’s qualifying gross income, each as determined for purposes of applying the gross income test for such taxable year.

Additionally, a RIC that fails the asset diversification test as of the end of a quarter of a taxable year shall nevertheless be considered to have satisfied the test as of the end of such quarter in the following circumstances. If the RIC’s failure to satisfy the asset diversification test at the end of the quarter is due to the ownership of assets the total value of which does not exceed the lesser of (i) one percent of the total value of the RIC’s assets at the end of such quarter and (ii) $10,000,000 (a “de minimis failure”), the RIC shall be considered to have satisfied the asset diversification test as of the end of such quarter if, within six months of the last day of the quarter in which the RIC identifies that it failed the asset diversification test (or such other prescribed time period), the RIC either disposes of assets in order to satisfy the asset diversification test, or otherwise satisfies the asset diversification test.

In the case of a failure to satisfy the asset diversification test at the end of a quarter of a taxable year under circumstances that do not constitute a de minimis failure, a RIC shall nevertheless be considered to have satisfied the asset diversification test as of the end of such quarter if (i) the RIC satisfies certain procedural requirements; (ii) the RIC’s failure to satisfy the asset diversification test is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect; and (iii) within six months of the last day of the quarter in which the RIC identifies that it failed the asset diversification test (or such other prescribed time period), the RIC either disposes of the assets that caused the asset diversification failure in order to satisfy the asset diversification test, or otherwise satisfies the asset diversification test. However, in such case, a tax is imposed on the RIC, at the highest stated corporate income tax rate, on the net income generated by the assets that caused the RIC to fail the asset diversification test during the period for which the asset diversification test was not met. In all events, however, such tax will not be less than $50,000.

If before the end of any taxable quarter of its taxable year, the Fund believes that it may fail the asset diversification test, the Fund may seek to take certain actions to avert such a failure. However, the action typically taken by RICs to avert such a failure (e.g., the disposition of assets causing the asset diversification discrepancy) may be difficult for the Fund to pursue because of the limited liquidity of the interests in the private markets. While the Code generally affords the Fund a 30-day period after the end of the relevant quarter in which to cure a diversification failure by disposing of non-diversified assets, the constraints on the Fund’s ability to do so may limit utilization of this statutory 30-day cure period and, possibly, the extended cure period provided by the Code as discussed above.

If the Fund does not qualify as a RIC, it will be treated for tax purposes as an ordinary corporation. In that case, all of its taxable income would be subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates without any deduction for distributions made to Shareholders. In addition, all distributions (including distributions of net capital gain) made to Shareholders generally would be characterized as dividend income to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits.

The Fund’s use of cash to repurchase shares could adversely affect its ability to satisfy the distribution requirements for treatment as a RIC. The Fund could also recognize income in connection with its liquidation of portfolio securities to fund Share repurchases. Any such income would be taken into account in determining whether the distribution requirements are satisfied, and to the extent that additional distributions are required, could generate additional taxable income for those Shareholders receiving such additional distributions. Furthermore, if the Fund is

 

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unable to liquidate portfolio securities in a manner that would enable the Fund to meet the income and asset diversification tests, the Fund could fail to qualify as a RIC, with the adverse consequences as set forth above.

Distributions

The Fund will ordinarily declare and pay distributions from its net investment income and distribute net realized capital gains, if any, at least once a year. The Fund, however, may make distributions on a more frequent basis to comply with the distribution requirements of the Code, in all events in a manner consistent with the provisions of the 1940 Act. After the end of each calendar year, Shareholders will be provided a Form 1099, containing information regarding the amount and character of distributions received from the Fund during the calendar year.

Shareholders normally will be subject to U.S. federal income taxes, and any state and/or local income taxes, on any distributions that they receive from the Fund. Distributions from net investment income and net short-term capital gain generally will be characterized as ordinary income (which generally cannot be offset with capital losses from other sources), and, to the extent attributable to dividends from U.S. corporations, may be eligible for a dividends-received deduction for Shareholders that are corporations. Further, to the extent the dividends are attributable to dividends from U.S. corporations and certain foreign corporations, such dividends may, in certain cases, be eligible for treatment as “qualified dividend income,” which is generally subject to tax at rates equivalent to long-term capital gain tax rates, by Shareholders that are individuals. The Fund’s distributions generally are not expected to be attributable to dividends received by the Fund and, therefore, generally are not expected to be eligible for the dividends-received deduction or treatment as “qualified dividend income.” Distributions from net capital gain (typically referred to as a “capital gain dividend”) will be characterized as long-term capital gain, regardless of how long Shares have been held by the Shareholder. However, if the Shareholder received any long-term capital gain distributions in respect of the repurchased Shares (including, for this purpose, amounts credited as undistributed capital gains in respect of those Shares) and held the repurchased Shares for six months or less, any loss realized by the Shareholder upon the repurchase will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent that it offsets the long-term capital gain distributions. Distributions by the Fund that are or are considered to be in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits for the relevant period will be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of (and in reduction of) a Shareholder’s tax basis in its Shares and any such amount in excess of such tax basis will be treated as gain from the sale of Shares, as discussed below. Similarly, as discussed below at “Income from Repurchases and Transfers of Shares,” if a repurchase of a Shareholder’s Shares does not qualify for sale or exchange treatment, the Shareholder may, in connection with such repurchase, be treated as having received, in whole or in part, a taxable dividend, a tax-free return of capital or taxable capital gain, depending on (i) whether the Fund has sufficient earnings and profits to support a dividend and (ii) the Shareholder’s tax basis in the relevant Shares repurchased. In such case, the tax basis in the Shares repurchased by the Fund, to the extent remaining after any dividend and return of capital distribution with respect to those Shares, will be transferred to any remaining Shares held by the Shareholder.

The tax treatment of the Fund’s distributions from net investment income and capital gains generally will be the same whether the Shareholder takes such distributions in cash or reinvests them to buy additional Shares.

The Fund may elect to retain its net capital gain or a portion thereof for investment and be subject to tax at corporate rates on the amount retained. In such case, the Fund may report the retained amount as undistributed capital gains to its Shareholders, who will be treated as if each Shareholder received a distribution of his or her pro rata share of such gain, with the result that each Shareholder will (i) be required to report his or her pro rata share of such gain on his or her tax return as long-term capital gain, (ii) receive a refundable tax credit for his or her pro rata share of tax paid by the Fund on the gain, and (iii) increase the tax basis for his or her Shares by an amount equal to the deemed distribution less the tax credit.

For taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026, individuals (and certain other non-corporate entities) are generally eligible for a 20% deduction with respect to taxable ordinary real estate investment trust (“REIT”) dividends. Applicable Treasury regulations allow RICs to pass through to shareholders such taxable ordinary REIT dividends. Accordingly, individual (and certain other non-corporate) Shareholders of the Fund that have received such taxable ordinary REIT dividends may be able to take advantage of this 20% deduction with respect to any such amounts passed through.

Certain distributions reported by the Fund as section 163(j) interest dividends may be treated as interest income by Shareholders for purposes of the tax rules applicable to interest expense limitations under Section 163(j)

 

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of the Code. Such treatment by the Shareholder is generally subject to holding period requirements and other potential limitations, although the holding period requirements are generally not applicable to dividends declared by money market funds and certain other funds that declare dividends daily and pay such dividends on a monthly or more frequent basis. The amount that the Fund is eligible to report as a Section 163(j) dividend for a tax year is generally limited to the excess of the Fund’s business interest income over the sum of the Fund’s (i) business interest expense and (ii) other deductions properly allocable to the Fund’s business interest income.

An additional 3.8% tax will be imposed in respect of the net investment income of certain individuals and on the undistributed net investment income of certain estates and trusts to the extent such person’s “modified adjusted gross income” (in the case of an individual) or “adjusted gross income” (in the case of an estate or trust) exceeds certain threshold amounts. For these purposes, “net investment income” will generally include, among other things, dividends (including dividends paid with respect to the Shares to the extent paid out of the Fund’s current or accumulated earnings and profits as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles) and net gain attributable to the disposition of property not held in a trade or business (which could include net gain from the sale, exchange or other taxable disposition of Shares), but will be reduced by any deductions properly allocable to such income or net gain.

Shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisors regarding the additional taxation of net investment income.

Income from Repurchases and Transfers of Shares

A repurchase or transfer of Shares by the Fund generally will be treated as a taxable transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, either as a “sale or exchange,” or, under certain circumstances, as a “dividend.” In general, the transaction should be treated as a sale or exchange of the Shares if the receipt of cash results in a meaningful reduction in the Shareholder’s proportionate interest in the Fund or results in a “complete redemption” of the Shareholder’s Shares, in each case applying certain constructive ownership rules in the Code. Alternatively, if a Shareholder does not tender all of his or her Shares, such repurchase may not be treated as a sale or exchange for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and the gross amount of such repurchase may constitute a dividend to the Shareholder to the extent of such Shareholder’s pro rata share of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits.

If the repurchase or transfer of a Shareholder’s Shares qualifies for sale or exchange treatment, the Shareholder will recognize gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount received in exchange for the repurchased or transferred Shares and the adjusted tax basis of those Shares. Such gain or loss will be capital gain or loss if the repurchased or transferred Shares were held by the Shareholder as capital assets, and generally will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the repurchased or transferred Shares were held by the Shareholder for more than one year, or as short-term capital gain or loss if the repurchased or transferred Shares were held by the Shareholder for one year or less.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, any capital loss realized by a Shareholder will be disallowed to the extent the Shares repurchased or transferred by the Fund are replaced (including through reinvestment of dividends) either with Shares or substantially identical securities within a period of 61 days beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the repurchase or transfer of the Shares. If disallowed, the loss will be reflected in an upward adjustment to the basis of the Shares acquired. The deductibility of capital losses may be subject to statutory limitations.

If the repurchase or transfer of a Shareholder’s Shares does not qualify for sale or exchange treatment, the Shareholder may be treated as having received, in whole or in part, a taxable dividend, a tax-free return of capital or taxable capital gain, depending on (i) whether the Fund has sufficient earnings and profits to support a dividend and (ii) the Shareholder’s tax basis in the relevant Shares. The tax basis in the Shares repurchased or transferred by the Fund, to the extent remaining after any dividend and return of capital distribution with respect to those Shares, will be transferred to any remaining Shares held by the Shareholder. In such a case, there is a risk that Shareholders who are not seeking to have their Shares repurchased, and Shareholders who seek to have some but not all of their Shares or fewer than all of whose Shares are repurchased, in each case whose percentage interests in the Fund increase as a result of such repurchase offer, will be treated as having received a taxable distribution from the Fund. The extent of such risk will vary depending upon the particular circumstances of the share repurchase program, and in particular whether such program is a single and isolated event or is part of a plan for periodically repurchasing Shares of the Fund.

 

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The Fund generally will be required to report to the IRS and each Shareholder the cost basis and holding period for each respective Shareholder’s Shares repurchased or transferred by the Fund. The Fund has elected the average cost method as the default cost basis method for purposes of this requirement. If a Shareholder wishes to accept the average cost method as its default cost basis calculation method in respect of Shares in its account, the Shareholder does not need to take any additional action. If, however, a Shareholder wishes to affirmatively elect an alternative cost basis calculation method in respect of its Shares, the Shareholder must contact the Administrator to obtain and complete a cost basis election form. The cost basis method applicable to a particular Share repurchase or transfer may not be changed after the valuation date established by the Fund in respect of that repurchase or transfer. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors regarding their cost basis reporting options and to obtain more information about how the cost basis reporting rules apply to them.

A sale of Shares, other than in the context of a repurchase or transfer of Shares by the Fund, generally will have the same tax consequences as described above in respect of a Share repurchase that qualifies for “sale or exchange” treatment.

If a Shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to Shares in excess of certain prescribed thresholds (generally, $2,500,000 or more for an individual Shareholder or $10,000,000 or more for a corporate Shareholder), the Shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on an IRS Form 8886. Direct investors of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but, under current guidance, equity owners of RICs are not excepted. The fact that a loss is reportable as just described does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of this reporting requirement in light of their particular circumstances.

Other Considerations

Unless and until the Fund is considered under the Code to be a “publicly offered regulated investment company,” for purposes of computing the taxable income of U.S. Shareholders that are individuals, trusts or estates, (1) the Fund’s earnings will be computed without taking into account such U.S. Shareholders’ allocable shares of the Management Fees and certain other expenses, (2) each such U.S. Shareholder will be treated as having received or accrued a dividend from the Fund in the amount of such U.S. Shareholder’s allocable share of these fees and expenses for such taxable year, (3) each such U.S. Shareholder will be treated as having paid or incurred such U.S. Shareholder’s allocable share of these fees and expenses for the calendar year and (4) each such U.S. Shareholder’s allocable share of these fees and expenses will be treated as miscellaneous itemized deductions by such U.S. stockholder. For taxable years beginning before 2026, miscellaneous itemized deductions generally are not deductible by a U.S. Shareholder that is an individual, trust or estate. For taxable years beginning in 2026 or later, miscellaneous itemized deductions generally are deductible by a U.S. Shareholder that is an individual, trust or estate only to the extent that the aggregate of such U.S. Shareholder’s miscellaneous itemized deductions exceeds 2% of such U.S. stockholder’s adjusted gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, are not deductible for purposes of the alternative minimum tax and are subject to the overall limitation on itemized deductions under Section 68 of the Code. In addition, if the Fund is not treated as a “publicly offered regulated investment company,” the Fund will be subject to limitations on the deductibility of certain “preferential dividends” that are distributed to U.S. stockholders on a non-pro-rata basis. A “publicly offered regulated investment company” is a RIC whose equity interests are (i) continuously offered pursuant to a public offering, (ii) regularly traded on an established securities market, or (iii) held by at least 500 persons at all times during the RIC’s taxable year.

Investment Funds

It is intended that the Fund will invest a portion of its assets in Investment Funds, some of which may be classified as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes. An entity that is properly classified as a partnership (and not an association or publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation) generally is not subject to an entity-level U.S. federal income tax. Instead, each partner of the partnership is required to take into account its distributive share of the partnership’s net capital gain or loss, net short-term capital gain or loss, and its other items of ordinary income or loss (including all items of income, gain, loss and deduction allocable to that partnership from investments in other partnerships) for each taxable year of the partnership ending with or within the partner’s taxable year. Each such item will have the same character to a partner and will generally have the same source (either United States or foreign), as though the partner realized the item directly. Partners of a partnership must report these items regardless of the extent to which, or whether, the partnership or the partners receive cash distributions for such taxable year.

 

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Accordingly, the Fund may be required to recognize items of taxable income and gain prior to the time that any corresponding cash distributions are made to or by the Fund and certain Investment Funds (including in circumstances where investments by the Investment Funds generate income prior to a corresponding receipt of cash). In such case, the Fund may have to dispose of interests in Investment Funds that it would otherwise have continued to hold, or devise other methods of cure, to the extent certain Investment Funds earn income of a type that is not qualifying gross income for purposes of the gross income test or hold assets that could cause the Fund not to satisfy the RIC asset diversification test.

Some of the income that the Fund may earn directly or through an Investment Fund, such as income recognized from an equity investment in an operating partnership, may not satisfy the gross income test. To manage the risk that such income might jeopardize the Fund’s tax status as a RIC resulting from a failure to satisfy the gross income test, one or more subsidiary entities treated as U.S. corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes may be employed to earn such income and (if applicable) hold the related investment. Such subsidiary entities generally will be required to incur entity-level income taxes on their earnings, which ultimately will reduce the return to Shareholders.

UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, REFERENCES IN THIS DISCUSSION TO THE FUND’S INVESTMENTS, ACTIVITIES, INCOME, GAIN AND LOSS, INCLUDE THE CO-INVESTMENTS OR CO-INVESTMENTS, ACTIVITIES, INCOME, GAIN AND LOSS OF BOTH THE FUND, AS WELL AS THOSE INDIRECTLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE FUND AS A RESULT OF THE FUND’S INVESTMENT IN ANY INVESTMENT FUND (OR OTHER ENTITY) THAT IS PROPERLY CLASSIFIED AS A PARTNERSHIP OR DISREGARDED ENTITY FOR U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX PURPOSES (AND NOT AN ASSOCIATION OR PUBLICLY TRADED PARTNERSHIP TAXABLE AS A CORPORATION).

Ordinarily, gains and losses realized from portfolio transactions will be characterized as capital gains and losses. However, because the functional currency of the Fund for U.S. federal income tax purposes is the U.S. dollar, a portion of the gain or loss realized from the disposition of foreign currencies (including foreign currency denominated bank deposits) and non-U.S. dollar denominated securities (including debt instruments, certain futures or forward contracts and options, and similar financial instruments) is generally characterized as ordinary income or loss under Section 988 of the Code. Section 988 of the Code similarly provides that gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates that occur between the time the Fund accrues interest or other receivables or accrues expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time such receivables are collected or the time that the liabilities are paid would be generally characterized as ordinary income or loss. In addition, all or a portion of any gains realized from the sale or other disposition of certain market discount bonds will be characterized as ordinary income. Finally, all or a portion of any gain realized from engaging in “conversion transactions” (as defined in the Code to generally include certain transactions designed to convert ordinary income into capital gain) may be characterized as ordinary income.

Hedging and Derivative Transactions

Gain or loss, if any, realized from certain financial futures or forward contracts and options transactions (“Section 1256 Contracts”) generally is treated as 60% long-term capital gain or loss and 40% short-term capital gain or loss. Gain or loss will arise upon exercise or lapse of Section 1256 Contracts. In addition, any Section 1256 Contracts remaining unexercised both at October 31 of each calendar year as well as at the end of the Fund’s taxable year are treated as sold for their then fair market value, resulting in the recognition of gain or loss characterized in the manner described above.

While not a principal investment strategy of the Fund, the Fund may acquire certain foreign currency forward contracts, enter into certain foreign currency futures contracts, acquire put and call options on foreign currencies, or acquire or enter into similar foreign currency-related financial instruments. Generally, foreign currency regulated futures contracts and option contracts that qualify as Section 1256 Contracts will not be subject to ordinary income or loss treatment under Section 988 of the Code. However, if the Fund acquires or enters into any foreign currency futures contracts or options contracts that are not Section 1256 Contracts, or any foreign currency forward contracts or similar foreign currency-related financial instruments, any gain or loss realized by the Fund with respect to such contract or financial instruments generally will be characterized as ordinary gain or loss unless the contract or financial instrument in question is a capital asset in the hands of the Fund and is not part of a straddle transaction (as described below), and

 

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an election is made by the Fund (before the close of the day the transaction is entered into) to characterize the gain or loss attributable to such contract or financial instrument as capital gain or loss.

Offsetting positions held by the Fund, or the Investment Funds, involving certain financial futures or forward contracts or options transactions with respect to actively traded personal property may be considered, for tax purposes, to constitute “straddles.” In addition, investments by the Fund in particular combinations of Investment Funds may also be treated as a “straddle.” To the extent the straddle rules apply to positions established by the Fund, or the Investment Funds, losses realized by the Fund may be deferred to the extent of unrealized gain in the offsetting positions. Further, short-term capital loss on straddle positions may be recharacterized as long-term capital loss, and long-term capital gains on straddle positions may be treated as short-term capital gains or ordinary income. Certain of the straddle positions held by the Fund, or the Investment Funds, may constitute “mixed straddles.” One or more elections may be made in respect of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of “mixed straddles,” resulting in different tax consequences. In certain circumstances, the provisions governing the tax treatment of straddles override or modify certain of the provisions discussed above.

If the Fund, or possibly an Investment Fund, either (1) holds an appreciated financial position with respect to stock, certain debt obligations or partnership interests (“appreciated financial position”), and then enters into a short sale, futures, forward, or offsetting notional principal contract (collectively, a “Contract”) with respect to the same or substantially identical property, or (2) holds an appreciated financial position that is a Contract and then acquires property that is the same as, or substantially identical to, the underlying property, the Fund generally will be taxed as if the appreciated financial position were sold at its fair market value on the date the Fund, or such Investment Fund, enters into the financial position or acquires the property, respectively. The foregoing will not apply, however, to any transaction during any taxable year that otherwise would be treated as a constructive sale if the transaction is closed within 30 days after the end of that year and the appreciated financial position is held unhedged for 60 days after that closing (i.e., at no time during that 60-day period is the risk of loss relating to the appreciated financial position reduced by reason of certain specified transactions with respect to substantially identical or related property, such as by reason of an option to sell, being contractually obligated to sell, making a short sale, or granting an option to buy substantially identical stock or securities).

If the Fund, or possibly an Investment Fund, enters into certain derivatives (including forward contracts, long positions under notional principal contracts, and related puts and calls) with respect to equity interests in certain pass-thru entities (including other RICs, REITs, partnerships, real estate mortgage investment conduits and certain trusts and foreign corporations), long-term capital gain with respect to the derivative may be recharacterized as ordinary income to the extent it exceeds the long-term capital gain that would have been realized had the interest in the pass-thru entity been held directly during the term of the derivative contract. Any gain recharacterized as ordinary income will be treated as accruing at a constant rate over the term of the derivative contract and may be subject to an interest charge. The U.S. Treasury Department (the “Treasury”) and the IRS have the authority to issue regulations expanding the application of these rules to derivatives with respect to debt instruments and/or stock in corporations that are not pass-thru entities.

Passive Foreign Investment Companies and Controlled Foreign Corporations

The Fund may indirectly hold equity interests in non-U.S. Investment Funds and/or non-U.S. portfolio companies that may be treated as “passive foreign investment companies” (each, a “PFIC”) under the Code. A PFIC is generally defined as a non-U.S. entity which is classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and which earns at least 75% of its annual gross income from passive sources (such as interest, dividends, rents, royalties or capital gain) or which holds at least 50% of its total assets in assets producing such passive income. The Fund may be subject to U.S. federal income tax, at ordinary income rates, on a portion of any “excess distribution” or gain from the disposition of such interests even if such income is distributed as a taxable dividend by the Fund to its Shareholders. Additional charges in the nature of interest may be imposed on the Fund in respect of deferred taxes arising from such distributions or gains. If an election is made to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Code (a “QEF”), then the Fund would be required, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, to include in its income each taxable year a portion of the QEF’s ordinary earnings and net capital gain (at ordinary income and capital gains rates, respectively), even if not distributed to the Fund. If the QEF incurs losses for a taxable year, these losses will not pass through to the Fund and, accordingly, cannot offset other income and/or gains of the Fund. The QEF election may not be able to be made with respect to many PFICs because of certain requirements that the PFICs themselves would have to satisfy. Alternatively, in certain cases, an election can be made to mark-to-market the shares of a PFIC held by the Fund at

 

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the end of the Fund’s taxable year (as well as on certain other dates prescribed in the Code). In this case, the Fund would recognize as ordinary income its share of any increase in the value of such PFIC shares, and as ordinary loss its share of any decrease in such value, to the extent such loss did not exceed its share of prior increases in income derived from such PFIC shares. Under either election, the Fund might be required to recognize income in excess of its distributions from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock during the applicable taxable year and such income would nevertheless be subject to the distribution requirement and would be taken into account under prescribed timing rules for purposes of the 4% excise tax (described above). Dividends paid by PFICs will not be treated as “qualified dividend income.” In certain cases, the Fund will not be the party legally permitted to make the QEF election or the mark-to-market election in respect of indirectly held PFICs and, in such cases, will not have control over whether the party within the chain of ownership that is legally permitted to make the QEF or mark-to-market election will do so.

If the Fund holds 10% or more (by vote or value) of the interests treated as equity for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a foreign entity classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and considered a controlled foreign corporation (“CFC”) under the Code, the Fund may be treated as receiving a deemed distribution (i.e., characterized as ordinary income) each taxable year from such foreign corporation in an amount equal to its pro rata share of such entity’s income for such taxable year (including both ordinary earnings and capital gains), whether or not the entity makes an actual distribution during such taxable year. The Fund would be required to include the amount of a deemed distribution from a CFC when computing its investment company taxable income as well as in determining whether the Fund satisfies the distribution requirements applicable to RICs, even to the extent the amount of the Fund’s income deemed recognized from the CFC exceeds the amount of any actual distributions from the CFC and the proceeds from any sales or other dispositions of CFC stock during the Fund’s taxable year. In general, a foreign entity classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes will be considered a CFC if greater than 50% of the shares of the corporation, measured by reference to combined voting power or value, is owned (directly, indirectly or by attribution) by U.S. Shareholders. A “U.S. Shareholder,” for this purpose, is any U.S. person that possesses (actually or constructively) 10% or more of the combined voting power or value of all classes of shares of a foreign entity classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Under applicable final Treasury regulations, certain income derived by the Fund from a CFC or a PFIC with respect to which the Fund has made a QEF election would generally constitute qualifying income under the gross income test for purposes of determining the Fund’s ability to be subject to tax as a RIC only to the extent the CFC or the PFIC makes current distributions of that income to the Fund or the included income is derived with respect to the Fund’s business of investing in stocks and securities. The Fund may be restricted in its ability to make QEF elections with respect to the Fund’s holdings in Private Market Assets and other issuers that could be treated as PFICs or implement certain restrictions with the respect to any Private Market Assets or other issuers that could be treated as CFCs in order to limit the Fund’s tax liability or maximize the Fund’s after-tax return from these investments.

State and Local Taxes

In addition to the U.S. federal income tax consequences summarized above, Shareholders and prospective Shareholders should consider the potential state and local tax consequences associated with an investment in the Fund. The Fund may become subject to income and other taxes in states and localities based on the Fund’s investments in entities that conduct business in those jurisdictions. Shareholders will generally be taxable in their state of residence with respect to their income or gains earned and distributed by the Fund as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or the amount of their investment in the Fund.

Foreign Taxes

The Fund’s investment in non-U.S. stocks or securities may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by countries outside the United States. In that case, the Fund’s yield on those stocks or securities would be decreased. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If more than 50% of the Fund’s assets at year-end consists of the stock or securities of foreign corporations, the Fund may elect to permit its Shareholders to claim a credit or deduction on their income tax returns for their pro rata portion of qualified taxes paid or deemed paid by the Fund to foreign countries in respect of foreign stock or securities the Fund has held for at least the minimum period specified in the Code. In such a case, Shareholders of the Fund will include in gross income from foreign sources their pro rata shares of such taxes. The Fund does not expect to meet the requirements to make the election described above in respect of the treatment of foreign taxes.

 

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Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

Information returns will generally be filed with the IRS in connection with distributions made by the Fund to Shareholders unless Shareholders establish they are exempt from such information reporting (e.g., by properly establishing that they are classified as corporations for U.S. federal tax purposes). Additionally, the Fund may be required to withhold, for U.S. federal income taxes, a portion of all taxable dividends and repurchase proceeds payable to Shareholders who fail to provide the Fund with their correct taxpayer identification numbers, generally on an IRS Form W-9, or who otherwise fail to make required certifications, or if the Fund or the Shareholder has been notified by the IRS that such Shareholder is subject to backup withholding. Certain Shareholders specified in the Code and the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder are exempt from backup withholding but may be required to demonstrate their exempt status. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld will be allowed as a refund or a credit against the Shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability if the appropriate information is provided to the IRS.

U.S. Federally Tax-Exempt Shareholders

Under current law, the Fund serves to “block” (that is, prevent the attribution to Shareholders of) unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) from being realized by its U.S. federally tax-exempt Shareholders (including, among others, individual retirement accounts, 401(k) accounts, Keogh plans, pension plans and certain charitable entities). Notwithstanding the foregoing, a U.S. federally tax-exempt Shareholder could realize UBTI by virtue of its investment in Shares of the Fund if the U.S. federally tax-exempt Shareholder has engaged in a borrowing or other similar transaction to acquire its Shares. A U.S. federally tax-exempt Shareholder may also recognize UBTI if the Fund were to recognize “excess inclusion income” derived from direct or indirect investments in residual interests in real estate mortgage investment conduits or taxable mortgage pools. If a charitable remainder annuity trust or a charitable remainder unitrust (each as defined in Section 664 of the Code) has UBTI for a taxable year, a 100% excise tax on the UBTI is imposed on the trust.

Foreign Shareholders

U.S. taxation of a Shareholder who, as to the United States, is a nonresident alien individual, a foreign trust or estate, or a foreign corporation (each, a “Foreign Shareholder”) as defined in the Code, depends on whether the income of the Fund is “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by the Foreign Shareholder.

Income Not Effectively Connected. If the income from the Fund is not “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by the Foreign Shareholder, distributions of investment company taxable income will generally be subject to a U.S. tax of 30% (or lower treaty rate, except in the case of any “excess inclusion income” allocated to the Foreign Shareholder), which tax is generally withheld from such distributions. Capital gain dividends and any amounts retained by the Fund which are properly reported by the Fund as undistributed capital gains will not be subject to U.S. tax at the rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate), unless the Foreign Shareholder is a nonresident alien individual and is physically present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year and meets certain other requirements. In order to qualify for any reduction or exemption from U.S. withholding tax, a Foreign Shareholder must comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E, IRS Form W-8ECI, IRS Form W-8IMY or IRS Form W-8EXP, or an acceptable substitute or successor form).

Any capital gain that a Foreign Shareholder realizes upon a repurchase of Shares or otherwise upon a sale or exchange of Shares will ordinarily be exempt from U.S. tax unless, in the case of a Foreign Shareholder that is a nonresident alien individual, the gain is U.S. source income and such Foreign Shareholder is physically present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year and meets certain other requirements. However, this 30% tax on capital gains of nonresident alien individuals who are physically present in the United States for more than the 182 day period only applies in exceptional cases because any individual present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year is generally treated as a resident for U.S. income tax purposes; in that case, he or she would be subject to U.S. income tax on his or her worldwide income at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, rather than the 30% tax.

Income Effectively Connected. If the income from the Fund is “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by a Foreign Shareholder, then distributions of investment company taxable income and capital

 

71


gain dividends, any amounts retained by the Fund which are reported by the Fund as undistributed capital gains, and any gains realized upon the sale or exchange of Shares of the Fund will be subject to U.S. income tax at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, residents and domestic corporations.

Corporate Foreign Shareholders may also be subject to the branch profits tax imposed by the Code.

In the case of a Foreign Shareholder, the Fund may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax from distributions and repurchase proceeds that are otherwise exempt from withholding tax (or taxable at a reduced treaty rate), unless the Foreign Shareholder certifies his foreign status under penalties of perjury or otherwise establishes an exemption in the manner discussed above.

The tax consequences to a Foreign Shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of an applicable tax treaty may differ from those described herein. Foreign Shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Fund.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

The Fund is required under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) provisions of the Code to withhold U.S. tax (at a 30% rate) on payments of amounts treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes made to certain non-U.S. entities (including financial intermediaries) that fail to comply (or be deemed compliant) with extensive reporting and withholding requirements designed to inform the Treasury of U.S.-owned foreign investment accounts unless various U.S. information reporting and diligence requirements (that are in addition to and significantly more onerous than, the requirement to deliver an applicable U.S. nonresident withholding tax certification form (e.g., IRS Form W-8BEN)) and certain other requirements have been satisfied. The information required to be reported includes the identity and taxpayer identification number of each account holder and transaction activity within the holder’s account. Persons located in jurisdictions that have entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the U.S. to implement FATCA may be subject to different rules. Shareholders may be requested to provide additional information to the Fund to enable the Fund to determine whether withholding is required.

Other Taxation

The foregoing represents a summary of the general tax rules and considerations affecting Shareholders and the Fund’s operations, and neither purports to be a complete analysis of all relevant tax rules and considerations, nor does it purport to be a complete listing of all potential tax risks inherent in making an investment in the Fund. A Shareholder may be subject to other taxes, including but not limited to, other state, local, and foreign taxes, estate and inheritance taxes, or intangible property taxes, which may be imposed by various jurisdictions. The Fund also may be subject to additional state, local, or foreign taxes that could reduce the amounts distributable to Shareholders. It is the responsibility of each Shareholder to file all appropriate tax returns that may be required. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the state, local and foreign tax consequences of an investment in Shares and the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Fund. In addition to the particular matters set forth in this section, tax-exempt entities should carefully review those sections of this Prospectus and its related SAI regarding liquidity and other financial matters to ascertain whether the investment objectives of the Fund are consistent with their overall investment plans.

ERISA CONSIDERATIONS

Persons who are fiduciaries with respect to an employee benefit plan, individual retirement account (“IRA”), Keogh plan, or other arrangement subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), or the Code (an “ERISA Plan”) should consider, among other things, the matters described below before determining whether to invest in the Fund. ERISA imposes certain general and specific responsibilities on persons who are fiduciaries with respect to an ERISA Plan, including prudence, diversification, prohibited transactions, and other standards.

The Board of Trustees may require an ERISA Plan proposing to invest in the Fund to represent that it, and any fiduciaries responsible for the ERISA Plan’s investments, are aware of and understand the Fund’s investment objectives, policies, and strategies; that the decision to invest plan assets in the Fund was made with appropriate consideration of relevant investment factors with regard to the ERISA Plan; and that the decision to invest plan assets

 

72


in the Fund is consistent with the duties and responsibilities imposed upon fiduciaries with regard to their investment decisions under ERISA and the Code, as applicable.

Certain prospective ERISA Plan investors may currently maintain relationships with the Advisers or one or more investment managers in which the Fund invests, or with other entities that are affiliated with the Advisers or such investment managers. Each of such persons may be deemed to be a party in interest to or a fiduciary of any ERISA Plan to which it provides investment management, investment advisory, or other services. ERISA prohibits (and the Code penalizes) the use of ERISA Plan assets for the benefit of a party in interest, and also prohibits (and penalizes) an ERISA Plan fiduciary from using its position to cause such ERISA Plan to make an investment from which it or certain third parties in which such fiduciary has an interest would receive a fee or other consideration. ERISA Plan Shareholders should consult with legal counsel to determine if participation in the Fund is a transaction that is prohibited by ERISA or the Code. Fiduciaries of ERISA Plan Shareholders may be required to represent that the decision to invest in the Fund was made by them as fiduciaries that are independent of such affiliated persons, that are duly authorized to make such investment decisions, and that have not relied on any individualized advice of such affiliated persons, as a basis for the decision to invest in the Fund.

Employee benefit plans that are not subject to ERISA or the related provisions of the Code may be subject to other rules governing such plans, and such plans are not addressed above; fiduciaries of employee benefit plans that are not subject to ERISA, whether or not subject to the Code, should consult with their own counsel and other advisors regarding such matters.

The provisions of ERISA and the Code are subject to extensive and continuing administrative and judicial interpretation and review. The discussion of ERISA and the Code contained herein is, of necessity, general and may be affected by future publication of regulations and rulings. Potential investors should consult with their legal advisers regarding the consequences under ERISA and the Code of the acquisition and ownership of Shares.

THE FUND’S SALE OF SHARES TO ERISA PLANS IS IN NO RESPECT A REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY BY THE FUND, THE ADVISERS, OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, OR BY ANY OTHER PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH THE SALE OF THE SHARES, THAT SUCH INVESTMENT BY ANY ERISA PLAN MEETS ALL RELEVANT LEGAL REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO ERISA PLANS GENERALLY OR TO ANY PARTICULAR ERISA PLAN, OR THAT SUCH INVESTMENT IS OTHERWISE APPROPRIATE FOR ERISA PLANS GENERALLY OR FOR ANY PARTICULAR ERISA PLAN.

ANTI-TAKEOVER PROVISIONS IN THE DECLARATION OF TRUST

The Declaration of Trust includes provisions that could have the effect of limiting the ability of other entities or persons to acquire control of the Fund or to change the composition of the Board. These provisions may have the effect of discouraging attempts to acquire control of the Fund, which attempts could have the effect of increasing the expenses of the Fund and interfering with the normal operation of the Fund. The Trustees are elected for indefinite terms and do not stand for reelection. A Trustee may be removed from office with cause only by action taken by a majority of the remaining Trustees (or, in the case of an Independent Trustee, only by action taken by a majority of the remaining Independent Trustees). The Declaration of Trust does not contain any other specific inhibiting provisions that would operate only with respect to an extraordinary transaction such as a merger, reorganization, tender offer, sale or transfer of substantially all of the Fund’s asset, or liquidation. Reference should be made to the Declaration of Trust on file with the SEC for the full text of these provisions.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND

Each Share represents a proportional interest in the assets of the Fund. Each Share has one vote at Shareholder meetings, with fractional Shares voting proportionally on matters submitted to the vote of Shareholders. There are no cumulative voting rights. Shares do not have pre-emptive or conversion or redemption provisions.

INQUIRIES

Inquiries concerning the Fund and Shares (including information concerning subscription and repurchase procedures) should be directed to:

 

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StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

 

74


STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE WEALTH LLC PRIVACY POLICY

Data privacy is a primary concern for each of StepStone Group LP (“SSG”), StepStone Group Real Assets LP (“SIRA”), StepStone Group Real Estate LP (“SRE”), and StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC (“StepStone Private Wealth” or “SPW” and together with SSG, SIRA, and SRE, collectively, “StepStone”). This data privacy notice (the “Notice”) details StepStone’s practices for collecting and disclosing the personal information of clients and others, to both affiliates of SSG, SIRA, SRE, and SPW, and, as applicable, nonaffiliated third parties. Recipients of this Notice include, among others, current clients and investors, prospective clients, former clients, employees of managers with whom StepStone has conducted business, and employees of StepStone or any of StepStone’s affiliates (each a “Notice Recipient”). For purposes of this Notice, an affiliate is an entity that (i) controls SSG, SIRA, SRE, or SPW, (ii) is controlled by SSG, SIRA, SRE, or SPW, or (iii) is under common control with SSG, SIRA, SRE, or StepStone Private Wealth. Nonaffiliated third parties are parties who are not affiliates of any of SSG, SIRA, SRE, or SPW.

Confidentiality of Personal Information

StepStone maintains the confidentiality of nonpublic personal information that a Notice Recipient provides to it. StepStone maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to guard a Notice Recipient’s nonpublic personal information. All third parties that handle information must agree to follow the standards for confidentiality that StepStone has established. In addition, all people who work for StepStone are trained to handle a Notice Recipient’s information properly in order to maintain its security, and only employees who need to know nonpublic personal information about a Notice Recipient to provide services to such Notice Recipient have access to such information.

Categories of Nonpublic Personal Information that StepStone Collects

StepStone collects nonpublic personal information about Notice Recipients from the following sources: (i) information it receives from Notice Recipients on applications or other forms; and (ii) information about Notice Recipients’ transactions with StepStone, its affiliates, or others.

StepStone is a data controller within the meaning of data protection legislation in force in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) and undertakes to hold any nonpublic personal information provided in accordance with EEA data protection legislation.

Nonpublic personal information will be used by StepStone for the following purposes:

   

to manage and administer holdings in StepStone managed or advised funds, separately managed accounts, advisory engagements and any related business relationships (and, in each case, the investments made pursuant thereto) on an ongoing basis in accordance with the terms agreed between a Notice Recipient and SSG, SIRA, SRE or SPW, as applicable;

   

to carry out statistical analysis and market research; and

   

to comply with legal and regulatory obligations applicable to the Notice Recipient, StepStone or its managed or advised funds, separately managed accounts, advisory engagements or any related business relationship with the Notice Recipient from time to time, including applicable anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing legislation, investor qualification legislation and tax legislation.

The nonpublic personal information will only be used in connection with StepStone’s legitimate business interests and accordingly Notice Recipients’ specific consent is not required.

Disclosure of Nonpublic Personal Information to Affiliates

StepStone generally may share all of a Notice Recipient’s nonpublic personal information with StepStone’s affiliates; provided that such affiliates will be obligated to keep such nonpublic personal information confidential to the same extent as StepStone. StepStone shares information with its affiliates in order to serve its Notice Recipients better. If a Notice Recipient prefers that StepStone not disclose nonpublic personal information about such Notice Recipient to its affiliates, such Notice Recipient may opt out of those general disclosures; that is, such Notice Recipient may direct StepStone not to make such disclosures (other than disclosures permitted or required by applicable law or otherwise permitted by StepStone’s privacy policy). However, notwithstanding any such opt-out, StepStone will be permitted to disclose personal information to its affiliates to the extent necessary or appropriate for such affiliates to perform services for the benefit of the Notice Recipient.

 

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Disclosure of Nonpublic Personal Information to Non-Affiliates

StepStone does not sell or market a Notice Recipient’s personal information to nonaffiliated third parties. StepStone’s intent is to respect the Notice Recipients’ expectations that their personal information will be kept confidential. However, in order to serve the Notice Recipients better, StepStone will disclose personal information to nonaffiliated third parties (including service providers to StepStone), but only to the extent necessary or appropriate for such third parties to perform services for the benefit of the Notice Recipient and only if StepStone believes that such personal information will be kept confidential by such third parties after such disclosure.

Additional Information About Categories of Nonpublic Personal Information that StepStone Discloses

Except as required by applicable law and described in this privacy notice, StepStone will not share any other nonpublic personal information about a Notice Recipient with its affiliates or nonaffiliated third parties.

Nonpublic Personal Information of Former Investors and Prospective Clients

This Notice and StepStone’s policy regarding treatment of nonpublic personal information of Notice Recipients also apply to former clients, business prospects, potential clients and current and former employees.

Disclosure of Nonpublic Personal Information outside the EEA

Nonpublic personal information may be transferred to countries which may not have the same or equivalent data protection laws as that required under EEA data protection legislation. Any such transfer will be made in compliance with applicable data protection legislation, and appropriate measures are in place to ensure this, such as entering into Model Contractual Clauses (as published by the European Commission). For more information on the means of transfer of data or a copy of the relevant safeguards, please contact us at privacy@stepstoneglobal.com.

Pursuant to EEA data protection legislation, investors have the right to object to processing of nonpublic personal information and a number of other rights which may be exercised in certain circumstances, i.e.:

   

the right of access to nonpublic personal information held;

   

the right to amend and rectify any inaccuracies in nonpublic personal information held;

   

the right to erase nonpublic personal information held;

   

the right to data portability of nonpublic personal information held; and

   

the right to request restriction of the processing of nonpublic personal information

These rights will be exercisable, subject to limitations as provided for in EEA data protection legislation. Any Notice Recipient may make a request to StepStone to exercise these rights by contacting us at privacy@stepstoneglobal.com.

Please note that nonpublic personal information may be retained by StepStone for the duration of a Notice Recipient’s investment or engagement with StepStone, and afterwards in accordance with StepStone’s legal and regulatory obligations, including but not limited to StepStone’s record retention policy.

For queries, requests or comments in respect of this Notice, or the way in which StepStone uses nonpublic personal information, please contact us at privacy@stepstoneglobal.com. Note that Notice Recipients have the right to lodge a complaint with the appropriate regulator.

Changes to Privacy Policy

StepStone may modify its privacy policy at any time.

 

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Investors should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. No dealer, salesperson or other individual has been authorized to give any information or to make any representations that are not contained in this prospectus. If any such information or statements are given or made, investors should not rely upon such information or representations. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell any securities other than those to which this prospectus relates, or an offer to sell to, or a solicitation of an offer to buy from, any person in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be unlawful. This prospectus speaks as of the date set forth below. Investors should not assume that the delivery of this prospectus or that any sale made pursuant to this prospectus implies that the information contained in this prospectus will remain fully accurate and correct as of any time subsequent to the date of this prospectus.

 

 

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Preliminary Statement of Additional Information

Dated May 22, 2024

Subject to Completion

The information in this preliminary statement of additional information is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary statement of additional information is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer is not permitted.

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

Class T Shares

Class S Shares

Class D Shares

Class I Shares

[   ], 2024

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

(704) 215-4300

This Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) is not a prospectus. This SAI relates to and should be read in conjunction with the prospectus (“Prospectus”) of StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (the “Fund”) dated [   ], 2024 as supplemented to date. A copy of the Prospectus may be obtained by contacting the Fund at the telephone number or address set forth above.

Capitalized terms used but not defined in this SAI have the meanings ascribed to them in the Prospectus.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

INVESTMENT POLICIES, PRACTICES AND RISKS

     3  

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

     9  

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS

     20  

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

     21  

TAX ASPECTS

     22  

ERISA AND CERTAIN OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

     30  

ADMINISTRATOR AND SUB-ADMINISTRATOR

     31  

CUSTODIAN AND TRANSFER AGENT

     32  

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

     32  

DISTRIBUTOR

     32  

LEGAL COUNSEL

     32  

CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES

     32  

REPORTS TO SHAREHOLDERS

     32  

FISCAL YEAR

     32  

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     32  

ANNEX A STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE WEALTH LLC PROXY VOTING POLICY

     38  


INVESTMENT POLICIES, PRACTICES AND RISKS

The Fund is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company operated as an interval fund. The Fund was organized as a Delaware statutory trust on December 18, 2023. The Fund offers four separate classes of shares of beneficial interest (“Shares”) designated as Class T (“Class T Shares”), Class S (“Class S Shares”), Class D (“Class D Shares”), and Class I (“Class I Shares”) only to Eligible Investors. Class T Shares, Class S Shares, Class D Shares, and Class I Shares are subject to different fees and expenses. The Fund’s investment strategy involves investments in private credit and income-related investments (“Private Credit and Income”), which the Fund defines to consist primarily of the following:

 

  (1)

direct Loans to U.S. and international private companies that are privately originated and negotiated directly by a non-bank lender (for example, traditional direct lenders include asset management firms (on behalf of their investors), insurance companies, BDCs and specialty finance companies) primarily including (a) first lien senior secured and unitranche loans, (b) second lien, unsecured, subordinated or mezzanine loans and structured credit, as well as broadly syndicated loans, club deals (generally investments made by a small group of investment firms), and (c) other Loans;

 

 

  (2)

investments in bank Loans to U.S. and international private companies, including securities representing ownership or participation in a pool of such Loans;

 

 

  (3)

notes or other pass-through obligations representing the right to receive the principal and interest payments on direct Loans to U.S. and international private companies (or fractional portions thereof) (the investments described in clauses (1), (2) and (3) collectively referred to as the “Lending Strategy”);

 

 

  (4)

privately offered structured products, such as collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”);

 

 

  (5)

privately non-corporate lending (including, for example, core and transitionary real estate, structured products and infrastructure-related debt);

 

 

  (6)

other privately originated lending (including, for example, trade and supply chain finance, marketplace lending (consumers, lending to lenders, etc.), insurance-linked strategies and instruments, royalties, aviation financing, shipping, residential whole loan real estate, regulatory capital financing and net asset value lending); and

 

 

  (7)

privately originated non-performing loans (including, for example, US residential mortgage loans and business loans in the EU) (the investments described in clauses (4), (5), (6) and (7) collectively referred to as the “Specialty Credit Strategy”).

 

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC serves as the Fund’s investment adviser (“StepStone Private Wealth”, “SPW” or the “Adviser”), and StepStone Private Debt LLC serves as the Fund’s investment sub-adviser (“StepStone Private Debt” or the “Sub-Adviser,”) SGEAIL serves as the Fund’s sub-sub-adviser (“SGEAIL” or the “Sub-Sub-Adviser” and together with the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser, the “Advisers”). The investment objectives and principal investment strategies of the Fund, as well as the principal risks associated with the Fund’s investment strategies, are set forth in the Prospectus. Certain additional investment information is set forth below.

Fundamental Policies

The Fund’s stated fundamental policies, which may only be changed by the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, are listed below. As defined by the 1940 Act, as amended (the “1940 Act”), the vote of a “majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund” means the vote, at an annual or special meeting of the Fund’s Shareholders duly called, (a) of 66-2/3% or more of the voting securities present at such meeting, if the holders of more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund are present or represented by proxy; or (b) of more than 50% of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, whichever is less. The Fund may not:

(1) invest 25% or more of the value of its total assets in the securities, other than U.S. Government securities, of issuers engaged in any single industry (for purposes of this restriction, the Fund’s investments in Private Market Assets are not deemed to be investments in a single industry). To the extent that the Fund’s investments in Private Credit and Income investments are investments in a single industry, such investments will comply with this restriction;

 

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(2) borrow money, except to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act (which currently limits borrowing to no more than 33- 1/3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets);

(3) issue senior securities, except to the extent permitted by Section 18 of the 1940 Act (which currently limits the issuance of a class of senior securities that is indebtedness to no more than 33-1/3% of the value of the Fund’s total assets or, if the class of senior security is stock, to no more than 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets);

(4) underwrite securities of other issuers, except insofar as the Fund may be deemed an underwriter under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, in connection with the disposition of its portfolio securities;

(5) make loans to other persons, except that (i) the Fund will not be deemed to be making a loan to the extent that the Fund makes debt investments in accordance with its stated investment strategies; (ii) the Fund may take short positions in any security or financial instrument; and (iii) the Fund may lend its portfolio securities in an amount not in excess of 331 /3% of its total assets, taken at market value, provided that such loans shall be made in accordance with applicable law; or

(6) purchase or sell commodities or commodity contracts, except that it may purchase and sell non-U.S. currency, options, futures and forward contracts, including those related to indices, swaps and options on indices, and may invest in commodity pools and other entities that purchase and sell commodities and commodity contracts.

Other Fundamental Policies

The Fund may invest in real estate or interests in real estate, securities that are secured by or represent interests in real estate (e.g., mortgage loans evidenced by notes or other writings defined to be a type of security), mortgage-related securities or investing in companies engages in the real estate business or that has a significant portion of their assets in real estate (including real estate investment trusts).

In addition, the Fund has adopted a fundamental policy that it will make quarterly repurchase offers pursuant to Rule 23c- 3 under the 1940 Act, as such rule may be amended from time to time, for between 5% and 25% of the Shares outstanding at NAV, unless suspended or postponed in accordance with regulatory requirements, and each repurchase pricing shall occur no later than the 14th day after the Repurchase Request Deadline (as defined in the Prospectus), or the next business day if the 14th day is not a business day.

With respect to these investment restrictions and other policies described in this SAI or the Prospectus (except the Fund’s policy on borrowings set forth above), if a percentage restriction is adhered to at the time of an investment or transaction, a later change in percentage resulting from a change in the values of investments or the value of the Fund’s total assets, unless otherwise stated, will not constitute a violation of such restriction or policy. The Fund’s investment policies and restrictions do not apply to the activities and transactions of Private Market Assets in which assets of the Fund are invested.

Other Risks

The following disclosure supplements the disclosure set forth under the caption “Types of Investments and Related Risks” in the Prospectus and does not, by itself, present a complete or accurate explanation of the matters disclosed. Prospective investors must refer also to “Types of Investments and Related Risks” in the Prospectus for a complete presentation of the matters disclosed below.

Substantial Fees and Expenses. The Fund will allocate to multiple Investment Funds. A Shareholder in the Fund that meets the eligibility conditions imposed by one or more Investment Funds, including minimum initial investment requirements that may be substantially higher than those imposed by the Fund, could potentially invest directly in primaries of such Investment Funds. By investing in the Investment Funds through the Fund, a Shareholder in the Fund will bear a portion of the Management Fee and other expenses of the Fund. A Shareholder in the Fund will also indirectly bear a portion of the asset-based management fees, carried interests or incentive allocations (which are a share of an Investment Fund’s returns which are paid to the investment manager) and fees and expenses borne by the Fund as an investor in the Investment Funds. Although not part of the Fund’s primary strategy, to the extent that the Fund invests in an investment Fund that is itself a “fund of funds,” the Fund will bear a third layer of fees. These layered fees may result in higher Fund fees and expenses than if the Fund invested in other types of securities. Each investment manager receives any incentive-based allocations to which it is entitled irrespective of the performance of the other Investment Funds and the Fund generally. As a result, an Investment Fund with positive performance may receive compensation from the Fund, even if the Fund’s overall returns are negative.

Incentive Allocation Arrangements. Investment managers of an Investment Fund may receive a performance fee, carried interest or incentive allocation generally equal up to 20% of the net profits earned by the Investment Fund that it manages, typically subject to a preferred return. These performance incentives may create an incentive for the investment managers to make investments

 

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that are riskier or more speculative than those that might have been made in the absence of the performance fee, carried interest, or incentive allocation.

Control Positions. Private Market Assets may take control positions in companies. The exercise of control over a company imposes additional risks of liability for environmental damage, product defects, failure to supervise and other types of liability related to business operations. In addition, the act of taking a control position, or seeking to take such a position, may itself subject the Private Market Assets to litigation by parties interested in blocking it from taking that position. If those liabilities were to arise, or such litigation were to be resolved adversely to the Private Market Asset, the Fund likely would suffer losses on its investments.

Inadequate Return. No assurance can be given that the returns on the Fund’s investments will be commensurate with the risk of investment in the Fund. Shareholders should not commit money to the Fund unless they have the resources to sustain the loss of their entire investment in the Fund.

Inside Information. From time to time, the Fund or its affiliates may come into possession of material, non-public information concerning an entity in which the Fund has invested or proposes to invest. Possession of that information may limit the ability of the Fund to buy or sell securities of the entity.

Recourse to the Fund’s Assets. The Fund’s assets, including any investments made by the Fund and any interest in the Private Market Assets held by the Fund, are available to satisfy all liabilities and other obligations of the Fund. If the Fund becomes subject to a liability, parties seeking to have the liability satisfied may have recourse to the Fund’s assets generally and not be limited to any particular asset, such as the asset representing the investment giving rise to the liability.

Possible Exclusion of a Shareholder Based on Certain Detrimental Effects. The Fund may repurchase Shares held by a Shareholder or other person acquiring Shares from or through a Shareholder, if:

 

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the Shares have been transferred or have vested in any person other than by operation of law as the result of the death, dissolution, bankruptcy, insolvency or adjudicated incompetence of the Shareholder or with the consent of the Fund;

 

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ownership of the Shares by the Shareholder or other person likely will cause the Fund to be in violation of, require registration of any Shares under, or subject the Fund to additional registration or regulation under, the securities, commodities or other laws of the United States or any other relevant jurisdiction;

 

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continued ownership of the Shares by the Shareholder or other person may be harmful or injurious to the business or reputation of the Fund, the Board of Trustees, the Advisers or any of their affiliates, or may subject the Fund or any Shareholder to an undue risk of adverse tax or other fiscal or regulatory consequences;

 

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any of the representations and warranties made by the Shareholder or other person in connection with the acquisition of the Shares was not true when made or has ceased to be true;

 

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the Shareholder is subject to special regulatory or compliance requirements, such as those imposed by the U.S. Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, certain Federal Communications Commission regulations, or ERISA (as hereinafter defined) (collectively, “Special Laws or Regulations”), and the Fund determines that the Shareholder is likely to be subject to additional regulatory or compliance requirements under these Special Laws or Regulations by virtue of continuing to hold the Shares; or

 

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the Fund, the Adviser or the Board of Trustees determine that the repurchase of the Shares would be in the best interest of the Fund.

The effect of these provisions may be to deprive an investor in the Fund of an opportunity for a return even though other investors in the Fund might enjoy such a return.

Limitations on Transfer; Shares Not Listed; No Market for Class T, Class S, Class D, or Class I Shares. The transferability of Shares is subject to certain restrictions contained in the Fund’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust and is affected by restrictions imposed under applicable securities laws. Shares are not traded on any national securities exchange or other market. No market currently exists for Class T, Class S, Class D, or Class I Shares, and the Fund contemplates that one will not develop. The Shares are, therefore, not readily marketable. The Fund intends to conduct quarterly offers at NAV to repurchase between 5% and 25% of its outstanding Shares, pursuant to Rule 23c-3 under the 1940 Act, unless such offer is suspended or postponed in accordance with regulatory requirements. In connection with any given quarterly repurchase offer, the Fund currently intends to repurchase 5% of its outstanding Shares. Although the Adviser and the Fund expect to recommend to the Board of Trustees that the Fund offer to repurchase Shares quarterly, no assurances can be given that the Fund will do so. Consequently, Class T, Class S, Class D, and Class I Shares should only be acquired by investors able to commit their funds for an indefinite period of time.

 

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Closed-end Fund; Liquidity Risks. The Fund is a non-diversified closed-end management investment company designed primarily for long-term investors and is not intended to be a trading vehicle. An investor should not invest in the Fund if the investor needs a liquid investment. Closed-end funds differ from open-end management investment companies (commonly known as mutual funds) in that investors in a closed-end fund do not have the right to redeem their shares on a daily basis at a price based on NAV.

Qualified Purchaser Exemption. The Fund may be unsuccessful in quickly raising sufficient capital for the Fund to be deemed a “qualified purchaser” as defined in Section 2(a)(51) of the Investment Company Act. Because certain investments that are part of the Fund’s investment strategies require that the Fund meet the definition of qualified purchaser, the Fund may not be able to fully implement its investment strategies and the Fund’s investment performance may be negatively impacted until the Fund raises the $25,000,000 required capital to meet the definition of a qualified purchaser.

Repurchase Risks. The Fund has no obligation to repurchase Shares at any time; any such repurchases will only be made at such times, in such amounts and on such terms as may be determined by the Board of Trustees, in its sole discretion. With respect to any future repurchase offer, Shareholders repurchasing must do so by a date specified in the notice describing the terms of the repurchase offer (the “Shareholder Notification”). The Shareholder Notification generally will be approximately 21 to 42 days prior to the date as of which the Shares to be repurchased are valued by the Fund (the “Repurchase Request Deadline”). Shareholders that request to repurchase any Shares will not know the price at which such Shares will be repurchased until the Fund’s NAV as of the Repurchase Request Deadline is able to be determined, which determination is expected to be able to be made in the month following that of the Repurchase Request Deadline (the “Repurchase Pricing Date”). It is possible that during the time period between the Shareholder Notification date and the Repurchase Request Deadline, general economic and market conditions, or specific events affecting one or more underlying Private Market Assets, could cause a decline in the value of Shares in the Fund. Moreover, because the Shareholder Notification date will be substantially in advance of the Repurchase Pricing Date, Shareholders who tender Shares of the Fund for repurchase will receive their repurchase proceeds soon after the Shareholder Notification date and will not know the amount of such proceeds prior to making a decision. In no case will the Fund make full payment of all consideration offered in the repurchase offer later than seven (7) days after the Repurchase Pricing Date.

Shareholders who require minimum annual distributions from a retirement account through which they hold Shares should consider the Funds schedule for repurchase offers and submit repurchase requests accordingly. In addition, the Fund’s investments in Private Market Assets are subject to lengthy lock-up periods where the Fund will not be able to dispose of such investments except through secondary transactions with third parties, which may occur at a significant discount to NAV and which may not be available at any given time. There is no assurance that third parties will engage in such secondary transactions, and the Fund may require and be unable to obtain the consents to transfer that may be required from investment managers, the issuers of a Co-Investment, or other investors in a Co-Investment needed to effect such transactions. Such parties may have no incentive to grant such consents. The Fund may need to suspend or postpone repurchase offers if it is not able to dispose of its interests in Private Market Assets in a timely manner. See “Investment Policies, Practices and Risks – Mandatory Redemptions.”

Substantial Repurchases. Substantial requests for the Fund to repurchase Shares could require the Fund to liquidate certain of its investments more rapidly than otherwise desirable in order to raise cash to fund the repurchases and achieve a market position appropriately reflecting a smaller asset base. This could have a material adverse effect on the value of the Shares.

To the extent the Fund obtains repurchase proceeds by disposing of its interest in certain Private Market Assets, the Fund will thereafter hold a larger proportion of its assets in the remaining Private Market Assets, some of whose interests at times may be less liquid or illiquid. This could adversely affect the ability of the Fund to fund subsequent repurchase requests of Shareholders or to conduct future repurchases at all. In addition, after giving effect to such dispositions, the remaining Private Market Assets may not reflect the Advisers’ ideal judgments as to the desired portfolio composition of the Fund’s Private Market Assets, in that the Fund’s performance may be tied to the performance of fewer Private Market Assets and/or may not reflect the Advisers’ judgment as to the Fund’s optimal exposure to particular asset classes or investment strategies. These consequences may be particularly applicable if the Fund received requests to repurchase substantial amounts of Shares and may have a material adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objectives and the value of the Shares. In addition, substantial repurchases of Shares could result in a sizeable decrease in the Fund’s net assets, resulting in an increase in the Fund’s total annual operating expense ratio.

Special Tax Risks. Special tax risks are associated with an investment in the Fund. The Fund intends to satisfy the requirements each taxable year necessary to qualify as a “regulated investment company” or “RIC” under Subchapter M of the Code. As such, the Fund must satisfy, among other requirements, certain ongoing asset diversification, source-of-income and annual distribution requirements. Each of these ongoing requirements for qualification for the favorable tax treatment available to RICs requires that the Fund obtain information from the Investment Funds in which the Fund is invested. However, Investment Funds generally are not obligated to disclose the contents of their portfolios. This lack of transparency may make it difficult for the Adviser to monitor the sources of the Fund’s income and the diversification of its assets, and otherwise comply with Subchapter M of the Code, and ultimately may limit the universe of Investment Funds in which the Fund can invest. Furthermore, although the Fund expects to receive information from each investment manager regarding its investment performance on a regular basis, in most cases there is little or no means of independently verifying this information.

 

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If before the end of any quarter of its taxable year, the Fund believes that it may fail any of the asset diversification requirements, the Fund may seek to take certain actions to avert such a failure. However, certain actions typically taken by RICs to avert such a failure (e.g., the disposition of assets causing the diversification discrepancy) may be difficult for the Fund to pursue because the Fund may be unable to liquidate its interest in Private Credit and Income promptly. While the Code ordinarily affords the Fund a 30-day period after the end of the relevant quarter in which to cure a diversification failure by disposing of non-diversified assets, the constraints on the Fund’s ability to liquidate a specific asset may limit utilization of this cure period.

If the Fund fails to satisfy the asset diversification or other RIC requirements, it may lose its status as a RIC under the Code. In that case, all of its taxable income would be subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates without any deduction for distributions to Shareholders. In addition, all distributions (including distributions of net capital gain) to Shareholders would be characterized as dividend income to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. Accordingly, disqualification as a RIC would have a material adverse effect on the value of the Fund’s Shares and the amount of the Fund’s distributions.

Additional Tax Considerations; Distributions to Shareholders and Potential Fund-Level Tax Liabilities. The Fund expects to distribute substantially all of its investment company taxable income and net capital gains to Shareholders. These distributions are respectively characterized as ordinary dividend income or long-term capital gain when distributed as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to Shareholders. The Fund will inform Shareholders of the amount and character of its distributions to Shareholders. See “Tax Aspects” below for more information. If the Fund distributes (or is deemed to have distributed) in respect of any calendar year less than an amount at least equal to the sum of 98% of its calendar year ordinary income (taking into account certain deferrals and elections), 98.2% of its capital gain net income (determined on the basis of a one-year period ended on October 31 of such calendar year, and adjusted for certain ordinary losses), plus any such amounts that were not distributed in previous calendar years, then the Fund will generally be subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax with respect to the Fund’s undistributed amounts. The Fund will not be subject to this excise tax on any amount which the Fund incurred an entity-level U.S. federal income tax.

For U.S. federal income tax purposes, the Fund is required to recognize taxable income in some circumstances in which the Fund does not receive a corresponding payment in cash and to make distributions with respect to such income to maintain its qualification as a RIC. Under such circumstances, the Fund may have difficulty meeting the annual distribution requirement necessary to maintain its qualification as a RIC. As a result, the Fund may have to sell some of its investments at times and/or at prices that the Advisers would not consider advantageous, raise additional debt or equity capital, or forgo new investment opportunities. If the Fund is not able to obtain cash from other sources, the Fund may fail to qualify as a RIC and thus become subject to corporate-level income tax.

In addition, the Fund may invest in Investment Funds located outside of the U.S. or other non-U.S. portfolio company or entities which may be considered passive foreign investment companies (“PFICs”) or controlled foreign corporations (“CFCs”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, the Fund may, in a particular taxable year, be required to make ordinary income distributions in excess of the net economic income from such investments with respect to such taxable year. Under applicable final Treasury regulations, certain income derived by the Fund from a CFC or a PFIC with respect to which the Fund has made a qualified electing fund (“QEF”) election would generally constitute qualifying income for purposes of determining the Fund’s ability to be subject to tax as a RIC to the extent the CFC or the PFIC makes current distributions of that income to the Fund or the included income is derived with respect to the Fund’s business of investing in stocks and securities. As such, the Fund may be restricted in its ability to make QEF elections with respect to the Fund’s holdings in Investment Funds and other issuers that could be treated as PFICs or implement certain restrictions with the respect to any Investment Funds or other issuers that could be treated as CFCs in order to limit the Fund’s tax liability or maximize the Fund’s after-tax return from these investments. Moreover, income or gain from such Investment Funds or other entities may be subject to non-U.S. withholding or other taxes. Any such withholding or other taxes would reduce the return on the Fund’s investment in such Investment Funds and thus on the Shareholders’ investment in the Fund. See “Tax Aspects.”

Lack of Financial Reporting Related to Non-U.S. Investments; Adverse Non-U.S. Taxes. The Fund may invest indirectly through Investment Funds in non-U.S. entities. Because non-U.S. entities are not subject to uniform reporting standards, practices and disclosure comparable with those applicable to U.S. companies, there may be different types of, and lower quality, information available about non-U.S. companies. In particular, the assets and profits appearing on the financial statements of a company may not reflect its financial position or results of operation in the way they would be reflected had such financial statements been prepared in accordance with the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. This limitation may be particularly true for private equity investments, where there may be little or no publicly available information about private companies. In addition, financial data related to non-U.S. investments may be affected by both inflation and local accounting standards and may not accurately reflect the real condition of companies and securities markets. Moreover, the Fund and its Shareholders may be subject to tax, reporting and other filing obligations in non-U.S. jurisdictions in which non-U.S. companies reside or operate.

Regulatory Change. Legal and regulatory changes could occur during the term of the Fund, which may materially adversely affect the Fund. The regulation of the U.S. and non-U.S. securities, derivatives and futures markets and investment funds such as the Fund has undergone substantial change in recent years and such change may continue. In particular, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as amended (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) was signed into law in July 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act contains changes to the existing regulatory structure in the United States and is intended to establish rigorous oversight standards to protect the

 

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U.S. economy and American consumers, investors and businesses. The Dodd-Frank Act requires additional regulation of private equity fund managers, including requirements for such managers to register as investment advisers under the Advisers Act, and to disclose various information to regulators about the positions, counterparties and other exposures of the private equity funds managed by such managers.

The Dodd-Frank Act significantly alters the regulation of commodity interests and comprehensively regulates the OTC derivatives markets for the first time in the U.S. Provisions in the new law include: new registration requirements with the SEC and/or the CFTC, recordkeeping, capital, and margin requirements for “swap dealers” and “major swap participants” as determined by the new law and applicable regulations, and the requirement that certain standardized OTC derivatives, such as interest rate swaps, be executed in regulated markets and submitted for clearing through regulated clearinghouses. OTC derivatives transactions traded through clearinghouses will be subject to margin requirements set by clearinghouses and possibly to additional requirements set by the SEC and/or the CFTC. Regulators also have discretion to set margin requirements for OTC derivative transactions that do not take place through clearinghouses. OTC derivatives dealers will be required to post margin to the clearinghouses through which they clear their customer trades instead of using such margin in their operations as they are currently permitted to do. This will increase the dealers’ costs and may be passed through to other market participants, such as an Investment Fund, in the form of higher fees or spreads and less favorable dealer valuations.

The CFTC, along with the SEC and other U.S. federal regulators, has been tasked with developing the rules and regulations enacting the provisions noted above. The Dodd-Frank Act and the rules already promulgated or to be promulgated thereunder may negatively impact the ability of an Investment Fund and, in turn, the Fund, to meet its investment objectives either through limits or requirements imposed on it or upon its counterparties. In particular, new position limits imposed on an Investment Fund or its counterparties may impact an Investment Fund’s ability to invest in a manner that most efficiently meets its investment objectives, and new requirements, including capital and mandatory clearing, may increase the cost of the Investment Fund’s investments and doing business.

The effect of the Dodd-Frank Act or other regulatory change on the Fund and/or Investment Funds, while impossible to predict, could be substantial and adverse. In addition, the practice of short selling has been the subject of numerous temporary restrictions, and similar restrictions may be promulgated at any time. Such restrictions may adversely affect the returns of Investment Funds that utilize short selling. Certain tax risks associated with an investment in the Fund are discussed in “Tax Aspects.”

The Fund has an exemption from the definition of the term “commodity pool operator” (“CPO”) under the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended (“CEA”). Therefore, neither the Fund nor the Adviser (with respect to the Fund) is subject to registration or regulation as a commodity pool or CPO, respectively, under the CEA. If the exemption no longer applies, to the extent the Fund is not otherwise eligible to claim an exclusion from regulation by the CFTC, the Fund will operate subject to CFTC regulation. If the Adviser and the Fund become subject to CFTC regulation, as well as related National Futures Association rules, the Fund may incur additional compliance and other expenses.

The impact of changes in legislation, if any, on shareholders, the Fund, and the entities through which the Fund invests is uncertain. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding an investment in the Fund.

Under Rule 18f-4, the Fund is required to trade derivatives and other transactions that potentially create senior securities (except reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions) subject to a value-at-risk (“VaR”) leverage limit, certain other testing and derivatives risk management program requirements and requirements related to board reporting. These requirements applies unless the Fund qualifies as a “limited derivatives user,” as defined in Rule 18f-4. Reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions continue to be subject to the asset coverage requirements, and a fund trading reverse repurchase agreements needs to aggregate the amount of indebtedness associated with the reverse repurchase agreements or similar financing transactions with the aggregate amount of any other senior securities representing indebtedness when calculating the fund’s asset coverage ratio (unless the fund treats such agreements and transactions as derivatives for all purposes under the rule). Reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions will not be included in the calculation of whether the Fund is a limited derivatives user (unless the Fund determines to treat such agreements and transactions as “derivative transactions” for all purposes under the rule), but if the Fund is subject to the VaR testing, reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions will be included for purposes of such testing. In addition, under Rule 18f-4, the Fund is permitted to invest in a security on a when-issued or forward-settling basis, or with a nonstandard settlement cycle, and the transaction will be deemed not to involve a “senior security,” provided that (i) the Fund intends to physically settle the transaction and (ii) the transaction will settle within 35 days of its trade date). The Fund may otherwise engage in such transactions that do not meet these conditions so long as the Fund treats any such transaction as a “derivatives transaction” for purposes of compliance with Rule 18f-4. Furthermore, under Rule 18f-4, the Fund will be permitted to enter into an unfunded commitment agreement, and such unfunded commitment agreement will not be subject to the limits on borrowings as described in the “Investment Program—Leverage” section above, if the Fund reasonably believes, at the time it enters into such agreement, that it will have sufficient cash and cash equivalents to meet its obligations with respect to all such agreements as they come due. The SEC also provided guidance in connection with the rule regarding the use of securities lending collateral that may limit the Fund’s securities lending activities. These

 

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requirements may limit the Fund’s ability to use derivatives and reverse repurchase agreements and similar financing transactions as part of the Fund’s investment strategies.

Indemnification of Investment Funds, Investment Managers and Others. The Fund may agree to indemnify certain of the Private Market Assets and their respective managers, officers, directors, and affiliates from any liability, damage, cost, or expense arising out of, among other things, acts or omissions undertaken in connection with the management of Private Market Assets. If the Fund were required to make payments (or return distributions) in respect of any such indemnity, the Fund could be materially adversely affected. Indemnification of sellers of secondaries may be required as a condition to purchasing such securities.

Other Investment Companies. The Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies to the extent that such investments are consistent with the Fund’s investment objectives and permissible under the 1940 Act. Under one provision of the 1940 Act, the Fund may not acquire the securities of other investment companies if, as a result, (i) more than 10% of the Fund’s total assets would be invested in securities of other investment companies, (ii) such purchase would result in more than 3% of the total outstanding voting securities of any one investment company being held by the Fund or (iii) more than 5% of the Fund’s total assets would be invested in any one investment company. In some instances, the Fund may invest in an investment company in excess of these limits. For example, the Fund may invest in other registered investment companies, such as mutual funds, closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds, and in BDCs in excess of the statutory limits imposed by the 1940 Act in reliance on Rule 12d1-4 under the 1940 Act. These investments would be subject to the applicable conditions of Rule 12d1-4, which in part would affect or otherwise impose certain limits on the investments and operations of the Investment Fund. Accordingly, if the Fund serves as an “Investment Fund” to another investment company, the Fund’s ability to invest in other investment companies, private funds and other investment vehicles may be limited and, under these circumstances, the Fund’s investments in other investment companies, private funds and other investment vehicles will be consistent with applicable law and/or exemptive relief obtained from the SEC. The Fund, as a holder of the securities of other investment companies, will bear its pro rata portion of the other investment companies’ expenses, including advisory fees. These expenses will be in addition to the direct expenses incurred by the Fund.

Limited Operating History of Fund Investments. Many of our Private Market Assets may have limited operating histories, and the information the Fund will obtain about such investments may be limited. As such, the ability of the Advisers to evaluate past performance or to validate the investment strategies of such Investment Funds will be limited.

Limitations on Performance Information. Performance of Private Market Assets are difficult to measure and therefore such measurements may not be as reliable as performance information for other investment products because, among other things: (i) there is often no market for underlying investments, (ii) Private Market Assets take years to achieve a realization event and are difficult to value before realization, (iii) Private Market Assets are made over time as capital is drawn down from investments, (iv) the performance record of Fund Investments are not established until the final distributions are made, which may be 10-12 years or longer after the initial closing and (v) industry performance information for Fund Investments may be skewed upwards due to survivor bias lack of reporting by underperforming managers.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. Reverse repurchase agreements involve a sale of a security by an Investment Fund to a bank or securities dealer and the Investment Fund’s simultaneous agreement to repurchase the security for a fixed price (reflecting a market rate of interest) on a specific date. These transactions involve a risk that the other party to a reverse repurchase agreement will be unable or unwilling to complete the transaction as scheduled, which may result in losses to the Investment Fund. Reverse repurchase transactions are a form of leverage that may also increase the volatility of an Investment Fund’s investment portfolio.

Dilution. The Fund may accept additional subscriptions for Shares as determined by the Board, in its sole discretion. Additional purchases will dilute the indirect interests of existing Shareholders in the Fund’s investments prior to such purchases, which could have an adverse impact on the existing Shareholders’ interests in the Fund if subsequent investments underperform the prior investments.

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

The Trustees supervise the Fund’s affairs under the laws governing statutory trusts in the State of Delaware. The Trustees have approved the contracts under which certain companies provide essential management, administrative and shareholder services to the Fund.

Trustees and Officers

The Board of the Fund consists of four Trustees. Two Trustees have no affiliation or business connection with the Advisers or any of their affiliated persons and do not own any stock or other securities issued by the Advisers. These are the “non-interested” or “Independent Trustees.” The other two Trustees (the “Interested Trustees”) are affiliated with the Advisers. The biographies of each Trustee are described below.

Board Structure and Oversight Function

 

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The Board’s leadership structure features a “Chairperson” and the “Board Committees” described below. The Chairperson participates in the preparation of the agenda for meetings of the Board and the preparation of information to be presented to the Board with respect to matters to be acted upon by the Board. The Chairperson also presides at all meetings of the Board and is involved in discussions regarding matters pertaining to the oversight of the management of the Fund between meetings.

The Board of Trustees operates using a system of committees to facilitate the timely and efficient consideration of all matters of importance to the Trustees, the Fund and Shareholders, and to facilitate compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and oversight of the Fund’s activities and associated risks. The Board of Trustees has established three standing committees: the “Audit Committee,” the “Nominating and Governance Committee” and the “Independent Trustees Committee.” The Audit Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee, and the Independent Trustees Committee are comprised exclusively of Independent Trustees. Each committee charter governs the scope of the committee’s responsibilities with respect to the oversight of the Fund. The responsibilities of each committee, including their oversight responsibilities, are described further under “Independent Trustees and the Committees.”

The Fund is subject to a number of risks, including investment, compliance, operational and valuation risk, among others. The Board of Trustees oversees these risks as part of its broader oversight of the Fund’s affairs through various Board and committee activities. The Board has adopted, and periodically reviews, policies and procedures designed to address various risks to the Fund. In addition, appropriate personnel, including but not limited to the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer, members of the Fund’s administration and accounting teams, representatives from the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm, the Fund’s Treasurer and portfolio management personnel and independent valuation and brokerage evaluation service providers, make regular reports regarding the Fund’s activities and related risks to the Board of Trustees and the committees, as appropriate. These reports include, among others, quarterly performance reports and risk reports and discussions with members of the risk teams relating to each asset class. The Board’s committee structure allows separate committees to focus on different aspects of risk and the potential impact of these risks on the Fund and then report back to the full Board. In between regular meetings, Fund officers also communicate with the Trustees regarding material exceptions and items relevant to the Board’s risk oversight function.

The Board recognizes that it is not possible to identify all of the risks that may affect the Fund, and that it is not possible to develop processes and controls to eliminate all of the risks that may affect the Fund. Moreover, the Board recognizes that it may be necessary for the Fund to bear certain risks (such as investment risks) to achieve its investment objectives.

As needed between meetings of the Board, the Board, or a specific committee, receives and reviews reports relating to the Fund and engages in discussions with appropriate parties relating to the Fund’s operations and related risks.

Independent Trustees

The Fund seeks as Trustees individuals of distinction and experience in business and finance, government service or academia. In determining that a particular Trustee was and continues to be qualified to serve as Trustee, the Board has considered a variety of criteria, none of which, in isolation, was controlling. Based on a review of the experience, qualifications, attributes or skills of each Trustee, including those enumerated in the table below, the Board has determined that each of the Trustees is qualified to serve as a Trustee of the Fund. In addition, the Board believes that, collectively, the Trustees have balanced and diverse experience, qualifications, attributes and skills that allow the Board to operate effectively in governing the Fund and protecting the interests of Shareholders. Information about the Fund’s committees is provided below under “Independent Trustees and the Committees.”

The Trustees of the Fund, their birth years, addresses, positions held, lengths of time served, their principal business occupations during the past five years, the number of portfolios in the “Fund Complex” (defined below) currently overseen by each Independent Trustee and other directorships, if any, held by the Trustees, are shown below. The Fund Complex includes all open-end and closed-end funds (including all of their portfolios) advised by the Advisers and any registered funds that have an adviser that is an affiliate of the Advisers.

 

Name, Address and Birth Year

  

Position(s) Held

with Registrant

  

Length of

Time Served*

  

Principal

Occupation(s)

During Past

5 Years

  

Number of

Portfolios

Overseen in

Fund

Complex

  

Other

Trusteeships/

Directorships

Held Outside the

Fund Complex**

Independent Trustees

              

Tracy Schmidt

c/o StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Birth Year: 1957

   Trustee    Indefinite Length — Since Inception    Founder, Morning Star Advisory, LLC (consulting and advisory services) (since 2018),    4    None

 

10


Name, Address and Birth Year

  

Position(s) Held

with Registrant

  

Length of

Time Served*

  

Principal

Occupation(s)

During Past

5 Years

  

Number of

Portfolios

Overseen in

Fund

Complex

  

Other

Trusteeships/

Directorships

Held Outside the

Fund Complex**

         Enterprise Chief Financial Officer, Group President of Alternative Investments and Chief Operating Officer, CNL Financial Group (2004 – 2018)      

Ron Sturzenegger

c/o StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Birth Year: 1960

   Trustee    Indefinite Length — Since Inception   

Enterprise Business & Community Engagement

Executive, Bank of America (2014 – 2018); Legacy Asset Servicing (LAS) Executive, Bank of America (2011 - 2015)

   4    Director of KBS Real Estate Investment Trust II, Inc. (since 2019), and KBS Real Estate Investment Trust III, Inc. (since 2019)

 

 

 

*

Each Trustee serves an indefinite term, until his or her successor is elected.

 

**

This includes any directorships at public companies and registered investment companies held by the Trustee over the past five years.

The Trustees who are affiliated with the Advisers or affiliates of the Advisers (as set forth below) and their age, address, positions held, length of time served, principal business occupations during the past five years, the number of portfolios in the Fund Complex overseen by each Interested Trustee and the other directorships, if any, held by each Interested Trustees, are shown below.

 

Name, Age and Address

  

Position(s) Held

with Registrant

  

Length of Time

Served*

  

Principal

Occupation(s)

During Past

5 Years

  

Number of

Portfolios

Overseen in

Fund

Complex

  

Other

Trusteeships/

Directorships

Held Outside the

Fund Complex**

Interested Trustees

              

 

11


Name, Age and Address

  

Position(s) Held

with Registrant

  

Length of Time

Served*

  

Principal

Occupation(s)

During Past

5 Years

  

Number of

Portfolios

Overseen in

Fund

Complex

  

Other

Trusteeships/

Directorships

Held Outside the

Fund Complex**

Tom Sittema

c/o StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Birth Year: 1958

   Chairperson of the Board of Trustees    Indefinite Length — Since Inception    Executive Chairman, StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC (Since 2020); Managing Director, RiverBridge Capital (Since 2018)    4    None

Bob Long

c/o StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Birth Year: 1962

   Trustee    Indefinite Length — Since Inception    CEO, StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC (Since 2019); Vice Chairman/ President, Star Mountain Capital (2016-2018)    4    None

 

 

 

*

Each Trustee serves an indefinite term, until his or her successor is elected.

 

**

This includes any directorships at public companies and registered investment companies held by the Trustee over the past five years.

The executive officers of the Fund, their birth years, addresses, positions held, lengths of time served and their principal business occupations during the past five years are shown below.

 

Name, Age and

Address

  

Position(s) Held

with Registrant

  

Length of

Time Served*

  

Principal Occupation(s)

During Past 5 Years

Executive Officers

        

Bob Long

c/o StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Birth Year: 1962

   President and Principal Executive Officer   

Indefinite Length — Since

Inception

   See above

Kimberly Zeitvogel

c/o StepStone Group Private

Wealth LLC

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Birth Year: 1971

  

Treasurer and Principal Financial

Officer

  

Indefinite Length — Since

Inception

   Managing Director of Finance, StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC (Since 2020); Vice President of Finance, Millennium Advisors, LLC (2018-2020)

Chris Ancona

c/o StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Birth Year: 1976

   Chief Compliance Officer   

Indefinite Length — Since

Inception

   Deputy CCO, StepStone Group LP (Since 2021); CCO and Counsel, Greenspring Associates

 

12


         (2019-2021); CCO, Man Numeric (2017-2019)

Tim Smith

c/o StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC
128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Birth Year: 1968

   Vice President   

Indefinite Length — Since

Inception

   CFO and COO of StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC (Since 2019); President of Carolon Capital (Since 2013)

Dean Caruvana

c/o StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC
128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Birth Year: 1988

   Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer   

Indefinite Length — Since

Inception

   General Counsel, StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC (Since 2023); Principal, Blue Owl Capital (2022-2023); Vice President, BlackRock (2018-2022)

 

 

 

*

Each officer serves an indefinite term, until his or her successor is elected.

For each Trustee, the dollar range of equity securities beneficially owned by the Trustee in the Fund and in the Family of Investment Companies (Family of Investment Companies includes all of the registered investment companies advised by the Advisers) as of April 25, 2024, is set forth in the table below.

 

Name of Trustee

  

Dollar Range of

Equity Securities in the Fund(1), (2)

  

Aggregate Dollar Range of

Equity Securities in All

Registered Investment

Companies Overseen by Trustee

in Family of Investment

Companies(1), (2), (3)

Independent:

     

Tracy Schmidt

   None    Over $100,000

Ron Sturzenegger

   None    Over $100,000

 

Name of Trustee

  

Dollar Range of

Equity Securities in the Fund(1), (2)

  

Aggregate Dollar Range of

Equity Securities in All

Registered Investment

Companies Overseen by Trustee

in Family of Investment

Companies (1), (2), (3)

Interested:

     

Tom Sittema

   None    Over $100,000

Bob Long

   None    Over $100,000

 

(1)

Dollar ranges are as follows: None, $1 – $10,000, $10,001 – $50,000, $50,001 – $100,000 or Over $100,000.

(2)

Beneficial ownership determined in accordance with Rule 16a-1(a)(2) under the Exchange Act.

(3)

The Family of Investment Companies is defined as any two or more registered investment companies that (a) share the same investment adviser or principal underwriter; and (b) hold themselves out to investors as related companies for purposes of investment and investor services.

As to each Independent Trustee and his or her immediate family members, no person owned beneficially or of record securities of an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Fund, or a person (other than a registered investment company) directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by or under common control with an investment adviser or principal underwriter of the Fund.

 

13


As of April 25, 2024, all Trustees and Officers of the Fund, as a group, owned less than 1% of the outstanding Shares of the Fund.

Independent Trustees and the Committees

Law and regulation establish both general guidelines and specific duties for the Independent Trustees. The Board has three committees: the Audit Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee, and the Independent Trustees Committee.

The Independent Trustees are charged with recommending to the full Board approval of management, advisory and administration contracts, and distribution and underwriting agreements; continually reviewing fund performance; overseeing on the pricing of portfolio securities, brokerage commissions, transfer agent costs and performance and trading among funds in the same complex; and approving fidelity bond and related insurance coverage and allocations, as well as other matters that arise from time to time.

The Board of Trustees has a separately-designated standing Audit Committee. The Audit Committee is charged with recommending to the full Board the engagement or discharge of the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm; directing investigations into matters within the scope of the independent registered public accounting firm’s duties, including the power to retain outside specialists; reviewing with the independent registered public accounting firm the audit plan and results of the auditing engagement; approving professional services provided by the independent registered public accounting firm and other accounting firms prior to the performance of the services; reviewing the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm; considering the range of audit and non-audit fees; reviewing the adequacy of the Fund’s system of internal controls; and reviewing the valuation process. The Fund has adopted a formal, written Audit Committee Charter.

The members of the Audit Committee of the Fund are Tracy Schmidt and Ron Sturzenegger. None of the members of the Fund’s Audit Committee is an “interested person,” as defined under the 1940 Act, of the Fund (with such disinterested Trustees being “Independent Trustees” or individually, “Independent Trustee”). Each Independent Trustee is also “independent” from the Fund under the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (“NYSE”). The Chairperson of the Audit Committee of the Fund is Tracy Schmidt.

The Board also has a Nominating and Governance Committee. The members of the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Fund are Tracy Schmidt and Ron Sturzenegger, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The Chairperson of the Nominating and Governance Committee is Ron Sturzenegger. The Nominating and Governance Committee identifies individuals qualified to serve as Independent Trustees on the Board and on committees of the Board and recommends such qualified individuals for nomination by the Fund’s Independent Trustees as candidates for election as Independent Trustees, advises the Board with respect to Board composition, procedures and committees, develops and recommends to the Board a set of corporate governance principles applicable to the Fund, monitors and makes recommendations on corporate governance matters and policies and procedures of the Board and any Board committees and oversees periodic evaluations of the Board and its committees.

The Fund’s Nominating and Governance Committee recommends qualified candidates for nominations as Independent Trustees. Persons recommended by the Fund’s Nominating and Governance Committee as candidates for nomination as Independent Trustees shall possess such experience, qualifications, attributes, skills and diversity so as to enhance the Board’s ability to manage and direct the affairs and business of the Fund, including, when applicable, to enhance the ability of committees of the Board to fulfill their duties and/or to satisfy any independence requirements imposed by law or regulation. While the Nominating and Governance Committee expects to be able to continue to identify from their own resources an ample number of qualified candidates for the Fund’s Board as they deem appropriate, they will consider nominations from Shareholders to the Board. Nominations from Shareholders should be in writing and sent to the Nominating and Governance Committee as described below under “Shareholder Communications.”

The Board also has an Independent Trustees Committee. The members of the Independent Trustees Committee of the Fund are Tracy Schmidt and Ron Sturzenegger, each of whom is an Independent Trustee. The Chairperson of the Independent Trustees Committee is Ron Sturzenegger. The Independent Trustees Committee will review and approve, to the extent required, co-investment transactions entered into by the Fund and affiliated funds in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Fund’s co-investment exemptive relief. The Independent Trustees Committee is responsible for assessing the flow of information between our management and the Board and overseeing the annual approval process of the Advisory Agreement, Sub-Advisory Agreement and the Administration Agreement.

Experience, Qualifications and Attributes

The Board has concluded, based on each Trustee’s experience, qualifications and attributes that each Board member should serve as a Trustee. The following is a brief summary of the information that led to and/or supports this conclusion.

Biographies

 

14


Tracy Schmidt

Tracy Schmidt is a Trustee of StepStone Private Infrastructure Fund. Mr. Schmidt is a seasoned executive with over 40-years’ experience in investment management, logistics, finance, operations and administration. Mr. Schmidt is the founder of Morning Star Advisory, LLC where he provides advisory and consulting services to multi-generational families and companies primarily in the logistics and supply chain space. Mr. Schmidt is also co-founder and managing partner of Steward CW Holdings, LLC whose focus is to develop and operate a network of automated express car washes.

Prior to founding his current advisory business, Mr. Schmidt served as CNL Financial Group’s Enterprise Chief Financial Officer, Group President of Alternative Investments and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing and providing strategic leadership for the organization’s financial affairs and the alternative investments platform. Before joining CNL Financial Group, Mr. Schmidt served in various roles at FedEx Express including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Early in his career, Mr. Schmidt served as a staff auditor at Ernst & Whinney.

Mr. Schmidt graduated from Christian Brothers University. Mr. Schmidt is an advisor, director and chair of the audit committee and member of the risk and executive committees of Gordon Food Service Holdings, Inc., a director of Pinnacle Realty Services, Inc. and a former director of the United States Chamber of Commerce. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to The Over-Haul Group, Inc. Mr. Schmidt is Chair Emeritus and founding chair of the Central Florida Regional Commission on Homelessness.

Ron Sturzenegger

Ron Sturzenegger is a Trustee of StepStone Private Infrastructure Fund. Mr. Sturzenegger is a financial services executive, primarily focused on real estate related businesses. Most recently, Mr. Sturzenegger held concurrent executive positions overseeing Enterprise Business and Community Engagement and Legacy Asset Servicing at Bank of America. Mr. Sturzenegger also held roles within Bank of America (and legacy firms) as Global Head of Real Estate, Gaming and Lodging Investment Banking and Head of Real Estate Mergers and Acquisitions. Prior to joining Bank of America, Mr. Sturzenegger served in various roles at Morgan Stanley and Bain & Company.

Mr. Sturzenegger graduated from Stanford University and Harvard Business School. Mr. Sturzenegger is an independent director and member of the audit committee and conflicts committee of KBS Real Estate Investment Trust II, Inc. and KBS Real Estate Investment Trust III, Inc. He is a member of the advisory board of the Stanford Professionals in Real Estate.

Shareholder Communications

Shareholders may send communications to the Fund’s Board of Trustees. Shareholders should send communications intended for the Fund’s Board by addressing the communications directly to that Board (or individual Board members) and/or otherwise clearly indicating in the salutation that the communication is for the Board (or individual Board members) and by sending the communication to either the Fund’s office or directly to such Board member(s) at the address specified for each Trustee previously noted. Other Shareholder communications received by the Fund not directly addressed and sent to the Board of Trustees will be reviewed and generally responded to by management, and they will be forwarded to the Board only at management’s discretion based on the matters contained therein.

Compensation

The Independent Trustees are paid an annual retainer of $60,000. The Chairperson of the Audit Committee is also paid an additional annual fee of $10,000. All Trustees are reimbursed for their reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. The Trustees do not receive any pension or retirement benefits from the Fund.

The following table shows information regarding the estimated compensation to be received by the Trustees, none of whom is an employee of the Fund, for services as a Trustee for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024. The Trustees who are “interested persons,” as defined in the 1940 Act, of the Fund and the Fund’s officers do not receive compensation from the Fund.

 

Name of Trustee

  

Aggregate Compensation

from the Fund

  

Total Compensation from

the Fund Complex Payable

to Trustees

Independent:

     

Tracy Schmidt

   $70,000    $210,000

Ron Sturzenegger

   $60,000    $180,000

 

15


Name of Trustee

         
Interested:      
Tom Sittema             None
Bob Long       None

Code of Ethics

Pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act, the Board of Trustees has adopted a “Code of Ethics” for the Fund and approved Codes of Ethics adopted by the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser (collectively the “Codes”). The Codes are intended to ensure that the interests of Shareholders and other clients are placed ahead of any personal interest, that no undue personal benefit is obtained from the person’s employment activities and that actual and potential conflicts of interest are avoided.

The Codes apply to the personal investing activities of Trustees and officers of the Fund, the Adviser, and the Sub-Adviser (“Access Persons”). Rule 17j-1 under the 1940 Act and the Codes are designed to prevent unlawful practices in connection with the purchase or sale of securities by Access Persons, including with respect to securities that may be purchased or held by the Fund (which may only be purchased by Access Persons so long as the requirements set forth in the Codes are complied with). Under the Codes, Access Persons are permitted to engage in personal securities transactions, but are required to report their personal securities transactions for monitoring purposes. In addition, certain Access Persons are required to obtain approval before investing in initial public offerings or private placements. The Codes are on file with the SEC and are available to the public.

Investment Advisory, Sub-Advisory and Distribution Agreements

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC is registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”). The Adviser was established in 2019 and is a wholly owned business of StepStone Group LP. The Adviser is an investment platform designed to expand access to the private markets for high-net-worth investors. The Adviser intends to create innovative solutions for investors by focusing on convenience, efficiency and transparency. The Adviser’s mission is to convert the private market advantages enjoyed by institutional investors into opportunities for individual investors. Please see the Adviser’s website at www.stepstonepw.com for the most up-to-date information.

The Adviser serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to an investment advisory agreement entered into between the Fund and the Adviser (the “Advisory Agreement”). The Adviser is responsible for the overall management of the Fund’s activities. The Adviser is responsible for formulating and updating (as needed) the overall investment strategy of the Fund. The Adviser is also responsible for the structuring and distribution functions for the Fund. In addition, the Adviser is responsible for the operational and governance aspects of the Fund, including the selection and management of the Fund’s service providers and the management of the Fund’s tender offers and distributions and dividend reinvestment plan. The Adviser is also responsible for the Fund’s SEC and other regulatory reporting obligations. The Adviser is subject to the ultimate supervision of, and any policies established by, the Board of Trustees.

StepStone Group Private Debt LLC serves as the Sub-Adviser of the Fund and will provide ongoing research, recommendations and portfolio management regarding the Fund’s investment portfolio.

StepStone Private Debt is an investment adviser registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and an affiliate of StepStone Group.

SGEAIL serves as the Sub-Sub-Adviser of the Fund and will provide ongoing research regarding the Fund’s investment portfolio is and an affiliate of StepStone Group.

SGEAIL is an investment adviser registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and an affiliate of StepStone Group.

As affiliates of StepStone Group, StepStone Private Wealth, StepStone Private Debt, and SGEAIL (together, the “Advisers”) benefit from the organization’s scale and depth across private markets.

StepStone Group LP is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory and data services to its clients. StepStone Group LP’s clients include some of the world’s largest public and private defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies, as well as prominent endowments, foundations, family offices and private wealth clients. StepStone Group LP partners with its clients to develop and build portfolios designed to meet their specific objectives across private infrastructure, private equity, private real estate and private debt asset classes.

 

16


As of December 31, 2023, StepStone Group was responsible for $659 billion of “private market allocations” which includes $149 billion of assets under management and $510 billion of assets under advisement.3 StepStone Group has over 980 professionals across 27 cities in 16 countries. StepStone Group LP is not performing investment advisory services to the Fund.

StepStone Group Inc. is the sole managing member of StepStone Group Holdings LLC, which in turn is the general partner of StepStone Group LP. StepStone Group Inc. is listed and trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol STEP. Please see StepStone Group Inc’s website at www.stepstonegroup.com for more information.

StepStone Group advises and/or manages accounts other than that of the Fund, which may give rise to certain conflicts of interest. See “Conflicts of Interest.”

The Sub-Adviser has entered into a sub-advisory agreement (“Sub-Advisory Agreement”) with the Adviser and will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s assets and activities. The Sub-Adviser will provide ongoing research, recommendations, and portfolio management regarding the Fund’s investment portfolio subject to the overall supervision of the Adviser and the Fund’s officers and Board of Trustees.

The offices of the Adviser are located at 128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600, Charlotte NC 28202, and its telephone number is (704) 215-4300. The Adviser or its designee maintains the Fund’s accounts, books and other documents required to be maintained under the 1940 Act at 128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600, Charlotte, NC 28202.

Approval of the Advisory Agreement

The Advisory Agreement was approved by the Fund’s Board (including a majority of the Independent Trustees) at a meeting held in person on February 21, 2024. The Advisory Agreement of the Fund has an initial term of two years from the date of its execution. The Advisory Agreement will continue in effect from year to year thereafter so long as such continuance is approved annually by the Board or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund; provided that in either event the continuance is also approved by a majority of the Independent Trustees by vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval. The Advisory Agreement is terminable by the Fund without penalty, on 60 days’ prior written notice: by the Board; by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund; or by the Adviser. The Advisory Agreement also provides that it will terminate automatically in the event of its “assignment,” as defined by the 1940 Act and the rules thereunder.

In consideration of the advisory and other services provided by the Adviser to the Fund, the Fund will pay the Adviser a Management Fee equal to 1.15% on an annualized basis of the Fund’s daily net assets plus the Incentive Fee. The Management Fee will be accrued daily and payable monthly in arrears within ten (10) business days after the end of the month. The Management Fee is an expense paid out of the Fund’s assets. For the avoidance of doubt, the Management Fee is applied to any assets in respect of Shares that will be repurchased by the Fund on such date.

In addition, the Fund will pay the Adviser an income-based incentive fee. The “Incentive Fee,” will be accrued daily and payable quarterly in arrears based on the Fund’s “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income” for the most recently completed calendar quarter. The payment of the Incentive Fee will be subject to a quarterly hurdle rate, expressed as a rate of return on the value of the Fund’s net assets at the end of the most recently completed calendar quarter, of 1.25% (5.00% annualized) (the “Hurdle Rate”), subject to a “catch up” feature (as described below).

For this purpose, “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income” means interest income, dividend income and any other income (including any other fees, such as commitment, origination, structuring, diligence and consulting fees or other fees that the Fund (or its wholly-owned subsidiaries) receives from portfolio companies) accrued during the calendar quarter, minus the Fund’s operating expenses for the quarter (including the Management Fee, expenses and fees paid to the Adviser under the Administration Agreement and any interest expense and dividends paid on any issued and outstanding preferred stock or credit agreements, but excluding the Incentive Fee and any shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees), net of any expense waivers or expense payments by the Advisor. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income includes, in the case of investments with a deferred interest feature (such as OID debt instruments with PIK interest and zero-coupon securities), accrued income that the Fund has not yet received in cash. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income does not include any realized capital gains, realized capital losses or unrealized appreciation or depreciation.

The calculation of the Incentive Fee for each quarter is as follows:

 

 

3 “Private market allocations” means the total amount of assets under management and assets under advisement. StepStone Group LP classifies assets under management if the StepStone Group LP has full discretion over the investment decisions in an account or has responsibility or custody of assets. Assets under advisement consists of client assets for which StepStone Group LP does not have full discretion to make investment decisions but plays a role in advising the client or monitoring their investments.

 

17


  ·  

No Incentive Fee will be payable to the Adviser in any calendar quarter in which the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income does not exceed the Hurdle Rate;

 

  ·  

100% of the dollar amount of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income, if any, that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than or equal to 1.3889% in any calendar quarter (5.5556% annualized) will be payable to the Adviser. This portion of the Fund’s Incentive Fee that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than or equal to 1.3889% is referred to as the “catch up” and is intended to provide the Adviser with an incentive fee of 10% on all of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income when the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income reaches 1.3889% (5.5556% annualized) on net assets in any calendar quarter; and

 

  ·  

10% of the dollar amount of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income, if any, that exceeds 1.3889% (5.5556% annualized) on net assets in any calendar quarter will be payable to the Adviser once the Hurdle Rate and catch-up have been achieved (10% of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income thereafter will be allocated to the Adviser).

The following is a graphical representation of the calculation of the Incentive Fee:

Quarterly Incentive Fee

Fund’s pre-incentive fee net investment income

(expressed as a percentage of the Fund’s Net Assets)

 

LOGO

The Adviser will pay 50% of the Management Fee proceeds and 60% of the Incentive Fee to the Sub-Adviser on a monthly and quarterly basis, respectively.

The Advisory Agreement provides that in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence in the performance of its duties or reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under the Advisory Agreement, the Adviser is not liable for any loss the Fund sustains for any investment, adoption of any investment policy, or the purchase, sale or retention of any security.

A discussion of the factors considered by the Fund’s Board of Trustees in approving the Advisory Agreement will be set forth in the Fund’s first annual or semi-annual report following the commencement of operations.

Approval of the Sub-Advisory Agreement

The Adviser has entered into a Sub-Advisory Agreement with StepStone Group Private Debt LLC. The Sub-Adviser provides the Fund with non-discretionary investment advisory services subject to the overall supervision of the Adviser and the Fund’s officers and Board of Trustees. As consideration for services provided by the Sub-Adviser, the Adviser will pay 50% of the Management Fee proceeds to the Sub-Adviser on a monthly basis plus 60% of the Incentive Fee.

A description of the factors considered by the Fund’s Board of Trustees in approving the Sub-Advisory Agreement will be set forth in the Fund’s first annual or semi-annual report following the commencement of operations.

Approval of the Sub-Sub-Advisory Agreement

The Sub-Adviser has entered into a Sub-Sub-Advisory Agreement with SGEAIL.

A description of the factors considered by the Fund’s Board of Trustees in approving the Sub-Sub-Advisory Agreement will be set forth in the Fund’s first annual or semi-annual report following the commencement of operations.

Distributor

 

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UMB Distribution Services, LLC serves as the Fund’s Distributor pursuant to a distribution agreement (“Distribution Agreement”). The principal office of the Distributor is located at 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212. Under the Distribution Agreement, the Distributor, as agent of the Fund, agrees to distribute the Fund’s Shares at an offering price equal to the Fund’s then-current NAV per Share, plus the applicable sales load. The Distribution Agreement continues in effect so long as such continuance is approved at least annually by the Fund’s Board, including a majority of those Trustees who are not parties to such Distribution Agreement nor interested persons of any such party.

Other Accounts Managed by the Portfolio Manager

Because the portfolio manager may manage assets for other investment companies, pooled investment vehicles, and/or other accounts (including institutional clients, pension plans and certain high-net-worth individuals), there may be an incentive to favor one client over another resulting in conflicts of interest. For instance, the Advisers may receive fees from certain accounts that are higher than the fee it receives from the Fund, or it may receive a performance-based fee on certain accounts. In those instances, the portfolio manager may have an incentive to favor the higher and/or performance-based fee accounts over the Fund. In addition, a conflict of interest could exist to the extent the Advisers have proprietary investments in certain accounts, where the portfolio manager has personal investments in certain accounts or when certain accounts are investment options in the Advisers’ employee benefits and/or deferred compensation plans. The portfolio manager may have an incentive to favor these accounts over others. If the Advisers manage accounts that engage in short sales of securities of the type in which the Fund invests, the Advisers could be seen as harming the performance of the Fund for the benefit of the accounts engaging in short sales if the short sales cause the market value of the securities to fall. The Advisers have adopted allocation and other policies and procedures that it believes are reasonably designed to address these and other conflicts of interest.

The following table shows information regarding accounts (other than the Fund) managed by the named portfolio manager as of April 25, 2024:

 

 Gary Gipkhin    Number of Accounts   

Total Assets in Accounts 

($ billion) 

 Registered Investment Companies

  

0

   $0 

 Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

  

0

   $0 

 Other Accounts

  

0

   $0 

 

 Ariel Goldblatt    Number of Accounts   

Total Assets in Accounts 

($ billion) 

 Registered Investment Companies

  

1

   $0.8 

 Other Pooled Investment Vehicles

  

1

   $0.04 

 Other Accounts

  

2

   $0.27 

Securities Ownership of Portfolio Manager

As of April 25, 2024, the dollar range of securities beneficially owned by the named portfolio manager in the Fund is shown below:

 

Name   

Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity

Securities in the

Fund(1)

Gary Gipkhin

   None

Ariel Goldblatt

   None

 

(1)

Dollar ranges are as follows: None, $1–$10,000, $10,001–$50,000, $50,001–$100,000, $100,001–$500,000, $500,001–$1,000,000 or Over $1,000,000.

Portfolio Manager Compensation Structure

The Sub-Adviser’s philosophy on compensation is to provide senior professionals’ incentives that are tied to both short-term and long-term performance of the Sub-Adviser. All investment professionals are salaried. Further, all investment professionals are

 

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eligible for a short-term incentive bonus each year that is discretionary and based upon the professional’s performance, as well as the performance of the business.

Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures and Proxy Voting Record

Investments in the Investment Funds and some Co-Investments do not typically convey traditional voting rights, and the occurrence of corporate governance or other consent or voting matters for this type of investment is substantially less than that encountered in connection with registered equity securities. On occasion, however, the Fund may receive notices or proposals seeking the consent of or voting by holders (“proxies”). The Fund has delegated any voting of proxies in respect of portfolio holdings to the Adviser to vote the proxies in accordance with the Adviser’s proxy voting guidelines and procedures. In general, the Adviser believes that voting proxies in accordance with the policies described below will be in the best interests of the Fund. The Adviser has further delegated the voting of proxies to the Sub-Adviser.

The Sub-Adviser will generally vote to support management recommendations relating to routine matters, such as the election of board members (where no corporate governance issues are implicated) or the selection of independent auditors. The Sub-Adviser will generally vote in favor of management or investor proposals that the Sub-Adviser believes will maintain or strengthen the shared interests of investors and management, increase value for investors and maintain or increase the rights of investors. On non-routine matters, the Sub-Adviser will generally vote in favor of management proposals for mergers or reorganizations and investor rights plans, so long as it believes such proposals are in the best economic interests of the Fund. In exercising its voting discretion, the Sub-Adviser will seek to avoid any direct or indirect conflict of interest presented by the voting decision. If any substantive aspect or foreseeable result of the matter to be voted on presents an actual or potential conflict of interest involving the Sub-Adviser, the Sub-Adviser will make written disclosure of the conflict to the Independent Trustees indicating how the Sub-Adviser proposes to vote on the matter and its reasons for doing so.

Under certain circumstances, the Fund may hold its interests in the Investment Funds in non-voting form. In such cases where only voting securities are available for purchase by the Fund, in all, or substantially all, instances, the Fund will seek to create by contract the same result as owning a non-voting security by entering into a contract, typically before the initial purchase, to relinquish the right to vote in respect of its investment.

To assist in its responsibility for voting proxies, the Sub-Adviser may from time to time retain experts in the proxy voting and corporate governance area as proxy research providers (“Research Providers”). The services provided to the Sub-Adviser by the Research Providers would include in depth research, global issuer analysis, and voting recommendations. While the Sub-Adviser may review and utilize recommendations made by the Research Providers in making proxy voting decisions, it is in no way obligated to follow any such recommendations. In addition to research, the Research Providers could provide vote execution, reporting and recordkeeping. The Board would carefully monitor and supervise the services provided by any Research Providers.

For a copy of the Proxy Voting Policy, see Annex A to this SAI. A copy of the Proxy Voting Policy is also available on our website at www.stepstonepw.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The Fund shall file an annual report of each proxy voted with respect to portfolio securities of the Fund during the twelve-month period ended June 30 on Form N-PX not later than August 31 of each year.

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS

Since the Fund generally acquires and disposes of its investments in privately negotiated transactions, it infrequently uses brokers in the normal course of business.

Subject to policies established by the Fund’s Board, the Advisers are primarily responsible for the execution of any traded securities in the Fund’s portfolio and the Fund’s allocation of brokerage commissions. The Advisers do not expect to execute transactions through any particular broker or dealer but seek to obtain the best net results for the Fund, taking into account such factors as price (including the applicable brokerage commission or dealer spread), size of order, difficulty of execution, operations facilities of the firm, and the firm’s risk and skill in positioning blocks of securities.

While the Advisers generally seek reasonably competitive trade execution costs, the Fund will not necessarily pay the lowest spread or commission available. Subject to applicable legal requirements, the Advisers may select a broker based partly upon brokerage or research services provided to the Advisers and the Fund and any other clients. In return for such services, the Fund may pay a higher commission than other brokers would charge if the Advisers determine in good faith that such commission is reasonable in relation to the services provided.

 

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CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The Advisers

The Advisers or their affiliates provide or may provide investment advisory and other services to various entities. The Advisers and certain of their investment professionals and other principals, may also carry on substantial investment activities for their own accounts, for the accounts of family members and for other accounts (collectively, with the other accounts advised by the Advisers and their affiliates, “Other Accounts”). The Fund has no interest in these activities. The Adviser and its affiliates may receive payments from investment managers in connection with such activities. As a result of the foregoing, the Adviser and the investment professionals who, on behalf of the Adviser, will manage the Fund’s investment portfolio will be engaged in substantial activities other than on behalf of the Fund, may have differing economic interests in respect of such activities, and may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and activity between the Fund and Other Accounts. Such persons will devote only so much of their time as in their judgment is necessary and appropriate.

There also may be circumstances under which the Advisers will cause one or more Other Accounts to commit a larger percentage of its assets to an investment opportunity than to which the Advisers will commit the Fund’s assets. There also may be circumstances under which the Advisers will make investments for Other Accounts in which the Advisers do not invest on behalf of the Fund, or vice versa.

Investment opportunities are made available to the Fund and other clients of StepStone Group where the investment is within the parameters of the applicable strategy. Further, investment opportunities may arise where there is more demand from the Fund and other clients of StepStone Group for a particular investment opportunity than supply. StepStone Group has adopted an Allocation Policy designed to reasonably ensure that all of its clients will be treated fairly and equitably over time. Please refer to “Investment Program — StepStone Group’s Allocation Policy” in the Prospectus.

The 1940 Act imposes significant limits on co-investments with affiliates of the Fund. The Advisers and the Fund have obtained an exemptive order from the SEC that permits the Fund to co-invest alongside its affiliates in Private Market Assets. However, the SEC exemptive order contains certain conditions that limit or restrict the Fund’s ability to participate in such transactions, including, without limitation, where advised funds by StepStone Group have an existing investment in the operating company or Investment Fund.

The Adviser also intends to compensate, from its own resources, third-party securities dealers, other industry professionals and any affiliates thereof (“financial intermediaries”) in connection with the distribution of Shares in the Fund or for their ongoing servicing of Shares acquired by their clients. Such compensation may take various forms, including a fixed fee, a fee determined by a formula that takes into account the amount of client assets invested in the Fund, the timing of investment or the overall NAV of the Fund, or a fee determined in some other method by negotiation between the Adviser and such financial intermediaries. Financial intermediaries may also charge investors, at the financial intermediaries’ discretion, a placement fee based on the purchase price of Shares purchased by the investor. As a result of the various payments that financial intermediaries may receive from investors and the Adviser, the amount of compensation that a financial intermediary may receive in connection with the sale of Shares in the Fund may be greater than the compensation it may receive for the distribution of other investment products. This difference in compensation may create an incentive for a financial intermediary to recommend the Fund over another investment product.

Financial intermediaries may be subject to certain conflicts of interest with respect to the Fund. For example, the Fund, the Advisers, Investment Funds or portfolio companies or investment vehicles managed or sponsored by the Advisers or investment managers may (i) purchase securities or other assets directly or indirectly from, (ii) enter into financial or other transactions with or (iii) otherwise convey benefits through commercial activities to a financial intermediary. As such, certain conflicts of interest may exist between such persons and a financial intermediary. Such transactions may occur in the future and generally there is no limit to the amount of such transactions that may occur.

Financial intermediaries may perform investment advisory and other services for other investment entities with investment objectives and policies similar to those of the Fund or an Investment Fund. Such entities may compete with the Fund or the Investment Fund for investment opportunities and may invest directly in such investment opportunities. Financial intermediaries that invest in an Investment Fund or a portfolio company may do so on terms that are more favorable than those of the Fund.

Financial intermediaries that act as selling agents for the Fund also may act as distributor for an Investment Fund in which the Fund invests and may receive compensation in connection with such activities. Such compensation would be in addition to the placement fees described above. Financial intermediaries may pay all or a portion of the fees paid to it to certain of their affiliates, including, without limitation, financial advisors whose clients purchase Shares of the Fund. Such fee arrangements may create an incentive for a financial intermediary to encourage investment in the Fund, independent of a prospective Shareholder’s objectives.

A financial intermediary may provide financing, investment banking services or other services to third parties and receive fees therefore in connection with transactions in which such third parties have interests which may conflict with those of the Fund or an

 

21


Investment Fund. A financial intermediary may give advice or provide financing to such third parties that may cause them to take actions adverse to the Fund, an Investment Fund or a portfolio company. A financial intermediary may directly or indirectly provide services to, or serve in other roles for compensation for, the Fund, an Investment Fund or a portfolio company. These services and roles may include (either currently or in the future) managing trustee, managing member, general partner, investment manager or advisor, investment sub-advisor, distributor, broker, dealer, selling agent and investor servicer, custodian, transfer agent, fund administrator, prime broker, recordkeeper, shareholder servicer, interfund lending servicer, Fund accountant, transaction (e.g., a swap) counterparty and/or lender. A financial intermediary is expected to provide certain such services to the Fund in connection with the Fund obtaining a credit facility, if any such facility is obtained.

In addition, issuers of securities held by the Fund or its Investment Funds may have publicly or privately traded securities in which a financial intermediary is an investor or makes a market. The trading activities of financial intermediaries generally will be carried out without reference to positions held by the Fund or its Investment Funds and may have an effect on the value of the positions so held, or may result in a financial intermediary having an interest in the issuer adverse to the Fund or the underlying Investment Funds. No financial intermediary is prohibited from purchasing or selling the securities of, otherwise investing in or financing, issuers in which the Fund or its underlying Investment Funds has an interest.

A financial intermediary may sponsor, organize, promote or otherwise become involved with other opportunities to invest directly or indirectly in the Fund or an Investment Fund. Such opportunities may be subject to different terms than those applicable to an investment in the Fund or the Investment Fund, including with respect to fees and the right to receive information.

Set out below are practices that the Advisers may follow. Although the Advisers anticipate that the investment managers will follow practices similar to those described below, no guarantee or assurances can be made that similar practices will be followed or that an investment manager will abide by, and comply with, its stated practices. An investment manager may provide investment advisory and other services, directly or through affiliates, to various entities and accounts other than Private Market Assets.

Participation in Investment Activities

Directors, principals, officers, employees and affiliates of the Advisers may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts and may have actual or potential conflicts of interest with respect to investments made on behalf of the Fund or an Investment Fund in which the Fund invests. As a result of differing trading and investment strategies or constraints, positions may be taken by directors, principals, officers, employees and affiliates of the Advisers, or by the Advisers for the Other Accounts, or any of their respective affiliates on behalf of their own other accounts (“Investment Manager Accounts”) that are the same as, different from or made at a different time than, positions taken for the Fund or an Investment Fund.

Other Matters

An investment manager may, from time to time, cause an Investment Fund to effect certain principal transactions in securities with one or more Investment Manager Accounts, subject to certain conditions. Future investment activities of the investment managers, or their affiliates, and the principals, partners, directors, officers or employees of the foregoing, may give rise to additional conflicts of interest.

The Advisers and their affiliates will not purchase securities or other property from, or sell securities or other property to the Fund, except that the Fund may in accordance with rules under the 1940 Act engage in transactions with accounts that are affiliated with the Fund as a result of common officers, directors, advisers, members or managing general partners. These transactions would be effected in circumstances in which the Advisers determined that it would be appropriate for the Fund to purchase and another client to sell, or the Fund to sell and another client to purchase, the same security or instrument on the same day.

Future investment activities of the Advisers and their affiliates and their principals, partners, members, directors, officers or employees may give rise to conflicts of interest other than those described above.

TAX ASPECTS

The following is a summary of certain U.S. federal income tax considerations relevant to the acquisition, holding and disposition of Shares. This discussion offers only a brief outline of the U.S. federal income tax consequences of investing in the Fund and is based upon present provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), the regulations promulgated thereunder, and judicial and administrative ruling authorities, all of which are subject to change, which change may be retroactive. The discussion is limited to persons who hold their Shares as capital assets (generally, property held for investment) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This summary does not address all of the U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to a particular Shareholder or to Shareholders who may be subject to special treatment under federal income tax laws, such as U.S. financial institutions, insurance companies, broker-dealers, traders in securities that have made an election for U.S. federal income tax purposes to mark-to-market their securities holdings, tax-exempt organizations, partnerships, Shareholders who are not “United States Persons” (as defined

 

22


in the Code), Shareholders liable for the alternative minimum tax, persons holding Shares through partnerships or other pass-through entities, or persons that have a functional currency (as defined in Section 985 of the Code) other than the U.S. dollar. No ruling has been or will be obtained from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) regarding any matter relating to the Fund or the Shares. No assurance can be given that the IRS would not assert a position contrary to any of the tax aspects described below. The discussion set forth herein does not constitute tax advice. Prospective Shareholders and Shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisors as to the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, holding and disposition of Shares of the Fund, as well as the effects of state, local and non-U.S. tax laws.

UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, REFERENCES IN THIS DISCUSSION TO THE FUND’S INVESTMENTS, ACTIVITIES, INCOME, GAIN AND LOSS, INCLUDE THE CO-INVESTMENTS OR CO-INVESTMENTS, ACTIVITIES, INCOME, GAIN AND LOSS OF THE FUND, AS WELL AS THOSE INDIRECTLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE FUND AS A RESULT OF THE FUND’S INVESTMENT IN ANY INVESTMENT FUND (OR OTHER ENTITY) THAT IS PROPERLY CLASSIFIED AS A PARTNERSHIP OR DISREGARDED ENTITY FOR U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX PURPOSES (AND NOT AN ASSOCIATION OR PUBLICLY TRADED PARTNERSHIP TAXABLE AS A CORPORATION).

Qualification as a Regulated Investment Company; Tax Treatment

It is expected that the Fund will qualify for treatment as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under the Code. If the Fund so qualifies and distributes (or is deemed to have distributed) each taxable year to Shareholders dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes of an amount at least equal to the sum of 90% of its investment company taxable income (which includes, among other items, dividends, interest and net short-term capital gains in excess of net long-term capital losses, but determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid) plus 90% of any net tax-exempt income for the Fund’s taxable year, the Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal corporate income taxes on any amounts it distributes as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes, including distributions (if any) derived from the Fund’s net capital gain (i.e., the excess of the net long-term capital gains over net short-term capital losses) to Shareholders. The Fund intends to distribute to its Shareholders, at least annually, substantially all of its investment company taxable income, net tax-exempt income, and net capital gains.

In addition, amounts not distributed on a timely basis in accordance with a separate calendar year distribution requirement are subject to a nondeductible 4% excise tax. To prevent imposition of the excise tax, the Fund generally must be considered to have distributed dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes in respect of each calendar year an amount at least equal to the sum of (1) 98% of its ordinary income (not taking into account any capital gains or losses), determined on a calendar year basis, (2) 98.2% of its capital gain net income, determined under prescribed rules for this purpose (which is generally determined on the basis of the one-year period ending on October 31st of such calendar year, and adjusted for certain ordinary losses), and (3) any ordinary income and capital gain net income from previous years that was not distributed during those years and on which the Fund incurred no U.S. federal income tax. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, dividends declared by the Fund in October, November or December to Shareholders of record on a specified date in such a month and paid during January of the following calendar year are taxable to such Shareholders, and deductible by the Fund, as if paid on December 31 of the calendar year declared. The Fund generally intends to make distributions sufficient to avoid imposition of the excise tax, although there can be no assurance that it will be able to do so.

In order to qualify as a RIC, the Fund must, among other things: (a) derive in each taxable year (the “gross income test”) at least 90% of its gross income from (i) dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, and gains from the sale or other disposition of stocks, securities or foreign currencies, or other income (including but not limited to gains from options, futures or forward contracts) derived with respect to its business of investing in such stocks, securities or currencies, and (ii) net income from interests in “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (as defined in the Code) (all such income items, “qualifying gross income”); and (b) diversify its holdings (the “asset diversification test”) so that, at the end of each quarter of the taxable year, (i) at least 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets is represented by cash and cash items (including receivables), U.S. Government securities, the securities of other RICs and other securities, with such other securities of any one issuer limited for the purposes of this calculation to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its total assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. Government securities or the securities of other RICs) of a single issuer, two or more issuers that the Fund controls and that are engaged in the same, similar or related trades or businesses or one or more “qualified publicly traded partnerships” (as defined in the Code).

For the purpose of determining whether the Fund satisfies the gross income test, the character of the Fund’s distributive share of items of income, gain and loss derived through any Investment Funds that are properly treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes (other than certain publicly traded partnerships) generally will be determined as if the Fund realized such tax items in the same manner as realized by those Investment Funds. Similarly, for the purpose of the asset diversification test, the Fund, in appropriate circumstances, will “look through” to the assets held by such Investment Funds.

A RIC that fails the gross income test for a taxable year shall nevertheless be considered to have satisfied the test for such year if (i) the RIC satisfies certain procedural requirements, and (ii) the RIC’s failure to satisfy the gross income test is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. However, in such case, a tax is imposed on the RIC for the taxable year in which, absent the

 

23


application of the above cure provision, it would have failed the gross income test equal to the amount by which the RIC’s non-qualifying gross income exceeds one-ninth of the RIC’s qualifying gross income, each as determined for purposes of applying the gross income test for such taxable year.

Additionally, a RIC that fails the asset diversification test as of the end of a quarter of a taxable year shall nevertheless be considered to have satisfied the test as of the end of such quarter in the following circumstances. If the RIC’s failure to satisfy the asset diversification test at the end of the quarter is due to the ownership of assets the total value of which does not exceed the lesser of (i) one percent of the total value of the RIC’s assets at the end of such quarter and (ii) $10 million (a “de minimis failure”), the RIC shall be considered to have satisfied the asset diversification test as of the end of such quarter if, within six months of the last day of the quarter in which the RIC identifies that it failed the asset diversification test (or such other prescribed time period), the RIC either disposes of assets in order to satisfy the asset diversification test, or otherwise satisfies the asset diversification test.

In the case of a failure to satisfy the asset diversification test at the end of a quarter of a taxable year under circumstances that do not constitute a de minimis failure, a RIC shall nevertheless be considered to have satisfied the asset diversification test as of the end of such quarter if (i) the RIC satisfies certain procedural requirements; (ii) the RIC’s failure to satisfy the asset diversification test is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect; and (iii) within six months of the last day of the quarter in which the RIC identifies that it failed the asset diversification test (or such other prescribed time period), the RIC either disposes of the assets that caused the asset diversification failure in order to satisfy the asset diversification test, or otherwise satisfies the asset diversification test. However, in such case, a tax is imposed on the RIC, at the highest stated corporate income tax rate, on the net income generated by the assets that caused the RIC to fail the asset diversification test during the period for which the asset diversification test was not met. In all events, however, such tax will not be less than $50,000.

If before the end of any taxable quarter of the Fund’s taxable year, the Fund believes that it may fail the asset diversification test, the Fund may seek to take certain actions to avert such a failure. However, the action typically taken by RICs to avert such a failure (e.g., the disposition of assets causing the asset diversification discrepancy) may be difficult for the Fund to pursue because of the limited liquidity of the interests in the Private Market Assets. While the Code generally affords the Fund a 30-day period after the end of the relevant quarter in which to cure a diversification failure by disposing of non-diversified assets, the constraints on the Fund’s ability to do so may limit utilization of this statutory 30-day cure period and, possibly, the extended cure period provided by the Code as discussed above.

If the Fund does not qualify as a RIC, it will be treated for tax purposes as an ordinary corporation. In that case, all of its taxable income would be subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates without any deduction for distributions made to Shareholders. In addition, all distributions (including distributions of net capital gain) made to Shareholders generally would be characterized as dividend income to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits.

Distributions

The Fund will ordinarily declare and pay distributions from its net investment income and distribute net realized capital gains, if any, at least once a year. The Fund, however, may make distributions on a more frequent basis to comply with the distribution requirements of the Code, in all events in a manner consistent with the provisions of the 1940 Act. After the end of each calendar year, Shareholders will be provided a Form 1099, containing information regarding the amount and character of distributions received from the Fund during the calendar year.

Shareholders normally will be subject to U.S. federal income taxes, and any state and/or local income taxes, on any dividends or other distributions that they receive from the Fund. Distributions from net investment income and net short-term capital gain generally will be characterized as ordinary income (which generally cannot be offset with capital losses from other sources), and, to the extent attributable to dividends from U.S. corporations, may be eligible for a dividends-received deduction for Shareholders that are corporations. Further, to the extent the dividends are attributable to dividends from U.S. corporations and certain foreign corporations, such dividends may, in certain cases, be eligible for treatment as “qualified dividend income,” which is generally subject to tax at rates equivalent to long-term capital gain tax rates, by Shareholders that are individuals. The Fund’s distributions generally are not expected to be attributable to dividends received by the Fund and, therefore, generally are not expected to be eligible for the dividends-received deduction or treatment as “qualified dividend income.” Distributions from net capital gain (typically referred to as a “capital gain dividend”) will be characterized as long-term capital gain, regardless of how long Shares have been held by the Shareholder. However, if the Shareholder received any long-term capital gain distributions in respect of the repurchased Shares (including, for this purpose, amounts credited as undistributed capital gains in respect of those Shares) and held the repurchased Shares for six months or less, any loss realized by the Shareholder upon the repurchase will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent that it offsets the long-term capital gain distributions. Distributions by the Fund that are or are considered to be in excess of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits for the relevant period will be treated as a tax-free return of capital to the extent of (and in reduction of) a Shareholder’s tax basis in its Shares and any such amount in excess of such tax basis will be treated as gain from the sale of Shares, as discussed below. Similarly, as discussed below at “Income from Repurchases and Transfers of Shares,” if a repurchase or transfer of a Shareholder’s Shares does not qualify for sale or exchange treatment, the Shareholder may, in connection with such repurchase or

 

24


transfer, be treated as having received, in whole or in part, a taxable dividend, a tax-free return of capital or taxable capital gain, depending on (i) whether the Fund has sufficient earnings and profits to support a dividend and (ii) the Shareholder’s tax basis in the relevant Shares repurchased or transferred. In such case, the tax basis in the Shares repurchased or transferred by the Fund, to the extent remaining after any dividend and return of capital distribution with respect to those Shares, will be added to the tax basis of any remaining Shares held by the Shareholder.

The tax treatment of the Fund’s distributions from net investment income and capital gains generally will be the same whether the Shareholder takes such distributions in cash or reinvests them to buy additional Shares.

The Fund may elect to retain its net capital gain or a portion thereof for investment and be subject to tax at corporate rates on the amount retained. In such case, the Fund may report the retained amount as undistributed capital gains to its Shareholders, who will be treated as if each Shareholder received a distribution of his or her pro rata share of such gain, with the result that each Shareholder will (i) be required to report his or her pro rata share of such gain on his or her tax return as long-term capital gain, (ii) receive a refundable tax credit for his or her pro rata share of tax paid by the Fund on the gain, and (iii) increase the tax basis for his or her Shares by an amount equal to the deemed distribution less the tax credit.

For taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026, individuals (and certain other non-corporate entities) are generally eligible for a 20% deduction with respect to taxable ordinary real estate investment trust (“REIT”) dividends. Applicable Treasury regulations allow RICs to pass through to shareholders such taxable ordinary REIT dividends. Accordingly, individual (and certain other non-corporate) Shareholders of the Fund that have received such taxable ordinary REIT dividends may be able to take advantage of this 20% deduction with respect to any such amounts passed through.

Certain distributions reported by the Fund as section 163(j) interest dividends may be treated as interest income by Shareholders for purposes of the tax rules applicable to interest expense limitations under Section 163(j) of the Code. Such treatment by the Shareholder is generally subject to holding period requirements and other potential limitations, although the holding period requirements are generally not applicable to dividends declared by money market funds and certain other funds that declare dividends daily and pay such dividends on a monthly or more frequent basis. The amount that the Fund is eligible to report as a Section 163(j) dividend for a tax year is generally limited to the excess of the Fund’s business interest income over the sum of the Fund’s (i) business interest expense and (ii) other deductions properly allocable to the Fund’s business interest income.

An additional 3.8% tax will be imposed in respect of the net investment income of certain individuals and on the undistributed net investment income of certain estates and trusts to the extent such person’s “modified adjusted gross income” (in the case of an individual) or “adjusted gross income” (in the case of an estate or trust) exceeds certain threshold amounts. For these purposes, “net investment income” will generally include, among other things, dividends (including dividends paid with respect to the Shares to the extent paid out of the Fund’s current or accumulated earnings and profits as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles) and net gain attributable to the disposition of property not held in a trade or business (which could include net gain from the sale, exchange or other taxable disposition of Shares), but will be reduced by any deductions properly allocable to such income or net gain. Shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisors regarding the additional taxation of net investment income.

Income from Repurchases and Transfers of Shares

A repurchase or transfer of Shares by the Fund generally will be treated as a taxable transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, either as a “sale or exchange,” or, under certain circumstances, as a “dividend.” In general, the transaction should be treated as a sale or exchange of the Shares if the receipt of cash results in a meaningful reduction in the Shareholder’s proportionate interest in the Fund or results in a “complete redemption” of the Shareholder’s Shares, in each case applying certain constructive ownership rules in the Code. Alternatively, if a Shareholder does not tender all of his or her Shares, such repurchase or transfer may not be treated as a sale or exchange for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and the gross amount of such repurchase or transfer may constitute a dividend to the Shareholder to the extent of such Shareholder’s pro rata share of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits.

If the repurchase or transfer of a Shareholder’s Shares qualifies for sale or exchange treatment, the Shareholder will recognize gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount received in exchange for the repurchased or transferred Shares and the adjusted tax basis of those Shares. Such gain or loss will be capital gain or loss if the repurchased or transferred Shares were held by the Shareholder as capital assets, and generally will be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the repurchased or transferred Shares were held by the Shareholder for more than one year, or as short-term capital gain or loss if the repurchased or transferred Shares were held by the Shareholder for one year or less.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, any capital loss realized by a Shareholder will be disallowed to the extent the Shares repurchased or transferred by the Fund are replaced (including through reinvestment of dividends) either with Shares or substantially identical securities within a period of 61 days beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the repurchase of the Shares. If disallowed, the loss will be reflected as an upward adjustment to the basis of the Shares acquired. The deductibility of capital losses may be subject to statutory limitations.

 

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If the repurchase or transfer of a Shareholder’s Shares does not qualify for sale or exchange treatment, the Shareholder may be treated as having received, in whole or in part, a taxable dividend, a tax-free return of capital or taxable capital gain, depending on (i) whether the Fund has sufficient earnings and profits to support a dividend and (ii) the Shareholder’s tax basis in the relevant Shares.

The tax basis in the Shares repurchased or transferred by the Fund, to the extent remaining after any dividend and return of capital distribution with respect to those Shares, will be added to the tax basis of any remaining Shares held by the Shareholder.

The Fund generally will be required to report to the IRS and each Shareholder the cost basis and holding period for each respective Shareholder’s Shares repurchased or transferred by the Fund. The Fund has elected the average cost method as the default cost basis method for purposes of this requirement. If a Shareholder wishes to accept the average cost method as its default cost basis calculation method in respect of Shares in its account, the Shareholder does not need to take any additional action. If, however, a Shareholder wishes to affirmatively elect an alternative cost basis calculation method in respect of its Shares, the Shareholder must contact the Administrator to obtain and complete a cost basis election form. The cost basis method applicable to a particular Share repurchase may not be changed after the valuation date established by the Fund in respect of that repurchase or Share transfer. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors regarding their cost basis reporting options and to obtain more information about how the cost basis reporting rules apply to them.

A sale of Shares, other than in the context of a repurchase or transfer of Shares by the Fund, generally will have the same tax consequences as described above in respect of a Share repurchase or transfer that qualifies for “sale or exchange” treatment.

If a Shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to Shares in excess of certain prescribed thresholds (generally, $2,500,000 or more for an individual Shareholder or $10,000,000 or more for a corporate Shareholder), the Shareholder must file with the IRS a disclosure statement on an IRS Form 8886. Direct investors of portfolio securities are in many cases excepted from this reporting requirement, but, under current guidance, equity owners of RICs are not excepted. The fact that a loss is reportable as just described does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of this reporting requirement in light of their particular circumstances.

Other Considerations

Unless and until the Fund is considered under the Code to be a “publicly offered regulated investment company,” for purposes of computing the taxable income of U.S. Shareholders that are individuals, trusts or estates, (1) the Fund’s earnings will be computed without taking into account such U.S. Shareholders’ allocable shares of the Management Fees and certain other expenses, (2) each such U.S. Shareholder will be treated as having received or accrued a dividend from the Fund in the amount of such U.S. Shareholder’s allocable share of these fees and expenses for such taxable year, (3) each such U.S. Shareholder will be treated as having paid or incurred such U.S. Shareholder’s allocable share of these fees and expenses for the calendar year and (4) each such U.S. Shareholder’s allocable share of these fees and expenses will be treated as miscellaneous itemized deductions by such U.S. stockholder. For taxable years beginning before 2026, miscellaneous itemized deductions generally are not deductible by a U.S. Shareholder that is an individual, trust or estate. For taxable years beginning in 2026 or later, miscellaneous itemized deductions generally are deductible by a U.S. Shareholder that is an individual, trust or estate only to the extent that the aggregate of such U.S. Shareholder’s miscellaneous itemized deductions exceeds 2% of such U.S. stockholder’s adjusted gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, are not deductible for purposes of the alternative minimum tax and are subject to the overall limitation on itemized deductions under Section 68 of the Code. In addition, if the Fund is not treated as a “publicly offered regulated investment company,” the Fund will be subject to limitations on the deductibility of certain “preferential dividends” that are distributed to U.S. stockholders on a non-pro-rata basis. A “publicly offered regulated investment company” is a RIC whose equity interests are (i) continuously offered pursuant to a public offering, (ii) regularly traded on an established securities market, or (iii) held by at least 500 persons at all times during the taxable year.

Fund Investments

The Fund will invest a portion of its assets in Investment Funds, some of which may be classified as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes. An entity that is properly classified as a partnership (and not an association or publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation) generally is not subject to an entity-level U.S. federal income tax. Instead, each partner of the partnership is required to take into account its distributive share of the partnership’s net capital gain or loss, net short-term capital gain or loss, and its other items of ordinary income or loss (including all items of income, gain, loss and deduction allocable to that partnership from investments in other partnerships) for each taxable year of the partnership ending with or within the partner’s taxable year. Each such item will have the same character to a partner and will generally have the same source (either United States or foreign), as though the partner realized the item directly. Partners of a partnership must report these items regardless of the extent to which, or whether, the partnership or the partners receive cash distributions for such taxable year. Accordingly, the Fund may be required to recognize items of taxable income and gain prior to the time that any corresponding cash distributions are made to or by the Fund and certain Investment Funds (including in circumstances where investments by the Investment Funds generate income prior to a corresponding receipt of cash). In such case, the Fund may have to dispose of interests in Investment Funds that it would otherwise have continued to hold, or

 

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devise other methods of cure, to the extent certain Investment Funds earn income of a type that is not qualifying gross income for purposes of the gross income test or hold assets that could cause the Fund not to satisfy the RIC asset diversification test.

Some of the income that the Fund may earn directly or through an Investment Fund, such as income recognized from an equity investment in an operating partnership, may not satisfy the gross income test. To manage the risk that such income might jeopardize the Fund’s tax status as a RIC resulting from a failure to satisfy the gross income test, one or more subsidiary entities treated as U.S. corporations for U.S. federal income tax purposes may be employed to earn such income and (if applicable) hold the related investment. Such subsidiary entities generally will be required to incur entity-level income taxes on their earnings, which ultimately will reduce the return to Shareholders.

UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, REFERENCES IN THIS DISCUSSION TO THE FUND’S INVESTMENTS, ACTIVITIES, INCOME, GAIN AND LOSS, INCLUDE THE CO-INVESTMENTS OR CO-INVESTMENTS, ACTIVITIES, INCOME, GAIN AND LOSS OF BOTH THE FUND, AS WELL AS THOSE INDIRECTLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE FUND AS A RESULT OF THE FUND’S INVESTMENT IN ANY INVESTMENT FUND (OR OTHER ENTITY) THAT IS PROPERLY CLASSIFIED AS A PARTNERSHIP OR DISREGARDED ENTITY FOR U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX PURPOSES (AND NOT AN ASSOCIATION OR PUBLICLY TRADED PARTNERSHIP TAXABLE AS A CORPORATION).

Ordinarily, gains and losses realized from portfolio transactions will be characterized as capital gains and losses. However, because the functional currency of the Fund for U.S. federal income tax purposes is the U.S. dollar, a portion of the gain or loss realized from the disposition of foreign currencies (including foreign currency denominated bank deposits) and non-U.S. dollar denominated securities (including debt instruments, certain futures or forward contracts and options, and similar financial instruments) is generally characterized as ordinary income or loss in accordance with Section 988 of the Code. Section 988 of the Code similarly provides that gains or losses attributable to fluctuations in exchange rates that occur between the time the Fund accrues interest or other receivables or accrues expenses or other liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and the time such receivables are collected or the time that the liabilities are paid would be generally characterized as ordinary income or loss. In addition, all or a portion of any gains realized from the sale or other disposition of certain market discount bonds will be characterized as ordinary income. Finally, all or a portion of any gain realized from engaging in “conversion transactions” (as defined in the Code to generally include certain transactions designed to convert ordinary income into capital gain) may be characterized as ordinary income.

Hedging and Derivative Transactions

Gain or loss, if any, realized from certain financial futures or forward contracts and options transactions (“Section 1256 Contracts”) generally is treated as 60% long-term capital gain or loss and 40% short-term capital gain or loss. Gain or loss will arise upon exercise or lapse of Section 1256 Contracts. In addition, any Section 1256 Contracts remaining unexercised both at October 31 of each calendar year as well as at the end of the Fund’s taxable year are treated as sold for their then fair market value, resulting in the recognition of gain or loss characterized in the manner described above.

While not a principal investment strategy of the Fund, the Fund may acquire certain foreign currency forward contracts, enter into certain foreign currency futures contracts, acquire put and call options on foreign currencies, or acquire or enter into similar foreign currency-related financial instruments. Generally, foreign currency regulated futures contracts and option contracts that qualify as Section 1256 Contracts will not be subject to ordinary income or loss treatment under Section 988 of the Code. However, if the Fund acquires or enters into any foreign currency futures contracts or options contracts that are not Section 1256 Contracts, or any foreign currency forward contracts or similar foreign currency-related financial instruments, any gain or loss realized by the Fund with respect to such contract or financial instruments generally will be characterized as ordinary gain or loss unless the contract or financial instrument in question is a capital asset in the hands of the Fund and is not part of a straddle transaction (as described below), and an election is made by the Fund (before the close of the day the transaction is entered into) to characterize the gain or loss attributable to such contract or financial instrument as capital gain or loss.

Offsetting positions held by the Fund, or the Investment Funds, involving certain financial futures or forward contracts or options transactions with respect to actively traded personal property may be considered, for tax purposes, to constitute “straddles.” In addition, investments by the Fund in particular combinations of Investment Funds may also be treated as a “straddle.” To the extent the straddle rules apply to positions established by the Fund, or the Investment Funds, losses realized by the Fund may be deferred to the extent of unrealized gain in the offsetting positions. Further, short-term capital loss on straddle positions may be recharacterized as long-term capital loss, and long-term capital gains on straddle positions may be treated as short-term capital gains or ordinary income. Certain of the straddle positions held by the Fund, or the Investment Funds, may constitute “mixed straddles.” One or more elections may be made in respect of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of “mixed straddles,” resulting in different tax consequences. In certain circumstances, the provisions governing the tax treatment of straddles override or modify certain of the provisions discussed above.

If the Fund, or possibly an Investment Fund, either (1) holds an appreciated financial position with respect to stock, certain debt obligations or partnership interests (“appreciated financial position”), and then enters into a short sale, futures, forward, or offsetting notional principal contract (collectively, a “Contract”) with respect to the same or substantially identical property, or (2) holds an

 

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appreciated financial position that is a Contract and then acquires property that is the same as, or substantially identical to, the underlying property, the Fund generally will be taxed as if the appreciated financial position were sold at its fair market value on the date the Fund, or such Investment Fund, enters into the financial position or acquires the property, respectively. The foregoing will not apply, however, to any transaction during any taxable year that otherwise would be treated as a constructive sale if the transaction is closed within 30 days after the end of that year and the appreciated financial position is held unhedged for 60 days after that closing (i.e., at no time during that 60-day period is the risk of loss relating to the appreciated financial position reduced by reason of certain specified transactions with respect to substantially identical or related property, such as by reason of an option to sell, being contractually obligated to sell, making a short sale, or granting an option to buy substantially identical stock or securities).

If the Fund, or possibly an Investment Fund, enters into certain derivatives (including forward contracts, long positions under notional principal contracts, and related puts and calls) with respect to equity interests in certain pass-thru entities (including other RICs, REITs, partnerships, real estate mortgage investment conduits and certain trusts and foreign corporations), long-term capital gain with respect to the derivative may be recharacterized as ordinary income to the extent it exceeds the long-term capital gain that would have been realized had the interest in the pass-thru entity been held directly during the term of the derivative contract. Any gain recharacterized as ordinary income will be treated as accruing at a constant rate over the term of the derivative contract and may be subject to an interest charge. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) and the IRS have the authority to issue regulations expanding the application of these rules to derivatives with respect to debt instruments and/or stock in corporations that are not pass-thru entities.

Passive Foreign Investment Companies and Controlled Foreign Corporations

The Fund may indirectly hold equity interests in non-U.S. Investment Funds and/or non-U.S. portfolio companies that may be treated as “passive foreign investment companies” (each, a “PFIC”) under the Code. A PFIC is generally defined as a non-U.S. entity which is classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and which earns at least 75% of its annual gross income from passive sources (such as interest, dividends, rents, royalties or capital gain) or which holds at least 50% of its total assets in assets producing such passive income. The Fund may be subject to U.S. federal income tax, at ordinary income rates, on a portion of any “excess distribution” or gain from the disposition of such interests even if such income is distributed as a taxable dividend by the Fund to its Shareholders. Additional charges in the nature of interest may be imposed on the Fund in respect of deferred taxes arising from such distributions or gains. If an election is made to treat the PFIC as a “qualified electing fund” under the Code (a “QEF”), then the Fund would be required, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, to include in income each year a portion of the QEF’s ordinary earnings and net capital gain (at ordinary income and capital gains rates, respectively), even if not distributed to the Fund. If the QEF incurs losses for a taxable year, these losses will not pass through to the Fund and, accordingly, cannot offset other income and/or gains of the Fund. The QEF election may not be able to be made with respect to many PFICs because of certain requirements that the PFICs themselves would have to satisfy. Alternatively, in certain cases, an election can be made to mark-to-market the shares of a PFIC held by the Fund at the end of the Fund’s taxable year (as well as on certain other dates prescribed in the Code). In this case, the Fund would recognize as ordinary income its share of any increase in the value of such PFIC shares, and as ordinary loss its share of any decrease in such value, to the extent such did not exceed its share of prior increases in income derived from such PFIC shares. Under either election, the Fund might be required to recognize income in excess of its distributions from PFICs and its proceeds from dispositions of PFIC stock during the applicable taxable year and such income would nevertheless be subject to the distribution requirement and would be taken into account under prescribed timing rules for purposes of the 4% excise tax (described above).

Dividends paid by PFICs will not be treated as “qualified dividend income.” In certain cases, the Fund will not be the party legally permitted to make the QEF election or the mark-to-market election in respect of indirectly held PFICs and, in such cases, will not have control over whether the party within the chain of ownership that is legally permitted to make the QEF or mark-to-market election will do so.

If the Fund holds 10% or more (by vote or value) of the interests treated as equity for U.S. federal income tax purposes in a foreign entity classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and considered a controlled foreign corporation (“CFC”) under the Code, the Fund may be treated as receiving a deemed distribution (i.e., characterized as ordinary income) each taxable year from such foreign corporation in an amount equal to its pro rata share of such entity’s income for such taxable year (including both ordinary earnings and capital gains), whether or not the entity makes an actual distribution during such taxable year. The Fund would be required to include the amount of a deemed distribution from a CFC when computing its investment company taxable income as well as in determining whether the Fund satisfies the distribution requirements applicable to RICs, even to the extent the amount of the Fund’s income deemed recognized from the CFC exceeds the amount of any actual distributions from the CFC and the proceeds from any sales or other dispositions of CFC stock during the Fund’s taxable year. In general, a foreign entity classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes will be considered a CFC if greater than 50% of the shares of the corporation, measured by reference to combined voting power or value, is owned (directly, indirectly or by attribution) by U.S. Shareholders. A “U.S. Shareholder,” for this purpose, is any U.S. person that possesses (actually or constructively) 10% or more of the combined voting power or value of all classes of shares of a foreign entity classified as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Under applicable final Treasury regulations, certain income derived by the Fund from a CFC or a PFIC with respect to which the Fund has made a QEF election would generally constitute qualifying income under the gross income test for purposes of determining

 

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the Fund’s ability to be subject to tax as a RIC only to the extent the CFC or the PFIC makes current distributions of that income to the Fund or the included income is derived with respect to the Fund’s business of investing in stocks and securities. The Fund may be restricted in its ability to make QEF elections with respect to the Fund’s holdings in Investment Funds and other issuers that could be treated as PFICs or implement certain restrictions with the respect to any Investment Funds or other issuers that could be treated as CFCs in order to limit the Fund’s tax liability or maximize the Fund’s after-tax return from these investments.

State and Local Taxes

In addition to the U.S. federal income tax consequences summarized above, Shareholders and prospective Shareholders should consider the potential state and local tax consequences associated with an investment in the Fund. The Fund may become subject to income and other taxes in states and localities based on the Fund’s investments in entities that conduct business in those jurisdictions. Shareholders will generally be taxable in their state of residence with respect to their income or gains earned and distributed by the Fund as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or the amount of their investment in the Fund.

Foreign Taxes

The Fund’s investment in non-U.S. stocks or securities may be subject to withholding and other taxes imposed by countries outside the United States. In that case, the Fund’s yield on those stocks or securities would be decreased. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes. If more than 50% of the Fund’s assets at year-end consists of the stock or securities of foreign corporations, the Fund may elect to permit its Shareholders to claim a credit or deduction on their income tax returns for their pro rata portion of qualified taxes paid or deemed paid by the Fund to foreign countries in respect of foreign stock or securities the Fund has held for at least the minimum period specified in the Code. In such a case, Shareholders of the Fund will include in gross income from foreign sources their pro rata shares of such taxes. The Fund does not expect to meet the requirements to make the election described above in respect of the treatment of foreign taxes.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

Information returns will generally be filed with the IRS in connection with distributions made by the Fund to Shareholders unless Shareholders establish they are exempt from such information reporting (e.g., by properly establishing that they are classified as corporations for U.S. federal tax purposes). Additionally, the Fund may be required to withhold, for U.S. federal income taxes, a portion of all taxable dividends and repurchase proceeds payable to Shareholders who fail to provide the Fund with their correct taxpayer identification numbers, generally on an IRS Form W-9, or who otherwise fail to make required certifications, or if the Fund or the Shareholder has been notified by the IRS that such Shareholder is subject to backup withholding. Certain Shareholders specified in the Code and the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder are exempt from backup withholding, but they may be required to demonstrate their exempt status. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld will be allowed as a refund or a credit against the Shareholder’s federal income tax liability if the appropriate information is provided to the IRS.

U.S. Federally Tax-Exempt Shareholders

Under current law, the Fund serves to “block” (that is, prevent the attribution to Shareholders of) unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) from being realized by its U.S. federally tax-exempt Shareholders (including, among others, individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”), 401(k) accounts, Keogh plans, pension plans and certain charitable entities). Notwithstanding the foregoing, a U.S. federally tax-exempt Shareholder could realize UBTI by virtue of its investment in Shares of the Fund if the US, federally tax-exempt Shareholder has engaged in a borrowing or other similar transaction to acquire its Shares. A tax-exempt Shareholder may also recognize UBTI if the Fund were to recognize “excess inclusion income” derived from direct or indirect investments in residual interests in real estate mortgage investment conduits or taxable mortgage pools. If a charitable remainder annuity trust or a charitable remainder unitrust (each as defined in Section 664 of the Code) has UBTI for a taxable year, a 100% excise tax on the UBTI is imposed on the trust.

Foreign Shareholders

U.S. taxation of a Shareholder who, as to the United States, is a nonresident alien individual, a foreign trust or estate, or a foreign corporation (“Foreign Shareholder”) as defined in the Code, depends on whether the income of the Fund is “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by the Foreign Shareholder.

Income Not Effectively Connected. If the income from the Fund is not “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by the Foreign Shareholder, distributions of investment company taxable income will generally be subject to a U.S. tax of 30% (or lower treaty rate, except in the case of any “excess inclusion income” allocated to the Foreign Shareholder), which tax is generally withheld from such distributions. Capital gain dividends and any amounts retained by the Fund which are properly reported by the Fund as undistributed capital gains will not be subject to U.S. tax at the rate of 30% (or lower treaty rate), unless the Foreign Shareholder is a nonresident alien individual and is physically present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year and meets certain other requirements. In order to qualify for any reduction or exemption from U.S. withholding tax, a Foreign

 

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Shareholder must comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E, IRS Form W-8ECI, IRS Form W-8IMY or IRS Form W-8EXP, or an acceptable substitute or successor form). However, this 30% tax on capital gains of nonresident alien individuals who are physically present in the United States for more than the 182 day period only applies in exceptional cases because any individual present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year is generally treated as a resident for U.S. income tax purposes; in that case, he or she would be subject to U.S. income tax on his or her worldwide income at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, rather than the 30% tax.

Any capital gain that a Foreign Shareholder realizes upon a repurchase of Shares or otherwise upon a sale or exchange of Shares will ordinarily be exempt from U.S. tax unless, in the case of a Foreign Shareholder that is a nonresident alien individual, the gain is U.S. source income and such Foreign Shareholder is physically present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year and meets certain other requirements. However, this 30% tax on capital gains of nonresident alien individuals who are physically present in the United States for more than the 182 day period only applies in exceptional cases because any individual present in the United States for more than 182 days during the taxable year is generally treated as a resident for U.S. income tax purposes; in that case, he or she would be subject to U.S. income tax on his or her worldwide income at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, rather than the 30% tax.

Income Effectively Connected. If the income from the Fund is “effectively connected” with a U.S. trade or business carried on by a Foreign Shareholder, then distributions of investment company taxable income and capital gain dividends, any amounts retained by the Fund which are reported by the Fund as undistributed capital gains, and any gains realized upon the sale or exchange of Shares of the Fund will be subject to U.S. income tax at the graduated rates applicable to U.S. citizens, residents and domestic corporations. Corporate Foreign Shareholders may also be subject to the branch profits tax imposed by the Code.

In the case of a Foreign Shareholder, the Fund may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax from distributions and repurchase proceeds that are otherwise exempt from withholding tax (or taxable at a reduced treaty rate), unless the Foreign Shareholder certifies his foreign status under penalties of perjury or otherwise establishes an exemption in the manner discussed above.

The tax consequences to a Foreign Shareholder entitled to claim the benefits of an applicable tax treaty may differ from those described herein. Foreign Shareholders are advised to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Fund.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

The Fund is required under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) provisions of the Code to withhold U.S. tax (at a 30% rate) on payments of amounts treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes made to certain non-U.S. entities (including financial intermediaries) that fail to comply (or be deemed compliant) with extensive reporting and withholding requirements designed to inform the Treasury of U.S.- owned foreign investment accounts unless various U.S. information reporting and diligence requirements (that are in addition to and significantly more onerous than, the requirement to deliver an applicable U.S. nonresident withholding tax certification form (e.g., IRS Form W-8BEN)) and certain other requirements have been satisfied. The information required to be reported includes the identity and taxpayer identification number of each account holder and transaction activity within the holder’s account. Persons located in jurisdictions that have entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the U.S. to implement FATCA may be subject to different rules. Shareholders may be requested to provide additional information to the Fund to enable the Fund to determine whether withholding is required.

Other Taxation

The foregoing represents a summary of the general tax rules and considerations affecting Shareholders and the Fund’s operations, and neither purports to be a complete analysis of all relevant tax rules and considerations, nor does it purport to be a complete listing of all potential tax risks inherent in making an investment in the Fund. A Shareholder may be subject to other taxes, including but not limited to, other state, local, and foreign taxes, estate and inheritance taxes, or intangible property taxes, that may be imposed by various jurisdictions. The Fund also may be subject to additional state, local, or foreign taxes that could reduce the amounts distributable to Shareholders. It is the responsibility of each Shareholder to file all appropriate tax returns that may be required. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the state, local and foreign tax consequences of an investment in Shares and the particular tax consequences to them of an investment in the Fund. In addition to the particular matters set forth in this section, tax-exempt entities should carefully review those section of the Prospectus and this SAI regarding liquidity and other financial matters to ascertain whether the investment objectives of the Fund are consistent with their overall investment plans.

ERISA AND CERTAIN OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Persons who are fiduciaries with respect to an employee benefit plan, IRA, Keogh plan, or other arrangement subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), or the Code (an “ERISA Plan”) should consider, among other things, the matters described below before determining whether to invest in the Fund. ERISA imposes certain general and specific

 

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responsibilities on persons who are fiduciaries with respect to an ERISA Plan, including prudence, diversification, an obligation not to engage in a prohibited transaction and other standards.

An ERISA Plan that proposes to invest in the Fund may be required to represent to the Board of Trustees that it, and any fiduciaries responsible for such ERISA Plan’s investments, are aware of and understand the Fund’s investment objectives; policies and strategies; that the decision to invest plan assets in the Fund was made with appropriate consideration of relevant investment factors with regard to the ERISA Plan; and that the decision to invest plan assets in the Fund is consistent with the duties and responsibilities imposed upon fiduciaries with regard to their investment decisions under ERISA and the Code, as applicable.

Certain prospective Benefit Plan Shareholders may currently maintain relationships with the Advisers or their affiliates. Each of such persons may be deemed to be a fiduciary of or other party in interest or disqualified person of any Benefit Plan to which it provides investment management, investment advisory or other services. ERISA prohibits (and the Code penalizes) the use of ERISA Plan assets for the benefit of a party in interest, and also prohibits (or penalizes) an ERISA Plan fiduciary from using its position to cause such ERISA Plan to make an investment from which it or certain third-parties in which such fiduciary has an interest would receive a fee or other consideration. ERISA Plan Shareholders should consult with their own counsel and other advisors to determine if participation in the Fund is a transaction that is prohibited by ERISA or the Code or is otherwise inappropriate. Fiduciaries of ERISA Plan Shareholders may be required to represent that the decision to invest in the Fund was made by them as fiduciaries that are independent of such affiliated persons, that such fiduciaries are duly authorized to make such investment decision and that they have not relied on any individualized advice of such affiliated persons as a basis for the decision to invest in the Fund.

Employee benefit plans or similar arrangements which are not subject to either ERISA or the related provisions of the Code may be subject to other rules governing such plans, and such plans are not addressed above; fiduciaries of employee benefit plans or similar arrangements which are not subject to ERISA, whether or not subject to the Code, should consult with their own counsel and other advisors regarding such matters.

The provisions of ERISA and the Code are subject to extensive and continuing administrative and judicial interpretation and review. The discussion of ERISA and the Code contained herein is, of necessity, general and may be affected by future publication of regulations and rulings. Potential investors should consult their legal advisers regarding the consequences under ERISA and the Code of the acquisition and ownership of Shares.

THE FUND’S SALE OF SHARES TO ERISA PLANS IS IN NO RESPECT A REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY BY THE FUND, THE ADVISERS, OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, OR BY ANY OTHER PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH THE SALE OF THE SHARES, THAT SUCH INVESTMENT BY ANY ERISA PLAN MEETS ALL RELEVANT LEGAL REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO ERISA PLANS GENERALLY OR TO ANY PARTICULAR ERISA PLAN, OR THAT SUCH INVESTMENT IS OTHERWISE APPROPRIATE FOR ERISA PLANS GENERALLY OR FOR ANY PARTICULAR ERISA PLAN.

ADMINISTRATOR AND SUB-ADMINISTRATOR

The Administrator, when providing services under the administration agreement, serves as the Fund’s administrator and will provide certain administrative and fund accounting services to the Fund. Under the terms of an administration agreement between the Fund and the Administrator (the “Administration Agreement”), the Administrator is responsible for, among other things, certain administration, accounting and investor services for the Fund. In consideration for these services, the Fund pays the Administrator the Administration Fee in an amount up to 0.355% on an annualized basis of the Fund’s net assets. The Administration Fee is calculated based on the Fund’s average daily net asset value and payable monthly in arrears. The Administration Fee is an expense paid out of the Fund’s net assets. The Administrator’s principal business address is 128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600, Charlotte, NC 28202.

The Administration Agreement provides that, in the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the responsibilities, obligations or duties thereunder, neither the Administrator nor its shareholders, officers, directors, employees, agents or control persons shall be liable for any act or omission in connection with or arising out of any services rendered under the Administration Agreement.

UMB Fund Services, Inc. serves as the Fund’s sub-administrator (the “Sub-Administrator”) and performs certain sub-administration and sub-accounting services for the Fund. In consideration of the sub-administrative services and sub-accounting services provided by the Sub-Administrator to the Fund, the Administrator pays the Sub-Administrator from the proceeds of the Administration Fee a sub-administration fee (the “Sub-Administration Fee”) in an amount up to 0.055% on an annualized basis of the Fund’s net assets, subject to a minimum annual fee. The Sub-Administration Fee is calculated based on the Fund’s average daily net asset value and payable monthly in arrears. The Sub-Administrator’s principal business address is 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212.

 

31


CUSTODIAN AND TRANSFER AGENT

UMB Bank, N.A. (the “Custodian”) serves as the custodian of the Fund’s assets and may maintain custody of the Fund’s assets with domestic and foreign sub-custodians (which may be banks, trust companies, securities depositories and clearing agencies) approved by the Trustees. Assets of the Fund are not held by the Advisers or commingled with the assets of other accounts other than to the extent that securities are held in the name of a custodian in a securities depository, clearing agency or omnibus customer account of such custodian. The Custodian’s principal business address is 928 Grand Blvd., 5th Floor, Kansas City, Missouri 64106.

UMB Fund Services, Inc. serves as Transfer Agent with respect to maintaining the registry of the Fund’s Shareholders and processing matters relating to subscriptions for, and repurchases of, Shares. The Transfer Agent’s principal business address is 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212.

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Ernst & Young LLP serves as the independent registered public accounting firm of the Fund. Its principal business address is One Manhattan West, New York, NY 10001.

DISTRIBUTOR

UMB Distribution Services, LLC acts as the distributor of the Fund’s Shares. The Distributor’s principal business address is 235 West Galena Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212.

LEGAL COUNSEL

Dechert LLP, acts as legal counsel to the Fund. Its principal business address is 1095 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036.

CONTROL PERSONS AND PRINCIPAL HOLDERS OF SECURITIES

The Fund had not commenced operations as of May 22, 2024, and except as noted below, no persons owned of record or beneficially 5% or more of the outstanding Shares of the Fund as of that date. StepStone Group has provided the initial investment in the Fund. For so long as StepStone Group has a greater than 25% interest in the Fund, it may be deemed to be a “control person” of the Fund for purposes of the 1940 Act.

REPORTS TO SHAREHOLDERS

By January 31 of the following year, Shareholders will be provided a Form 1099, containing information regarding the amount and character of distributions received from the Fund during the preceding calendar year. The Fund will prepare and transmit to its Shareholders, a semi-annual and an audited annual report within 60 days after the close of the period for which it is being made, or as otherwise required by the 1940 Act. Quarterly reports from the Adviser regarding the Fund’s operations during such period also will be made available to the Fund’s Shareholders.

FISCAL YEAR

For accounting purposes, the fiscal year of the Fund is the 12-month period ending on December 31. The 12-month period ending December 30 of each year will be the taxable year of the Fund unless otherwise determined by the Fund.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholder and the Board of Trustees of StepStone Private Credit Income Fund

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities of StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (the “Fund”) as of April 25, 2024, and the related statement of operations for the period from December 18, 2023 (inception) to April 25, 2024, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Fund at April 25, 2024, and the results of its operations for the period from December 18, 2023 (inception) to April 25, 2024, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Fund’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Fund in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Fund is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of the Fund’s internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Fund’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

We have served as the auditor of one or more StepStone Group LP investment companies since 2020.

New York, NY

May 22, 2024

 

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

April 25, 2024

 

Assets

  

Cash

    $      100,000  

 

32


Total assets

    $      100,000  
  

 

 

 

Commitments and contingencies (Note 6)

  

Net Assets

    $ 100,000  
  

 

 

 

Components of Net Assets:

  

Class I

  

Net assets

    $ 100,000  

Outstanding shares

     10,000  
  

 

 

 

Net asset value per share

    $ 10.00  
  

 

 

 

Statement of Operations

For the period from December 18, 2023 (inception) to April 25, 2024

 

Investment Income

    $ -   
  

 

 

 

Expenses

  

Organizational expenses (Note 2)

         140,973  
  

 

 

 

Total Expenses

     140,973  

Adviser expense reimbursement (Note 2)

     (140,973
  

 

 

 

Net Expenses

     -   
  

 

 

 

Net Investment Income

    $ -   
  

 

 

 

Net Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets Resulting from Operations

     -   
  

 

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 

33


Notes to Financial Statements

April 25, 2024

1. Organization

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (“Fund”) was organized as a Delaware statutory trust under the Delaware Statutory Trust Act on December 18, 2023 (“Inception”) and is in the process of registering under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), as amended, as a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company that is operated as an interval fund.

The Fund’s investment objectives are to seek to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, long-term capital appreciation. The Fund intends to primarily use a multi-lender approach to achieve its investment objectives utilizing a variety of non-bank or corporate lenders to source investment opportunities for the Fund. The Fund’s assets may be deployed in investment strategies deemed appropriate under prevailing economic and market conditions to seek to achieve the Fund’s investment objectives.

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC, an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and a wholly owned business of StepStone Group LP (“StepStone”), serves as the Fund’s investment adviser (“Adviser”). The Adviser oversees the management of the Fund’s day-to-day activities including structuring, governance, distribution, reporting and oversight. StepStone Group Private Debt LLC, an affiliate of StepStone, serves as the Fund’s investment sub-adviser (“Sub-Adviser”) and is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s assets. StepStone Group Europe Alternative Investments Limited (“SGEAIL”), an affiliate of StepStone, serves as the Fund’s investment sub-sub-adviser (“Sub-Sub-Adviser”) and will provide ongoing research regarding the Fund’s investment portfolio. The Sub-Adviser and Sub-Sub-Adviser are wholly owned subsidiaries of Swiss Capital Alternative Investments AG (“SCAI”), which is a subsidiary of Stepstone. The Fund’s Board of Trustees (“Board”) provides broad oversight over the Fund’s investment program, management and operations and has the right to delegate management responsibilities. The initial meetings of the Board were held on February 21, 2024 and April 16, 2024.

The Fund will offer Class T shares, Class S shares, Class D shares and Class I shares (together, the “Shares”) to eligible investors. The Fund has been inactive since the date it was organized except for matters relating to the Fund’s establishment and the registration of the Shares under the Securities Act of 1933 and the sale of 10,000 Class I shares to StepStone for $100,000 on April 25, 2024. As of April 25, 2024, no Class D, Class S or Class T shares were issued or outstanding. The Fund will commence operations upon the sale of additional shares to unaffiliated shareholders.

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The Fund is an investment company and therefore applies the accounting and reporting guidance issued by the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board in Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946, Financial Services — Investment Companies. Separate statements of changes in net assets, cash flows and financial highlights have not been presented in the financial statements because principal operations have not commenced. The following are significant accounting policies which are consistently followed in the preparation of the financial statements of the Fund.

Cash

Cash includes monies on deposit with UMB Bank, N.A., the Fund’s custodian. There are no restrictions on the cash currently held by UMB Bank, N.A. on the Fund’s behalf. Deposits, at times, may exceed the insurance limit guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The Fund has not experienced any losses on deposits and does not believe it is exposed to significant credit risk on such deposits.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Changes in the economic environment, financial markets and any other factors or parameters used in determining these estimates could cause actual results to differ materially from these estimates.

 

34


Organizational and Offering Costs

Organizational expenses consist of the costs of forming the Fund, administration, sub-administration, custody, escrow and transfer agency agreements, legal services in connection with the initial meeting of the Board and the Fund’s seed audit costs. Offering costs consist of the costs of preparation, review and filing with the SEC the Fund’s registration statement (including the Prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”)), the costs of preparation, review and filing of any associated marketing or similar materials, the costs associated with the printing, mailing or other distribution of the Prospectus, SAI and/or marketing materials and the amounts of associated filing fees and legal fees associated with the offering.

The Fund’s organizational expenses of $140,973, which have been incurred through April 25, 2024, and any additional organizational expenses incurred prior to the commencement of operations, have been and will continue to be paid by the Adviser. These expenses are subject to recoupment by the Adviser from the Fund, subject to the Fund’s expense limitation and reimbursement agreement (“Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement”, as further discussed in Note 3), after the Fund commences operations. The Fund expenses organizational costs as incurred.

During the period from Inception through April 25, 2024, $250,473 of offering costs have been paid by the Adviser on behalf of the Fund. Any additional offering costs incurred prior to the commencement of operations will continue to be paid by the Adviser. These costs are subject to recoupment by the Adviser from the Fund, subject to the Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement, after the Fund commences operations.

Federal Income Taxes

The Fund intends to elect to be treated, and expects each year to qualify, as a Regulated Investment Company (“RIC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. To qualify and be subject to tax as a RIC, the Fund will need to ensure that (among other things) it satisfies certain sources of income and asset diversification requirements and distributes to its shareholders annually substantially all of its taxable net investment income and net realized capital gains. If the Fund were to fail to meet the requirements to qualify as a RIC, and if the Fund were ineligible to or otherwise unable to cure such failure, the Fund would be subject to tax on its taxable income at corporate rates, whether or not distributed to shareholders, and all distributions of earnings and profits would be taxable to shareholders as ordinary income.

3. Investment Adviser

The Fund has entered into an investment advisory agreement (“Investment Advisory Agreement”) with the Adviser. Pursuant to the Investment Advisory Agreement, the Fund will pay the Adviser a management fee (“Management Fee”) equal to 1.15% on an annualized basis of the Fund’s daily net asset value (“NAV”). The Management Fee will be accrued daily and payable monthly in arrears within ten business days after the end of the month. As consideration for services provided by the Sub-Adviser, the Adviser will pay 50% of the management fee proceeds to the Sub-Adviser on a monthly basis. Management fees are not charged until the Fund commences operations.

In addition, the Fund will pay the Adviser an income-based incentive fee (“Incentive Fee”), which will be accrued daily and payable quarterly in arrears based on the Fund’s “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income” for the most recently completed calendar quarter. The payment of the Incentive Fee will be subject to a quarterly hurdle rate, expressed as a rate of return on the value of the Fund’s net assets at the end of the most recently completed calendar quarter, of 1.25% (5.0% annualized) (“Hurdle Rate”), subject to a “catch up” feature (as described below).

For this purpose, “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income” means interest income, dividend income and any other income (including any other fees such as commitment, origination, structuring, diligence and consulting fees or other fees that the Fund (or its wholly-owned subsidiaries) receives from portfolio companies) accrued during the calendar quarter, minus the Fund’s operating expenses for the quarter (including the Management Fee, expenses and fees paid to the Adviser under the Administration Agreement and any interest expense and dividends paid on any issued and outstanding preferred stock or credit agreements, but excluding the Incentive Fee and any shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees). Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income includes, in the case of investments with a deferred interest feature (such as original issue discount debt instruments with payment-in-kind interest and zero-coupon securities), accrued income that the Fund has not yet received in

 

35


cash. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income does not include any realized capital gains, realized capital losses or unrealized capital appreciation or depreciation.

The calculation of the Incentive Fee for each quarter is as follows:

• No Incentive Fee will be payable to the Adviser in any calendar quarter in which the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income does not exceed the Hurdle Rate;

• 100% of dollar amount of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income, if any, that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than or equal to 1.3889% in any calendar quarter (5.5556% annualized) will be payable to the Adviser. This portion of the Fund’s Incentive Fee that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than or equal to 1.3889% is referred to as the “catch up” and is intended to provide the Adviser with an Incentive Fee of 10% on all of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income when the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income reaches 1.3889% (5.5556% annualized) on net assets in any calendar quarter; and

• 10% of the dollar amount of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income, if any, that exceeds 1.3889% (5.5556% annualized) on net assets in any calendar quarter will be payable to the Adviser once the Hurdle Rate and catch-up have been achieved (10% of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income thereafter will be allocated to the Adviser).

As consideration for services provided by the Sub-Adviser, the Adviser will pay 60% of the Incentive Fee proceeds to the Sub-Adviser on a quarterly basis. Incentive Fees are not charged until the Fund commences operations.

The Adviser has entered into the Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement with the Fund for a one-year term beginning with the commencement of operations and ending on the one-year anniversary thereof (“Limitation Period”). The Adviser may extend the Limitation Period for a period of one year on an annual basis. The Limitation Period will remain in effect unless terminated by the Fund’s Board of Trustees upon 30 days written notice to the Adviser. The Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement limits the amount of the Fund’s aggregate ordinary operating expenses, excluding certain specified expenses (“Specified Expenses”), borne by the Fund in respect of each class of Shares during the Limitation Period to an amount not to exceed 1.00% for each share class, on an annualized basis, of the Fund’s net assets (“Expense Cap”).

“Specified Expenses” that are not covered by the Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement include: (i) the Management Fee; (ii) all fees and expenses of private credit and income investments and other investments in which the Fund invests (including the underlying fees of the private investment funds and other investments (the acquired fund fees and expenses)); (iii) the incentive fee; (iv) transactional costs, including legal costs and brokerage commissions and sourcing and servicing or related fees incurred by the Fund in connection with servicing by non-affiliated third parties of, and other related administrative services associated with the acquisition and disposition of the Fund’s investments; (v) interest payments incurred on borrowings by the Fund or its subsidiaries; (vi) fees and expenses incurred in connection with any credit facility obtained by the Fund or its subsidiaries, including any expenses for acquiring ratings related to the credit facilities; (vii) distribution and shareholder servicing fees, as applicable; (viii) taxes; and (ix) extraordinary expenses resulting from events and transactions that are distinguished by their unusual nature and by the infrequency of their occurrence, including, without limitation, costs incurred in connection with any claim, litigation, arbitration, mediation, government investigation or similar proceeding, indemnification expenses, and expenses in connection with holding and/or soliciting proxies for all annual and other meetings of shareholders. To the extent the Fund’s aggregate ordinary operating expenses, exclusive of the Specified Expenses in respect of any class of Shares, exceed the Expense Cap, the Adviser will waive its Management Fee, waive its Incentive Fee, directly pay and/or reimburse the Fund for expenses to the extent necessary to eliminate such excess. The Adviser may also directly pay expenses on behalf of the Fund and waive its Management Fee under the Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement.

To the extent that the Adviser waives its Management Fee and Incentive Fee, reimburses expenses or pays expenses directly on behalf of the Fund, in respect of any class of Shares, it is permitted to recoup from the Fund any such amounts for a period not to exceed three years from the month in which such fees and expenses were waived, reimbursed, or paid, even if such recoupment occurs after the termination of the Limitation Period. However, the Adviser may only recoup the waived fees, reimbursed expenses or directly paid expenses in respect of the applicable class of Shares if the aggregate ordinary operating expenses have fallen to a level below the Expense Cap and the recouped amount does not raise the level of aggregate ordinary operating expenses plus waived fees, reimbursed expenses or directly paid expenses in the month of recoupment to a level that exceeds the Expense Cap.

 

36


4. Administrator, Custodian and Transfer Agent

The Adviser serves as the Fund’s administrator (“Administrator”) pursuant to an administration agreement (“Administration Agreement”) under which the Administrator provides administrative, accounting and other services. Pursuant to the Administration Agreement, the Fund will pay the Administrator an annual administration fee in an amount up to 0.355% on an annualized basis of the Fund’s net assets, accrued daily and payable monthly in arrears. Administration fees are not charged until the Fund commences operations.

UMB Fund Services, Inc. serves as the Fund’s sub-administrator (“Sub-Administrator”) pursuant to a sub-administration agreement under which the Sub-Administrator performs certain administrative and accounting services for the Fund, on behalf of the Administrator. The sub-administration fee is paid monthly by the Administrator from the proceeds of the administration fee and is based upon the Fund’s net assets, subject to an annual minimum. Sub-Administration fees are not charged until the Fund commences operations.

UMB Bank, N.A. serves as the Fund’s custodian (“Custodian”) pursuant to a custody agreement. The Custodian holds the Fund’s domestic assets. Foreign assets are held by sub-custodians.

UMB Fund Services, Inc. serves as the Fund’s transfer agent (“Transfer Agent”) pursuant to a transfer agency agreement. The Transfer Agent, among other things, receives and processes purchase orders, effects issuance of Shares, prepares and transmits payments for distributions, receives and processes repurchase offers and maintains records of account.

5. Capital Share Transactions

Fund Shares will be continually offered under Rule 415 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Fund will repurchase Shares from shareholders pursuant to written repurchase offers on terms and conditions that the Board determines to be fair to the Fund and to all shareholders. In connection with any given quarterly repurchase offer, the Fund currently intends to repurchase a minimum of 5.00% and up to a maximum of 25.00% of its outstanding Shares, pursuant to Rule 23c-3 under the 1940 Act unless such offer is suspended or postponed in accordance with regulatory requirements. No shareholder will have the right to require the Fund to repurchase such shareholder’s Shares or any portion thereof. In the event that shareholders, in the aggregate, submit for repurchase more than the number of Shares that the Fund will offer to repurchase, the Fund may repurchase the Shares on a pro rata basis, which may result in the Fund not honoring the full amount of a Share repurchase requested by a shareholder. In connection with any given quarterly repurchase offer, the Fund currently intends to repurchase 5.00% of its outstanding Shares.

6. Commitments and Contingencies

As of April 25, 2024, the Adviser has paid $391,446 in organizational and offering expenses on behalf of the Fund, which are subject to recoupment by the Adviser under the terms of the Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement, as discussed in Notes 2 and 3.

7. Subsequent Events

In preparing these financial statements, management has evaluated events and transactions for potential recognition or disclosure through the date the financial statements were issued. Management has determined that there are no material events that would require disclosure in the Fund’s financial statements.

 

37


ANNEX A STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE WEALTH LLC

PROXY VOTING POLICY

Pursuant to Rule 206(4)-6 and Rule 204-2 under the Advisers Act, it is a fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative act, practice or course of business, within the meaning of Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act, for an investment adviser to exercise voting authority with respect to client securities, unless (A) the adviser has adopted and implemented written policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to ensure that the adviser votes proxies in the best interests of its clients, (B) the adviser describes its proxy voting procedures to its clients and provides copies on request, and (C) the adviser discloses to clients how they may obtain information on how the adviser voted their proxies.

VOTING PROXIES

The Sub-Adviser is responsible for voting proxies on behalf of the Fund. The Sub-Adviser must vote proxies in a way that is consistent with the Sub-Adviser’s fiduciary duty to the Fund, and any investment policy of the Fund and maintain records of proxies voted, together with a brief explanation why votes were cast in a particular way.

The Sub-Adviser, as a matter of policy and as a fiduciary to the Fund, has responsibility for voting proxies for portfolio securities consistent with the best economic interest of the Fund. The Sub-Adviser’s policy and practice includes the responsibility to monitor corporate actions, receive and vote client proxies and disclose any potential conflicts of interest as well as make information available to clients about the voting of proxies for their portfolio securities and maintaining relevant and required records.

The Sub-Adviser has adopted the following procedures to implement the Sub-Adviser’s policy in regard to the Fund.

Voting Procedures

All investment professionals will forward any proxy materials received on behalf of the Fund to the Sub-Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer, as applicable.

The Sub-Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer, as applicable, will verify the Fund holds the security to which the proxy relates.

Absent material conflicts, the investment professionals responsible for the investment to which the proxy materials relate, in consultation with Sub-Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer will determine how the Sub-Adviser should vote the proxy in accordance with applicable voting guidelines, complete the proxy, and vote the proxy in a timely and appropriate manner.

Voting Guidelines

The Sub-Adviser will vote proxies in the best interests of the Fund. The Sub-Adviser’s policy is to vote all proxies from a specific issuer the same way for each client absent qualifying restrictions from a client or as documented in the file by Sub-Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer, as applicable. Clients of the Sub-Adviser, outside of the Fund, are permitted to place reasonable restrictions on the Sub-Adviser’s voting authority in the same manner that they may place such restrictions on the actual selection of account securities.

The Sub-Adviser will generally vote in favor of routine corporate housekeeping proposals such as to change capitalization (e.g., increase the authorized number of common or preferred shares of stock (to the extent there are not disproportionate voting rights per preferred share)), the election of directors, setting the time and place of the annual meeting, change of fiscal year, change of name, and selection of auditors absent conflicts of interest raised by an auditor’s non-audit services.

In the case of non-routine matters, voting decisions will generally be made in support of management, unless it is believed that such recommendation is not in the best interests of the Fund. On a case-by-case basis, the Sub-Adviser will decide non-routine matters, taking into account the opinion of management and the effect on management, and the effect on shareholder value and the issuer’s business practices. These matters include, but are


not limited to, change of domicile, change in preemptive rights or cumulative voting rights, compensation plans, investment restrictions for social policy goals, precatory proposals, classification of the board of directors, poison pill proposals or amendments, recapitalizations, and super-majority voting.

The Sub-Adviser will abstain from voting if it is determined to be in the best interests of the Fund. In making such a determination, various factors will be considered, including, but not limited to, the costs associated with exercising the proxy (e.g., travel or translation costs) and any legal restrictions on trading resulting from the exercise of the proxy. In consultation with the Sub-Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer, as applicable, the Sub-Adviser may also consider any special regulatory implications applicable to the client or the Sub-Adviser resulting from the exercise of the proxy.

Conflicts of Interest

The Sub-Adviser will identify any conflicts that exist between the interests of the Sub-Adviser and the client by reviewing the relationship of the Sub-Adviser with the issuer of each security to determine if the Sub-Adviser or any of its employees has any financial, business or personal relationship with the issuer.

If a material conflict of interest exists, the Sub-Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer, as applicable, will determine whether it is appropriate to disclose the conflict to the affected clients, to give the clients an opportunity to vote the proxies themselves, or to address the voting issue through other objective means such as voting in a manner consistent with a predetermined voting policy or receiving an independent third-party voting recommendation.

The Sub-Adviser will maintain a record of the resolution of any conflict of interest.

Recordkeeping

The Sub-Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer, as applicable, shall retain the following proxy records in accordance with the SEC’s five-year retention requirement.

 

  ·  

These policies and procedures and any amendments.

 

  ·  

Each proxy statement that the Sub-Adviser receives.

 

  ·  

A record of each vote that the Sub-Adviser casts.

 

  ·  

Any document the Sub-Adviser created that was material to making a decision how to vote proxies, or that memorializes that decision including periodic reports to the Sub-Adviser’s Chief Compliance Officer or proxy committee, if applicable.

 

  ·  

A copy of each written request from the Board for information on how the Sub-Adviser voted the Fund’s proxies, and a copy of any written response.

Private Markets Investments

Investments in private assets are often subject to contractual agreements among the investors in the fund or company. If the Sub-Adviser has the authority to vote with respect to the interests, it will exercise its rights in accord with its contractual obligations and, if its vote is not constrained by contract, the Sub-Adviser will determine how to vote based on the principles described above. Records relating to the vote will be kept for the five-year retention period.


PART C

 

(1)

 

Financial Statements:

 

Part A: Not applicable, as Registrant has not yet commenced operations.

 

Part B: Not applicable, as Registrant has not yet commenced operations.

(2)

 

Exhibits:

 

(a)(1)

 

Certificate of Trust. (1)

 

(a)(2)

 

Declaration of Trust. (1)

 

(a)(4)

 

Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust. (3)

 

(b)

 

Form of By-Laws. (3)

 

(c)

 

Not Applicable.

 

(d)

 

Not Applicable.

 

(e)

 

Dividend Reinvestment Plan. (3)

 

(f)

 

Not Applicable.

 

(g)(1)

 

Investment Advisory Agreement. (3)

 

(g)(2)

 

Form of Sub-Advisory Agreement. (3)

 

(g)(3)

 

Form of Sub-Sub-Advisory Agreement (3)

 

(h)

 

Form of Distribution Agreement. (3)

 

(i)

 

Not Applicable.

 

(j)(1)

 

Form of Custody Agreement. (3)

 

(k)(1)(a)

 

Form of Fund Accounting Agreement (3)

 

(k)(1)(b)

 

Form of Sub-Administration Agreement. (3)

 

(k)(1)(c)

 

Form of Loan Administration Agreement (3)

 

(k)(2)

 

Form of Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement. (3)

 

(k)(3)

 

Distribution and Shareholder Services Plan. (3)

 

(k)(4)

 

Multiple Class Plan Pursuant to Rule 18f-3. (3)

 

(k)(5)

 

Form of Transfer Agency Services Agreement. (3)

 

(l)

 

Opinion and Consent of Dechert LLP. (3)

 

(m)

 

Not Applicable.

 

(n)

 

Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. (3)

 

(o)

 

Not Applicable.

 

(p)

 

Form of Subscription Agreement. (3)

 

(q)

 

Not Applicable.

 

(r)(1)

 

Joint Code of Ethics of the Registrant and the Adviser. (3)

 

(r)(2)

 

Code of Ethics of the Adviser and Sub-Adviser. (2)

 

(s)

 

Powers of Attorney. (3)

 

 

 

(1)

Incorporated by reference to the corresponding exhibit of the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form N-2 filed on December 29, 2023.

 

(2)

Incorporated by reference to the corresponding exhibit of StepStone Private Infrastructure Fund’s Registration Statement on Form N-2 filed on July 11, 2023.

 

(3)

Filed herewith.

MARKETING ARRANGEMENTS

Not Applicable.


OTHER EXPENSES OF ISSUANCE AND DISTRIBUTION

The following table sets forth the estimated expenses to be incurred in connection with the offering described in this registration statement:

 

     

Blue Sky Fees

   $66,000

Printing

   $27,000

Registration Fees

   — 

Legal Fees

   $251,000

Total

   $491,600

PERSONS CONTROLLED BY OR UNDER COMMON CONTROL

As of April 18, 2024, StepStone Private Credit Income Fund is the sole member of CRDEX LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.

No other person is directly or indirectly controlled by or under common control with the Registrant, except that the Registrant may be deemed to be controlled by SPW, the investment adviser to the Registrant, and StepStone Group LP, the sole shareholder of the Registrant. The Adviser was formed under the laws of the State of Delaware. StepStone Group LP was formed under the laws of the State of Delaware. Additional information regarding the Adviser is set out in its Form ADV, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC File No. 801-117639).

NUMBER OF HOLDERS OF SECURITIES

Set forth below is the number of holders of securities of the Registrant as of [ ]:

 

Title of Class

    Number of Record Holders 

Shares of Beneficial Interest, Class D

   0

Shares of Beneficial Interest, Class I

   0

Shares of Beneficial Interest, Class S

   0

Shares of Beneficial Interest, Class T

   0

INDEMNIFICATION

Reference is made to Article 5.2 of the Fund’s Agreement and Declaration of Trust filed as Exhibit (a)(3) to this Registration Statement. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to the Advisers, officers and controlling persons of the Fund pursuant to the foregoing provisions or otherwise, the Fund has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Fund of expenses incurred or paid by the Advisers, officer or controlling person of the Fund in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by the Advisers, officer or controlling person, the Fund will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

The Fund hereby undertakes that it will apply the indemnification provisions of the Agreement and Declaration of Trust in a manner consistent with Investment Company Act Release No. 11330 (Sept. 4, 1980) issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, so long as the interpretation of Sections 17(h) and 17(i) of the 1940 Act contained in that release remains in effect. The Fund, in conjunction with the Advisers and the Fund’s Board of Trustees, maintains insurance on behalf of any person who is or was an Independent Trustee, officer, employee, or agent of the Fund, against certain liability asserted against him or her and incurred by him or her or arising out of his or her position. In no event, however, will the Fund pay that portion of the premium, if any, for insurance to indemnify any such person or any act for which the Fund itself is not permitted to indemnify.


BUSINESS AND OTHER CONNECTIONS OF ADVISER

A description of any other business, profession, vocation, or employment of a substantial nature in which the Adviser, and each executive officer or partner of the Adviser, is or has been, at any time during the past two fiscal years, engaged in for his or her own account or in the capacity of director, officer, employee, partner or trustee, is set out in Registrant’s Prospectus in the section entitled “Management of the Fund” and in the section of the Statement of Additional Information captioned “Management of the Fund.” The information required by this Item 31 with respect to each director, officer or partner of the Adviser is incorporated by reference to Form ADV with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (File No. 801-117639).

LOCATION OF ACCOUNTS AND RECORDS

The Administrator maintains the required accounting related and financial books and other records of the Registrant at 128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600, Charlotte, NC 28202.

MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Not Applicable.

UNDERTAKINGS

(1)    The Registrant hereby undertakes to suspend the offering of its shares until it amends its prospectus if (a) subsequent to the effective date of its registration statement, the net asset value declines more than 10 percent from its net asset value as of the effective date of the Registration Statement or (b) the net asset value increases to an amount greater than its net proceeds as stated in the prospectus.

(2)    Not Applicable.

(3)   The Registrant hereby undertakes:

(a) to file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to the registration statement:

(1) to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

(2) to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement; Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement.

(3) to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement;

(b) that, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of those securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof; and

(c) to remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(d) that, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser:

(1) if the Registrant is relying on Rule 430B:


(A) Each prospectus filed by the Registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of the registration statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in the registration statement; and

(B) Each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5), or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (x), or (xi) for the purpose of providing the information required by Section 10(a) of the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the registration statement to which that prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date; or

(2) that, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser, if the Registrant is subject to Rule 430C: Each prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act as part of a registration statement relating to an offering, other than registration statements relying on Rule 430B or prospectuses filed in reliance on Rule 430A, shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the date it is first used after effectiveness. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such first use, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such date of first use; and

(e) that, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser:

The undersigned Registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned Registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned Registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to the purchaser:

(1) any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned Registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities Act of 1933;

(2) free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned Registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned Registrant;

(3) the portion of any other free writing prospectus or advertisement pursuant to Rule 482 under the Securities Act relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned Registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned Registrant; and

(4) any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned Registrant to the purchaser.

(4)   The Registrant undertakes that:

(a) Not applicable; and


(b) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of the securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(5)   Not applicable.

(6)   Not applicable.

(7)   The Registrant undertakes to send by first class mail or other means designed to ensure equally prompt delivery within two business days of receipt of a written or oral request, any Statement of Additional Information.


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, StepStone Private Credit Income Fund has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Charlotte and State of North Carolina on the 22nd day of May, 2024.

 

  STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND
  (A Delaware statutory trust)
  /s/ Robert W. Long
  By:   Robert W. Long
  Title: Trustee

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Signature

   

Title

   

Date

/s/ Thomas K. Sittema*

   

Trustee

   

May 22, 2024

Thomas K. Sittema        

/s/ Robert W. Long*

    Trustee     May 22, 2024
Robert W. Long        

/s/ Tracy G. Schmidt*

   

Trustee

   

May 22, 2024

Tracy G. Schmidt

       

/s/ Ron D. Sturzenegger*

   

Trustee

   

May 22, 2024

Ron D. Sturzenegger

       

/s/ Robert W. Long

   

President and Principal Executive Officer

   

May 22, 2024

Robert W. Long

       

/s/ Kimberly Zeitvogel

   

Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer

   

May 22, 2024

Kimberly Zeitvogel

       

 

*By:

 

/s/ Robert W. Long

 

Robert W. Long

 

Attorney-in-Fact

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

AMENDED AND RESTATED

AGREEMENT AND DECLARATION OF TRUST

Dated as of February 21, 2024


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

       PAGE  

ARTICLE I THE TRUST

     1  

1.1

  Name      1  

1.2

  Definitions      1  

ARTICLE II TRUSTEES

     3  

2.1

  Number and Qualification      3  

2.2

  Term and Election      4  

2.3

  Resignation and Removal      4  

2.4

  Vacancies      4  

2.5

  Meetings      4  

2.6

  Trustee Action by Written Consent      5  

2.7

  Officers      5  

ARTICLE III POWERS AND DUTIES OF TRUSTEES

     5  

3.1

  General      5  

3.2

  Investments      6  

3.3

  Legal Title      6  

3.4

  Issuance and Repurchase of Shares      6  

3.5

  Borrow Money or Utilize Leverage      7  

3.6

  Delegation; Committees      7  

3.7

  Collection and Payment      7  

3.8

  Expenses      7  

3.9

  By-Laws      7  

3.10

  Miscellaneous Powers      8  

3.11

  Further Powers      8  

ARTICLE IV ADVISORY, MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION ARRANGEMENTS

     8  

4.1

  Advisory and Management Arrangements      8  

4.2

  Distribution Arrangements      9  

4.3

  Parties to Contract      9  

ARTICLE V LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION

     9  

5.1

  No Personal Liability of Shareholders, Trustees, etc      9  

5.2

  Mandatory Indemnification      10  

5.3

  No Bond Required of Trustees      11  

5.4

  No Duty of Investigation; No Notice in Trust Instruments, etc      11  

5.5

  Reliance on Experts, etc      11  

ARTICLE VI SHARES OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST

     11  

6.1

  Beneficial Interest      11  

6.2

  Other Securities      12  

6.3

  Rights of Shareholders      13  

6.4

  Exchange and Conversion Privileges      13  

6.5

  Trust Only      13  

6.6

  Issuance of Shares      13  

6.7

  Register of Shares      13  

6.8

  Transfer Agent and Registrar      14  

6.9

  Transfer of Shares      14  

 

i


TABLE OF CONTENTS

(continued)

 

       PAGE  

6.10

  Notices      14  

ARTICLE VII DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

     14  

7.1

  Net Asset Value      14  

7.2

  Power to Modify Foregoing Procedures      15  

ARTICLE VIII CUSTODIANS

     15  

8.1

  Appointment and Duties      15  

8.2

  Central Certificate System      15  

ARTICLE IX TRANSFERS AND REPURCHASES

     16  

9.1

  Transfer of Shares.      16  

9.2

  Repurchase of Shares      17  

ARTICLE X SHAREHOLDERS

     18  

10.1

  Meetings of Shareholders      18  

10.2

  Voting      18  

10.3

  Notice of Meeting and Record Date      18  

10.4

  Quorum and Required Vote      18  

10.5

  Proxies, etc      19  

10.6

  Reports      19  

10.7

  Inspection of Records      19  

10.8

  Shareholder Action by Written Consent      20  

ARTICLE XI DURATION; TERMINATION OF TRUST; AMENDMENT; MERGERS; ETC.

     20  

11.1

  Duration      20  

11.2

  Termination      20  

11.3

  Amendment Procedure      21  

11.4

  Merger, Consolidation and Sale of Assets      21  

11.5

  Subsidiaries      22  

ARTICLE XII MISCELLANEOUS

     22  

12.1

  Filing      22  

12.2

  Resident Agent      22  

12.3

  Governing Law      22  

12.4

  Counterparts      22  

12.5

  Reliance by Third Parties      23  

12.6

  Provisions in Conflict with Law or Regulation      23  

 

ii


STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

AMENDED AND RESTATED

AGREEMENT AND DECLARATION OF TRUST

AMENDED AND RESTATED AGREEMENT AND DECLARATION OF TRUST made as of the 21st day of February 2024, by the Trustees hereunder.

WHEREAS, this Trust has been formed to carry on business as set forth more particularly hereinafter;

WHEREAS, this Trust is authorized to issue an unlimited number of its shares of beneficial interest all in accordance with the provisions hereinafter set forth;

WHEREAS, the Trustees have agreed to manage all property coming into their hands as Trustees of a Delaware statutory trust in accordance with the provisions hereinafter set forth;

WHEREAS, the parties hereto intend that the Trust created by the Declaration of Trust dated December 18, 2023 and the Certificate of Trust dated December 18, 2023 and filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware shall constitute a statutory trust under the Delaware Statutory Trust Act and that this Declaration shall constitute the governing instrument of such statutory trust; and

WHEREAS, the Trustees have determined to amend and restate in its entirety the Trust’s Declaration of Trust dated as of December 18, 2023.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Trustees hereby declare that they will hold all cash, securities, and other assets which they may from time to time acquire in any manner as Trustees hereunder IN TRUST to manage and dispose of the same upon the following terms and conditions for the benefit of the holders from time to time of shares of beneficial interest in this Trust as hereinafter set forth. Any name change shall become effective upon the execution by a majority of the then Trustees of an instrument setting forth the new name and the filing of a certificate of amendment pursuant to Section 3810(b) of the Delaware Statutory Trust Act. Any such instrument shall not require the approval of the Shareholders, but shall have the status of an amendment to this Declaration.

ARTICLE I

THE TRUST

1.1  Name. This Trust shall be known as the “StepStone Private Credit Income Fund” and the Trustees shall conduct the business of the Trust under that name or any other name or names as they may from time to time determine.

1.2  Definitions. As used in this Declaration, the following terms shall have the following meanings:


The “1940 Act” refers to the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and exemptions granted therefrom, as amended from time to time.

The terms “Affiliated Person,” “Assignment,” “Interested Person” and “Principal Underwriter” shall have the meanings given them in the 1940 Act.

By-Laws” shall mean the By-Laws of the Trust as amended from time to time by the Trustees.

Class” shall mean a class of Shares the Trust established in accordance with the provisions hereof.

Closing Date” means the initial closing date on which the Trust accepts Capital Contributions from one or more Shareholders and issues Shares in consideration therefor.

Code” shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

Commission” shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Declaration” shall mean this Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, as amended, supplemented or amended and restated from time to time.

Delaware General Corporation Law” means the Delaware General Corporation Law, 8 Del. C. § 100, et. seq., as amended from time to time.

Delaware Statutory Trust Act” shall mean the provisions of the Delaware Statutory Trust Act, 12 Del. C. § 3801, et. seq., as such Act may be amended from time to time.

Fiscal Year” means the period commencing on the Closing Date and ending on the following March 31, and thereafter each period commencing on March 31 of each year and ending on March 31 of the next year (or on the date of a final distribution made in accordance with Section 12.2 of this Declaration), unless the Trustees designate another fiscal year for the Trust. The taxable year of the Trust will end on September 30 of each year, or on any other date designated by the Trustees that is a permitted taxable year-end for tax purposes, and need not be the same as the Fiscal Year.

Fundamental Policies” shall mean the investment policies and restrictions as set forth from time to time in any Registration Statement of the Trust filed with the Commission and designated as fundamental policies therein, as they may be amended from time to time in accordance with the requirements of the 1940 Act.

Majority Shareholder Vote” shall mean a vote of “a majority of the outstanding voting securities” (as such term is defined in the 1940 Act) of the Trust with all classes of Shares voting together as a single class, except as with respect to votes which affect only one or more Classes, as provided for herein, in which case it shall mean a vote of a majority of outstanding voting securities of such Class or Classes, as applicable.

 

2


Person” shall mean and include individuals, corporations, partnerships, trusts, limited liability companies, associations, joint ventures and other entities, whether or not legal entities, and governments and agencies and political subdivisions thereof.

Prospectus” shall mean the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information of the Trust, if any, as in effect and as may be amended from time to time.

Registration Statement” shall mean the Trust’s registration statement or statements as filed with the Commission, as from time to time in effect and shall include any Prospectus or Statement of Additional Information forming a part thereof.

SEC” shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shareholders” shall mean as of any particular time the holders of record of outstanding Shares of the Trust, at such time.

Shares” shall mean the transferable units of beneficial interest into which the beneficial interest in the Trust shall be divided from time to time and includes fractions of Shares as well as whole Shares.

Transfer” means the assignment, transfer, sale or other disposition of any Shares, including any right to receive any allocations and distributions attributable to Shares. Verbs, participles or adjectives such as “Transfer,” “Transferred” and “Transferring” have correlative meanings.

Trust” shall mean the trust established by this Declaration, as amended from time to time, inclusive of each such amendment.

Trust Property” shall mean as of any particular time any and all property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, which at such time is owned or held by or for the account of the Trust or the Trustees in such capacity.

Trustees” shall mean the signatories to this Declaration, so long as they shall continue in office in accordance with the terms hereof, and all other persons who at the time in question have been duly elected or appointed and have qualified as trustees in accordance with the provisions hereof and are then in office. The “Sole Trustee” refers to the Person who signed the Declaration of Trust.

ARTICLE II

TRUSTEES

2.1  Number and Qualification. Prior to the offering of Shares in accordance with the Prospectus there may be a Sole Trustee. For the avoidance of doubt, such Sole Trustee shall constitute the initial Board of Trustees of the Trust and may exercise all powers and authority granted to a Trustee and the Board of Trustees hereunder. As of the date hereof, the number of Trustees shall be five (5), and such Trustees shall be the signatories hereto. Thereafter, the number of Trustees shall be determined by a written instrument signed by a majority of the Trustees then

 

3


in office, provided that the number of Trustees shall be no less than two or more than thirteen. No reduction in the number of Trustees shall have the effect of removing any Trustee from office prior to the expiration of his or her term. Trustees need not own Shares and may succeed themselves in office.

2.2  Term and Election. The term of office of a Trustee shall continue until death, resignation, removal, bankruptcy, adjudicated incompetence or other incapacity to perform the duties of the office of a Trustee. Subject to the provisions of the 1940 Act, the Trustees at any time may elect Trustees to fill vacancies in the number of Trustees. Each Trustee elected shall hold office until his or her successor shall have been elected and shall have qualified.

2.3  Resignation and Removal. Any of the Trustees may resign their trust (without need for prior or subsequent accounting) by an instrument in writing signed by such Trustee and delivered or mailed to the Trustees or the Chairperson (if any), the President, or the Secretary and such resignation shall be effective upon such delivery, or at a later date according to the terms of the instrument. Any of the Trustees may be removed (provided the aggregate number of Trustees after such removal shall not be less than the minimum number required by Section 2.1 hereof) for cause only, and not without cause, and only by action taken by a majority of the remaining Trustees. Upon the resignation or removal of a Trustee, each such resigning or removed Trustee shall execute and deliver such documents as the remaining Trustees shall require for the purpose of conveying to the Trust or the remaining Trustees any Trust Property held in the name of such resigning or removed Trustee. Upon the incapacity or death of any Trustee, such Trustee’s legal representative shall execute and deliver on such Trustee’s behalf such documents as the remaining Trustees shall require as provided in the preceding sentence.

2.4  Vacancies. Whenever a vacancy in the Board of Trustees shall occur, the remaining Trustees may fill such vacancy by appointing any individual as they may determine in their sole discretion having the qualifications described in this Article by a vote of a majority of the Trustees then in office or may leave such vacancy unfilled or may reduce the number of Trustees; provided the aggregate number of Trustees after such reduction shall not be less than the minimum number required by Section 2.1 hereof. Any vacancy created by an increase in Trustees may be filled by the appointment of an individual having the qualifications described in this Article made by a vote of a majority of the Trustees then in office. The Trustees may appoint a new Trustee as provided above in anticipation of a vacancy expected to occur because of the retirement, resignation or removal of a Trustee, or an increase in the number of Trustees, provided that such appointment shall become effective only at or after the expected vacancy occurs. No vacancy shall operate to annul this Declaration or to revoke any existing agency created pursuant to the terms of this Declaration. Whenever a vacancy in the number of Trustees shall occur, until such vacancy is filled as provided herein, the Trustees in office, regardless of their number, shall have all the powers granted to the Trustees and shall discharge all the duties imposed upon the Trustees by this Declaration.

2.5  Meetings. Meetings of the Trustees shall be held from time to time upon the call of the Chairperson, if any, or the President, the Secretary or any two Trustees. Regular meetings of the Trustees may be held without call or notice, except as may be otherwise required by law, at a time and place fixed by the By-Laws or by resolution of the Trustees. Notice of any other meeting shall be given by the Secretary and shall be delivered to the Trustees orally or via electronic

 

4


transmission not less than 24 hours, or in writing not less than 72 hours, before the meeting, but may be waived in writing by any Trustee either before or after such meeting. The attendance of a Trustee at a meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice of such meeting except where a Trustee attends a meeting for the express purpose of objecting to the transaction of any business on the ground that the meeting has not been properly called or convened. Any time there is more than one Trustee, a quorum for all meetings of the Trustees shall be one-third, but not less than two, of the Trustees. Unless provided otherwise in this Declaration and except as required under the 1940 Act, any action of the Trustees may be taken at a meeting by vote of a majority of the Trustees present (a quorum being present) or without a meeting by written consent of a majority of the Trustees.

Any committee of the Trustees, including an executive committee, if any, may act with or without a meeting. A quorum for all meetings of any such committee shall be one-third, but not less than two, of the members thereof. Unless provided otherwise in this Declaration, any action of any such committee may be taken at a meeting by vote of a majority of the members present (a quorum being present) or without a meeting by written consent of a majority of the members.

With respect to actions of the Trustees and any committee of the Trustees, Trustees who are Interested Persons in any action to be taken may be counted for quorum purposes under this Section and shall be entitled to vote to the extent not prohibited by the 1940 Act.

All or any one or more Trustees may participate in a meeting of the Trustees or any committee thereof by means of a conference telephone or similar communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other; participation in a meeting pursuant to any such communications system shall constitute presence in person at such meeting.

2.6  Trustee Action by Written Consent. Any action which may be taken by Trustees by vote may be taken without a meeting if that number of the Trustees, or members of a committee, as the case may be, required for approval of such action at a meeting of the Trustees or of such committee consent to the action in writing and the written consents are filed with the records of the meetings of Trustees. Such consent shall be treated for all purposes as a vote taken at a meeting of Trustees.

2.7  Officers. The Trustees shall elect a President, a Secretary and a Treasurer and may elect a Chairman who shall serve at the pleasure of the Trustees or until their successors are elected. The Trustees may elect or appoint or may authorize the Chairman, if any, or President to appoint such other officers or agents with such powers as the Trustees may deem to be advisable. A Chairman shall, and the President, Secretary and Treasurer may, but need not, be a Trustee.

ARTICLE III

POWERS AND DUTIES OF TRUSTEES

3.1  General. The Trustees shall owe to the Trust and its Shareholders the same fiduciary duties as owed by directors of corporations to such corporations and their stockholders under the

 

5


Delaware General Corporation Law. The Trustees shall have exclusive and absolute control over the Trust Property and over the business of the Trust to the same extent as if the Trustees were the sole owners of the Trust Property and business in their own right, but with such powers of delegation as may be permitted by this Declaration. The Trustees may perform such acts as in their sole discretion are proper for conducting the business of the Trust. The enumeration of any specific power herein shall not be construed as limiting the aforesaid power. Such powers of the Trustees may be exercised without order of or resort to any court.

3.2  Investments. The Trustees shall have power, subject to the Fundamental Policies in effect from time to time with respect to the Trust, to:

(a)  manage, conduct, operate and carry on the business of an investment company; and

(b)  subscribe for, invest in, reinvest in, purchase or otherwise acquire, hold, pledge, sell, assign, transfer, exchange, distribute or otherwise deal in or dispose of any and all sorts of property, tangible or intangible, including but not limited to securities of any type whatsoever, whether equity or non-equity, of any issuer, evidences of indebtedness of any person and any other rights, interests, instruments or property of any sort and to exercise any and all rights, powers and privileges of ownership or interest in respect of any and all such investments of every kind and description, including, without limitation, the right to consent and otherwise act with respect thereto, with power to designate one or more Persons to exercise any of said rights, powers and privileges in respect of any of said investments. The Trustees shall not be limited by any law limiting the investments which may be made by fiduciaries.

3.3  Legal Title. Legal title to all the Trust Property shall be vested in the Trust except that the Trustees shall have power to cause legal title to any Trust Property to be held by or in the name of one or more of the Trustees, or in the name of any other Person as nominee, custodian or pledgee, on such terms as the Trustees may determine, provided that the interest of the Trust therein is appropriately protected.

The right, title and interest of the Trustees in the Trust Property shall vest automatically in each person who may hereafter become a Trustee upon his or her due election and qualification. Upon the ceasing of any person to be a Trustee for any reason, such person shall automatically cease to have any right, title or interest in any of the Trust Property, and the right, title and interest of such Trustee in the Trust Property shall vest automatically in the remaining Trustees. Such vesting and cessation of title shall be effective whether or not conveyancing documents have been executed and delivered.

3.4  Issuance and Repurchase of Shares. The Trustees shall have the power to issue, sell, repurchase, redeem, retire, cancel, acquire, hold, convert, resell, reissue, classify and/or reclassify, dispose of, transfer, and otherwise deal in, Shares, including Shares in fractional denominations, and, subject to the more detailed provisions set forth in Articles VIII and IX, to apply to any such repurchase, redemption, retirement, cancellation or acquisition of Shares any funds or property whether capital or surplus or otherwise, to the full extent now or hereafter permitted corporations formed under the Delaware General Corporation Law.

 

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3.5  Borrow Money or Utilize Leverage. Subject to the Fundamental Policies in effect from time to time with respect to the Trust, the Trustees shall have the power to borrow money or otherwise obtain credit or utilize leverage to the maximum extent permitted by law or regulation as such may be needed from time to time and to secure the same by mortgaging, pledging or otherwise subjecting as security the assets of the Trust, including the lending of portfolio securities, and to endorse, guarantee, or undertake the performance of any obligation, contract or engagement of any other person, firm, association or corporation.

3.6  Delegation; Committees. The Trustees shall have the power, consistent with their continuing exclusive authority over the management of the Trust and the Trust Property, to delegate from time to time to such of their number or to officers, employees or agents of the Trust the doing of such things, including any matters set forth in this Declaration, and the execution of such instruments either in the name of the Trust or the names of the Trustees or otherwise as the Trustees may deem expedient or appropriate to the extent permitted by law. The Trustees may designate one or more committees which shall have all or such lesser portion of the authority of the entire Board of Trustees as the Trustees shall determine from time to time except to the extent action by the entire Board of Trustees or particular Trustees is required by the 1940 Act.

3.7  Collection and Payment. The Trustees shall have power to collect all property due to the Trust; to pay all claims, including taxes, against the Trust Property or the Trust, the Trustees or any officer, employee or agent of the Trust; to prosecute, defend, compromise or abandon any claims relating to the Trust Property or the Trust, or the Trustees or any officer, employee or agent of the Trust; to foreclose any security interest securing any obligations, by virtue of which any property is owed to the Trust; and to enter into releases, agreements and other instruments. Except to the extent required for a corporation formed under the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Shareholders shall have no power to vote as to whether or not a court action, legal proceeding or claim should or should not be brought or maintained derivatively or as a class action on behalf of the Trust or the Shareholders.

3.8  Expenses. The Trustees shall have power to incur and pay out of the assets or income of the Trust any expenses which in the opinion of the Trustees are necessary or incidental to carry out any of the purposes of this Declaration, and the business of the Trust, and to pay reasonable compensation from the funds of the Trust to themselves as Trustees. The Trustees shall fix the compensation of all officers, employees and Trustees. The Trustees may pay themselves such compensation for special services, including legal, underwriting, syndicating and brokerage services, as they in good faith may deem reasonable and reimbursement for expenses reasonably incurred by themselves on behalf of the Trust. The Trustees shall have the power, as frequently as they may determine, to cause each Shareholder to pay directly, in advance or arrears, for charges of distribution, of the custodian or of the transfer, Shareholder servicing or similar agent, a pro rata amount as defined from time to time by the Trustees, by setting off such charges due from such Shareholder from declared but unpaid dividends or distributions owed such Shareholder and/or by reducing the number of shares in the account of such Shareholder by that number of full and/or fractional Shares which represents the outstanding amount of such charges due from such Shareholder.

3.9  By-Laws. The Trustees shall have the exclusive authority to adopt and from time to time amend or repeal By-Laws for the conduct of the business of the Trust.

 

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3.10 Miscellaneous Powers. The Trustees shall have the power to: (a) employ or contract with such Persons as the Trustees may deem desirable for the transaction of the business of the Trust; (b) enter into joint ventures, partnerships and any other combinations or associations; (c) purchase, and pay for out of Trust Property, insurance policies insuring the Shareholders, Trustees, officers, employees, agents, investment advisors, distributors, selected dealers or independent contractors of the Trust against all claims arising by reason of holding any such position or by reason of any action taken or omitted by any such Person in such capacity, whether or not constituting negligence, or whether or not the Trust would have the power to indemnify such Person against such liability; (d) establish pension, profit-sharing, share purchase, and other retirement, incentive and benefit plans for any Trustees, officers, employees and agents of the Trust; (e) make donations, irrespective of benefit to the Trust, for charitable, religious, educational, scientific, civic or similar purposes; (f) to the extent permitted by law, indemnify any Person with whom the Trust has dealings, including without limitation any advisor, administrator, manager, transfer agent, custodian, distributor or selected dealer, or any other person as the Trustees may see fit to such extent as the Trustees shall determine; (g) guarantee indebtedness or contractual obligations of others; (h) determine and change the fiscal year of the Trust and the method in which its accounts shall be kept; and (i) adopt a seal for the Trust, even though the absence of such seal shall not impair the validity of any instrument executed on behalf of the Trust.

3.11 Further Powers. The Trustees shall have the power to conduct the business of the Trust and carry on its operations in any and all of its branches and maintain offices both within and without the State of Delaware, in any and all states of the United States of America, in the District of Columbia, and in any and all commonwealths, territories, dependencies, colonies, possessions, agencies or instrumentalities of the United States of America and of foreign governments, and to do all such other things and execute all such instruments as they deem necessary, proper or desirable in order to promote the interests of the Trust although such things are not herein specifically mentioned. Any determination as to what is in the interests of the Trust made by the Trustees in good faith shall be conclusive. In construing the provisions of this Declaration, the presumption shall be in favor of a grant of power to the Trustees. The Trustees will not be required to obtain any court order to deal with the Trust Property.

ARTICLE IV

ADVISORY, MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION ARRANGEMENTS

4.1  Advisory and Management Arrangements. Subject to the requirements of applicable law as in effect from time to time, the Trustees may in their discretion from time to time enter into advisory, administration or management contracts (including, in each case, one or more sub-advisory, sub-administration or sub-management contracts) whereby the other party to any such contract shall undertake to furnish such advisory, administrative and management services with respect to the Trust as the Trustees shall from time to time consider desirable and all upon such terms and conditions as the Trustees may in their discretion determine. Notwithstanding any provisions of this Declaration, the Trustees may authorize any advisor, administrator or manager (subject to such general or specific instructions as the Trustees may from time to time adopt) to exercise any of the powers of the Trustees, including to effect investment transactions with respect to the assets on behalf of the Trust to the full extent of the power of the Trustees to effect such transactions or may authorize any officer, employee or Trustee to effect such transactions pursuant

 

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to recommendations of any such advisor, administrator or manager (and all without further action by the Trustees). Any such investment transaction shall be deemed to have been authorized by the Trustees.

4.2  Distribution Arrangements. Subject to compliance with the 1940 Act, the Trustees may retain underwriters and/or selling agents to sell Shares and other securities of the Trust. The Trustees may in their discretion from time to time enter into one or more contracts, providing for the sale of securities of the Trust, whereby the Trust may either agree to sell such securities to the other party to the contract or appoint such other party its sales agent for such securities. In either case, the contract shall be on such terms and conditions as the Trustees may in their discretion determine not inconsistent with the provisions of this Article IV or the By-Laws; and such contract may also provide for the repurchase or sale of securities of the Trust by such other party as principal or as agent of the Trust and may provide that such other party may enter into selected dealer agreements with registered securities dealers and brokers and servicing and similar agreements with persons who are not registered securities dealers to further the purposes of the distribution or repurchase of the securities of the Trust.

4.3  Parties to Contract. Any contract of the character described in Sections 4.1 and 4.2 of this Article IV or in Article VIII hereof may be entered into with any Person, although one or more of the Trustees, officers or employees of the Trust may be an officer, director, trustee, shareholder, or member of such other party to the contract, and no such contract shall be invalidated or rendered voidable by reason of the existence of any such relationship, nor shall any Person holding such relationship be liable merely by reason of such relationship for any loss or expense to the Trust under or by reason of said contract or accountable for any profit realized directly or indirectly therefrom, provided that the contract when entered into was reasonable and fair and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Article IV or the By-Laws. The same Person may be the other party to contracts entered into pursuant to Sections 4.1 and 4.2 above or Article VIII, and any individual may be financially interested or otherwise affiliated with Persons who are parties to any or all of the contracts mentioned in this Section 4.3.

ARTICLE V

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION

5.1  No Personal Liability of Shareholders, Trustees, etc. No Shareholder of the Trust shall be subject in such capacity to any personal liability whatsoever to any Person in connection with Trust Property or the acts, obligations or affairs of the Trust. Shareholders shall have the same limitation of personal liability as is extended to stockholders of a private corporation for profit incorporated under the Delaware General Corporation Law. No Trustee or officer of the Trust shall be subject in such capacity to any personal liability whatsoever to any Person, save only liability to the Trust or its Shareholders arising from bad faith, willful misfeasance, gross negligence or reckless disregard for his or her duty to such Person; and, subject to the foregoing exception, all such Persons shall look solely to the Trust Property for satisfaction of claims of any nature arising in connection with the affairs of the Trust. No Trustee who has been determined to be an “audit committee financial expert” (for purposes of Section 407 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 or any successor provision thereto) by the Trustees shall be subject to any greater liability or duty of care in discharging such Trustee’s duties and responsibilities by virtue of such determination than

 

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is any Trustee who has not been so designated. If any Shareholder, Trustee or officer, as such, of the Trust, is made a party to any suit or proceeding to enforce any such liability, subject to the foregoing exception, he or she shall not, on account thereof, be held to any personal liability. Any repeal or modification of this Section 5.1 shall not adversely affect any right or protection of a Trustee or officer of the Trust existing at the time of such repeal or modification with respect to acts or omissions occurring prior to such repeal or modification.

5.2  Mandatory Indemnification. (a) The Trust hereby agrees to indemnify each person who at any time serves as a Trustee or officer of the Trust (each such person being an “indemnitee”) against any liabilities and expenses, including amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise or as fines and penalties, and reasonable counsel fees reasonably incurred by such indemnitee in connection with the defense or disposition of any action, suit or other proceeding, whether civil or criminal, before any court or administrative or investigative body in which he or she may be or may have been involved as a party or otherwise or with which he or she may be or may have been threatened, while acting in any capacity set forth in this Article V by reason of his having acted in any such capacity, except that no indemnitee shall be indemnified hereunder against any liability to any person or any expense of such indemnitee arising by reason of (i) willful misfeasance, (ii) bad faith, (iii) gross negligence, or (iv) reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her position (the conduct referred to in such clauses (i) through (iv) being sometimes referred to herein as “disabling conduct”). Notwithstanding the foregoing, with respect to any action, suit or other proceeding voluntarily prosecuted by any indemnitee as plaintiff, indemnification shall be mandatory only if the prosecution of such action, suit or other proceeding by such indemnitee (1) was authorized by a majority of the Trustees or (2) was instituted by the indemnitee to enforce his or her rights to indemnification hereunder in a case in which the indemnitee is found to be entitled to such indemnification. The rights to indemnification set forth in this Declaration shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a Trustee or officer of the Trust and shall inure to the benefit of his or her heirs, executors and personal and legal representatives. No amendment or restatement of this Declaration or repeal of any of its provisions shall limit or eliminate any of the benefits provided to any person who at any time is or was a Trustee or officer of the Trust or otherwise entitled to indemnification hereunder in respect of any act or omission that occurred prior to such amendment, restatement or repeal.

(b)  The Trust shall make advance payments in connection with the expenses of defending any action with respect to which indemnification might be sought hereunder if the Trust receives a written affirmation by the indemnitee of the indemnitee’s good faith belief that the standards of conduct necessary for indemnification have been met and a written undertaking to reimburse the Trust unless it is subsequently determined that the indemnitee is entitled to such indemnification and if a majority of the Trustees determine that the applicable standards of conduct necessary for indemnification appear to have been met. In addition, at least one of the following conditions must be met: (i) the indemnitee shall provide adequate security for his or her undertaking, (ii) the Trust shall be insured against losses arising by reason of any lawful advances, or (iii) a majority of a quorum of the Disinterested Non-Party Trustees, or if a majority vote of such quorum so direct, independent legal counsel in a written opinion, shall conclude, based on a review of readily available facts (as opposed to a full trial-type inquiry), that there is substantial reason to believe that the indemnitee ultimately will be found entitled to indemnification.

 

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(c)  The rights accruing to any indemnitee under these provisions shall not exclude any other right which any person may have or hereafter acquire under this Declaration, the By-Laws of the Trust, any statute, agreement, or vote of Shareholders or Trustees who are not “interested persons” (as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act) or any other right to which he or she may be lawfully entitled.

(d)  Subject to any limitations provided by the 1940 Act and this Declaration, the Trust shall have the power and authority to indemnify and provide for the advance payment of expenses to employees, agents and other Persons providing services to the Trust or serving in any capacity at the request of the Trust to the full extent corporations organized under the Delaware General Corporation Law may indemnify or provide for the advance payment of expenses for such Persons, provided that such indemnification has been approved by a majority of the Trustees.

5.3  No Bond Required of Trustees. No Trustee shall, as such, be obligated to give any bond or other security for the performance of any of his or her duties hereunder.

5.4  No Duty of Investigation; No Notice in Trust Instruments, etc. No purchaser, lender, transfer agent or other person dealing with the Trustees or with any officer, employee or agent of the Trust shall be bound to make any inquiry concerning the validity of any transaction purporting to be made by the Trustees or by said officer, employee or agent or be liable for the application of money or property paid, loaned, or delivered to or on the order of the Trustees or of said officer, employee or agent. Every obligation, contract, undertaking, instrument, certificate, Share, other security of the Trust, and every other act or thing whatsoever executed in connection with the Trust shall be conclusively taken to have been executed or done by the executors thereof only in their capacity as Trustees under this Declaration or in their capacity as officers, employees or agents of the Trust. The Trustees may maintain insurance for the protection of the Trust Property, Shareholders, Trustees, officers, employees and agents in such amount as the Trustees shall deem adequate to cover possible tort liability and such other insurance as the Trustees in their sole judgment shall deem advisable or as is required by the 1940 Act.

5.5  Reliance on Experts, etc. Each Trustee and officer or employee of the Trust shall, in the performance of its duties, be fully and completely justified and protected with regard to any act or any failure to act resulting from reliance in good faith upon the books of account or other records of the Trust, upon an opinion of counsel, or upon reports made to the Trust by any of the Trust’s officers or employees or by any advisor, administrator, manager, distributor, selected dealer, accountant, appraiser or other expert or consultant selected with reasonable care by the Trustees, officers or employees of the Trust, regardless of whether such counsel or expert may also be a Trustee.

ARTICLE VI

SHARES OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST

6.1  Beneficial Interest. (a) The interest of the beneficiaries shall be divided into an unlimited number of transferable shares of beneficial par value $.001 per share. The Trustees may divide Shares into one or more Classes and the Trustees hereby establish the Classes listed in Schedule A hereto and made part hereof. Schedule A may be revised from time to time by

 

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resolution of a majority of the then Trustees, including in connection with the establishment and designation or re-designation of any Class and shall not constitute an amendment of this Declaration of Trust. All Shares issued in accordance with the terms hereof, including, without limitation, Shares issued in connection with a dividend or distribution in Shares or a split of Shares, shall be fully paid and, except as provided in the last sentence of Section 3.8, nonassessable when the consideration determined by the Trustees (if any) therefor shall have been received by the Trust. Subject to the further provisions of this Article VI, any restriction set forth in the By-Laws and any applicable requirements of the 1940 Act or any applicable exemptive relief issued by the SEC, the Trustees shall have full power and authority, in their sole discretion, and without obtaining any authorization or vote of the Shareholders of any Class to: (i) divide the beneficial interest in each Class into Shares as the Trustees shall determine; (ii) establish, designate, redesignate, classify, reclassify and change in any manner any Class and fix such preferences, voting powers, rights, duties and privileges and business purpose of each Class as the Trustees may from time to time determine, which preferences, voting powers, rights, duties and privileges may be different from any existing Class; provided, however, that the Trustees may not reclassify or change outstanding Shares in a manner materially adverse to Shareholders of such Shares, without obtaining the authorization or vote of the Class of Shareholders that would be materially adversely affected; (iii) divide or combine the Shares of any Class into a greater or lesser number without thereby materially changing the proportionate beneficial interest of the Shares of such Class in the assets held with respect to that Class; (iv) change the name of any Class; (v) dissolve and terminate any one or more Classes; and (vi) take such other action with respect to the Classes as the Trustees may deem desirable.

(b)  The establishment and designation of any Class of Shares of the Trust shall be effective upon the adoption by a majority of the then Trustees of a resolution that sets forth such establishment and designation and the relative rights and preferences of such Class of Shares of the Trust, whether directly in such resolution or by reference to another document including, without limitation, any Registration Statement of the Trust, or as otherwise provided in such resolution.

(c)  With respect to any Class of Shares of the Trust, each such Class shall represent interests in the assets of the Trust and have the same voting, dividend, liquidation and other rights and terms and conditions as each other Class of Shares of the Trust, except that, subject to applicable law, expenses allocated to a Class may be borne solely by such Class as determined by the Trustees and as provided herein, and a Class may have exclusive voting rights with respect to matters affecting only that Class.

(d)  To the fullest extent permitted by Section 3804 of the Delaware Statutory Trust Act and subject to the restrictions of the 1940 Act and any applicable exemptive relief issued by the SEC, the Trustees may allocate expenses of the Trust to a particular Class or to apportion the same between or among two or more Classes, provided that any expenses incurred by a particular Class shall be payable solely out of the assets belonging to that Class.

6.2  Other Securities. The Trustees may, subject to the Fundamental Policies and the requirements of the 1940 Act, authorize and issue such other securities of the Trust as they determine to be necessary, desirable or appropriate, having such terms, rights, preferences, privileges, limitations and restrictions as the Trustees see fit, including preferred shares, debt

 

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securities or other senior securities. The Trustees are also authorized to take such actions and retain such persons as they see fit to offer and sell such securities.

6.3  Rights of Shareholders. The Shares shall be personal property giving only the rights in this Declaration specifically set forth. The ownership of the Trust Property of every description and the right to conduct any business hereinbefore described are vested exclusively in the Trustees on behalf of the Trust, and the Shareholders shall have no interest therein other than the beneficial interest conferred by their Shares, and they shall have no right to call for any partition or division of any property, profits, rights or interests of the Trust nor can they be called upon to share or assume any losses of the Trust or, subject to the right of the Trustees to charge certain expenses directly to Shareholders, as provided in the last sentence of Section 3.8, suffer an assessment of any kind by virtue of their ownership of Shares. The Shares shall not entitle the holder to preference, preemptive, appraisal, conversion or exchange rights.

6.4  Exchange and Conversion Privileges. Subject to the provisions of the 1940 Act and provisions of this Declaration, the Trustees shall have the power and authority to provide that the Shareholders of any Class shall have the right to convert such Shares for Shares of one or more other Classes. Subject to the provisions of the 1940 Act and provisions of this Declaration, the Trustees shall have the power and authority to provide that the Shareholders of any Class may exchange their Shares for those of another fund.

6.5  Trust Only. It is the intention of the Trustees to create only the relationship of Trustee and beneficiary between the Trustees and each Shareholder from time to time. It is not the intention of the Trustees to create a general partnership, limited partnership, joint stock association, corporation, bailment or any form of legal relationship other than a trust. Nothing in this Declaration shall be construed to make the Shareholders, either by themselves or with the Trustees, partners or members of a joint stock association.

6.6  Issuance of Shares. The Trustees, in their discretion, may from time to time without vote of the Shareholders issue Shares in addition to the then issued and outstanding Shares and Shares held in the treasury, to such party or parties and for such amount and type of consideration, including cash or property, at such time or times, and on such terms as the Trustees may determine, and may in such manner acquire other assets (including the acquisition of assets subject to, and in connection with the assumption of, liabilities) and businesses. The Trustees may from time to time divide or combine the Shares into a greater or lesser number without thereby changing the proportionate beneficial interest in such Shares. Issuances and redemptions of Shares may be made in whole Shares and/or 1/1,000ths of a Share or multiples thereof as the Trustees may determine.

6.7  Register of Shares. A register shall be kept at the offices of the Trust or any transfer agent duly appointed by the Trustees under the direction of the Trustees which shall contain the names and addresses of the Shareholders and the number of Shares held by them respectively and a record of all transfers thereof. Each such register shall be conclusive as to who are the holders of the Shares and who shall be entitled to receive dividends or distributions or otherwise to exercise or enjoy the rights of Shareholders. No Shareholder shall be entitled to receive payment of any dividend or distribution, nor to have notice given to him as herein provided, until he or she has given his or her address to a transfer agent or such other officer or agent of the Trustees as shall keep the register for entry thereon. It is not contemplated that certificates will be issued for the

 

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Shares; however, the Trustees, in their discretion, may authorize the issuance of share certificates and promulgate appropriate fees therefor and rules and regulations as to their use.

6.8  Transfer Agent and Registrar. The Trustees shall have power to employ a transfer agent or transfer agents, and a registrar or registrars, with respect to the Shares. The transfer agent or transfer agents may keep the applicable register and record therein, the original issues and transfers, if any, of the said Shares. Any such transfer agents and/or registrars shall perform the duties usually performed by transfer agents and registrars of certificates of stock in a corporation, as modified by the Trustees.

6.9  Transfer of Shares. Except as otherwise provided by the Trustees, Shares shall be transferable on the records of the Trust only in accordance with Section 9.1 herein and by the record holder thereof or by its agent thereto duly authorized in writing, upon delivery to the Trustees or a transfer agent of the Trust of a duly executed instrument of transfer, together with such evidence of the genuineness of each such execution and authorization and of other matters (including compliance with any securities laws and contractual restrictions) as may reasonably be required. Upon such delivery the transfer shall be recorded on the applicable register of the Trust. Until such record is made, the Shareholder of record shall be deemed to be the holder of such Shares for all purposes hereof and neither the Trustees nor any transfer agent or registrar nor any officer, employee or agent of the Trust shall be affected by any notice of the proposed transfer.

Any person becoming entitled to any Shares in consequence of the death, bankruptcy, or incompetence of any Shareholder, or otherwise by operation of law, shall be recorded on the applicable register of Shares as the holder of such Shares upon production of the proper evidence thereof to the Trustees or a transfer agent of the Trust, but until such record is made, the Shareholder of record shall be deemed to be the holder of such for all purposes hereof, and neither the Trustees nor any transfer agent or registrar nor any officer or agent of the Trust shall be affected by any notice of such death, bankruptcy or incompetence, or other operation of law.

6.10  Notices. Any and all notices to which any Shareholder hereunder may be entitled and any and all communications shall be deemed duly served or given if mailed, postage prepaid, addressed to any Shareholder of record at his or her last known address as recorded on the applicable register of the Trust.

ARTICLE VII

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

7.1  Net Asset Value. The net asset value of each outstanding Share of each Class of the Trust shall be determined at such time or times on such days as the Trustees may determine, in accordance with the 1940 Act. The method of determination of net asset value shall be determined by the Trustees and shall be as set forth in the Prospectus or as may otherwise be determined by the Trustees. The power and duty to make the net asset value calculations may be delegated by the Trustees and shall be as generally set forth in the Prospectus or as may otherwise be determined by the Trustees.

 

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7.2  Power to Modify Foregoing Procedures. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing provisions of this Article VII, the Trustees may prescribe, in their absolute discretion except as may be required by the 1940 Act, such other bases and times for determining the net asset value of each Class of the Trust’s Shares or net income, or the declaration and payment of dividends and distributions as they may deem necessary or desirable for any reason, including to enable the Trust to comply with any provision of the Code, the 1940 Act, any securities exchange or association registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or any order of exemption issued by the Commission, all as in effect now or hereafter amended or modified.

ARTICLE VIII

CUSTODIANS

8.1  Appointment and Duties. The Trustees shall at all times employ a custodian or custodians, meeting the qualifications for custodians for portfolio securities of investment companies contained in the 1940 Act, as custodian with respect to the assets of the Trust. Any custodian shall have authority as agent of the Trust as determined by the custodian agreement or agreements, but subject to such restrictions, limitations and other requirements, if any, as may be contained in the By-Laws of the Trust and the 1940 Act, including without limitation authority:

(1)  to hold the securities owned by the Trust and deliver the same upon written order;

(2)  to receive any receipt for any moneys due to the Trust and deposit the same in its own banking department (if a bank) or elsewhere as the Trustees may direct;

(3)  to disburse such funds upon orders or vouchers;

(4)  if authorized by the Trustees, to keep the books and accounts of the Trust and furnish clerical and accounting services; and

(5)  if authorized to do so by the Trustees, to compute the net income or net asset value of the Trust;

all upon such basis of compensation as may be agreed upon between the Trustees and the custodian.

The Trustees may also authorize each custodian to employ one or more sub-custodians from time to time to perform such of the acts and services of the custodian and upon such terms and conditions, as may be agreed upon between the custodian and such sub-custodian and approved by the Trustees, provided that in every case such sub-custodian shall meet the qualifications for custodians contained in the 1940 Act.

8.2  Central Certificate System. Subject to such rules, regulations and orders as the Commission may adopt, the Trustees may direct the custodian to deposit all or any part of the securities owned by the Trust in a system for the central handling of securities established by a national securities exchange or a national securities association registered with the Commission

 

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under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or such other Person as may be permitted by the Commission, or otherwise in accordance with the 1940 Act, pursuant to which system all securities of any particular class of any issuer deposited within the system are treated as fungible and may be transferred or pledged by bookkeeping entry without physical delivery of such securities, provided that all such deposits shall be subject to withdrawal only upon the order of the Trust.

ARTICLE IX

TRANSFERS AND REPURCHASES

9.1  Transfer of Shares.

(a)  Any Shares held by a Shareholder may be Transferred only (1) by operation of law pursuant to the death, bankruptcy, insolvency, adjudicated incompetence, or dissolution of the Shareholder and (2) under certain limited instances set out in this Declaration, with the consent of the Trustees (which may be withheld in the Trustees’ sole and absolute discretion and which may be provided for pursuant to a general policy or on a case-by-case basis). The Trustees may, in their discretion, not consent to a Transfer unless (i) the Transferring Shareholder has been a Shareholder for at least six months and (ii) after the proposed Transfer, the value of the Shares held by the transferee, as well as the value of the Shares of the Shareholder Transferring less than all of its Shares, would be at least equal to the amount of the applicable minimum initial investment in the Trust. If a Shareholder Transfers Shares with the approval of the Trustees, the Trustees will promptly take all necessary actions so that each transferee or successor to whom or to which the Shares are Transferred is admitted to the Trust as a Shareholder. The admission of any transferee as a substituted Shareholder will be effective upon the execution and delivery by, or on behalf of, the substituted Shareholder of an investor certification form and acceptance thereof by the Trust. Each Shareholder and transferee agrees to pay all expenses, including attorneys’ and accountants’ fees, incurred by the Trust in connection with any Transfer. In connection with any request to Transfer Shares, the Trust may require the Shareholder requesting the Transfer to obtain, at the Shareholder’s expense, an opinion of counsel selected by the Trustees as to such matters as the Trustees may reasonably request. If a Shareholder Transfers all of its Shares, it will not cease to be a Shareholder unless and until the transferee is admitted to the Trust as a substituted Shareholder in accordance with this Section 9.1(a). Any Transfer of Shares permitted under this Section 9.1(a) will be effected in accordance with the provisions of Section 6.8 hereof. Pursuant to Section 3.6 hereof, the Trustees hereby delegate to the officers of the Trust all power and authority to approve and effect Transfers of Shares pursuant to this Section 9.1(a). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Trustees may approve such other transfers and transfer processes and procedures as the Trustees believe are appropriate.

(b)  Each Shareholder will indemnify and hold harmless the Trust, the Trustees, each other Shareholder and any Affiliate of the Trust, the Trustees, and each of the other Shareholders against all losses, claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including legal or other expenses incurred in investigating or defending against any losses, claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses or any judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement), joint or several, to which these Persons may become subject by reason of or arising from (1) any Transfer made by the Shareholder in violation of this Section 9.1 and (2) any misrepresentation by the Transferring Shareholder or substituted Shareholder in connection with the Transfer. Pursuant to

 

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Section 3.8 hereof, a Shareholder Transferring Shares may be charged reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ and accountants’ fees, incurred by the Trust in connection with the Transfer.

9.2  Repurchase of Shares

(a)  Except to the extent included as part of the Trust’s Fundamental Policies and subject to any restrictions or limitations contained therein, Shareholders shall not be entitled to require the Trust to repurchase or redeem Shares.

(b)  Subject to applicable law, the Trustees may cause the Trust to repurchase Shares of a Shareholder or any Person acquiring Shares from or through a Shareholder, on terms fair to the Trust and to the Shareholder or Person acquiring Shares from or through such Shareholder, in the event that the Trustees, in their sole discretion, determine or have reason to believe that:

(1)  the Shares have been Transferred in violation of Section 9.1 of this Declaration, or the Shares have vested in any Person other than by operation of law as the result of the death, dissolution, bankruptcy, insolvency or adjudicated incompetence of the Shareholder;

(2)  ownership of the Shares by a Shareholder or other Person is likely to cause the Trust to be in violation of, or require registration of any Shares under, or subject the Trust to additional registration or regulation under, the securities, commodities or other laws of the United States or any other relevant jurisdiction;

(3)  continued ownership of the Shares may be harmful or injurious to the business or reputation of the Trust, the Trustees or the Adviser or any of their Affiliated Persons, or may subject the Trust or any of the Shareholders to an undue risk of adverse tax or other fiscal or regulatory consequences;

(4)  any of the representations and warranties made by a Shareholder or other Person in connection with the acquisition of the Shares was not true when made or has ceased to be true;

(5)  with respect to a Shareholder subject to special regulatory or compliance requirements, such as those imposed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, the Bank Holding Company Act or certain Federal Communication Commission regulations (collectively, “Special Laws or Regulations”), such Shareholder will likely be subject to additional regulatory or compliance requirements under these Special Laws or Regulations by virtue of continuing to hold Shares; or

(6)  it would be in the best interests of the Trust, as determined by the Trustees, for the Trust to repurchase the Shares.

 

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ARTICLE X

SHAREHOLDERS

10.1  Meetings of Shareholders. The Trust will not hold Shareholder meetings unless required by the 1940 Act, the provisions of this Declaration, the By-Laws or any other applicable law. A special meeting of Shareholders may be called at any time by a majority of the Trustees or the Chairperson or the President and shall be called by any Trustee for any proper purpose upon written request of Shareholders of the Trust holding in the aggregate at least a majority of the outstanding Shares of the Trust, such request specifying the purpose or purposes for which such meeting is to be called. Any shareholder meeting, including a special meeting, shall be held within or without the State of Delaware on such day and at such time as the Trustees shall designate.

10.2  Voting.    (a) Shareholders shall have no power to vote on any matter except matters on which a vote of Shareholders is required by applicable law, this Declaration or resolution of the Trustees. There shall be no cumulative voting in the election or removal of Trustees.

(b)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Declaration, on any matters submitted to a vote of the Shareholders, all Shares of the Trust then-entitled to vote shall be voted in aggregate, except: (i) when required by the 1940 Act and/or other applicable law, Shares shall be voted by individual Class; (ii) when the matter involves any action that the Trustees have determined will affect only the interests of one or more Classes, then only the Shareholders of such Class or Classes shall be entitled to vote thereon.

10.3  Notice of Meeting and Record Date. Notice of all meetings of Shareholders, stating the time, place and purposes of the meeting, shall be given by the Trustees by mail to each Shareholder of record entitled to vote thereat at its registered address, mailed at least 10 days and not more than 90 days before the meeting or otherwise in compliance with applicable law. Only the business stated in the notice of the meeting shall be considered at such meeting; provided, however, that the foregoing shall in no way limit the ability of one or more adjournments to be considered at a meeting. Any adjourned meeting may be held as adjourned one or more times without further notice not later than 120 days after the record date. For the purposes of determining the Shareholders who are entitled to notice of and to vote at any meeting the Trustees may, without closing the transfer books, fix a date not more than 90 nor less than 10 days prior to the date of such meeting of Shareholders as a record date for the determination of the Persons to be treated as Shareholders of record for such purposes.

10.4  Quorum and Required Vote. (a) The holders of one-third of the Shares entitled to vote on any matter at a meeting present in person or by proxy shall constitute a quorum at such meeting of the Shareholders for purposes of conducting business on such matter. When any one or more Classes is to vote separately from any other Classes of Shares, holders of one-third of the Shares entitled to vote of each such Class shall constitute a quorum at a Shareholders’ meeting of that Class. The absence from any meeting, in person or by proxy, of a quorum of Shareholders for action upon any given matter shall not prevent action at such meeting upon any other matter or matters which may properly come before the meeting, if there shall be present thereat, in person or by proxy, a quorum of Shareholders in respect of such other matters.

 

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(b)   Subject to any provision of applicable law, this Declaration or a resolution of the Trustees specifying a greater or a lesser vote requirement for the transaction of any item of business at any meeting of Shareholders, the affirmative vote of a majority of the Shares present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on the subject matter shall be the act of the Shareholders with respect to such matter; provided that, (i) where any provision of law or of this Declaration requires that the holders of any Class shall vote as a Class, then the affirmative vote of a majority of the Shares of such Class present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on the subject matter shall decide that matter insofar as that Class is concerned, and provided that (ii) the Trustees shall be elected by a plurality of the votes of the Shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the election of Trustees.

10.5  Proxies, etc. At any meeting of Shareholders, any holder of Shares entitled to vote thereat may vote by properly executed proxy, provided that no proxy shall be voted at any meeting unless it shall have been placed on file with the Secretary, or with such other officer or agent of the Trust as the Secretary may direct, for verification prior to the time at which such vote shall be taken. Pursuant to a resolution of a majority of the Trustees, proxies may be solicited in the name of one or more Trustees or one or more of the officers or employees of the Trust. No proxy shall be valid after the expiration of 11 months from the date thereof, unless otherwise provided in the proxy. Only Shareholders of record shall be entitled to vote. Each full Share shall be entitled to one vote and fractional Shares shall be entitled to a vote of such fraction. When any Share is held jointly by several persons, any one of them may vote at any meeting in person or by proxy in respect of such Share, but if more than one of them shall be present at such meeting in person or by proxy, and such joint owners or their proxies so present disagree as to any vote to be cast, such vote shall not be received in respect of such Share. A proxy purporting to be executed by or on behalf of a Shareholder shall be deemed valid unless challenged at or prior to its exercise, and the burden of proving invalidity shall rest on the challenger. If the holder of any such Share is a minor or a person of unsound mind, and subject to guardianship or to the legal control of any other person as regards the charge or management of such Share, he or she may vote by his or her guardian or such other person appointed or having such control, and such vote may be given in person or by proxy.

10.6  Reports. The Trustees shall cause to be prepared at least annually and more frequently to the extent and in the form required by law, regulation or any exchange on which Trust Shares are listed a report of operations containing a balance sheet and statement of income and undistributed income of the Trust prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and an opinion of an independent public accountant on such financial statements. Copies of such reports shall be mailed to all Shareholders of record within the time required by the 1940 Act. The Trustees shall, in addition, furnish to the Shareholders at least semi-annually to the extent required by law, interim reports containing an unaudited balance sheet of the Trust as of the end of such period and an unaudited statement of income and surplus for the period from the beginning of the current fiscal year to the end of such period.

10.7  Inspection of Records. The records of the Trust shall be open to inspection by Shareholders to the same extent as is permitted shareholders of a corporation formed under the Delaware General Corporation Law.

 

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10.8 Shareholder Action by Written Consent. Any action which may be taken by Shareholders by vote may be taken without a meeting if the holders, entitled to vote thereon, of the proportion of Shares required for approval of such action at a meeting of Shareholders pursuant to Section 10.4 consent to the action in writing and the written consents are filed with the records of the meetings of Shareholders. Such consent shall be treated for all purposes as a vote taken at a meeting of Shareholders.

ARTICLE XI

DURATION; TERMINATION OF TRUST; AMENDMENT; MERGERS; ETC.

11.1 Duration. Subject to possible termination in accordance with the provisions of Section 11.2 hereof, the Trust created hereby shall have perpetual existence.

11.2 Termination. (a) The Trust may be dissolved, only upon approval of not less than 80% of the Trustees or, to the extent provided under those circumstances described in the Registration Statement, by the vote of the majority of the Shareholders. Upon the dissolution of the Trust:

(i)  The Trust shall carry on no business except for the purpose of winding up its affairs.

(ii)  The Trustees shall proceed to wind up the affairs of the Trust and all of the powers of the Trustees under this Declaration shall continue until the affairs of the Trust shall have been wound up, including the power to fulfill or discharge the contracts of the Trust, collect its assets, sell, convey, assign, exchange, merge where the Trust is not the survivor, transfer or otherwise dispose of all or any part of the remaining Trust Property to one or more Persons at public or private sale for consideration which may consist in whole or in part in cash, securities or other property of any kind, discharge or pay its liabilities, and do all other acts appropriate to liquidate its business; provided that any sale, conveyance, assignment, exchange, merger in which the Trust is not the survivor, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all the Trust Property of the Trust shall require approval of the principal terms of the transaction and the nature and amount of the consideration by Shareholders.

(iii)  After paying or adequately providing for the payment of all liabilities, and upon receipt of such releases, indemnities and refunding agreements, as they deem necessary for their protection, the Trustees may distribute the remaining Trust Property, in cash or in kind or partly each, among the Shareholders according to their respective rights.

(b)  After the winding up and termination of the Trust and distribution to the Shareholders as herein provided, a majority of the Trustees shall execute and lodge among the records of the Trust an instrument in writing setting forth the fact of such termination and shall execute and file a certificate of cancellation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware. Upon termination of the Trust, the Trustees shall thereupon be discharged from all further liabilities and duties hereunder, and the rights and interests of all Shareholders shall thereupon cease.

 

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11.3 Amendment Procedure. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Section 11.3, this Declaration may be amended, after a majority of the Trustees (including a majority of the independent Trustees if such a vote is required under the 1940 Act) have approved a resolution therefor, by the affirmative vote required by Section 10.4 of this Declaration. The Trustees also may amend this Declaration without any vote of Shareholders to change the name of the Trust, to change the U.S. federal income tax classification of the Trust from an association taxable as a corporation to a partnership if the Trust elects to cease qualifying as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Code, to make any other change that does not adversely affect the relative rights or preferences of any Shareholder, as they may deem necessary, or to conform this Declaration to the requirements of the 1940 Act or any other applicable federal or state laws or regulations including pursuant to Section 6.2 or, if applicable, the requirements of the regulated investment company provisions of the Code, but the Trustees shall not be liable for failing to do so.

(b)  No amendment may be made to Section 2.1, Section 2.2, Section 2.3, Section 3.8, Section 5.1, Section 5.2, Section 11.2(a), this Section 11.3 or Section 11.4 of this Declaration and no amendment may be made to this Declaration which would change any rights with respect to any Shares of the Trust by reducing the amount payable thereon upon liquidation of the Trust or by diminishing or eliminating any voting rights pertaining thereto (except that this provision shall not limit the ability of the Trustees to authorize, and to cause the Trust to issue, other securities pursuant to Section 6.2), except after a majority of the Trustees have approved a resolution therefor, and such amendment has been approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than 75% of the Shares, unless such amendment has been approved by 80% of the Trustees, in which case approval by a Majority Shareholder Vote shall be required. Nothing contained in this Declaration shall permit the amendment of this Declaration to impair the exemption from personal liability of the Shareholders, Trustees, officers, employees and agents of the Trust or to permit assessments upon Shareholders.

(c)  An amendment duly adopted by the requisite vote of the Board of Trustees and, if required under the 1940 Act or otherwise under this Declaration, the Shareholders as aforesaid, shall become effective at the time of such adoption or at such other time as may be designated by the Board of Trustees or Shareholders, as the case may be. A certification in recordable form signed by a majority of the Trustees setting forth an amendment and reciting that it was duly adopted by the Trustees and, if required, the Shareholders as aforesaid, or a copy of the Declaration, as amended, in recordable form, and executed by a majority of the Trustees, shall be conclusive evidence of such amendment when lodged among the records of the Trust or at such other time designated by the Board.

Notwithstanding any other provision hereof, until such time as Shares are issued and sold, this Declaration may be terminated or amended in any respect by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Trustees or by an instrument signed by a majority of the Trustees.

11.4 Merger, Consolidation and Sale of Assets. The Trust may merge or consolidate with any other corporation, association, trust or other organization or may sell, lease or exchange all or substantially all of the Trust Property or the property, including its goodwill, upon such terms and conditions and for such consideration when and as authorized by two-thirds of the Trustees and approved by a Majority Shareholder Vote to the extent required by the 1940 Act and any such

 

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merger, consolidation, sale, lease or exchange shall be determined for all purposes to have been accomplished under and pursuant to the statutes of the State of Delaware.

11.5 Subsidiaries. Without approval by Shareholders, the Trustees may cause to be organized or assist in organizing one or more corporations, trusts, limited liability companies, partnerships, associations or other organizations to take over all of the Trust Property or to carry on any business in which the Trust shall directly or indirectly have any interest, and to sell, convey and transfer all or a portion of the Trust Property to any such corporation, trust, limited liability company, association or organization in exchange for the shares or securities thereof, or otherwise, and to lend money to, subscribe for the shares or securities of, and enter into any contracts with any such corporation, trust, limited liability company, partnership, association or organization, or any corporation, partnership, trust, limited liability company, association or organization in which the Trust holds or is about to acquire shares or any other interests.

ARTICLE XII

MISCELLANEOUS

12.1 Filing. (a) This Declaration and any amendment or supplement hereto shall be filed in such places as may be required or as the Trustees deem appropriate. Each amendment or supplement shall be accompanied by a certificate signed and acknowledged by a Trustee stating that such action was duly taken in a manner provided herein and shall, upon insertion in the Trust’s minute book, be conclusive evidence of all amendments contained therein. A restated Declaration, containing the original Declaration and all amendments and supplements theretofore made, may be executed from time to time by a majority of the Trustees and shall, upon insertion in the Trust’s minute book, be conclusive evidence of all amendments and supplements contained therein and may thereafter be referred to in lieu of the original Declaration and the various amendments and supplements thereto.

12.2 Resident Agent. The Trust shall maintain a resident agent in the State of Delaware, which agent shall initially be The Corporation Trust Company, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware 19801. The Trustees may designate a successor resident agent, provided, however, that such appointment shall not become effective until written notice thereof and any required filing is delivered to the office of the Secretary of the State.

12.3 Governing Law. This Declaration is executed by the Trustees and delivered in the State of Delaware and with reference to the laws thereof (except for conflict-of-laws provisions or doctrines thereof), and the rights of all parties and the validity and construction of every provision hereof shall be subject to and construed according to laws of said State, and reference shall be specifically made to the Delaware General Corporation Law as to the construction of matters not specifically covered herein or as to which an ambiguity exists, although such law shall not be viewed as limiting the powers otherwise granted to the Trustees hereunder and any ambiguity shall be viewed in favor of such powers.

12.4 Counterparts. This Declaration may be simultaneously executed in several counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, and such counterparts, together,

 

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shall constitute one and the same instrument, which shall be sufficiently evidenced by any such original counterpart.

12.5 Reliance by Third Parties. Any certificate executed by an individual who, according to the records of the Trust, or of any recording office in which this Declaration may be recorded, appears to be a Trustee hereunder, certifying to: (a) the number or identity of Trustees or Shareholders, (b) the name of the Trust, (c) the due authorization of the execution of any instrument or writing, (d) the form of any vote passed at a meeting of Trustees or Shareholders, (e) the fact that the number of Trustees or Shareholders present at any meeting or executing any written instrument satisfies the requirements of this Declaration, (f) the form of any By-Laws adopted by or the identity of any officers elected by the Trustees, or (g) the existence of any fact or facts which in any manner relate to the affairs of the Trust, shall be conclusive evidence as to the matters so certified in favor of any person dealing with the Trustees and their successors.

12.6 Provisions in Conflict with Law or Regulation. (a) The provisions of this Declaration are severable, and if the Trustees shall determine, with the advice of counsel, that any of such provisions is in conflict with the 1940 Act, if applicable, with the regulated investment company provisions of the Code (if applicable) or with other applicable laws and regulations, the conflicting provision shall be deemed never to have constituted a part of this Declaration; provided, however, that such determination shall not affect any of the remaining provisions of this Declaration or render invalid or improper any action taken or omitted prior to such determination.

(b)  If any provision of this Declaration shall be held invalid or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, such invalidity or unenforceability shall attach only to such provision in such jurisdiction and shall not in any manner affect such provision in any other jurisdiction or any other provision of this Declaration in any jurisdiction.

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has caused these presents to be executed as of the day and year first above written.

 

By:

 

/s/ Thomas K. Sittema

 

Thomas K. Sittema

 

Trustee

By:

 

/s/ Robert W. Long

 

Robert W. Long

 

Trustee

By:

 

/s/ Harold Mills

 

Harold Mills

 

Trustee

By:

 

/s/ Tracy G. Schmidt

 

Tracy G. Schmidt

 

Trustee

By:

 

/s/ Ron D. Sturzenegger

 

Ron D. Sturzenegger

 

Trustee

 

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Schedule A

Class T

Class S

Class D

Class I

 

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STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

 

BY-LAWS

 

Dated as of February 21, 2024

 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

        Page  

ARTICLE I   SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS

     1  

1.1.

   Chairperson      1  

1.2.

   Proxies; Voting      1  

1.3.

   Fixing Record Dates      1  

1.4.

   Inspectors of Election      1  

1.5.

   Records at Shareholder Meetings      2  

ARTICLE II   TRUSTEES

     2  

2.1.

   Regular Meetings      2  

2.2.

   Chairperson; Records      2  

ARTICLE III   OFFICERS

     2  

3.1.

   Officers of the Trust      2  

3.2.

   Election and Tenure      2  

3.3.

   Removal of Officers      2  

3.4.

   Bonds and Surety      3  

3.5.

   President and Vice Presidents      3  

3.6.

   Secretary      3  

3.7.

   Treasurer      3  

3.8.

   Other Officers and Duties      4  

ARTICLE IV   MISCELLANEOUS

     4  

4.1.

   Depositories      4  

4.2.

   Signatures      4  

4.3.

   Seal      4  

ARTICLE V   SHARE TRANSFERS

     4  

5.1.

   Transfer Agents, Registrars and the Like      4  

5.2.

   Transfer of Shares      5  

5.3.

   Registered Shareholders      5  

ARTICLE VI   AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS

     5  

6.1.

   Amendment and Repeal of By-Laws      5  

 

-i-


STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

BY-LAWS

These By-Laws are made and adopted pursuant to Section 3.9 of the Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust establishing StepStone Private Credit Income Fund dated as of [ ], 2024, as from time to time amended (hereinafter called the “Declaration”). All words and terms capitalized in these By-Laws shall have the meaning or meanings set forth for such words or terms in the Declaration.

ARTICLE I

SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS

1.1 Chairperson. The Chairperson, if any, shall act as chairperson at all meetings of the Shareholders; in the Chairperson’s absence, the Trustee or Trustees present at each meeting may elect a temporary chairperson for the meeting, who may be one of themselves.

1.2 Proxies; Voting. Shareholders may vote either in person or by duly executed proxy and each full share represented at the meeting shall have one vote, all as provided in Article X of the Declaration.

1.3 Fixing Record Dates. For the purpose of determining the Shareholders who are entitled to notice of or to vote or act at any meeting, including any adjournment thereof, or who are entitled to participate in any dividends, or for any other proper purpose, the Trustees may from time to time, without closing the transfer books, fix a record date in the manner provided in Section 10.3 of the Declaration. If the Trustees do not prior to any meeting of Shareholders so fix a record date or close the transfer books, then the date of mailing notice of the meeting or the date upon which the dividend resolution is adopted, as the case may be, shall be the record date.

1.4 Inspectors of Election. In advance of any meeting of Shareholders, the Trustees may appoint Inspectors of Election to act at the meeting or any adjournment thereof. If Inspectors of Election are not so appointed, the Chairperson, if any, of any meeting of Shareholders may, and on the request of any Shareholder or Shareholder proxy shall, appoint Inspectors of Election of the meeting. The number of Inspectors of Election shall be either one or three. If appointed at the meeting on the request of one or more Shareholders or proxies, a majority of Shares present shall determine whether one or three Inspectors of Election are to be appointed, but failure to allow such determination by the Shareholders shall not affect the validity of the appointment of Inspectors of Election. In case any person appointed as Inspector of Election fails to appear or fails or refuses to act, the vacancy may be filled by appointment made by the Trustees in advance of the convening of the meeting or at the meeting by the person acting as chairperson. The Inspectors of Election shall determine the number of Shares outstanding, the Shares represented at the meeting, the existence of a quorum, the authenticity, validity and effect of proxies, shall receive votes, ballots or consents, shall hear and determine all challenges and questions in any way arising in connection with the right to vote, shall count and tabulate all votes or consents, determine the results, and do such other acts as may be proper to conduct the election or vote with fairness to all Shareholders. If there are three Inspectors of Election, the decision, act or certificate of a majority is effective in all respects as the decision, act or certificate of all. On request of the Chairperson, if any, of the

 

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meeting, or of any Shareholder or Shareholder proxy, the Inspectors of Election shall make a report in writing of any challenge or question or matter determined by them and shall execute a certificate of any facts found by them.

1.5 Records at Shareholder Meetings. At each meeting of the Shareholders, there shall be made available for inspection at a convenient time and place during normal business hours, if requested by Shareholders, the minutes of the last previous Annual or Special Meeting of Shareholders of the Trust and a list of the Shareholders of the Trust, as of the record date of the meeting or the date of closing of transfer books, as the case may be. Such list of Shareholders shall contain the name and the address of each Shareholder in alphabetical order and the number of Shares owned by such Shareholder. Shareholders shall have such other rights and procedures of inspection of the books and records of the Trust as are granted to shareholders of a Delaware business corporation.

ARTICLE II

TRUSTEES

2.1 Regular Meetings. Meetings of the Trustees shall be held from time to time upon the call of the Chairperson, if any, the President, the Secretary or any two Trustees. Regular meetings of the Trustees may be held without call or notice and shall generally be held quarterly. Neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any meeting of the Board of Trustees need be stated in the notice or waiver of notice of such meeting, and no notice need be given of action proposed to be taken by written consent, except as may otherwise be required by law.

2.2 Chairperson; Records. The Chairperson, if any, shall act as chairperson at all meetings of the Trustees; in absence of a chairperson, the Trustees present shall elect one of their number to act as temporary chairperson. The results of all actions taken at a meeting of the Trustees, or by written consent of the Trustees, shall be recorded by the person appointed by the Board of Trustees as the meeting secretary.

ARTICLE III

OFFICERS

3.1 Officers of the Trust. The officers of the Trust shall consist of a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer and such other officers or assistant officers as may be elected or authorized by the Trustees. Any two or more of the offices may be held by the same Person. No officer of the Trust need be a Trustee.

3.2 Election and Tenure. At the initial organization meeting, the Trustees shall elect the Chairperson, if any, President, Secretary, Treasurer and such other officers as the Trustees shall deem necessary or appropriate in order to carry out the business of the Trust. Such officers shall serve at the pleasure of the Trustees or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. The Trustees may fill any vacancy in office or add any additional officers at any time.

3.3 Removal of Officers. Any officer may be removed at any time, with or without cause, by action of a majority of the Trustees. This provision shall not prevent the making of a contract of employment for a definite term with any officer and shall have no effect upon any cause of action which any officer may have as a result of removal in breach of a contract of employment.

 

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Any officer may resign at any time by notice in writing signed by such officer and delivered or mailed to the Chairperson, if any, President, or Secretary, and such resignation shall take effect immediately upon receipt by the Chairperson, if any, President, or Secretary, or at a later date according to the terms of such notice in writing.

3.4 Bonds and Surety. Any officer may be required by the Trustees to be bonded for the faithful performance of such officer’s duties in such amount and with such sureties as the Trustees may determine.

3.5 President and Vice Presidents. The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Trust and, subject to the control of the Trustees, shall have general supervision, direction and control of the business of the Trust and of its employees and shall exercise such general powers of management as are usually vested in the office of President of a corporation. Subject to direction of the Trustees, the President shall have power in the name and on behalf of the Trust to execute any and all loans, documents, contracts, agreements, deeds, mortgages, registration statements, applications, requests, filings and other instruments in writing, and to employ and discharge employees and agents of the Trust. Unless otherwise directed by the Trustees, the President shall have full authority and power, on behalf of all of the Trustees, to attend and to act and to vote, on behalf of the Trust at any meetings of business organizations in which the Trust holds an interest, or to confer such powers upon any other persons, by executing any proxies duly authorizing such persons. The President shall have such further authorities and duties as the Trustees shall from time to time determine. In the absence or disability of the President, the Vice-Presidents in order of their rank as fixed by the Trustees or, if more than one and not ranked, the Vice-President designated by the Trustees, shall perform all of the duties of the President, and when so acting shall have all the powers of and be subject to all of the restrictions upon the President. Subject to the direction of the Trustees, and of the President, each Vice-President shall have the power in the name and on behalf of the Trust to execute any and all instruments in writing, and, in addition, shall have such other duties and powers as shall be designated from time to time by the Trustees or by the President.

3.6 Secretary. The Secretary shall maintain the minutes of all meetings of, and record all votes of, Shareholders, Trustees and any committee of the Trustees. The Secretary shall be custodian of the seal of the Trust, if any, and the Secretary (and any other person so authorized by the Trustees) shall affix the seal, or if permitted, facsimile thereof, to any instrument executed by the Trust which would be sealed by a Delaware business corporation executing the same or a similar instrument and shall attest the seal and the signature or signatures of the officer or officers executing such instrument on behalf of the Trust. The Secretary shall also perform any other duties commonly incident to such office in a Delaware business corporation, and shall have such other authorities and duties as the Trustees shall from time to time determine.

3.7 Treasurer. Except as otherwise directed by the Trustees, the Treasurer shall have the general supervision of the monies, funds, securities, notes receivable and other valuable papers and documents of the Trust, and shall have and exercise under the supervision of the Trustees and of the President all powers and duties normally incident to the office. The Treasurer may endorse for deposit or collection all notes, checks and other instruments payable to the Trust or to its order. The Treasurer shall deposit all funds of the Trust in such depositories as the Trustees shall designate. The Treasurer shall be responsible for such disbursement of the funds of the Trust as

 

3


may be ordered by the Trustees or the President. The Treasurer shall keep accurate account of the books of the Trust’s transactions which shall be the property of the Trust, and which together with all other property of the Trust in the Treasurer’s possession, shall be subject at all times to the inspection and control of the Trustees. Unless the Trustees shall otherwise determine, the Treasurer shall be the principal accounting officer of the Trust and shall also be the principal financial officer of the Trust. The Treasurer shall have such other duties and authorities as the Trustees shall from time to time determine. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein contained, the Trustees may authorize any adviser, administrator, manager or transfer agent to maintain bank accounts and deposit and disburse funds on behalf the Trust.

3.8 Other Officers and Duties. The Trustees may elect such other officers and assistant officers as they shall from time to time determine to be necessary or desirable in order to conduct the business of the Trust. Assistant officers shall act generally in the absence of the officer whom they assist and shall assist that officer in the duties of the office. Each officer, employee and agent of the Trust shall have such other duties and authority as may be conferred upon such person by the Trustees or delegated to such person by the President.

ARTICLE IV

MISCELLANEOUS

4.1 Depositories. In accordance with Section 8.1 of the Declaration, the funds of the Trust shall be deposited in such custodians as the Trustees shall designate and shall be drawn out on checks, drafts or other orders signed by such officer, officers, agent or agents (including the adviser, administrator or manager), as the Trustees may from time to time authorize.

4.2 Signatures. All contracts and other instruments shall be executed on behalf of the Trust by its properly authorized officers, agent or agents, as provided in the Declaration or By-laws or as the Trustees may from time to time by resolution provide.

4.3 Seal. The Trust is not required to have any seal, and the adoption or use of a seal shall be purely ornamental and be of no legal effect. The seal, if any, of the Trust may be affixed to any instrument, and the seal and its attestation may be lithographed, engraved or otherwise printed on any document with the same force and effect as if it had been imprinted and affixed manually in the same manner and with the same force and effect as if done by a Delaware business corporation. The presence or absence of a seal shall have no effect on the validity, enforceability or binding nature of any document or instrument that is otherwise duly authorized, executed and delivered.

ARTICLE V

SHARE TRANSFERS

5.1 Transfer Agents, Registrars and the Like. As provided in Section 6.8 of the Declaration, the Trustees shall have authority to employ and compensate such transfer agents and registrars with respect to the Shares of the Trust as the Trustees shall deem necessary or desirable. In addition, the Trustees shall have power to employ and compensate such dividend disbursing agents, warrant agents and agents for the reinvestment of dividends as they shall deem necessary

 

4


or desirable. Any of such agents shall have such power and authority as is delegated to any of them by the Trustees.

5.2 Transfer of Shares. The Shares of the Trust shall be subject to the limitations on transfer as provided in Section 6.9 of the Declaration. The Trust, or its transfer agents, shall be authorized to refuse any transfer unless and until presentation of proper evidence as may be reasonably required to show that the requested transfer is proper.

5.3 Registered Shareholders. The Trust may deem and treat the holder of record of any Shares as the absolute owner thereof for all purposes and shall not be required to take any notice of any right or claim of right of any other person.

ARTICLE VI

AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS

6.1 Amendment and Repeal of By-Laws. In accordance with Section 3.9 of the Declaration, the Trustees shall have the exclusive power to amend or repeal the By-Laws or adopt new By-Laws at any time. Action by the Trustees with respect to the By-Laws shall be taken by an affirmative vote of a majority of the Trustees. The Trustees shall in no event adopt By-Laws which are in conflict with the Declaration, and any apparent inconsistency shall be construed in favor of the related provisions in the Declaration.

 

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STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLAN

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Fund”), hereby adopts the following Dividend Reinvestment Plan (the “Plan”) with respect to distributions declared by its board of trustees (the “Board”) on its shares of beneficial interest (the “Shares”):

1.     Participation. The Fund’s Plan is available to shareholders of record of the Shares. UMB Fund Services, Inc. (“UMB”) acting as agent for each participant in the Plan, will apply income dividends or capital gains or other distributions (each, a “Distribution” and collectively, “Distributions”), net of any applicable U.S. withholding tax, that become payable to such participant on Shares (including shares held in the participant’s name and shares accumulated under the Plan), to the purchase of additional whole and fractional Shares for such participant.

2.     Eligibility and Election to Participate. Participation in the Plan is limited to registered owners of Shares. The Fund’s Board reserves the right to amend or terminate the Plan. Shareholders automatically participate in the Plan, unless and until an election is made to withdraw from the Plan on behalf of such participating shareholder. If participating in the Plan, a shareholder is required to include all of the Shares owned by such shareholder in the Plan.

3.     Share Purchases. When the Fund declares a Distribution, UMB, on the shareholder’s behalf, will receive additional authorized shares from the Fund either newly issued or repurchased from shareholders by the Fund and held as treasury stock. The number of shares to be received when Distributions are reinvested will be determined by dividing the amount of the Distribution by the Fund’s net asset value per share on the next valuation date following the ex-distribution date. There will be no sales load charged on Shares issued to a shareholder under the Plan, but shareholder servicing fees and placement agent fees will be charged where applicable. In making purchases for the accounts of participants, UMB may commingle the funds of one participant with those of other participants in the Plan. All shares purchased under the Plan will be held in the name of each participant. In the case of shareholders, such as banks, brokers or nominees, that hold shares for others who are beneficial owners participating under the Plan, UMB will administer the Plan on the basis of the number of shares certified from time to time by the record shareholder as representing the total amount of shares registered in the shareholder’s name and held for the account of beneficial owners participating under the Plan.

4.     Timing of Purchases. The Fund expects to issue Shares pursuant to the Plan, immediately following each Distribution payment date and UMB will make every reasonable effort to reinvest all Distributions on the day the Distribution is paid (except where necessary to comply with applicable securities laws) by the Fund. If, for any reason beyond the control of UMB, reinvestment of the Distributions cannot be completed within 30 days after the applicable Distribution payment date, funds held by UMB on behalf of a participant will be distributed to that participant.

5.     Account Statements. UMB will maintain all shareholder accounts and furnish or cause to be furnished written confirmations of all transactions in the accounts, including information needed by shareholders for personal and tax records. UMB will hold shares in the account of the shareholders in non-certificated form in the name of the participant, and each shareholder’s proxy, if any, will include those shares purchased pursuant to the Plan. UMB will confirm to each participant each acquisition made pursuant to the Plan as soon as practicable after calculating the Fund’s net asset value. No less frequently than quarterly, UMB will provide to each participant an account statement showing the Distribution, the number of shares purchased with the Distribution, and the year-to-date and cumulative Distributions paid.


UMB will distribute or cause to be distributed all proxy solicitation materials, if any, to participating shareholders.

6.     Expenses. There will be no direct expenses to participants for the administration of the Plan. There is no direct service charge to participants with regard to purchases under the Plan; however, the Fund reserves the right to amend the Plan to include a service charge payable by the participants. Administrative fees associated with the Plan will be paid by the Fund.

7.     Taxation of Distributions. The reinvestment of Distributions does not relieve the participant of any taxes which may be payable on such Distributions.

8.     Share Certificates. UMB will hold shares in the account of the shareholders in non-certificated form in the name of the participant.

9.     Voting of Shares. Shares issued pursuant to the Plan will have the same voting rights as the Shares issued pursuant to the Fund’s public offering.

10.   Absence of Liability. Neither the Fund nor UMB shall have any responsibility or liability beyond the exercise of ordinary care for any action taken or omitted pursuant to the Plan, nor shall they have any duties, responsibilities or liabilities except such as expressly set forth herein. Neither the Fund nor UMB shall be liable for any act done in good faith or for any good faith omission to act, including, without limitation, any claims of liability: (a) arising out of the failure to terminate a participant’s account prior to receipt of written notice of such participant’s death, or (b) with respect to prices at which shares are purchased or sold for the participant’s account and the terms on which such purchases and sales are made. NOTWITHSTANDING THE FOREGOING, LIABILITY UNDER THE U.S. FEDERAL SECURITIES LAWS CANNOT BE WAIVED.

11.   Termination of Participation. A shareholder who does not wish to have Distributions automatically reinvested may terminate participation in the Plan at any time by written instructions to that effect to UMB. Such written instructions must be received by UMB by the Repurchase Request Deadline (as defined in the Fund’s prospectus) or the shareholder will receive such Distribution in Shares through the Plan. If a shareholder requests to change its election within 45 days prior to a distribution, the request will be effective only with respect to distributions after the 45-day period.

12.   Amendment, Supplement, Termination, and Suspension of Plan. This Plan may be amended, supplemented, or terminated by the Fund at any time upon 30 days’ notice to shareholders. The amendment or supplement shall be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an exhibit to a subsequent appropriate filing made by the Fund and shall be deemed to be accepted by each participant unless, prior to its effective date thereof, UMB receives written notice of termination of the participant’s account. Amendment may include an appointment by the Fund or UMB with the approval of the Fund of a successor agent, in which event such successor shall have all of the rights and obligations of UMB under this Plan. The Fund may suspend the Plan at any time without notice to the participants.

13.   Governing Law. This Plan and the authorization form signed by the participant (which is deemed a part of this Plan) and the participant’s account shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.

INVESTMENT ADVISORY AGREEMENT

AGREEMENT made as of this 21st day of February, 2024 by and between StepStone Private Credit Income Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Fund”), and StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Adviser”).

1.   Duties of Adviser. (a) The Fund hereby appoints the Adviser to act as investment adviser to the Fund, for the period and on the terms set forth in this Agreement. The Fund employs the Adviser to manage the investment and reinvestment of the assets of the Fund, to continuously review, supervise and administer the investment program of the Fund, to determine in its discretion the securities to be purchased or sold and the portion of the Fund’s assets to be held uninvested, to provide the Fund with records concerning the Adviser’s activities which the Fund is required to maintain and to render regular reports to the Fund’s officers and Board of Trustees (the “Board”) concerning the Adviser’s discharge of the foregoing responsibilities. The Fund has discussed and concurs in the Adviser’s employing StepStone Group Private Debt LLC to act as the Fund’s sub-investment adviser (the “Sub-Adviser”) to provide day-to-day management of the Fund’s investments.

(b) The Adviser is authorized, in its sole discretion, to:

 

  (i)

obtain and evaluate pertinent economic, financial, and other information affecting the economy generally and certain investment assets as such information relates to securities, loans or other financial instruments that are purchased for or considered for purchase by the Fund;

 

  (ii)

make investment decisions for the Fund (including the exercise or disposition of rights accompanying portfolio securities, loans or other financial instruments (such as tender offers, exchanges, amendments, consents, waivers or forbearances) and other attendant rights thereto);

 

  (iii)

place purchase and sale orders for portfolio transactions on behalf of the Fund and manage otherwise uninvested cash assets of the Fund;

 

  (iv)

arrange for the pricing of Fund securities, loans or other financial instruments;

 

  (v)

execute account documentation, agreements, contracts and other documents as may be requested by brokers, dealers, assignors, assignees, participants, counterparties and other persons in connection with the Adviser’s management of the assets of the Fund (in such respect, the Adviser will act as the Fund’s agent and attorney-in-fact);

 

  (vi)

employ professional portfolio managers and securities analysts who provide research services to the Fund;

 

  (vii)

engage certain third-party professionals, consultants, experts or specialists in connection with the Adviser’s management of the assets of the Fund (in such respect, the Adviser will act as the Fund’s agent and attorney-in-fact);


  (viii)

make decisions with respect to the use by the Fund of borrowing for leverage or other investment purposes (in such respect, the Adviser will act as the Fund’s agent and attorney-in-fact); and

 

  (ix)

to engage one or more sub-advisors, including StepStone Group Private Debt LLC, subject to approval by the Board of the Fund. The Adviser will in general take such action as is appropriate to effectively manage the Fund’s investment portfolio and practices.

(c) The Adviser accepts such employment and agrees to render the services and to provide, at its own expense, the office space, furnishings and equipment and the personnel required by it to perform the services described in this Section 1 on the terms and for the compensation provided herein, subject to the terms of the administration agreement between the Fund and the Adviser (the “Administration Agreement”).

2.   Portfolio Transactions. (a) The Adviser is authorized to select the brokers or dealers that will execute the purchases and sales of securities for the Fund and is directed to use its best efforts to obtain the best available price and most favorable execution, except as prescribed herein.

(b) The Adviser may select affiliates of the Adviser as brokers or dealers in connection with purchase and sale transactions for the Fund. The Fund understands that such affiliates may provide execution services relative to the purchase and/or sale of securities for the Fund, provided that any such affiliate of the Adviser discloses at least annually, and as may be required under the Fund’s Rule 17e-1 Procedures, as amended from time to time with notice to the Adviser (the “Procedures”), the amount of the commission it has received. By executing this Agreement, the Fund authorizes an affiliate of the Adviser to effect securities transactions on behalf of the Fund and to retain compensation therewith, provided that any such compensation is permissible under the Procedures. This authorization is being executed and delivered pursuant to Section 11(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 11a2-2(T) thereunder.

(c) Unless and until otherwise directed by the Board of the Fund, the Adviser may also be authorized to effect individual securities transactions at commission rates in excess of the minimum commission rates available, if the Adviser determines in good faith that such amount of commission is reasonable in relation to the value of the brokerage or research services provided by such broker or dealer, viewed in terms of either that particular transaction or the Adviser’s overall responsibilities with respect to the Fund. The execution of such transactions shall not be deemed to represent an unlawful act or breach of any duty created by this Agreement or otherwise.

(d) The Adviser will promptly communicate to the officers and the Board of the Fund such information relating to portfolio transactions as they may reasonably request.

3.   Compensation of the Adviser. (a) For the services to be rendered by the Adviser as provided in Section 1 of this Agreement, the Fund shall pay to the Adviser at the end of each month (starting with the month investment operations commence) a fee (the “Management Fee”) equal to 1.15% on an annualized basis of the Fund’s daily net assets. The Management Fee will be accrued daily and payable monthly in arrears within ten (10) business days after the end of the

 

2


month. The Adviser will pay all fees of the Sub-Adviser in connection with its duties in respect of the Fund.

(b) In addition to the Management Fee, the Fund will pay the Adviser an income-based incentive fee (the “Incentive Fee”). The Incentive Fee will be accrued daily and payable quarterly in arrears based on the Fund’s “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income” (as defined below) for the immediately preceding quarter. The payment of the Incentive Fee will be subject to a quarterly hurdle rate, expressed as a rate of return on the value of the Fund’s net assets at the end of the most recently completed calendar quarter, of 1.25% (5.0% annualized) (the “Hurdle Rate”), subject to a “catch up” feature (as described below).

For this purpose, “Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income” means interest income, dividend income and any other income (including any other fees, such as commitment, origination, structuring, diligence and consulting fees or other fees that the Fund (or its wholly-owned subsidiaries) receives from portfolio companies) accrued during the calendar quarter, minus the Fund’s operating expenses for the quarter (including the Management Fee, expenses and fees paid to the Adviser under the Administration Agreement and any interest expense and dividends paid on any issued and outstanding preferred stock or credit agreements, but excluding the Incentive Fee and any shareholder servicing and/or distribution fees). Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income includes, in the case of investments with a deferred interest feature (such as original issue discount debt instruments with payment-in-kind interest and zero-coupon securities), accrued income that the Fund has not yet received in cash. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income does not include any realized capital gains, realized capital losses or unrealized appreciation or depreciation.

The calculation of the Incentive Fee for each quarter is as follows:

 

   

No Incentive Fee will be payable to the Adviser in any calendar quarter in which the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income does not exceed the Hurdle Rate;

 

   

100% of the dollar amount of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income, if any, that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than or equal to 1.3889% in any calendar quarter (5.5556% annualized) will be payable to the Adviser. This portion of the Fund’s Incentive Fee that exceeds the Hurdle Rate but is less than or equal to 1.3889% is referred to as the “catch up” and is intended to provide the Adviser with an incentive fee of 10% on all of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income when the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income reaches 1.3889% (5.5556% annualized) on net assets in any calendar quarter; and

 

   

10% of the dollar amount of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income, if any, that exceeds 1.3889% (5.5556% annualized) on net assets in any calendar quarter will be payable to the Adviser once the Hurdle Rate and catch-up have been achieved (10% of the Fund’s Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income thereafter will be allocated to the Adviser).

 

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(c) In the event of termination of this Agreement, the Management Fee and Incentive Fee provided in this Section 3 shall be prorated according to the proportion that such period bears to the full monthly or quarterly period, as applicable, and will be payable upon the date of termination of this Agreement.

4.   Fund Expenses. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, the Administration Agreement or by law, the Adviser shall not be responsible for the Fund’s expenses and the Fund assumes and shall pay or cause to be paid all of its expenses, including without limitation, all Fund expenses set forth in the Fund’s then current Prospectus. To the extent the Adviser incurs any costs or performs any services which are an obligation of the Fund, the Fund shall promptly reimburse the Adviser for such costs and expenses. To the extent the services for which the Fund is obligated to pay are performed by the Adviser, the Adviser shall be entitled to recover from the Fund only to the extent of its costs for such services, as reasonably determined.

5.   Information and Reports. (a) The Adviser will keep the Fund informed of developments relating to its duties as investment adviser of which the Adviser has, or should have, knowledge that would materially affect the Fund. In this regard, the Adviser will provide the Fund and its officers with such periodic reports concerning the obligations the Adviser has assumed under this Agreement as the Fund may from time-to-time reasonably request.

(b) The Adviser also will provide the Fund with any information reasonably requested regarding its management of the Fund required for reports to the shareholders of the Fund (collectively, “Shareholders” and each a “Shareholder”), amended registration statements, or prospectus supplements to be filed by the Fund with the SEC. The Adviser will promptly inform the Fund if, to the best of its knowledge, any information in the Registration Statement, as amended from time to time, is (or will become) materially inaccurate or incomplete.

6.   Status of Adviser. The Adviser shall, for all purposes herein, be deemed to be an independent contractor. The services of the Adviser to the Fund are not to be deemed exclusive, and the Adviser shall be free to render similar services to others. Nothing in this Agreement shall limit or restrict the right of any director, officer, owner, member, manager, partner or employee of the Adviser or its affiliates, who also may be a trustee, officer or employee of the Fund, to engage in any other business or to devote his or her time and attention in part to the management or other aspects of any other business, whether of a similar or dissimilar nature.

7.   Liability of Adviser. In the absence of (a) willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Adviser in performance of its obligations and duties hereunder, (b) reckless disregard by the Adviser of its obligations and duties hereunder, or (c) a loss resulting from a breach of fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of compensation for services (in which case any award of damages shall be limited to the period and the amount set forth in Section 36(b)(3) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”)), the Adviser shall not be subject to any liability whatsoever to the Fund, or to any Shareholder for any error of judgment, mistake of law or any other act or omission in the course of, or connected with, rendering services hereunder including, without limitation, for any losses that may be sustained in connection with the purchase, holding, redemption or sale of any security on behalf of the Fund.

 

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8.   Indemnification. (a) To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Fund shall, subject to Section 8(c) of this Agreement, indemnify the Adviser (including for this purpose each officer, director, shareholder, partner, owner, member, manager, principal, employee or agent of, or any person who controls, is controlled by or is under common control with, the Adviser, and their respective executors, heirs, assigns, successors or other legal representatives (each such person, including the Adviser, being referred to as an “indemnitee”)) against all losses, claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses arising from any act or omission by reason of being or having been Adviser to the Fund, or in connection with the Fund’s business, affairs or assets, or the past or present performance of services to the Fund in accordance with this Agreement by the indemnitee, except to the extent that the loss, claim, damage, liability, cost or expense has been finally determined in a judicial decision on the merits from which no further appeal may be taken in any action, suit, investigation or other proceeding to have been incurred or suffered by the indemnitee by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the Adviser’s duties or obligations under this Agreement or otherwise as Adviser of the Fund. These losses, claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses include, but are not limited to, amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise, or as fines or penalties, and counsel fees and expenses, incurred in connection with the defense or disposition of any action, suit, investigation or other proceeding, whether civil or criminal, before any judicial, arbitral, administrative or legislative body, in which the indemnitee may be or may have been involved as a party or otherwise, or with which such indemnitee may be or may have been threatened, during the duration of this Agreement or thereafter. The rights of indemnification provided under this Section 8 are not to be construed so as to provide for indemnification of an indemnitee for any liability (including liability under U.S. federal securities laws which, under certain circumstances, impose liability even on persons that act in good faith) to the extent (but only to the extent) that indemnification would be in violation of applicable law, but shall be construed so as to effectuate the applicable provisions of this Section 8.

(b) Expenses, including counsel fees and expenses, incurred by any indemnitee (but excluding amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise, or as fines or penalties) may be paid from time to time by the Fund in advance of the final disposition of any action, suit, investigation or other proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the indemnitee to repay to the Fund amounts paid if a determination is made that indemnification of the expenses is not authorized under Section 8(a) of this Agreement, so long as (i) the indemnitee provides security for the undertaking, (ii) the Fund is insured by or on behalf of the indemnitee against losses arising by reason of the indemnitee’s failure to fulfill his, her or its undertaking, or (iii) a majority of the trustees (each, a “Trustee,” and collectively, the “Trustees”) of the Fund who are not “interested persons” (as that term is defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund (“Independent Trustees”) (excluding any Trustee who is or has been a party to any other action, suit, investigation or other proceeding involving claims similar to those involved in the action, suit, investigation or proceeding giving rise to a claim for advancement of expenses under this Agreement) or independent legal counsel in a written opinion determines based on a review of readily available facts (as opposed to a full trial-type inquiry) that reason exists to believe that the indemnitee ultimately shall be entitled to indemnification.

(c) As to the disposition of any action, suit, investigation or other proceeding (whether by a compromise payment, pursuant to a consent decree or otherwise) without an adjudication or a decision on the merits by a court, or by any other body before which the proceeding has been

 

5


brought, that an indemnitee is liable to the Fund or its Shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the Adviser’s duties or obligations under this Agreement or otherwise as the Adviser of the Fund, indemnification shall be provided in accordance with Section 8(a) of this Agreement if (i) approved as in the best interests of the Fund by a majority of the Independent Trustees (excluding any Trustee who is or has been a party to any other action, suit, investigation or other proceeding involving claims similar to those involved in the action, suit, investigation or proceeding giving rise to a claim for indemnification under this Agreement) upon a determination based upon a review of readily available facts (as opposed to a full trial-type inquiry) that the indemnitee acted in good faith and in the reasonable belief that the actions were in the best interests of the Fund and that the indemnitee is not liable to the Fund or its Shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the Adviser’s duties or obligations under this Agreement or otherwise as the Adviser of the Fund or (ii) the Trustees secure a written opinion of independent legal counsel based upon a review of readily available facts (as opposed to a full trial-type inquiry) to the effect that indemnification would not protect the indemnitee against any liability to the Fund or its Shareholders to which the indemnitee would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the Adviser’s duties or obligations under this Agreement or otherwise as the Adviser of the Fund.

(d) Any indemnification or advancement of expenses made in accordance with this Section 8 shall not prevent the recovery from any indemnitee of any amount if the indemnitee subsequently is determined in a final judicial decision on the merits in any action, suit, investigation or proceeding involving the liability or expense that gave rise to the indemnification or advancement of expenses to be liable to the Fund or its Shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the Adviser’s duties or obligations under this Agreement or otherwise as Adviser of the Fund. In any suit brought by an indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification under this Section 8 it shall be a defense that, and in any suit in the name of the Fund to recover any indemnification or advancement of expenses made in accordance with this Section 8 the Fund shall be entitled to recover the expenses upon a final adjudication from which no further right of appeal may be taken that, the indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct described in this Section 8. In any suit brought to enforce a right to indemnification or to recover any indemnification or advancement of expenses made in accordance with this Section 8, the burden of proving that the indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified, or to any indemnification or advancement of expenses, under this Section 8 shall be on the Fund (or on any Shareholder acting derivatively or otherwise on behalf of the Fund or its Shareholders).

(e) An indemnitee may not satisfy any right of indemnification or advancement of expenses granted in this Section 8 or to which he, she or it may otherwise be entitled except out of the assets of the Fund, and no Shareholder shall be personally liable with respect to any such claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses.

(f) The rights of indemnification provided in this Section 8 shall not be exclusive of or affect any other rights to which any person may be entitled by contract or otherwise under law. Nothing contained in this Section 8 shall affect the power of the Fund to purchase and maintain liability insurance on behalf of the Adviser or any indemnitee.

 

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9.   Duration and Termination. This Agreement will become effective as of the date first written above and will continue for an initial two-year term and will continue thereafter so long as such continuance is specifically approved at least annually (a) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to this Agreement or interested persons of any such party, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval, and (b) by the Board of the Fund or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund; provided, however, that if the Shareholders of the Fund fail to approve the Agreement as provided herein, the Adviser may continue to serve in such capacity in the manner and to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and the rules thereunder. This Agreement may be terminated by the Fund at any time, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of a majority of the entire Board of the Fund or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund on 60 days’ written notice to the Adviser. This Agreement may be terminated by the Adviser at any time, without the payment of any penalty, upon 120 days’ written notice to the Fund. This Agreement will automatically and immediately terminate in the event of its “assignment,” as such term is defined under the 1940 Act.

10.   Use of Names. (a) As owner or licensee of the rights to use and sublicense the use of the name “CRDEX” any trademarks or derivatives thereof or logo associated therewith, the Adviser hereby grants the Fund a non-exclusive right and sublicense to use (i) the CRDEX name as part of the Fund’s name, and (ii) in connection with the Fund’s investment products and services, in each case only for so long as this Agreement, any other investment management agreement between the Fund and the Adviser (or any organization which shall have succeeded to the Adviser’s business as investment manager (the “Adviser’s Successor”)), or any extension, renewal or amendment hereof or thereof remains in effect, and only for so long as the Adviser or the Adviser’s Successor is an owner or licensee of the CRDEX name. The Fund agrees that it shall have no right to sublicense or assign rights to use the CRDEX name, it shall acquire no interest in the CRDEX name other than the rights granted herein, and the Fund shall not challenge the validity of the CRDEX name or the ownership thereof.

(b) The Fund further agrees that all services and products it offers in connection with the CRDEX name shall meet commercially reasonable standards of quality, as may be determined by the Adviser from time to time. At the Adviser’s reasonable request, the Fund shall cooperate with the Adviser and shall execute and deliver any and all documents necessary to maintain and protect (including, but not limited to, any trademark infringement action) the Adviser and/or enter the Fund as a registered user thereof.

(c) At such time as this Agreement or any other investment management agreement shall no longer be in effect between the Adviser (or the Adviser’s Successor) and the Fund, or the Adviser no longer is an owner or licensee of the CRDEX name, the Fund shall (to the extent that, and as soon as, it lawfully can) cease to use “CRDEX” in the name of the Fund or any other name indicating that it is advised by, managed by or otherwise connected with the Adviser (or the Adviser’s Successor). In no event shall the Fund use the CRDEX name or any other name or mark confusingly similar thereto (including, but not limited to, any name or mark that includes “CRDEX”) if this Agreement or any other investment management agreement between the Adviser (or the Adviser’s Successor) and the Fund is terminated.

 

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11.   Definitions. As used in this Agreement, the terms “assignment,” “interested person,” and a “vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities” shall have the respective meanings set forth in Section 2(a)(4), Section 2(a)(19) and Section 2(a)(42) of the 1940 Act.

12.   Amendment of Agreement. This Agreement may be amended by mutual consent, but the consent of the Fund must be approved (a) by vote of a majority of those members of the Board of the Fund who are not parties to this Agreement or interested persons of any such party, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such amendment, and (b) by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, as defined under the 1940 Act.

13.   Severability. If any provisions of this Agreement shall be held or made invalid by a court decision, statute, rule or otherwise, the remainder of this Agreement shall not be affected thereby.

14.   Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the 1940 Act.

15.   Notices. Any notice under this Agreement shall be given in writing and deemed to have been duly given when delivered by hand or facsimile or five days after mailed by certified mail, post-paid, by return receipt requested to the other party at the principal office of such party.

16.   Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original.

17.   Form ADV. The Fund acknowledges receiving Part II of the Adviser’s Form ADV.

18.   Fund Obligations. The parties to this Agreement agree that the obligations of the Fund under this Agreement shall not be binding upon any of the Trustees, Shareholders, officers, employees or agents, whether past, present or future, of the Fund, individually, but are binding only upon the assets and property of the Fund.

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed by their duly authorized officers as of the day and year first written above.

 

STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE

WEALTH LLC:

   

STEPSTONE PRIVATE

CREDIT INCOME FUND:

By:         By:    
Name: Tim Smith     Name: Dean Caruvana
Title: COO & CFO     Title: Secretary

 

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SUB-ADVISORY AGREEMENT

AGREEMENT made as of this [ ] day of [ ], 2024 by and among StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Adviser”), StepStone Group Private Debt LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sub-Adviser”), and Stepstone Private Credit Income Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Fund”).

1.   Duties of the Sub-Adviser. (a) The Adviser hereby employs the Sub-Adviser to act as a non-discretionary investment sub-adviser by providing private markets investment advice and services, as described below, to the Adviser in regard to the Adviser’s management of the Fund, subject to the broad supervision of the Adviser and the Fund, for the period and on the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. The Sub-Adviser hereby accepts such employment and agrees during such period, at its own expense, to render, or arrange for the rendering of, such services and to assume the obligations herein set forth for the compensation provided for herein. The Sub-Adviser and its affiliates shall for all purposes herein each be deemed to be an independent contractor and shall, unless otherwise expressly provided or authorized, have no authority to act for or represent the Fund in any way or otherwise be deemed an agent of the Fund. The Sub-Adviser shall be responsible for providing private markets investment advice and services to the Adviser regarding that portion of the Fund’s assets allocated, or under consideration for allocation, to private credit investments as defined in the Fund’s currently effective Prospectus (as defined below) (“Private Credit”). The Fund has discussed and concurs in the Sub-Adviser’s employing StepStone Group Europe Alternative Investments Limited to act as the Sub-Adviser’s sub-investment adviser (the “Sub-Subadviser”) to provide day-to-day management of the Fund’s investments. The Sub-Adviser’s provision of ongoing private credit asset advice and services to the Adviser in respect of the Fund’s investment in Private Credit shall include, but not be limited to:

(i) employing asset allocation and diversification strategies among investments in Private Credit;

(ii) deploying commitment and over-commitment models and strategies among investments in Private Credit to minimize cash drag on Fund returns and balance Fund liquidity requirements;

(iii) identifying and managing private credit portfolio risk through tracking commitments, capital calls, distribution variations, and valuations, among other factors;

(iv) identifying investment opportunities resulting from fundamental financial analysis and initial due diligence performed on investments (actual or contemplated) in Private Credit;

(v) tracking and monitoring the continuing operations, management, financial condition and other pertinent details and information and conducting ongoing due diligence as to Fund allocations of assets to Private Credit; and

(vi) to engage one or more sub-subadvisors, including StepStone Group Europe Alternative Investments Limited, subject to approval by the Board of the Fund. The Sub-Adviser will in general take such action as is appropriate to effectively manage the Fund’s investment portfolio and practices.


All of the foregoing is subject always to the restrictions of the Agreement and Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the Fund, as they may be amended and/or restated from time to time and as provided to the Sub-Adviser by the Adviser, the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) and the statements relating to the Fund’s investment objective(s), investment policies and investment restrictions as the same are set forth in the Fund’s prospectus, as may be amended from time to time (the “Prospectus”), as well as to the supervision of the Adviser and the Board of Trustees of the Fund.

(b)  The Sub-Adviser will not hold money on behalf of the Adviser or the Fund, nor will the Sub-Adviser be the registered holder of the registered investments of the Adviser or the Fund or be the custodian of documents or other evidence of title.

(c)  Unless otherwise instructed by the Adviser or the Board of Trustees of the Fund, the Sub-Adviser shall not have the power, discretion or responsibility to execute subscriptions or other documentation effecting investments in Private Credit of the Fund, or to place orders for other securities transactions on behalf of the Fund. Instead, the Adviser will exercise such discretion as to subscriptions, investments and other trading activity necessary to implement the Fund’s investment program strategy. The Sub-Adviser will use its best efforts to cooperate with the Adviser in support of efforts to implement the Fund’s investment program.

(d)  The Sub-Adviser may, where reasonable, employ agents (including affiliates) to perform any administrative, dealing or ancillary services required to enable the Sub-Adviser to perform its services under this Agreement.

2.   Allocation of Charges and Expenses. Subject to the terms of the administration agreement between the Fund and the Adviser, as applicable, the Sub-Adviser assumes and shall pay for maintaining the staff and personnel necessary to perform its obligations under this Agreement and shall at its own expense provide the office space, furnishings, equipment and personnel required by it to perform the services described under Section 1 hereof.

3.   Compensation of the Sub-Adviser. For the services rendered, the facilities furnished and expenses assumed by the Sub-Adviser, the Adviser will pay the Sub-Adviser 50% of the management fee received by the Adviser pursuant to the Advisory Agreement each month and 60% of the incentive fee received by the Adviser pursuant to the Advisory Agreement each quarter. Each fee shall be payable by the Adviser to the Sub-Adviser within three business days of the date that the Adviser receives its management fee or incentive fee, as applicable, from the Fund. The Sub-Adviser will pay all fees of the Sub-Subadviser in connection with its duties in respect of the Fund.

4.   Liability of Sub-Adviser. In the absence of (a) willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Sub-Adviser in performance of its obligations and duties hereunder, (b) reckless disregard by the Sub-Adviser of its obligations and duties hereunder, or (c) a loss resulting from a breach of fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of compensation for services (in which case any award of damages shall be limited to the period and the amount set forth in Section 36(b)(3) of the 1940 Act), the Sub-Adviser shall not be subject to any liability whatsoever to the Fund, or to any Shareholder for any error of judgment, mistake of law or any other act or omission in the course of, or connected with, rendering services hereunder including,

 

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without limitation, for any losses that may be sustained in connection with the purchase, holding, redemption or sale of any security on behalf of the Fund.

5.   Indemnification. (a) To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Fund shall, subject to this Section 5, indemnify the Sub-Adviser (including for this purpose each officer, director, shareholder, partner, owner, member, manager, principal, employee or agent of or any person who controls, is controlled by or is under common control with, the Sub-Adviser, and their respective executors, heirs, assigns, successors or other legal representatives (each such person, including the Sub-Adviser, being referred to as a “Sub-Adviser indemnitee”)) against all losses, claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses arising from any act or omission by reason of being or having been Sub-Adviser to the Fund, or in connection with the Fund’s business, affairs or assets, or the past or present performance of services to the Fund in accordance with this Agreement by the Sub-Adviser indemnitee, except to the extent that the loss, claim, damage, liability, cost or expense has been finally determined in a judicial decision on the merits from which no further appeal may be taken in any action, suit, investigation or other proceeding to have been incurred or suffered by the Sub-Adviser indemnitee by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the Sub-Adviser’s duties or obligations under this Agreement or otherwise as Sub-Adviser of the Fund. These losses, claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses include, but are not limited to, amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise, or as fines or penalties, and counsel fees and expenses, incurred in connection with the defense or disposition of any action, suit, investigation or other proceeding, whether civil or criminal, before any judicial, arbitral, administrative or legislative body, in which the Sub-Adviser indemnitee may be or may have been involved as a party or otherwise, or with which such Sub-Adviser indemnitee may be or may have been threatened, during the duration of this Agreement or thereafter. The rights of indemnification provided under this Section 5 are not to be construed so as to provide for indemnification of an Sub-Adviser indemnitee for any liability (including liability under U.S. federal securities laws which, under certain circumstances, impose liability even on persons that act in good faith) to the extent (but only to the extent) that indemnification would be in violation of applicable law, but shall be construed so as to effectuate the applicable provisions of this Section 5.

(b)  Expenses, including counsel fees and expenses, incurred by any Sub-Adviser indemnitee (but excluding amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise, or as fines or penalties) may be paid from time to time by the Fund in advance of the final disposition of any action, suit, investigation or other proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the Sub-Adviser indemnitee to repay to the Fund amounts paid if a determination is made that indemnification of the expenses is not authorized under this Section 5, so long as: (i) the Sub-Adviser indemnitee provides security for the undertaking; (ii) the Fund is insured by or on behalf of the Sub-Adviser indemnitee against losses arising by reason of the Sub-Adviser indemnitee’s failure to fulfill his, her or its undertaking; or (iii) a majority of the Board of the Fund who are not “interested persons” (as that term is defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund (“Independent Trustees”) (excluding any trustee who is or has been a party to any other action, suit, investigation or other proceeding involving claims similar to those involved in the action, suit, investigation or proceeding giving rise to a claim for advancement of expenses under this Agreement) or independent legal counsel in a written opinion determines based on a review of readily available facts (as opposed to a full trial-type inquiry) that reason exists to believe that the Sub-Adviser indemnitee ultimately shall be entitled to indemnification.

 

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(c)  As to the disposition of any action, suit, investigation or other proceeding (whether by a compromise payment, pursuant to a consent decree or otherwise) without an adjudication or a decision on the merits by a court, or by any other body before which the proceeding has been brought, that a Sub-Adviser indemnitee is liable to the Fund or its shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, reckless disregard of the Sub-Adviser’s duties or obligations under this Agreement or otherwise as Sub-Adviser of the Fund, indemnification shall be provided in accordance with this Section 5 if (i) approved as in the best interests of the Fund by a majority of the Independent Trustees (excluding any trustee who is or has been a party to any other action, suit, investigation or other proceeding involving claims similar to those involved in the action, suit, investigation or proceeding giving rise to a claim for indemnification under this Agreement) upon a determination based upon a review of readily available facts (as opposed to a full trial-type inquiry) that the Sub-Adviser indemnitee acted in good faith and in the reasonable belief that the actions were in the best interests of the Fund and that the Sub-Adviser indemnitee is not liable to the Fund or its shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the duties or obligations under this Agreement or otherwise as Sub-Adviser of the Fund or as a result of the Sub-Adviser’s breach of this Agreement, or (ii) the Trustees secure a written opinion of independent legal counsel based upon a review of readily available facts (as opposed to a full trial-type inquiry) to the effect that indemnification would not protect the Sub-Adviser indemnitee against any liability to the Fund or its shareholders to which the Sub-Adviser indemnitee would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the Sub-Adviser’s duties or obligations under this Agreement or otherwise as Sub-Adviser of the Fund.

(d)  Any indemnification or advancement of expenses made in accordance with this Section 5 shall not prevent the recovery from any Sub-Adviser indemnitee of any amount if the Sub-Adviser indemnitee subsequently is determined in a final judicial decision on the merits in any action, suit, investigation or proceeding involving the liability or expense that gave rise to the indemnification or advancement of expenses to be liable to the Fund or its shareholders by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of the Sub-Adviser’s duties or obligations under this Agreement or otherwise as Sub-Adviser of the Fund. In any suit brought by a Sub-Adviser indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification under this Section 5 it shall be a defense that, and in any suit in the name of the Fund to recover any indemnification or advancement of expenses made in accordance with this Section 5 the Fund shall be entitled to recover the expenses upon a final adjudication from which no further right of appeal may be taken that, the Sub-Adviser indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct described in this Section 5. In any suit brought to enforce a right to indemnification or to recover any indemnification or advancement of expenses made in accordance with this Section 5, the burden of proving that the Sub-Adviser indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified, or to any indemnification or advancement of expenses, under this Section 5 shall be on the Fund (or on any shareholder acting derivatively or otherwise on behalf of the Fund or its shareholders).

(e)  A Sub-Adviser indemnitee may not satisfy any right of indemnification or advancement of expenses granted in this Section 5 or to which he, she or it may otherwise be entitled except out of the assets of the Fund, and no shareholder shall be personally liable with respect to any such claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses.

 

4


(f)  The rights of indemnification provided in this Section 5 shall not be exclusive of or affect any other rights to which any person may be entitled by contract or otherwise under law. Nothing contained in this Section 5 shall affect the power of the Fund to purchase and maintain liability insurance on behalf of the Sub-Adviser or any indemnitee.

6.   Status of the Sub-Adviser. The Sub-Adviser shall, for all purposes herein, be deemed to be an independent contractor. The services of the Sub-Adviser to the Fund are not to be deemed exclusive, and the Sub-Adviser shall be free to render similar services to others. Nothing in this Agreement shall limit or restrict the right of any director, officer, owner, member, manager, partner or employee of the Sub-Adviser or its affiliates, who also may be a trustee, officer or employee of the Fund, to engage in any other business or to devote his or her time and attention in part to the management or other aspects of any other business, whether of a similar or dissimilar nature.

7.   Duration and Termination of this Agreement. This Agreement will become effective as of the date first written above and will continue for an initial two-year term and will continue thereafter so long as such continuance is specifically approved at least annually (a) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to this Agreement or interested persons of any such party, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval, and (b) by the Board of the Fund or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund; provided, however, that if the Shareholders of the Fund fail to approve the Agreement as provided herein, the Sub-Adviser may continue to serve in such capacity in the manner and to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and the rules thereunder. This Agreement may be terminated by the Fund at any time, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of a majority of the entire Board of the Fund or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund on 60 days’ written notice to the Sub-Adviser. This Agreement may be terminated by the Sub-Adviser at any time, without the payment of any penalty, upon 120 days’ written notice to the Fund. This Agreement will automatically and immediately terminate in the event of its “assignment,” as such term is defined under the 1940 Act.

8.   Use of Names. (a) As owner or licensee of the rights to use and sublicense the use of the name “StepStone” and any trademarks or derivatives thereof or logo associated therewith, the Sub-Adviser hereby grants the Fund a non-exclusive right and sublicense to use (i) the StepStone name and mark as part of the Fund’s name, and (ii) in connection with the Fund’s investment products and services, in each case only for so long as this Agreement, any other investment management agreement between the Fund and the Sub-Adviser (or any organization which shall have succeeded to the Sub-Adviser’s business as investment manager (the “Sub-Adviser’s Successor”)), or any extension, renewal or amendment hereof or thereof remains in effect, and only for so long as the Sub-Adviser or the Sub-Adviser’s Successor is an owner or licensee of the StepStone name and mark. The Fund agrees that it shall have no right to sublicense or assign rights to use the StepStone name and mark, it shall acquire no interest in the StepStone name and mark other than the rights granted herein, and the Fund shall not challenge the validity of the StepStone name and mark or the ownership thereof.

(b)  The Fund further agrees that all services and products it offers in connection with the StepStone name and mark shall meet commercially reasonable standards of quality, as may be determined by the Sub-Adviser from time to time. At the Sub-Adviser’s reasonable request, the

 

5


Fund shall cooperate with the Sub-Adviser and shall execute and deliver any and all documents necessary to maintain and protect (including, but not limited to, any trademark infringement action) the Sub-Adviser and/or enter the Fund as a registered user thereof.

(c)  At such time as this Agreement or any other investment management agreement shall no longer be in effect between the Sub-Adviser (or the Sub-Adviser’s Successor) and the Fund, or the Sub-Adviser no longer is an owner or licensee of the StepStone name and mark, the Fund shall (to the extent that, and as soon as, it lawfully can) cease to use “StepStone” in the name of the Fund or any other name indicating that it is advised by, managed by or otherwise connected with the Sub-Adviser (or the Sub-Adviser’s successor). In no event shall the Fund use the StepStone name and marks or any other name or mark confusingly similar thereto (including, but not limited to, any name or mark that includes the name “StepStone”) if this Agreement or any other investment management agreement between the Sub-Adviser (or the Sub-Adviser’s Successor) and the Fund is terminated.

9.   Confidentiality. Any information or recommendations supplied by either the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser, that are not otherwise in the public domain or previously known to the other party in connection with the performance of its obligations and duties hereunder, including portfolio holdings of the Fund, financial information or other information relating to a party to this Agreement, are to be regarded as confidential (“Confidential Information”) and held in the strictest confidence. Except as may be required by applicable law or rule or as requested by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction over a party to this Agreement, Confidential Information may be used only by the party to which said information has been communicated and such other persons as that party believes are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Agreement, the custodian, and such persons as the Adviser may designate in connection with the Fund. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent the Sub-Adviser from giving other entities investment advice.

10.  Amendments to this Agreement. This Agreement may be amended by mutual consent, but the consent of the Fund must be approved (a) by vote of a majority of those members of the Board of the Fund who are not parties to this Agreement or interested persons of any such party, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such amendment, and (b) by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, as defined under the 1940 Act.

11.  Definitions of Certain Terms. The terms “vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities,” “assignment,” “affiliated person” and “interested person” used in this Agreement, shall have the respective meanings specified in the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, subject, however, to such exemptions as may be granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission under said Act.

12.  Governing Law. This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the 1940 Act.

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed and delivered this Agreement as of the date first above written.

 

STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE WEALTH LLC

By:

   

Name:

  Robert W. Long

Title:

  Chief Executive Officer

STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE DEBT LLC

By:

   

Name:

  Joey Wong Castillo

Title:

  Authorized Signatory

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

By:

   

Name:

  Robert W. Long

Title:

  President

 

7

SUB-SUBADVISORY AGREEMENT

AGREEMENT made as of this [ ] day of [ ], 2024 by and among StepStone Group Private Debt LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sub-Adviser”), StepStone Group Europe Alternative Investments Limited, a private limited company (the “Sub-Subadviser”). The Sub-Adviser has been retained to act as investment subadvisor pursuant to a Sub-Advisory Agreement, dated the date hereof (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”), with StepStone Group Private Wealth, LLC (the “Adviser”) with respect to the management of Stepstone Private Credit Income Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Fund”). Pursuant to Section 1 of the Sub-Advisory Agreement, the Sub-Adviser is permitted to employ the Sub-Subadviser to act as the Sub-Adviser’s sub-investment adviser to provide day-to-day management of the Fund’s investments.

1.  Duties of the Sub-Subadviser. (a) The Sub-Adviser hereby employs the Sub-Subadviser to act as a non-discretionary investment sub-subadviser by providing private markets investment advice and services, as described below, to the Sub-Adviser in regard to the Sub-Adviser’s management of the Fund, subject to the broad supervision of the Adviser, Sub-Adviser and the Fund, for the period and on the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. The Sub-Subadviser hereby accepts such employment and agrees during such period, at its own expense, to render, or arrange for the rendering of, such services and to assume the obligations herein set forth for the compensation provided for herein. The Sub-Subadviser and its affiliates shall for all purposes herein each be deemed to be an independent contractor and shall, unless otherwise expressly provided or authorized, have no authority to act for or represent the Fund in any way or otherwise be deemed an agent of the Fund. The Sub-Subadviser shall be responsible for providing private markets investment advice and services to the Sub-Adviser regarding that portion of the Fund’s assets allocated, or under consideration for allocation, to private credit investments as defined in the Fund’s currently effective Prospectus (as defined below) (“Private Credit”). The Sub-Subadviser’s provision of ongoing non-discretionary investment advice and services to the Sub-Adviser in respect of the Fund’s investment in Private Credit shall include, but not be limited to:

(i) recommending the employment of asset allocation and diversification strategies among investments in Private Credit;

(ii) recommending the deployment of commitment and over-commitment models and strategies among investments in Private Credit to minimize cash drag on Fund returns and balance Fund liquidity requirements;

(iii) identifying and managing private credit portfolio risk through tracking commitments, capital calls, distribution variations, and valuations, among other factors;

(iv) identifying investment opportunities resulting from fundamental financial analysis and initial due diligence performed on investments (actual or contemplated) in Private Credit; and

(v) tracking and monitoring the continuing operations, management, financial condition and other pertinent details and information and conducting ongoing due diligence as to Fund allocations of assets to Private Credit.


All of the foregoing is subject always to the restrictions of the Agreement and Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the Fund, as they may be amended and/or restated from time to time and as provided to the Sub-Subadviser by the Sub-Adviser, the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) and the statements relating to the Fund’s investment objective(s), investment policies and investment restrictions as the same are set forth in the Fund’s prospectus, as may be amended from time to time (the “Prospectus”), as well as to the supervision of the Adviser, Sub-Adviser and the Board of Trustees of the Fund.

(b)  The Sub-Subadviser will not hold money on behalf of the Adviser, Sub-Adviser or the Fund, nor will the Sub-Subadviser be the registered holder of the registered investments of the Adviser, Sub-Adviser or the Fund or be the custodian of documents or other evidence of title.

(c)  Unless otherwise instructed by the Adviser or the Board of Trustees of the Fund, the Sub-Subadviser shall not have the power, discretion or responsibility to execute subscriptions or other documentation effecting investments in Private Credit of the Fund, or to place orders for other securities transactions on behalf of the Fund. Instead, the Adviser will exercise such discretion as to subscriptions, investments and other trading activity necessary to implement the Fund’s investment program strategy. The Sub-Subadviser will use its best efforts to cooperate with the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser in support of efforts to implement the Fund’s investment program.

(d)  The Sub-Subadviser may, where reasonable, employ agents (including affiliates) to perform any administrative, dealing or ancillary services required to enable the Sub-Subadviser to perform its services under this Agreement.

2.  Authorization and Client Categorization. (a) The Sub-Subadviser is authorized and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland of New Wapping Street, North Wall Quay, Dublin 1, D01 F7X3, Ireland as an alternative investment fund manager pursuant to Part 2 of the AIFM Regulations and it is further authorized to provide the services contemplated hereby.

(b)  The parties agree that the Sub-Subadviser will treat the Sub-Adviser as a Professional Client within the meaning of Directive 2014/65/EU on markets in financial instruments (“MiFID II” and together with the European Union (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2017 and Regulation 2017/565/EU, “MiFID”).

(c)  As a Professional Client, the Sub-Subadviser shall not be required to provide reporting in respect of the Fund as described under Article 50 of Regulation 2017/565/EU.

3.  Allocation of Charges and Expenses. Subject to the terms of the administration agreement between the Fund and the Adviser, as applicable, the Sub-Subadviser assumes and shall pay for maintaining the staff and personnel necessary to perform its obligations under this Agreement and shall at its own expense provide the office space, furnishings, equipment and personnel required by it to perform the services described under Section 1 hereof.

4.  Compensation of the Sub-Subadviser. For the services rendered, the facilities furnished and expenses assumed by the Sub-Subadviser, the Sub-Adviser will pay the Sub-Subadviser [ ]% of the management fee received by the Sub-Adviser pursuant to the Sub-Advisory Agreement each month and [ ]% of the incentive fee received by the Sub-Adviser pursuant to the Sub-Advisory Agreement each quarter. Each fee shall be payable by the Sub-Adviser to the Sub-

 

2


Subadviser within three business days of the date that the Sub-Adviser receives its management fee or incentive fee, as applicable, from the Adviser.

5.  Commissions and Third-Party Research. (a) In the course of providing services in respect of the Fund, the Sub-Subadviser may pay a fee or commission or a non-monetary benefit to any other person, where the payment or benefit is designed to enhance the quality of the relevant service to the Fund and does not impair compliance with the Sub-Subadviser’s duty to act honestly, fairly and professionally in accordance with the best interests of the Fund. The Sub-Subadviser may also receive minor non-monetary benefits from another person, which may include information or materials relating to a financial instrument or investment service, participation in conferences and training events relating to the benefits and features of a specific financial instrument, hospitality of a de minimis amount and such other non-monetary benefits as are permissible under MiFID.

(b)  If the Sub-Subadviser has, or enters into, any such arrangements it will provide information to the Adviser, Sub-Adviser and the Fund on those arrangements as required by MiFID, which shall include the amount of the payment or benefit, calculated using such method as the Sub-Subadviser considers appropriate from time to time.

(c)  The Sub-Subadviser may receive research from brokers or a third-party research provider (“Third Party Research”). The Sub-Subadviser currently intends to pay for the costs of Third Party Research, out of its own resources. In the event that the Sub-Subadviser seeks to attribute the costs of research to the Fund, it shall agree a research budget with the Fund in advance and the Sub-Subadviser shall comply with its obligations in respect of such matters in accordance with relevant requirements of MiFID and other applicable law.

(d)  Unless so specified in this Agreement, the Sub-Subadviser shall not be liable to account to the Fund, the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser for any profit, commission or remuneration made or received (whether from any client or otherwise) by the Sub-Subadviser by reason of any transaction undertaken with the Fund; provided that the Sub-Subadviser shall only receive such profits, commissions or remunerations or engage in such transactions to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act and shall disclose the existence of such to the Fund.

6.  Liability of Sub-Subadviser. In the absence of (a) willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence on the part of the Sub-Subadviser in performance of its obligations and duties hereunder, (b) reckless disregard by the Sub-Subadviser of its obligations and duties hereunder, or (c) a loss resulting from a breach of fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of compensation for services (in which case any award of damages shall be limited to the period and the amount set forth in Section 36(b)(3) of the 1940 Act), the Sub-Subadviser shall not be subject to any liability whatsoever to the Fund, or to any shareholder of the Fund for any error of judgment, mistake of law or any other act or omission in the course of, or connected with, rendering services hereunder including, without limitation, for any losses that may be sustained in connection with the purchase, holding, redemption or sale of any security on behalf of the Fund.

7.  Status of the Sub-Subadviser. The Sub-Subadviser shall, for all purposes herein, be deemed to be an independent contractor. The services of the Sub-Subadviser to the Fund are not to be deemed exclusive, and the Sub-Subadviser shall be free to render similar services to others.

 

3


Nothing in this Agreement shall limit or restrict the right of any director, officer, owner, member, manager, partner or employee of the Sub-Subadviser or its affiliates, who also may be a trustee, officer or employee of the Fund, to engage in any other business or to devote his or her time and attention in part to the management or other aspects of any other business, whether of a similar or dissimilar nature.

8.  Potential Conflicts of Interest and Disclosure. (a) It is understood by the Sub-Adviser that the Sub-Subadviser and its officers and affiliates may serve as non-discretionary and discretionary investment managers for other clients, and nothing in this Agreement shall in any way be deemed to restrict the right of the Sub-Subadviser and its officers and affiliates to perform such investment management or investment advisory or other services for any other person or entity, and the performance of such services for others shall not be deemed to violate or give rise to any duty or obligation to the Fund, the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser.

(b)  The Sub-Subadviser has a conflicts-of-interests policy (the “Conflicts Policy”) in place pursuant to which it will take all appropriate steps to identify and to prevent or manage conflicts of interest during the course of providing investment advisory or ancillary services in respect of the Fund in accordance with the requirements of MiFID. A copy of the Conflicts Policy has been provided to the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser. Unless otherwise required under the 1940 Act or the U.S. Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”), the Sub-Subadviser is under no obligation to disclose that it or any of its personnel or other connected persons have a material interest in a particular transaction with or for the Fund or that in a particular circumstance a conflict of interest or duty may exist, where the Sub-Subadviser has managed such conflicts to ensure, with reasonable confidence, that risks of damage to the Fund’s interests will be prevented. For the avoidance of doubt and in accordance with the Sub-Subadviser’s Conflicts Policy, where the Sub-Subadviser determines that its organizational or administrative arrangements to prevent conflicts of interest from adversely affecting the interest of the Fund are not sufficient to ensure, with reasonable confidence, that risks of damage to the Fund’s interests will be prevented, the Sub-Subadviser will clearly disclose to the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser the general nature and/or sources of conflicts of interest and the steps taken to mitigate those risks. The Sub-Subadviser shall provide details of any material amendments to the Conflicts Policy as soon as practicable following such change.

(c)  Subject to the requirements of and limitations under the 1940 Act and the Advisers Act, the Sub-Subadviser may recommend transactions in which, or provide services in circumstances where, the Sub-Subadviser has, directly or indirectly, a material interest or a relationship of any description with another party and which may involve a potential conflict with the Sub-Subadviser’s duties to the Sub-Adviser in respect of the Fund. Subject to the requirements of and limitations under the 1940 Act and Advisers Act, the Sub-Subadviser shall not be liable to account to the Fund, the Adviser or the Sub-Subadviser for any profit, commission or any connected transactions and the Sub-Subadviser’s fees shall not, unless otherwise provided, be abated thereby.

(d)  In addition to the circumstances listed above, potential conflicting interests or duties may arise because, for example:

(i)  the Sub-Subadviser undertakes investment business for other clients;

 

4


(ii)  any of the Sub-Subadviser’s directors, members or employees is a director of, holds or deals in securities of, provides services to, or is otherwise interested in, any company whose securities are held or dealt in on behalf of the Fund;

(iii)  a transaction is in securities issued by a client;

(iv)  the Sub-Subadviser may recommend transactions to the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser for the Fund which it has also recommended to other clients. In addition, the Sub-Subadviser may make recommendations to the Adviser that it has not made to other clients; or

(v)  The Sub-Subadviser may have regard, in providing investment advice, to the relative performance of other clients in respect of which it provides advisory services.

9.  Duration and Termination of this Agreement. This Agreement will become effective as of the date first written above and will continue for an initial two-year term and will continue thereafter so long as such continuance is specifically approved at least annually (a) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to this Agreement or interested persons of any such party, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval, and (b) by the Board of Trustees of the Fund or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund; provided, however, that if the shareholders of the Fund fail to approve the Agreement as provided herein, the Sub-Subadviser may continue to serve in such capacity in the manner and to the extent permitted by the 1940 Act and the rules thereunder. This Agreement may be terminated by the Fund at any time, without the payment of any penalty, by vote of a majority of the entire Board of Trustees of the Fund or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund on 60 days’ written notice to the Sub-Subadviser. This Agreement may be terminated by the Sub-Subadviser at any time, without the payment of any penalty, upon 120 days’ written notice to the Fund. This Agreement will automatically and immediately terminate in the event of its “assignment,” as such term is defined under the 1940 Act.

10.  Confidentiality. Any information or recommendations supplied by the Adviser, the Sub-Adviser or the Sub-Subadviser, that are not otherwise in the public domain or previously known to the other party in connection with the performance of its obligations and duties hereunder, including portfolio holdings of the Fund, financial information or other information relating to a party to this Agreement, are to be regarded as confidential (“Confidential Information”) and held in the strictest confidence. Except as may be required by applicable law or rule or as requested by regulatory authorities having jurisdiction over a party to this Agreement, Confidential Information may be used only by the party to which said information has been communicated and such other persons as that party believes are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Agreement, the custodian, and such persons as the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser may designate in connection with the Fund. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent the Sub-Subadviser from giving other entities investment advice.

11.  Communication and Documentation. (a) The Sub-Adviser acknowledges that the Sub-Subadviser may make reports and other communications available in electronic form, such as email, or by posting on a secure web site (with notification of the posting by email). The Sub-Adviser hereby consents to receive deliveries of reports and other communications from the Sub-

 

5


Subadviser (including annual and other updates of Sub-Subadviser’s policies and procedures) exclusively in electronic form (without separate mailing of paper copies), except to the extent the Sub-Adviser notifies the Sub-Subadviser in writing that it does not consent.

(b)  The Sub-Subadviser shall provide the Sub-Adviser with such reports at such frequency as the Sub-Adviser and the Sub-Subadviser may reasonably agree from time to time.

(c)  The Sub-Subadviser will report to the Sub-Adviser periodically, and in any event no less than annually, regarding the fees and costs arising to the Adviser, Sub-Adviser and/or the Fund under this Agreement.

(d)  The Sub-Adviser acknowledges and agrees that the reporting of costs and charges as required under Article 50 of Regulation 2017/565/EU will be satisfied by the disclosures included in Sections 3 to 6 regarding the services provided, and (ii) the Prospectus in respect of any relevant financial instruments.

(e)  Instructions from the Sub-Adviser shall be acknowledged by the Sub-Subadviser acting upon them unless the Sub-Adviser is advised that Sub-Subadviser believes such compliance is in breach of this Agreement, may not be practicable or may cause a party to be in contravention of any law, rule or regulation.

(f)  The Sub-Adviser agrees that communications with the Sub-Subadviser, and documents and other information sent to the Sub-Adviser, will be in English, or such other language as may be agreed between the parties from time to time.

(g)  Communication to the Sub-Subadviser may be made in writing to the attention of David Allen at: StepStone Group Europe Alternative Investments Limited, Newmount House, 22-24 Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2, Ireland or david.allen@stepstonegroup.com.

12.  Data Protection. (a) In the course of providing the services under this Agreement, the Sub-Subadviser may process personal data (as defined under the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)) (“Personal Data”). Each party shall at all times conduct their duties hereunder in compliance with the GDPR and other applicable legislation relating to data protection and privacy including (a) national laws implementing the Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications (2002/58/EC), and (b) any other similar national privacy law, (together with the GDPR, the “Data Protection Legislation”).

(b)  The parties hereto acknowledge that each of them is a separate and independent data controller. Personal Data obtained in respect of providing the services under this Agreement may be processed by the Sub-Subadviser and its service providers and its or their agents and any of their respective related, associated or affiliated companies:

(i)  for the purpose of, or in connection with the provision of the services under this Agreement;

(ii)  to carry out statistical analysis and market research;

 

6


(iii)  to comply with legal and regulatory requirements applicable to the Sub-Subadviser or any service providers to the Sub-Subadviser;

(iv)  for customer relationship management;

(v)  for legitimate business interests of the Sub-Subadviser; and

(vi)  for any other specific purpose that the Sub-Subadviser may notify to the Sub-Adviser from time to time.

(c)  The Sub-Subadviser shall retain Personal Data for so long as the Sub-Subadviser provides the services under this Agreement and for such longer period as may be required in order to comply with any applicable laws or regulations or any order or direction of a court, arbitrator or tribunal of competent jurisdiction applicable to the Sub-Subadviser or any of its service providers.

(d)  The Sub-Adviser will make commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that any Personal Data provided to the Sub-Subadviser by, or on behalf of, the Fund, the Adviser or the Sub-Adviser (as applicable) has been collected lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner so as to enable such Personal Data to be lawfully processed by the Sub-Subadviser for the purposes outlined in Section 15(b). Upon request of the Sub-Subadviser, the Sub-Adviser shall provide reasonable assistance to the Sub-Subadviser in providing a copy of the Sub-Subadviser’s privacy notice (as may be provided to the Fund, the Adviser and/or the Sub-Adviser from time to time) to the relevant data subjects.

(e)  Save where transferring Personal Data to the Fund, the Adviser and/or the Sub-Adviser or to the party from which it was originally received, the Sub-Subadviser shall not transfer Personal Data to countries outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”) unless there is a lawful basis for such transfer and provided that:

(i)  the transfer is made on the basis of an adequacy decision of the European Commission with respect to the protection of Personal Data; or

(ii)  the transfer is made on the basis of appropriate safeguards or derogations listed by and subject to the provisions of Data Protection Legislation.

(f)  The parties hereto agree to provide reasonable assistance as is necessary to each other:

(i)  to enable them to comply with any data subjects’ rights requests under Articles 15 to 21 of the GDPR (or equivalent rights under other Data Protection Legislation) and to respond to any other queries or complaints from data subjects relating to this Agreement; and

(ii)  in respect of any personal data breach (as defined in the Data Protection Legislation) relating to this Agreement including informing the others of any personal data breach in relation to Personal Data as soon as reasonably practicable upon becoming aware of such a breach.

 

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13.  Amendments to this Agreement. This Agreement may be amended by mutual consent, but the consent of the Fund must be approved (a) by vote of a majority of those members of the Board of the Fund who are not parties to this Agreement or interested persons of any such party, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such amendment, and (b) by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, as defined under the 1940 Act.

14.  Definitions of Certain Terms. The terms “vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities,” “assignment,” “affiliated person” and “interested person” used in this Agreement, shall have the respective meanings specified in the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, subject, however, to such exemptions as may be granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission under said Act.

15.  Governing Law. This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the 1940 Act.

 

8


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed and delivered this Agreement as of the date first above written.

 

STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE DEBT LLC
By:  

 

Name:   Joey Wong Castillo
Title:   Authorized Signatory

STEPSTONE GROUP EUROPE

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS LIMITED

By:  

 

Name:   [ ]
Title:   [ ]

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME

FUND

By:  

 

Name:   Robert W. Long
Title:   President

 

9

DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

THIS DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”) is made as of this ___ day of _______, 2024, by and StepStone Private Credit Income Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Trust”) and UMB Distribution Services, LLC, a Wisconsin limited liability company (“Provider”).

WHEREAS, the Trust is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company registered under the 1940 Act (as defined below) and is authorized to issue Shares (as defined below);

WHEREAS, Provider is registered as a broker-dealer under the 1934 Act (as defined below) and is a member of FINRA (as defined below); and

WHEREAS, the Trust and Provider desire to enter into an agreement pursuant to which Provider shall be the distributor for the Shares.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises and agreements herein contained and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto, intending to be legally bound, do hereby agree as follows:

 

1.

  Definitions

In addition to any terms defined in the body of this Agreement, the following capitalized terms shall have the meanings set forth hereinafter whenever they appear in this Agreement:

1933 Act shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

1934 Act shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

1940 Act shall mean the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

Board shall mean the Board of Trustees of the Trust.

Commission shall mean the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

FINRA shall mean the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.

Offering Price shall mean the price per share that the Shares will be offered for sale to the public calculated in accordance with the Trust’s then current Prospectus.

Prospectus shall mean the current Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information with respect to the Trust (including any applicable amendments and supplements thereto) actually received by Provider from the Trust with respect to which the Trust has indicated a Registration Statement has become effective under the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act.

 

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Registration Statementshall mean any registration statement on Form N-2 at any time now or hereafter filed with the Commission with respect to any of the Shares and any amendments and supplements thereto which at any time shall have been or will be filed with the Commission.

Services shall mean the services described in Section 2 of this Agreement and such additional services as may be agreed to by the parties from time to time and set forth in an amendment to this Agreement.

Shares shall mean such shares of beneficial interest, or class thereof, of the Trust as may be issued from time to time.

Shareholder shall mean a record owner of Shares of the Trust.

 

2.

  Appointment and Services

(a) The Trust hereby appoints Provider as agent for the distribution of Shares during the term of this Agreement and on the terms set forth in this Agreement and Provider accepts such appointment. Subject to the direction and control of the Board and utilizing information provided by the Trust and its current and prior agents and service providers, Provider will render the Services in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. The duties of Provider shall be confined to those expressly set forth herein, and no implied duties are assumed by or may be asserted against Provider hereunder.

(b) Provider will act as distributor for the distribution of Shares in accordance with the instructions of the Board and the Registration Statement and Prospectuses then in effect with respect to the Trust under the 1933 Act.

(c) Provider may incur expenses for distribution activities which it deems reasonable and which are primarily intended to result in the sale of Shares, including, but not limited to, advertising, the printing and mailing of prospectuses to other than current Shareholders, and the printing and mailing of sales literature. At the direction of the Trust, Provider may in its sole discretion enter into servicing and/or selling agreements with qualified broker/dealers and other persons ore entities with respect to the offering of Shares to the public. Provider shall not be obligated to incur any specific expenses or sell any certain number of Shares.

(d) All Shares offered for sale by Provider shall be offered for sale at the Offering Price. Provider shall have no liability for the payment of the purchase price of the Shares sold pursuant to this Agreement or with respect to redemptions or repurchases of Shares. The price the Trust shall receive for any Shares purchased by investors shall be the net asset value used in determining the Offering Price applicable to the sale of such Shares, as calculated in the manner set forth in the Trust’s Registration Statement.

(e) Provider shall act as distributor of the Shares in compliance in all material respects with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, including, without limitation, all rules and regulations made or adopted pursuant to the 1940 Act, by the Commission and FINRA.

 

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(f) Provider shall not utilize any materials in connection with the sale or offering of Shares except the Prospectus and such other materials as the Trust shall provide or approve. Provider agrees to review all marketing materials prepared for use by or on behalf of the Trust for compliance with applicable rules and regulations in advance of the use of such materials. The Trust agrees to incorporate changes to such materials as Provider may request to the satisfaction of Provider. Provider will file such materials as may be required with FINRA, or the Commission. The Trust represents that it will not use or authorize the use of any marketing materials, including any such materials in use prior to the execution of this Agreement, unless and until such materials have been approved and authorized for use by Provider. All marketing materials related to the Trust shall be delivered to Provider for review prior to use with sufficient time to permit Provider to review the material and to file with FINRA if necessary. The Trust and Provider shall mutually agree upon a reasonable turnaround time for such review. Provider shall, with respect to any marketing materials required to be filed with FINRA, file such marketing materials within ten (10) business days of the date of first use. The Trust shall address any comments received from FINRA with respect to any marketing materials to the satisfaction of Provider, including updating or discontinuing use of such marketing material.

 

3.

  Duties and Representations of the Trust

(a) The Trust represents that it is registered as a closed-end fund under the 1940 Act and that it has and will continue to act in conformity with its Declaration of Trust, its Bylaws, its Registration Statement and resolutions and other instructions of its Board and has and will continue to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations including without limitation the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act, the 1940 Act, the laws of the states in which Shares are offered and sold, and the rules and regulations thereunder.

(b) The Trust shall take or cause to be taken all necessary action to register and maintain the registration of the Shares for sale as herein contemplated and shall pay all costs and expenses in connection with the registration of Shares, and be responsible for all expenses in connection with maintaining facilities for the issue and transfer of Shares and for supplying information, prices and other data to be furnished by the Trust hereunder.

(c) The Trust shall execute any and all documents and furnish any and all information and otherwise take all actions which may be reasonably necessary in the discretion of the Trust’s officers in connection with the qualification of the Shares for sale in such states as Provider and the Trust may agree, shall maintain the registration of a sufficient number or amount of Shares thereunder, and shall pay all costs and expenses in connection with such qualification. The Trust shall notify Provider, or cause Provider to be notified, of the states in which Shares may be sold and shall notify Provider of any change thereto.

(d) The Trust shall, at its expense, keep Provider fully informed with respect to its affairs as necessary for Provider to perform the Services and to fulfill any applicable regulatory or legal responsibilities. In addition, the Trust shall furnish Provider from time to time such information, documents and reports with respect to the Trust and the Shares as Provider may reasonably request,

 

3


and the Trust warrants that the statements contained in any such information shall be true and correct and fairly represent what they purport to represent.

(e) The Trust represents to Provider that all Registration Statements and Prospectuses of the Trust filed or to be filed with the Commission under the 1933 Act and 1940 Act with respect to the Shares have been and will be prepared in conformity with the requirements of the 1933 Act, 1940 Act, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder. The Trust represents and warrants to Provider that any Registration Statement and Prospectus, when such Registration Statement becomes effective, will contain all statements required to be stated therein in conformity with the the 1933 Act, 1940 Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission; that all information contained in the Registration Statement and Prospectus will be true and correct in all material respects when such Registration Statement becomes effective; and that neither the Registration Statement nor any Prospectus when such Registration Statement becomes effective will include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that the above representations are expressly based on the Trust’s reasonable assumption that information supplied by Provider and included in the Trust’s Registration Statements and Prospectus is at all relevant times materially correct and accurate. The Trust agrees to file from time to time such amendments, supplements, reports and other documents as may be necessary or required in order to: (1) comply with the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act; (2) ensure that there is no untrue statement(s) of a material fact in a Registration Statement or Prospectus; or (3) ensure that all statements necessary or required in order that there may be no omission to state a material fact in the Registration Statement or Prospectus which omission would make the statements therein misleading. The Trust shall promptly notify Provider of any advice given to it by counsel to the Trust regarding the necessity or advisability of amending or supplementing the Registration Statement.

(f) The Trust shall not file any amendment to the Registration Statement or supplement to any Prospectus without giving Provider reasonable notice thereof in advance and if Provider declines to assent to such amendment (after a reasonable time), the Trust may terminate this Agreement forthwith by written notice to Provider without payment of any penalty. If the Trust shall not propose an amendment or amendments and/or supplement or supplements promptly after receipt by the Trust of a written request in good faith from Provider to do so, Provider may, at its option, terminate this Agreement upon no less than 60 days’ written notice. In addition, if, at any time during the term of this Agreement, Provider requests that the Trust make any change in its governing instruments or in its methods of doing business which are necessary in order to comply with any requirement of applicable law or regulation, and the Trust fails (after a reasonable time) to make any such change as requested, Provider may terminate this Agreement forthwith by written notice to the Trust without payment of any penalty. Nothing contained in this Agreement shall in any way limit the Trust’s right to file at any time any amendments to any Registration Statement and/or supplements to any Prospectus, of whatever character, as the Trust may deem advisable, with advice of its counsel, such right being in all respects absolute and unconditional.

(g) Whenever in its judgment such action is warranted by market, economic or political conditions, or by circumstances of any kind, the Trust may decline to accept any orders for, or make any sales of, any Shares until such time as the Trust deems it advisable to accept such orders and to make such sales and the Trust shall advise Provider promptly of such determination.

 

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(h) The Trust agrees to advise Provider promptly in writing of the following:

(i) any material correspondence or other material communication by the Commission or its staff relating to the Trust including requests by the Commission for amendments to the Registration Statement or Prospectuses;

(ii) the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or Prospectuses then in effect or the initiation of any proceeding for that purpose;

(iii) the happening of any event which makes untrue any statement of a material fact made in the Registration Statement or Prospectuses or which requires the making of a change in such Registration Statement or Prospectuses in order to make the statements therein not misleading; or

(iv) all actions taken by the Commission with respect to any amendments to any Registration Statement or Prospectus which may from time to time be filed with the Commission.

 

4.

  Offering of Shares.

No Shares shall be offered by either Provider or the Trust under any of the provisions of this Agreement and no orders for the purchase or sale of such Shares hereunder shall be accepted by the Trust if and so long as the effectiveness of the Registration Statement then in effect or any necessary amendments thereto shall be suspended under any of the provisions of the 1933 Act or if and so long as the current Prospectus as required by Section 10 of the 1933 Act, as amended, is not on file with the Commission; provided, however, that nothing contained in this paragraph 4 shall in any way restrict or have an application to or bearing upon the Trust’s obligation to repurchase Shares from any shareholder in accordance with the provisions of the Prospectus or Declaration of Trust.

 

5.

  Fees

(a) As compensation for the services performed hereunder and the expenses incurred by Provider, the Trust shall pay Provider the fees and reimburse the expenses of Provider as provided in Schedule A hereto. Fees shall be adjusted in accordance with Schedule A or as otherwise agreed to by the parties from time to time. Fees shall be earned and paid quarterly in arrears in an amount equal to at least 1/ 4th of the applicable annual fee. The parties may amend this Agreement to include fees for any additional services requested by the Trust or enhancements to current Services. The Trust agrees to pay Provider’s then current rate for Services added to, or for any enhancements to existing Services set forth on, Schedule A after the execution of this Agreement.

(b) For the purpose of determining fees payable to Provider, net asset value shall be computed in accordance with the Prospectus and resolutions of the Board. The fee for the period from the day of the month this Agreement is entered into until the end of that month shall be pro-rated

 

5


according to the proportion that such period bears to the full monthly period. Upon any termination of this Agreement before the end of any month, the fee for such part of a month shall be pro-rated according to the proportion which such period bears to the full monthly period and shall be payable upon the date of termination of this Agreement. Should the Trust be liquidated, merged with or acquired by another fund or investment company, any accrued fees shall be immediately payable.

(c) Provider will bear all expenses incurred by it in connection with the performance of its services under Section 2, except as otherwise provided herein. Provider shall not be required to pay or finance any costs and expenses incurred in the operation of the Trust, including, but not limited to: taxes; interest; brokerage fees and commissions; salaries, fees and expenses of officers and trustees; Commission fees and state Blue Sky fees; advisory fees; charges of custodians, transfer agents, dividend disbursing and accounting services agents and other service providers; security pricing services; insurance premiums; outside auditing and legal expenses; costs of organization and maintenance of corporate existence; taxes and fees payable to federal, state and other governmental agencies; preparation, typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing of Prospectuses, notices, forms and applications and proxy materials for regulatory purposes and for distribution to current Shareholders; preparation, typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing and other costs of Shareholder reports; expenses in connection with the electronic transmission of documents and information including electronic filings with the Commission and the states; research and statistical data services; expenses incidental to holding meetings of the Shareholders and Trustees; fees and expenses associated with internet, e-mail and other related activities; and extraordinary expenses. Expenses incurred for distribution of shares, including the typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing of Prospectuses for persons who are not shareholders of the Trust, will be borne by the Trust’s investment adviser(s), except for such expenses permitted to be paid by the Trust under a distribution and/or service plan, if any, adopted pursuant to exemptive relief received by the Trust from the Commission (“Distribution Plan”).

(d) The Trust also agrees to promptly reimburse Provider for all out-of-pocket expenses or disbursements incurred by Provider in connection with the performance of Services under this Agreement. Out-of-pocket expenses shall include, but not be limited to, those items specified on Schedule A hereto. If requested by Provider, out-of-pocket expenses are payable in advance. Payment of postage expenses, if prepayment is requested, is due at least seven (7) days prior to the anticipated mail date. In the event Provider requests advance payment, Provider shall not be obligated to incur such expenses or perform the related Service(s) until payment is received.

(e) The Trust agrees to pay all amounts due hereunder within thirty (30) days of receipt of each invoice (“Due Date”). Except as provided in Schedule A, Provider shall bill Service fees monthly, and out-of-pocket expenses as incurred (unless prepayment is requested by the Provider). Provider may, at its option, arrange to have various service providers submit invoices directly to the Trust for payment of reimbursable out-of-pocket expenses.

(f) The Trust is aware that its failure to remit to Provider all amounts due on or before the Due Date will cause Provider to incur costs not contemplated by this Agreement, including, but not limited to carrying, processing and accounting charges. Accordingly, in the event that the Provider does not receive any amounts due hereunder by the Due Date, the Trust agrees to pay a late charge on the overdue amount equal to one and one-half percent (1.5%) per month or the maximum amount

 

6


permitted by law, whichever is less. In addition, the Trust shall pay Provider’s reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs in the event that an attorney is engaged to assist in the collection of any undisputed amounts due Provider. The parties hereby agree that such late charge represents a fair and reasonable computation of the costs incurred by reason of the Trust’s late payment. Acceptance of such late charge shall in no event constitute a waiver by Provider of the Trust’s default or prevent Provider from exercising any other rights and remedies available to it.

(g) In the event that any charges are disputed, the Trust shall, on or before the Due Date, pay all undisputed amounts due hereunder and notify Provider in writing of any disputed charges for out-of-pocket expenses which it is disputing in good faith. Payment for such disputed charges shall be due on or before the fifth business day after the day on which Provider provides to the Trust documentation which an objective observer would agree reasonably supports any disputed charges (“Revised Due Date”). Late charges shall not begin to accrue as to charges disputed in good faith until the first day after the Revised Due Date.

(h) The Trust acknowledges that the fees charged by Provider under this Agreement reflect the allocation of risk between the parties, including the exclusion of remedies and limitations of liability in Section 7. Modifying the allocation of risk from what is stated herein would affect the fees that Provider charges. Accordingly, in consideration of those fees, the Trust agrees to the stated allocation of risk.

 

6.

  Confidentiality

In case of any requests or demands for inspection of the records of the Trust, Provider will endeavor to notify the Trust promptly and to secure instructions from a representative of the Trust as to such inspection. Records and information which have become known to the public through no wrongful act of Provider or any of its employees, agents or representatives, and information which was already in the possession of Provider prior to receipt thereof, shall not be subject to this paragraph. The obligations of the parties under this Section 6 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

 

7.

  Limitation of Liability

(a) Provider shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Trust in connection with the performance of its obligations and duties under this Agreement, except a loss resulting from Provider’s willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of such duties and obligations, or by reason of its reckless disregard thereof. Furthermore, notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, Provider shall not be liable for: (1) any action taken or omitted to be taken in accordance with instructions received by Provider from an officer or representative of the Trust; or, (2) any action taken or omission by the Trust, its investment adviser(s) or any past or current service provider.

 

7


(b) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, Provider will be excused from its obligation to perform any act, service or obligation required of it hereunder for the duration that such performance is prevented by events beyond its reasonable control and shall not be liable for any default, damage, loss of data or documents, errors, delay or any other loss whatsoever caused thereby. Provider will, however, take all reasonable steps to minimize the effect of any service interruption for any period that such interruption continues beyond its control.

(c) In no event and under no circumstances shall Provider, its affiliates or any of its or their members, officers, directors, agents or employees be liable to anyone, including, without limitation, the other party, under any theory of tort, contract, strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for lost profits, exemplary, punitive, special, indirect or consequential damages for any act or failure to act under any provision of this Agreement regardless of whether such damages were foreseeable and even if advised of the possibility thereof.

 

8.

  Indemnification.

(a) The Trust authorizes Provider to use any Prospectus, in the form furnished to Provider from time to time, in connection with the sale of Shares. The Trust shall indemnify, defend and hold Provider, and each of its present or former directors, members, officers, employees, representatives and any person who controls or previously controlled Provider within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act (“Provider Indemnitees”), free and harmless from and against: (1) any and all losses, claims, demands, liabilities, damages, charges, payments, costs and expenses (including the costs of investigating or defending any alleged losses, claims, demands, liabilities, damages, charges, payments, fines, penalties, costs or expenses and any reasonable counsel fees incurred in connection therewith) of any and every nature (“Losses”) which Provider and each of the Provider Indemnitees may incur under the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act, the 1940 Act and any other statute (including Blue Sky laws) or any rule or regulation thereunder, or under common law or otherwise arising out of or based upon any untrue statement, or alleged untrue statement, of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement or any Prospectus, an annual or interim report to shareholders or sales literature, or any amendments or supplements thereto, or arising out of or based upon any omission, or alleged omission, to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that the Trust’s obligation to indemnify Provider and any of the foregoing Provider Indemnitees shall not be deemed to cover any Losses arising out of any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made therein in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to Provider and furnished to the Trust or its counsel by Provider in writing for the purpose of, and used in, the preparation thereof; (2) any and all Losses which Provider and each of the Provider Indemnitees may incur in connection with this Agreement or Provider’s performance hereunder, except to the extent the Losses result from Provider’s willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties, or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under this Agreement; or (3) any and all Losses which Provider and each Provider Indemnitee may incur when acting in accordance with instructions from the Trust or its representatives.

(b) Promptly after receipt by Provider of notice of the commencement of an investigation, action, claim or proceeding, Provider shall, if a claim for indemnification in respect thereof is made

 

8


under this section, notify the Trust in writing of the commencement thereof, although the failure to do so shall not prevent recovery by Provider or any Provider Indemnitee. The Trust shall be entitled to participate at its own expense in the defense or, if it so elects, to assume the defense of any suit brought to enforce any such Loss, but if the Trust elects to assume the defense, such defense shall be conducted by counsel chosen by the Trust and approved by Provider, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. In the event the Trust elects to assume the defense of any such suit and retain such counsel and notifies Provider of such election, the indemnified defendant or defendants in such suit shall bear the fees and expenses of any additional counsel retained by them subsequent to the receipt of the Trust’s election. If the Trust does not elect to assume the defense of any such suit, or in case Provider does not, in the exercise of reasonable judgment, approve of counsel chosen by the Trust, or in case there is a conflict of interest between the Trust and Provider or any Provider Indemnitee, the Trust will reimburse the indemnified person or persons named as defendant or defendants in such suit, for the fees and expenses of any counsel retained by Provider and them. The Trust’s indemnification agreement contained in this Section 8 and the Trust’s representations and warranties in this Agreement shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of Provider and each Provider Indemnitee, and shall survive the delivery of any Shares and the termination of this Agreement. This agreement of indemnity will inure exclusively to Provider’s benefit, to the benefit of each Provider Indemnitee and their estates and successors. The Trust agrees to promptly notify Provider of the commencement of any litigation or proceedings against the Trust or any of its officers or directors in connection with the issue and sale of any of the Shares.

(c) The Trust acknowledges and agrees that in the event Provider, at the direction of the Trust, is required to give indemnification to any entity selling Shares or providing shareholder services to Shareholders or others and such entity shall make a claim for indemnification against Provider, Provider shall make a similar claim for indemnification against the Trust and shall be entitled to such indemnification.

(d) Provider shall indemnify, defend and hold the Trust, and each of its present or former trustees, officers, employees, representatives, and any person who controls or previously controlled the Trust within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act (“Trust Indemnitees”), free and harmless from and against any and all Losses which the Trust, and each of its present or former trustees, officers, employees, representatives, or any such controlling person, may incur under the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act, the 1940 Act, any other statute (including Blue Sky laws) or any rule or regulation thereunder, or under common law or otherwise: (1) arising out of or based upon any untrue, or alleged untrue, statement of a material fact contained in the Trust’s Registration Statement or any Prospectus, as from time to time amended or supplemented, or the omission, or alleged omission, to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statement not misleading, but only if such statement or omission was made in reliance upon, and in conformity with, information relating to Provider and furnished in writing to the Trust or its counsel by Provider for the purpose of, and used in, the preparation thereof; or (2) to the extent any Losses arise out of or result from Provider’s willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties, or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties under this Agreement. Provider’s agreement to indemnify the Trust and any of the Trust Indemnitees shall not be deemed to cover any Losses to the extent they arise out of or result from the Trust’s willful misfeasance, bad

 

9


faith or negligence in the performance of its duties, or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties, under this Agreement.

(e) Promptly after receipt by the Trust of notice of the commencement of an investigation, action, claim or proceeding, the Trust shall, if a claim for indemnification in respect thereof is to made under this section, notify Provider in writing of the commencement thereof, although the failure to do so shall not prevent recovery by the Trust or any Trust Indemnitee. Provider shall be entitled to participate at its own expense in the defense or, if it so elects, to assume the defense of any suit brought to enforce any such loss, claim, demand, liability, damage or expense, but if Provider elects to assume the defense, such defense shall be conducted by counsel chosen by Provider and approved by the Trust, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. In the event Provider elects to assume the defense of any such suit and retain such counsel and notifies Provider of such election, the indemnified defendant or defendants in such suit shall bear the fees and expenses of any additional counsel retained by them subsequent to the receipt of Provider’s election. If Provider does not elect to assume the defense of any such suit, or in case the Trust does not, in the exercise of reasonable judgment, approve of counsel chosen by Provider, or in case there is a conflict of interest between the Provider and the Trust or any Trust Indemnitee, Provider will reimburse the indemnified person or persons named as defendant or defendants in such suit, for the fees and expenses of any counsel retained by the Trust and them. Provider’s indemnification agreement contained in this Section 8 and Provider’s representations and warranties in this Agreement shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the Trust or any Trust Indemnitee, and shall survive the delivery of any Shares and the termination of this Agreement. This agreement of indemnity will inure exclusively to the Trust’s benefit, to the benefit of each Trust Indemnitee and their estates and successors. Provider agrees to promptly notify the Trust of the commencement of any litigation or proceedings against Provider or any of its officers or directors in connection with the issue and sale of any of the Shares.

 

9.

  Term

(a) This Agreement shall become effective with respect to the Trust as of the date hereof. Unless sooner terminated as provided herein, this Agreement shall continue in effect until __________, 2026. Thereafter, if not terminated, this Agreement shall continue automatically in effect for successive annual periods, provided such continuance is specifically approved at least annually by: (1) the Board; or (2) the vote of a majority (as defined in the 1940 Act and Rule 18f-2 thereunder) of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust; and provided that in either event the continuance is also approved by a majority of the Board who are not “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of any party to this Agreement, by vote cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such approval.

(b) This Agreement may be terminated without penalty: (1) through a failure to renew this Agreement at the end of a term; (2) upon mutual consent of the parties; or (3) on no less than sixty (60) days’ written notice, by the Board, by vote of a majority (as defined with respect to voting securities in the 1940 Act and Rule 18f-2 thereunder) of the outstanding voting securities of the Trust, or by Provider (which notice may be waived by the party entitled to such notice). The terms of this Agreement shall not be waived, altered, modified, amended or supplemented in any manner

 

10


whatsoever except by a written instrument signed by Provider and the Trust. This Agreement will also terminate automatically in the event of its assignment (as defined in the 1940 Act).

(c) In the event of termination of this Agreement, all reasonable expenses associated with movement of records and materials and conversion thereof shall be borne by the Trust. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, upon the termination of this Agreement as provided herein or the liquidation of the Trust, Provider shall deliver the records of the Trust to the Trust or its designee in a form that is consistent with Provider’s applicable license agreements at the expense of the Trust, and thereafter the Trust or its designee shall be solely responsible for preserving the records for the periods required by all applicable laws, rules and regulations.

 

10.

  Miscellaneous.

(a) Any notice required or to be permitted to be given by either party to the other shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been given when sent by either an overnight delivery service or by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, to the addresses listed below, or to such other location as either party may from time to time designate in writing:

 

If to Provider:

  

UMB Distribution Services, LLC

235 West Galena Street

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212

Attention: Legal Department

 

If to the Trust:

  

c/o StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S. Tryon Street, Ste. 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Attention: Kimberly Zeitvogel

(b) Except as provided to the contrary herein, this Agreement may not be amended or modified in any manner except by written agreement executed by both parties with the formality of this Agreement.

(c) This Agreement shall be governed by Delaware law, excluding the laws on conflicts of laws. To the extent that the applicable laws of the State of Delaware, or any of the provisions herein, conflict with the applicable provisions of the 1940 Act, the latter shall control, and nothing herein shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the 1940 Act or any rule or order of the Commission thereunder. Any provision of this Agreement which may be determined by competent authority to be prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof, and any such prohibition or unenforceability in any jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction. In such case, the parties shall in good faith modify or substitute such provision consistent with the original intent of the parties.

(d)  This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original agreement but such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the

 

11


same instrument. The facsimile signature of any party to this Agreement shall constitute the valid and binding execution hereof by such party.

(e) The services of Provider hereunder are not deemed to be exclusive. Provider may render such services and any other services to others, including other investment companies. The Trust recognizes that from time to time directors, officers, and employees of Provider may serve as directors, trustees, officers and employees of other entities (including other investment companies), that such other entities may include the name of Provider as part of their name and that Provider or its affiliates may enter into distribution, administration, fund accounting, transfer agent or other agreements with such other entities.

(f)  The captions of this Agreement are included for convenience of reference only and in no way define or delimit any of the provisions hereof or otherwise affect their construction or effect.

(g) This Agreement is executed by the Trust and the obligations hereunder are not binding upon any of the trustees, officers or shareholders of the Trust individually but are binding only upon the Trust.

(h) This Agreement and the Schedule incorporated hereto constitute the full and complete understanding and agreement between Provider and the Trust and supersedes all prior negotiations, understandings and agreements.

(i) The person signing below represents and warrants that he/she is duly authorized to execute this Agreement on behalf of the Trust.

(j) Except as specifically provided herein, this Agreement does not in any way affect any other agreements entered into between the parties hereto and any actions taken or omitted by any party hereunder shall not affect any rights or obligations of the other party.

 

12


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed by a duly authorized officer as of the day and year first above written.

 

STEPSTONE PRIVATE      UMB DISTRIBUTION SERVICES, LLC
CREDIT INCOME FUND     
(the “Trust”)      (“Provider”)
By:                       By:                 
   Kimberly Zeitvogel         Scott Schulenburg
   Treasurer         President

 

13


Schedule A

to the

Distribution Agreement

by and between

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund

and

UMB Distribution Services, LLC

[RESERVED]

 

14


All fees, other than basis point fees, are subject to an annual escalation equal to the increase in the Consumer Price Index–Urban Wage Earners (CPI) but not to exceed a 3% increase per year. Such escalations shall be effective commencing one year from the effective date of each Fund and the corresponding date each year thereafter. No amendment of this fee schedule shall be required with each escalation. CPI will be determined by reference to the Consumer Price Index News Release issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.

Fees for services not contemplated by this schedule will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

 

15

 

CUSTODY AGREEMENT

Dated        , 2024

Between

UMB BANK, N.A.

and

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

 

 

 

 

1


CUSTODY AGREEMENT

This agreement made as of the date first set forth above (the “Agreement”) between UMB Bank, n.a., a national banking association with its principal place of business located in Kansas City, Missouri (hereinafter “Custodian”) and StepStone Private Credit Income Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Fund”).

WITNESSETH:

WHEREAS, the Fund is registered as a closed-end management investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“the 1940 Act”); and

WHEREAS, the Fund desires to appoint Custodian as its custodian for the custody of Assets (as hereinafter defined) owned by the Fund, which Assets are to be held in such accounts as the Fund may establish from time to time; and

WHEREAS, Custodian is willing to accept such appointment on the terms and conditions hereof.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises contained herein, the parties hereto, intending to be legally bound, mutually covenant and agree as follows:

1. APPOINTMENT OF CUSTODIAN.

The Fund hereby constitutes and appoints the Custodian as custodian of Assets belonging to the Fund which have been or may be from time to time delivered to and accepted by the Custodian. Custodian accepts such appointment as a custodian and agrees to perform the duties and responsibilities of Custodian as set forth herein on the conditions set forth herein. For purposes of this Agreement, the term “Assets” shall include Securities, monies, and other property held by the Custodian for the benefit of the Fund. “Security” or “Securities” shall mean stocks, bonds, rights, warrants, certificates, instruments, obligations and all other negotiable or non-negotiable paper commonly known as Securities which have been or may from time to time be delivered to and accepted by the Custodian. For the avoidance of doubt, “Securities” shall also mean, for purposes of the Fund’s investments in underlying investment companies, the completed subscription agreements (or any document, however titled, containing factual information regarding the Fund and Fund representations and warranties necessary to make the investment, which shall be defined herein as a “Subscription Agreement”), pertaining to such underlying investment company. Custodian shall have no obligation to treat a Subscription Agreement as a Security until the Fund delivers such completed Subscription Agreement to the Custodian.

2. INSTRUCTIONS.

(a) An “Instruction,” as used herein, shall mean a request, direction, instruction or certification initiated by the Fund and conforming to the terms of this paragraph. An Instruction may be transmitted to the Custodian by any of the following means:

(i) a writing manually signed on behalf of the Fund by an Authorized Person (as hereinafter defined);

(ii) a telephonic or other oral communication from a person the Custodian reasonably believes to be an Authorized Person;

 

2


(iii) a facsimile transmission that the Custodian reasonably believes has been signed or otherwise originated by an Authorized Person;

 

  (iv)

a communication effected through the internet or web-based functionality (including without limitation, emails, data files and other communications) on behalf of the Fund (“Electronic Communication”); or

  (v)

other means reasonably acceptable to both parties.

Instructions in the form of oral communications shall be confirmed by the Fund by either a writing (as set forth in (i) above), a facsimile (as set forth in (iii) above), or an Electronic Communication (as set forth in (iv) above), but the lack of such confirmation shall in no way affect any action taken by the Custodian in reliance upon such oral Instructions prior to the Custodian’s receipt of such confirmation. The Fund authorizes the Custodian to record any and all telephonic or other oral Instructions communicated to the Custodian. The parties acknowledge and agree that, with respect to Instructions transmitted by facsimile, the Custodian cannot verify that the signature of an Authorized Person has been properly affixed and, with respect to Instructions transmitted by an Electronic Communication, the Custodian cannot verify that the Electronic Communication has been initiated by an Authorized Person; accordingly, the Custodian shall have no liability as a result of actions taken in reliance on unauthorized facsimile or Electronic Communication Instructions. The Custodian recommends that any Instructions transmitted by the Fund via email be done so through a secure system or process.

(b) “Special Instructions,” as used herein, shall mean Instructions countersigned or confirmed in writing by the Treasurer or any other officer of the Fund, which countersignature or confirmation shall be on the same instrument containing the Instructions or on a separate instrument relating thereto.

(c) Instructions and Special Instructions shall be delivered to the Custodian at the address and/or telephone number, facsimile transmission number or email address agreed upon from time to time by the Custodian and the Fund.

(d) Where appropriate and specifically stated, Instructions and Special Instructions shall be continuing Instructions.

(e) An Authorized Person shall be responsible for assuring the accuracy and completeness of Instructions. If the Custodian reasonably determines that an Instruction is unclear or incomplete, the Custodian may notify the Fund of such determination, in which case the Fund shall be responsible for delivering to the Custodian an amended Instruction. The Custodian shall have no obligation to take any action until the Fund re-delivers to the Custodian an Instruction that is clear and complete.

(f) The Fund shall be responsible for delivering to the Custodian Instructions or Special Instructions in a timely manner, after considering such factors as the involvement of subcustodians, brokers or agents in a transaction, time zone differences, reasonable industry standards, etc. The Custodian shall have no liability if the Fund delivers Instructions or Special Instructions to the Custodian after any deadline established by the Custodian.

(g) By providing Instructions to acquire or hold Foreign Assets (as defined in Rule 17f-5(a)(2) under the 1940 Act), the Fund shall be deemed to have confirmed to the Custodian that the Fund has (i) considered and accepted responsibility for all Sovereign Risks and Country Risks (as hereinafter defined) associated with investing in a particular country or jurisdiction, and (ii) made all determinations and provided to shareholders and other investors all disclosures required of registered investment companies by the 1940 Act.

 

3


3. DELIVERY OF CORPORATE AND OTHER DOCUMENTS.

Each of the parties to this Agreement represents that its execution does not violate any of the provisions of its respective charter, articles of incorporation, partnership agreement, declaration of trust, articles of association or bylaws, that all required corporate or organizational action to authorize the execution and delivery of this Agreement has been taken, and that the person signing this Agreement is authorized to bind such party.

The Fund agrees to provide the Custodian, upon request, documentation regarding the Fund, including, by way of example: declaration of trust, by-laws, resolutions, registration statements, W-9s and other tax-related documentation, compliance policies and procedures and other compliance documents, etc.

In addition, the Fund has delivered or will promptly deliver to the Custodian, copies of the resolution(s) of its Board of Trustees and all amendments or supplements thereto, properly certified or authenticated, designating certain officers or employees of the Fund who will have continuing authority to certify to the Custodian: (a) the names, titles, signatures and scope of authority of all persons authorized to give Instructions or any other notice, request, direction, instruction, certificate or instrument on behalf of the Fund, and (b) the names, titles and signatures of those persons authorized to countersign or confirm Special Instructions on behalf of the Fund (in both cases collectively, the “Authorized Persons” and individually, an “Authorized Person”). Such resolutions and certificates may be accepted and relied upon by the Custodian as conclusive evidence of the facts set forth therein and shall be considered to be in full force and effect until delivery to the Custodian of a similar resolution or certificate to the contrary; provided, however, that the Custodian may rely upon any written designation furnished by the Treasurer or other officer of the Fund designating persons authorized to countersign or confirm Special Instructions (as provided in Section 2(b)). Upon delivery of a certificate which deletes or does not include the name(s) of a person previously authorized to give Instructions or to countersign or confirm Special Instructions, such person shall no longer be considered an Authorized Person authorized to give Instructions or to countersign or confirm Special Instructions. Unless the certificate specifically requires that the approval of anyone else will first have been obtained, the Custodian will be under no obligation to inquire into the right of the person giving such Instructions or Special Instructions to do so. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, no Instructions or Special Instructions received by the Custodian from the Fund will be deemed to authorize or permit any director, trustee, officer, employee, or agent of the Fund to withdraw any of the Assets of the Fund upon the mere receipt of such authorization, Special Instructions or Instructions from such director, trustee, officer, employee or agent.

The Fund further agrees to promptly provide the Custodian completed Subscription Agreements and any other applicable documentation for the Fund’s investment in any underlying investment companies. Such investments will only be Securities, and therefore Assets of the Fund, upon receipt by the Custodian of completed Subscription Agreements for the Fund. The Fund undertakes to work with Custodian to ensure that quarterly confirmations, and any documentation representing changes to the Fund’s holding in such investment (such as related to an “add-on” purchase), are provided to Custodian as soon as practicably possible.

4. POWERS AND DUTIES OF CUSTODIAN AND DOMESTIC SUBCUSTODIAN.

Except for Assets held by any Foreign Subcustodian, Special Subcustodian or Eligible Securities Depository appointed pursuant to Sections 5(b), (c), or (f) of this Agreement, the Custodian shall have and perform the powers and duties hereinafter set forth in this Section 4. For purposes of this Section 4 all

 

4


references to powers and duties of the “Custodian” shall also refer to any Domestic Subcustodian appointed pursuant to Section 5(a).

(a) Safekeeping.

The Custodian will keep safely the Assets of the Fund which are delivered to and accepted by it from time to time. The Custodian shall notify the Fund if it is unwilling or unable to accept custody of any asset of the Fund. The Custodian shall not be responsible for any property of the Fund held by the Fund and not delivered to the Custodian or for any pre-existing faults or defects in Assets that are delivered to the Custodian.

(b) Manner of Holding Securities.

(1) The Custodian shall at all times hold Securities of the Fund either: (i) by physical possession of the share certificates, completed Subscription Agreements, or other instruments representing such Securities, in registered or bearer form; in the vault of the Custodian, Domestic Subcustodian, a Special Custodian, depository or agent of the Custodian; or in an account maintained by the Custodian or agent at a Securities System (as hereinafter defined); or (ii) in book-entry form by a Securities System in accordance with the provisions of sub-paragraph (3) below.

(2) The Custodian may hold registrable portfolio Securities which have been delivered to it in physical form, by registering the same in the name of the Fund or its nominee, or in the name of the Custodian or its nominee, for whose actions the Fund and Custodian, respectively, shall be fully responsible. Upon the receipt of Instructions, the Custodian shall hold such Securities in street certificate form, so called, with or without any indication of representative capacity. However, unless it receives Instructions to the contrary, the Custodian will register all such portfolio Securities in the name of the Custodian’s authorized nominee. All such Securities shall be held in an account of the Custodian containing only assets of the Fund or only assets held by the Custodian for the benefit of customers, provided that the records of the Custodian shall indicate at all times the Fund or other customer for which such Securities are held in such accounts and the respective interests therein.

(3) The Custodian may deposit and/or maintain domestic Securities owned by the Fund in, and the Fund hereby approves use of: (a) The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation; (b) any other clearing agency registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which acts as a securities depository; and (c) a Federal Reserve Bank or other entity authorized to operate the federal book-entry system described in the regulations of the Department of the Treasury or book-entry systems operated pursuant to comparable regulations of other federal agencies. Upon the receipt of Special Instructions, the Custodian may deposit and/or maintain domestic Securities owned by the Fund in any other domestic clearing agency that may otherwise be authorized by the SEC to serve in the capacity of depository or clearing agent for the Securities or other assets of investment companies and that acts as a Securities depository. Each of the foregoing shall be referred to in this Agreement as a “Securities System”, and all such Securities Systems shall be listed on the attached Appendix A. Use of a Securities System shall be in accordance with applicable Federal Reserve Board and SEC rules and regulations, if any, and subject to the following provisions:

(i) The Custodian may deposit the Securities directly or through one or more agents or Subcustodians which are also qualified to act as custodians for investment companies.

(ii) Securities held in a Securities System shall be subject to any agreements or rules effective between the Securities System and the Custodian or a Subcustodian, as the case may be.

 

5


(iii) Any Securities deposited or maintained in a Securities System shall be held in an account (“Account”) of the Custodian or a Subcustodian in the Securities System that includes only assets held by the Custodian or a Subcustodian as a custodian or otherwise for customers.

(iv) The books and records of the Custodian shall at all times identify those Securities belonging to the Fund which are maintained in a Securities System.

(v) The Custodian shall pay for Securities purchased for the account of the Fund only upon (a) receipt of advice from the Securities System that such Securities have been transferred to the Account of the Custodian in accordance with the rules of the Securities System, and (b) the making of an entry on the records of the Custodian to reflect such payment and transfer for the account of the Fund. The Custodian shall transfer Securities sold for the account of the Fund only upon (a) receipt of advice from the Securities System that payment for such Securities has been transferred to the Account of the Custodian in accordance with the rules of the Securities System, and (b) the making of an entry on the records of the Custodian to reflect such transfer and payment for the account of the Fund. Copies of all advices from the Securities System relating to transfers of Securities for the account of the Fund shall be maintained for the Fund by the Custodian. Such copies may be maintained by the Custodian in electronic form. The Custodian shall make available to the Fund or its agent on the next business day, by Electronic Communication, facsimile, or other means reasonably acceptable to both parties, daily transaction activity that shall include each day’s transactions for the account of the Fund.

(vi) The Custodian shall, if requested by the Fund pursuant to Instructions, provide the Fund with reports obtained by the Custodian or any Subcustodian with respect to a Securities System’s accounting system, internal accounting control and procedures for safeguarding Securities deposited in the Securities System.

(vii) Upon receipt of Special Instructions to do so, the Custodian shall terminate the use of any Securities System on behalf of the Fund as promptly as practicable and shall take all actions reasonably practicable to safeguard the Securities of the Fund maintained with such Securities System.

(viii) The Custodian otherwise complies with the requirements of Rule 17f-4 under the 1940 Act.

(c) Free Delivery of Assets.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement and except as provided in Section 3 hereof, the Custodian, upon receipt of Special Instructions, will undertake to make free delivery of Assets, provided such Assets are on hand and available, in connection with the Fund’s transactions and to transfer such Assets to such broker, dealer, Subcustodian, bank, agent, Securities System or otherwise as specified in such Special Instructions.

(d) Exchange of Securities.

Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian will exchange Securities held by it for the Fund for other Securities or cash paid in connection with any reorganization, recapitalization, merger, consolidation, conversion, or similar event, and will deposit any such Securities in accordance with the terms of any reorganization or protective plan.

Unless otherwise directed by Instructions, the Custodian is authorized to exchange Securities held by it in temporary form for Securities in definitive form, to surrender Securities for transfer into a name or

 

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nominee name as permitted in Section 4(b)(2), to effect an exchange of shares in a stock split or when the par value of the stock is changed, to sell any fractional shares, and, upon receiving payment therefor, to surrender bonds or other Securities held by it at maturity or call.

(e) Purchases of Assets.

(1) Securities Purchases. In accordance with Instructions, the Custodian shall, with respect to a purchase of Securities, pay for such Securities out of monies held for the Fund’s account for which the purchase was made, but only insofar as monies are available therein for such purpose, and receive the Securities so purchased. Unless the Custodian has received Special Instructions to the contrary, such payment will be made only upon delivery of such Securities to the Custodian, a clearing corporation of a national securities exchange of which the Custodian is a member, or a Securities System in accordance with the provisions of Section 4(b)(3) hereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, upon receipt of Instructions to do so, (i) in connection with a repurchase agreement, the Custodian may release funds to a Securities System prior to the receipt of advice from the Securities System that the Securities underlying such repurchase agreement have been transferred by book-entry into the Account maintained with such Securities System by the Custodian, provided that the Custodian’s instructions to the Securities System require that the Securities System may make payment of such funds to the other party to the repurchase agreement only upon transfer by book-entry of the Securities underlying the repurchase agreement into such Account; (ii) in the case of options, Interest Bearing Deposits (as hereinafter defined), currency deposits and other deposits, and foreign exchange transactions, pursuant to Sections 4(g), 4(k), and 4(l) hereof, the Custodian may make payment therefor before receipt of an advice of transaction; and (iii) the Custodian may make payment for Securities or other Assets prior to delivery thereof in accordance with Instructions, applicable laws, generally accepted trade practices, or the terms of the instrument representing such Security or other Asset, including, but not limited to, Securities and other Assets as to which payment for the Security and receipt of the instrument evidencing the Security are under generally accepted trade practices or the terms of the instrument representing the Security expected to take place in different locations or through separate parties.

(2) Other Assets Purchased. Upon receipt of Instructions and except as otherwise provided herein, the Custodian shall pay for and receive other Assets for the account of the Fund as provided in Instructions.

(f) Sales of Assets.

(1) Securities Sold. In accordance with Instructions, the Custodian shall, with respect to a sale, deliver or cause to be delivered the Securities thus designated as sold to the broker or other person specified in the Instructions relating to such sale. Unless the Custodian has received Special Instructions to the contrary, such delivery shall be made only upon receipt of payment therefor in the form of: (a) cash, certified check, bank cashier’s check, bank credit, or bank wire transfer; (b) credit to the account of the Custodian with a clearing corporation of a national securities exchange of which the Custodian is a member; or (c) credit to the Account of the Custodian with a Securities System, in accordance with the provisions of Section 4(b)(3) hereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Custodian may deliver Securities and other Assets prior to receipt of payment for such Securities in accordance with Instructions, applicable laws, generally accepted trade practices, or the terms of the instrument representing such Security or other Asset. For example, Securities held in physical form may be delivered and paid for in accordance with “street delivery custom” to a broker or its clearing agent, against delivery to the Custodian of a receipt for such Securities, provided that the Custodian shall have taken reasonable steps to ensure prompt collection of the payment for, or return of, such Securities by the broker or its clearing agent, and provided further that the Custodian shall not be responsible for the selection of or the failure or

 

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inability to perform of such broker or its clearing agent or for any related loss arising from delivery or custody of such Securities prior to receiving payment therefor.

(2) Other Assets Sold. Upon receipt of Instructions and except as otherwise provided herein, the Custodian shall receive payment for and deliver other Assets for the account of the Fund as provided in Instructions.

(g) Options.

(1) Upon receipt of Instructions relating to the purchase of an option or sale of a covered call option, the Custodian shall: (a) receive and retain Instructions or other documents, to the extent they are provided to the Custodian, evidencing the purchase or writing of the option by the Fund; (b) if the transaction involves the sale of a covered call option, deposit and maintain in a segregated account the Securities (either physically or by book-entry in a Securities System) subject to the covered call option written on behalf of the Fund; and (c) pay, release and/or transfer such Securities, cash or other Assets in accordance with any notices or other communications evidencing the expiration, termination or exercise of such options which are furnished to the Custodian by the Options Clearing Corporation (the “OCC”), the securities or options exchanges on which such options were traded, or such other organization as may be responsible for handling such option transactions.

(2) Upon receipt of Instructions relating to the sale of a naked option (including stock index and commodity options), the Custodian, the Fund and the broker-dealer shall enter into an agreement to comply with the rules of the OCC or of any registered national securities exchange or similar organizations(s). Pursuant to that agreement and the Fund’s Instructions, the Custodian shall: (a) receive and retain Instructions or other documents, if any, evidencing the writing of the option; (b) deposit and maintain in a segregated account, Securities (either physically or by book-entry in a Securities System), cash and/or other Assets; and (c) pay, release and/or transfer such Securities, cash or other Assets in accordance with any such agreement and with any notices or other communications evidencing the expiration, termination or exercise of such option which are furnished to the Custodian by the OCC, the securities or options exchanges on which such options were traded, or such other organization as may be responsible for handling such option transactions. The Fund and the broker-dealer shall be responsible for determining the quality and quantity of assets held in any segregated account established in compliance with applicable margin maintenance requirements and the performance of other terms of any option contract.

(h) Segregated Accounts.

Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian shall establish and maintain on its books a segregated account or accounts for and on behalf of the Fund, into which account or accounts may be transferred Assets of the Fund, including Securities maintained by the Custodian in a Securities System pursuant to Paragraph (b)(3) of this Section 4, said account or accounts to be maintained (i) for the purposes set forth in Sections 4(g) and 4(m) and (ii) for the purpose of compliance by the Fund with the procedures required by, as applicable, Rule 18f-4 under the 1940 Act, any subsequent release or releases, or other applicable SEC interpretations relating to the maintenance of segregated accounts by registered investment companies, or (iii) for such other purposes as may be set forth, from time to time, in Special Instructions. The Custodian shall not be responsible for the determination of the type or amount of Assets to be held in any segregated account referred to in this paragraph, or for compliance by the Fund with required procedures noted in (ii) above.

 

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(i) Depositary Receipts.

Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian shall surrender or cause to be surrendered Securities to the depository used for such Securities by an issuer of American Depositary Receipts or International Depositary Receipts (hereinafter referred to, collectively, as “ADRs”), against a written receipt therefor adequately describing such Securities and written evidence satisfactory to the organization surrendering the same that the depository has acknowledged receipt of instructions to issue ADRs with respect to such Securities in the name of the Custodian or a nominee of the Custodian, for delivery in accordance with such instructions.

Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian shall surrender or cause to be surrendered ADRs to the issuer thereof, against a written receipt therefor adequately describing the ADRs surrendered and written evidence satisfactory to the organization surrendering the same that the issuer of the ADRs has acknowledged receipt of instructions to cause its depository to deliver the Securities underlying such ADRs in accordance with such instructions.

(j) Corporate Actions, Put Bonds, Called Bonds, Etc.

Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian shall: (a) deliver warrants, puts, calls, rights or similar Securities to the issuer or trustee thereof (or to the agent of such issuer or trustee) for the purpose of exercise or sale, provided that the new Securities, cash or other Assets, if any, acquired as a result of such actions are to be delivered to the Custodian; and (b) deposit Securities upon invitations for tenders thereof, provided that the consideration for such Securities is to be paid or delivered to the Custodian, or the tendered Securities are to be returned to the Custodian.

Unless otherwise directed to the contrary in Instructions, the Custodian shall comply with the terms of all mandatory or compulsory exchanges, calls, tenders, redemptions, or similar rights of security ownership of which the Custodian receives notice through data services or publications to which it normally subscribes, and shall promptly notify the Fund of such action in writing or in such other manner as the Fund and Custodian may agree in writing.

The Fund agrees that if it gives an Instruction for the performance of an action after the last permissible date of a period established by the Custodian or any optional offer or on the last permissible date for the performance of such act, the Fund shall hold the Custodian harmless from any adverse consequences in connection with acting upon or failing to act upon such Instructions.

If the Fund wishes to receive periodic corporate action notices of exchanges, calls, tenders, redemptions and other similar notices pertaining to Securities and to provide Instructions with respect to such Securities via the internet, the Custodian and the Fund may enter into a Supplement to this Agreement whereby the Fund will be able to participate in the Custodian’s Electronic Corporate Action Notification Service.

(k) Interest Bearing Deposits.

Upon receipt of Instructions directing the Custodian to purchase interest bearing fixed-term certificates of deposit or call deposits (hereinafter referred to, collectively, as “Interest Bearing Deposits”) for the account of the Fund, the Custodian shall purchase such Interest Bearing Deposits with such banks or trust companies, including the Custodian, any Subcustodian or any subsidiary or affiliate of the Custodian (hereinafter referred to as “Banking Institutions”), and in such amounts as the Fund may direct pursuant to Instructions. Such Interest Bearing Deposits shall be denominated in U.S. dollars. Interest Bearing Deposits issued by the Custodian shall be in the name of the Fund. Interest Bearing Deposits

 

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issued by another Banking Institution may be in the name of the Fund or the Custodian or in the name of the Custodian for its customers generally. The responsibilities of the Custodian to the Fund for Interest Bearing Deposits issued by the Custodian shall be that of a U.S. bank for a similar deposit. With respect to Interest Bearing Deposits issued by any other Banking Institution, (a) the Custodian shall be responsible for the collection of income and the transmission of cash to and from such accounts; and (b) the Custodian shall have no duty with respect to the selection of the Banking Institution or for the failure of such Banking Institution to pay upon demand.

(l) Foreign Exchange Transactions.

(l) The Fund may appoint the Custodian as its agent in the execution of all currency exchange transactions. If requested, the Custodian agrees to provide exchange rate and U.S. Dollar information, in writing, or by other means agreeable to both parties, to the Fund.

(2) Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian shall settle foreign exchange contracts or options to purchase and sell foreign currencies for spot and future delivery on behalf of and for the account of the Fund with such currency brokers or Banking Institutions as the Fund may determine and direct pursuant to Instructions. If, in its Instructions, the Fund does not direct the Custodian to utilize a particular currency broker or Banking Institution, the Custodian is authorized to select such currency broker or Banking Institution as it deems appropriate to execute the Fund’s foreign currency transaction. It is understood that all such transactions shall be undertaken by the Custodian as agent for the Fund.

(3) The Fund accepts full responsibility for its use of third party foreign exchange brokers and for execution of said foreign exchange contracts and understands that the Fund shall be responsible for any and all costs and interest charges which may be incurred as a result of the failure or delay of its third party broker to deliver foreign exchange. The Custodian shall have no responsibility or liability with respect to the selection of the currency brokers or Banking Institutions selected by the Fund or the performance or non-performance of such brokers or Banking Institutions.

(4) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, upon receipt of Instructions the Custodian may, in connection with a foreign exchange contract, make free outgoing payments of cash in the form of U.S. Dollars or foreign currency prior to receipt of confirmation of such foreign exchange contract or confirmation that the countervalue currency completing such contract has been delivered or received.

(m) Pledges or Loans of Securities.

(1) Upon receipt of Instructions from the Fund, the Custodian will release or cause to be released Securities held in custody to the pledgees designated in such Instructions by way of pledge or hypothecation to secure loans incurred by the Fund with various lenders including but not limited to UMB Bank, n.a.; provided, however, that the Securities shall be released only upon payment to the Custodian of the monies borrowed, except that in cases where additional collateral is required to secure existing borrowings, further Securities may be released or delivered, or caused to be released or delivered for that purpose upon receipt of Instructions. Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian will pay, but only from funds available for such purpose, any such loan upon re-delivery to it of the Securities pledged or hypothecated therefor and upon surrender of the note or notes evidencing such loan. In lieu of delivering collateral to a pledgee, the Custodian, on the receipt of Instructions, shall transfer the pledged Securities to a segregated account for the benefit of the pledgee.

(2) Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian will release securities to a securities lending agent appointed by the Fund and designated in such Instructions. The Custodian shall act upon Instructions

 

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from the Fund and/or such agent in order to effect securities lending transactions on behalf of the Fund. For its services in facilitating the Fund’s securities lending activities through such agent, the Custodian may receive from the agent a portion of the agent’s securities lending revenue or a fee directly from the Fund. The Custodian shall have no responsibility or liability for any losses arising in connection with the agent’s actions or omissions, including but not limited to the delivery of Securities prior to the receipt of collateral, in the absence of negligence or willful misconduct on the part of the Custodian.

(n) Stock Dividends, Rights, Etc.

The Custodian shall receive and collect all stock dividends, rights, and other items of like nature and, upon receipt of Instructions, take action with respect to the same as directed in such Instructions.

(o) Routine Dealings.

The Custodian will, in general, attend to all routine and operational matters in accordance with industry standards in connection with the sale, exchange, substitution, purchase, transfer, or other dealings with Securities or other property of the Fund, except as may be otherwise provided in this Agreement or directed from time to time by Instructions from the Fund. The Custodian may also make payments to itself or others from the Assets for disbursements and out-of-pocket expenses incidental to handling Securities or other similar items relating to its duties under this Agreement, provided that all such payments shall be accounted for to the Fund.

(p) Collections.

The Custodian shall (a) collect amounts due and payable to the Fund with respect to Securities and other Assets; (b) promptly credit to the account of the Fund all income and other payments relating to Securities and other Assets held by the Custodian hereunder upon Custodian’s receipt of such income or payments or as otherwise agreed in writing by the Custodian and the Fund; (c) promptly endorse and deliver any instruments required to effect such collection; and (d) promptly execute ownership and other certificates, affidavits and other documents for all federal, state, local and foreign tax purposes in connection with receipt of income or other payments with respect to Securities and other Assets, or in connection with the transfer of such Securities or other Assets; provided, however, that with respect to Securities registered in so-called street name, or physical Securities with variable interest rates, the Custodian shall use its best efforts to collect amounts due and payable to the Fund. The Custodian shall notify the Fund in writing by facsimile transmission or in such other manner as the Fund and Custodian may agree in writing if any amount payable with respect to Securities or other Assets is not received by the Custodian when due. The Custodian shall not be responsible for the collection of amounts due and payable with respect to Securities or other Assets that are in default. 

Any advance credit of cash or Securities expected to be received shall be subject to actual collection and may, when the Custodian determines collection unlikely, be reversed by the Custodian.

(q) Dividends, Distributions and Redemptions.

To enable the Fund to pay dividends or other distributions to shareholders of the Fund and to make payment to shareholders who have requested repurchase or redemption of their shares of the Fund (collectively, the “Shares”), the Custodian shall release cash or Securities insofar as available. In the case of cash, the Custodian shall, upon the receipt of Instructions, transfer such funds by check or wire transfer to any account at any bank or trust company designated by the Fund in such Instructions. In the case of Securities, the Custodian shall, upon the receipt of Special Instructions, make such transfer to any entity or account designated by the Fund in such Special Instructions.

 

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(r) Proceeds from Shares Sold.

The Custodian shall receive funds representing cash payments received for shares issued or sold from time to time by the Fund, and shall credit such funds to the account of the Fund. The Custodian shall notify the Fund of Custodian’s receipt of cash in payment for shares issued by the Fund by facsimile transmission or in such other manner as the Fund and the Custodian shall agree. Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian shall: (a) deliver all federal funds received by the Custodian in payment for shares as may be set forth in such Instructions and at a time agreed upon between the Custodian and the Fund; and (b) make federal funds available to the Fund as of specified times agreed upon from time to time by the Fund and the Custodian, in the amount of checks received in payment for shares which are deposited to the accounts of the Fund.

(s) Proxies and Notices; Compliance with the Shareholders Communication Act of 1985.

The Custodian shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Fund, or its designated agent or proxy service provider, all forms of proxies, all notices of meetings, and any other notices or announcements affecting or relating to Securities owned by the Fund that are received by the Custodian and, upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian shall execute and deliver, or cause a Subcustodian or nominee to execute and deliver such proxies or other authorizations as may be required. Except as directed pursuant to Instructions, neither the Custodian nor any Subcustodian shall vote upon any such Securities, or execute any proxy to vote thereon, or give any consent or take any other action with respect thereto.

The Custodian will not release the identity of the Fund to an issuer which requests such information pursuant to the Shareholder Communications Act of 1985 for the specific purpose of direct communications between such issuer and the Fund unless the Fund directs the Custodian otherwise pursuant to Instructions.

(t) Books and Records.

The Custodian shall maintain such records relating to its activities under this Agreement as are required to be maintained by Rule 31a-1 under the 1940 Act and to preserve them for the periods prescribed in Rule 31a-2 under the 1940 Act. These records shall be open for inspection by duly authorized officers, employees or agents (including independent public accountants) of the Fund during normal business hours of the Custodian.

The Custodian shall provide accountings relating to its activities under this Agreement as shall be agreed upon by the Fund and the Custodian.

(u) Opinion of Fund’s Independent Certified Public Accountants.

The Custodian shall take all reasonable action as the Fund may request to obtain from year to year favorable opinions from the Fund’s independent certified public accountants with respect to the Custodian’s activities hereunder and in connection with the preparation of the Fund’s periodic reports to the SEC and with respect to any other requirements of the SEC.

(v) Reports by Independent Certified Public Accountants.

At the request of the Fund, the Custodian shall deliver to the Fund a written report, which may be in electronic form, prepared by the Custodian’s independent certified public accountants with respect to the services provided by the Custodian under this Agreement, including, without limitation, the Custodian’s

 

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accounting system, internal accounting control, financial strength and procedures for safeguarding cash, Securities and other Assets, including cash, Securities and other Assets deposited and/or maintained in a Securities System or with a Subcustodian. Such report shall be of sufficient scope and in sufficient detail as may reasonably be required by the Fund and as may reasonably be obtained by the Custodian.

(w) Bills and Other Disbursements.

Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian shall pay, or cause to be paid, all bills, statements, or other obligations of the Fund.

(x) Sweep or Automated Cash Management.

Upon receipt of Instructions, the Custodian shall invest any otherwise uninvested cash of the Fund held by the Custodian in a money market mutual fund, a cash deposit product, or other cash investment vehicle made available by the Custodian from time to time, in accordance with the directions contained in such Instructions. A fee may be charged or a spread may be received by the Custodian for investing the Fund’s otherwise uninvested cash in the available cash investment vehicles or products.

The Custodian shall have no responsibility to determine whether any purchases of money market mutual fund shares or any other cash investment vehicle or cash deposit product by or on behalf of the Fund under the terms of this section will cause the Fund to exceed the limitations contained in the 1940 Act on ownership of shares of another registered investment company or any other asset or portfolio restrictions or limitations contained in applicable laws or regulations or the Fund’s prospectus. The Fund agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Custodian from all losses, damages and expenses (including attorney’s fees) suffered or incurred by the Custodian as a result of a violation by the Fund of the limitations on ownership of shares of another registered investment company or any other cash investment vehicle or cash deposit product.

5. SUBCUSTODIANS.

From time to time, in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Agreement and subject to the prior written consent of the Fund, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, (i) the Custodian may appoint one or more Domestic Subcustodians, Foreign Subcustodians, Special Subcustodians or Interim Subcustodians (each as hereinafter defined) to act on behalf of the Fund; and (ii) the Custodian may be directed, pursuant to an agreement between the Fund and the Custodian (“Delegation Agreement”), to appoint a Domestic Subcustodian to perform the duties of the Foreign Custody Manager (as such term is defined in Rule 17f-5 under the 1940 Act) (“Approved Foreign Custody Manager”) for the Fund so long as such Domestic Subcustodian is so eligible under the 1940 Act. Such Delegation Agreement shall provide that the appointment of any Domestic Subcustodian as the Approved Foreign Custody Manager must be governed by a written agreement between the Custodian and the Domestic Subcustodian, which provides for compliance with Rule 17f-5. The Approved Foreign Custody Manager may then appoint a Foreign Subcustodian or Interim Subcustodian in accordance with this Section 5. For purposes of this Agreement, all Domestic Subcustodians, Special Subcustodians, Foreign Subcustodians and Interim Subcustodians shall be referred to collectively as “Subcustodians.”

(a) Domestic Subcustodians.

The Custodian may, at any time and from time to time, appoint any bank as defined in Section 2(a)(5) of the 1940 Act or any trust company or other entity, any of which meets the requirements of a custodian under Section 17(f) of the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, to act for the Custodian on behalf of the Fund as a subcustodian for purposes of holding Assets of the

 

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Fund and performing other functions of the Custodian within the United States (a “Domestic Subcustodian”). The Fund shall approve in writing the appointment of the proposed Domestic Subcustodian; and the Custodian’s appointment of any such Domestic Subcustodian shall not be effective without such prior written approval of the Fund. Each such duly approved Domestic Subcustodian shall be reflected on Appendix A hereto, as it may be amended from time-to-time.

(b) Foreign Subcustodians.

(1) The Approved Foreign Custody Manager may appoint any entity meeting the requirements of an Eligible Foreign Custodian, as such term is defined in Rule 17f-5(a)(1) under the 1940 Act, and which term shall also include a bank that qualifies to serve as a custodian of assets of investment companies under Section 17(f) of the 1940 Act or by SEC order is exempt therefrom (each a “Foreign Subcustodian” in the context of either a subcustodian or a sub-subcustodian), provided that the Approved Foreign Custody Manager’s appointments of such Foreign Subcustodians shall at all times be governed by an agreement that complies with Rule 17f-5.

(2) Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that the Approved Foreign Custody Manager determines that it will not provide delegation services (i) in a country in which the Fund has directed that the Fund invest in a security or other Asset or (ii) with respect to a specific Foreign Subcustodian which the Fund has directed be used, the Custodian shall, or shall cause the Approved Foreign Custody Manager to, promptly notify the Fund in writing by facsimile transmission, Electronic Communication, or otherwise of the unavailability of the Approved Foreign Custody Manager’s delegation services in such country. The Custodian and the Approved Foreign Custody Manager (or Domestic Subcustodian) as applicable, shall be entitled to rely on and shall have no liability or responsibility for following such direction from the Fund as a Special Instruction and shall have no duties or liabilities under this Agreement save those that it may undertake specifically in writing with respect to each particular instance. Upon the receipt of such Special Instructions, the Custodian may, in its absolute discretion, designate, or cause the Approved Foreign Custody Manager to designate, an entity (defined herein as “Interim Subcustodian”) designated by the Fund in such Special Instructions, to hold such security or other Asset. In such event, the Fund represents and warrants that it has made a determination that the arrangement with such Interim Subcustodian satisfies the requirements of the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder (including Rule 17f-5, if applicable). It is further understood that where the Approved Foreign Custody Manager and the Custodian do not agree to provide fully to the Fund the services under this Agreement and the Delegation Agreement with respect to a particular country or specific Foreign Subcustodian, the Fund may delegate such services to another delegate pursuant to Rule 17f-5.

(c) Special Subcustodians.

Upon receipt of Special Instructions, the Custodian shall, on behalf of the Fund, appoint one or more banks, trust companies or other entities designated in such Special Instructions to act for the Custodian on behalf of the Fund as a subcustodian for purposes of: (i) effecting third-party repurchase transactions with banks, brokers, dealers or other entities through the use of a common custodian or subcustodian; (ii) providing depository and clearing agency services with respect to certain variable rate demand note Securities, (iii) providing depository and clearing agency services with respect to dollar denominated Securities; and (iv) effecting any other transactions designated by the Fund in such Special Instructions. Each such designated subcustodian (hereinafter referred to as a “Special Subcustodian”) shall be listed on Appendix A attached hereto, as it may be amended from time to time. In connection with the appointment

 

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of any Special Subcustodian, the Custodian may enter into a subcustodian agreement with the Special Subcustodian.

(d) Termination of a Subcustodian.

The Custodian may, at any time in its discretion upon notification to the Fund, terminate any Subcustodian of the Fund in accordance with the termination provisions under the applicable subcustodian agreement, and upon the receipt of Special Instructions, the Custodian shall terminate any Subcustodian in accordance with the termination provisions under the applicable subcustodian agreement.

(e) Information Regarding Foreign Subcustodians.

Upon request of the Fund, the Custodian shall deliver, or cause any Approved Foreign Custody Manager to deliver, to the Fund a letter or list stating: (i) the identity of each Foreign Subcustodian then acting on behalf of the Custodian; (ii) the Eligible Securities Depositories (as defined in Section 5(f)) in each foreign market through which each Foreign Subcustodian is then holding cash, securities and other Assets of the Fund; and (iii) such other information as may be requested by the Fund to ensure compliance with rules and regulations under the 1940 Act.

(f) Eligible Securities Depositories.

(1) The Custodian or the Domestic Subcustodian may place and maintain the Fund’s Foreign Assets with an Eligible Securities Depository (as defined in Rule 17f-7, which term shall include any other securities depository for which the SEC by exemptive order has permitted registered investment companies to maintain their assets).

(2) Upon the request of the Fund, the Custodian shall direct the Domestic Subcustodian to provide to the Fund (including the Fund’s Board of Trustees) and/or the Fund’s adviser or other agent an analysis of the custody risks associated with maintaining the Fund’s Foreign Assets with such Eligible Securities Depository utilized directly or indirectly by the Custodian or the Domestic Subcustodian as of the date hereof (or, in the case of an Eligible Securities Depository not so utilized as of the date hereof, prior to the placement of the Fund’s Foreign Assets at such depository) and at which any Foreign Assets of the Fund are held or are expected to be held. The Custodian shall direct the Domestic Subcustodian to monitor the custody risks associated with maintaining the Fund’s Foreign Assets at each such Eligible Securities Depository on a continuing basis and shall promptly notify the Fund or its adviser of any material changes in such risks through the Approved Foreign Custody Manager’s letter, market alerts or other periodic correspondence.

(3) The Custodian shall direct the Domestic Subcustodian to determine the eligibility under Rule 17f-7 of each foreign securities depository before maintaining the Fund’s Foreign Assets therewith and shall promptly advise the Fund if any Eligible Securities Depository ceases to be so eligible. Notwithstanding Subsection 17(c) hereof, Eligible Securities Depositories may, subject to Rule 17f-7, be added to or deleted from such list from time to time.

(4) Withdrawal of Assets. If an arrangement with an Eligible Securities Depository no longer meets the requirements of Rule 17f-7, the Custodian shall direct the Domestic Subcustodian to withdraw the Fund’s Foreign Assets from such depository as soon as reasonably practicable.

(5) Standard of Care. In fulfilling its responsibilities under this Section 5(f), the Custodian will exercise reasonable care, prudence and diligence.

 

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6. STANDARD OF CARE.

(a) General Standard of Care.

The Custodian shall exercise due care in accordance with reasonable commercial standards in discharging its duties hereunder. The Custodian shall be liable to the Fund for all losses, damages and reasonable costs and expenses suffered or incurred by the Fund resulting from the negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct of the Custodian or the Custodian’s reckless disregard of its duties under this Agreement; provided, however, in no event shall the Custodian be liable for attorneys’ fees or for special, indirect, consequential or punitive damages arising under or in connection with this Agreement.

(b) Actions Prohibited by Applicable Law, Etc.

In no event shall the Custodian incur liability hereunder if the Custodian or any Subcustodian or Securities System, or any Subcustodian, Eligible Securities Depository utilized by any such Subcustodian, or any nominee of the Custodian or any Subcustodian (individually, a “Person”) is prevented, forbidden or delayed from performing, or omits to perform, any act or thing which this Agreement provides shall be performed or omitted to be performed, by reason of: (i) any provision of any present or future law or regulation or order of the United States of America, or any state thereof, or of any foreign country, or political subdivision thereof or of any court of competent jurisdiction (and neither the Custodian nor any other Person shall be obligated to take any action contrary thereto); or (ii) any “Force Majeure,” which for purposes of this Agreement, shall mean any circumstance or event which is beyond the reasonable control of the Custodian, a Subcustodian or any agent of the Custodian or a Subcustodian and which adversely affects the performance by the Custodian of its obligations hereunder, by the Subcustodian of its obligations under its subcustodian agreement or by any other agent of the Custodian or the Subcustodian, unless in each case, such delay or nonperformance is caused by the negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct of the Custodian or the Custodian’s reckless disregard of its duties under this Agreement. Such Force Majeure events may include any event caused by, arising out of or involving (a) an act of God, (b) accident, fire, water damage or explosion, (c) any computer, system outage or downtime or other equipment failure or malfunction caused by any computer virus or any other reason or the malfunction or failure of any communications medium (provided that the Custodian has adopted commercially reasonable cybersecurity systems, policies and procedures), (d) any interruption of the power supply or other utility service, (e) any strike or other work stoppage, whether partial or total, (f) any delay or disruption resulting from or reflecting the occurrence of any Sovereign Risk (as defined below), (g) any disruption of, or suspension of trading in, the securities, commodities or foreign exchange markets, whether or not resulting from or reflecting the occurrence of any Sovereign Risk, (h) any encumbrance on the transferability of cash, currency or a currency position on the actual settlement date of a foreign exchange transaction, whether or not resulting from or reflecting the occurrence of any Sovereign Risk, or (i) any other cause similarly beyond the reasonable control of the Custodian.

Subject to the Custodian’s general standard of care set forth in Subsection 6(a) hereof and the requirements of Section 17(f) of the 1940 Act and Rules 17f-5 and 17f-7 thereunder, the Custodian shall not incur liability hereunder if any Person is prevented, forbidden or delayed from performing, or omits to perform, any act or thing which this Agreement provides shall be performed or omitted to be performed by reason of any (i) “Sovereign Risk,” which for the purpose of this Agreement shall mean, in respect of any jurisdiction, including but not limited to the United States of America, where investments are acquired or held under this Agreement, (a) any act of war, terrorism, riot, insurrection or civil commotion, (b) the imposition of any investment, repatriation or exchange control restrictions by any governmental authority, (c) the confiscation, expropriation or nationalization of any investments by any governmental authority, whether de facto or de jure, (d) any devaluation or revaluation of the currency, (e) the imposition of taxes, levies or other charges affecting investments, (f) any change in the applicable law, or

 

16


(g) any other economic, systemic or political risk incurred or experienced that is not directly related to the economic or financial conditions of the Eligible Foreign Custodian, except as otherwise provided in this Agreement or the Delegation Agreement, or (ii) “Country Risk,” which for the purpose of this Agreement shall mean, with respect to the acquisition, ownership, settlement or custody of investments in a jurisdiction, all risks relating to, or arising in consequence of, systemic and market factors affecting the acquisition, payment for or ownership of investments, including (a) the prevalence of crime and corruption in such jurisdiction, (b) the inaccuracy or unreliability of business and financial information (unrelated to the Approved Foreign Custody Manager’s duties imposed by Rule 17f-5(c) under the 1940 Act or to the duties imposed on the Custodian by Rule 17f-7 under the 1940 Act), (c) the instability or volatility of banking and financial systems, or the absence or inadequacy of an infrastructure to support such systems, (d) custody and settlement infrastructure of the market in which such investments are transacted and held, (e) the acts, omissions and operation of any Eligible Securities Depository, it being understood that this provision shall not excuse the Custodian’s performance under the express terms of this Agreement, (f) the risk of the bankruptcy or insolvency of banking agents, counterparties to cash and securities transactions, registrars or transfer agents, (g) the existence of market conditions which prevent the orderly execution or settlement of transactions or which affect the value of assets, and (h) the laws relating to the safekeeping and recovery of the Fund’s Foreign Assets held in custody pursuant to the terms of this Agreement; provided, however, that, in compliance with Rule 17f-5, neither Sovereign Risk nor Country Risk shall include the custody risk of a particular Eligible Foreign Custodian of the Fund’s Foreign Assets.

(c) Liability for Past Records.

Neither the Custodian nor any Domestic Subcustodian shall have any liability in respect of any loss, damage or expense suffered by the Fund, insofar as such loss, damage or expense arises from the performance of the Custodian or any Domestic Subcustodian in reliance upon records that were maintained for the Fund by entities other than the Custodian or any Domestic Subcustodian prior to the Custodian’s employment hereunder.

(d) Advice of Counsel.

The Custodian and all Domestic Subcustodians shall be entitled to receive and act upon advice of counsel of its own choosing on all matters. The Custodian and all Domestic Subcustodians shall be without liability for any actions taken or omitted in good faith pursuant to the advice of counsel.

(e) Advice of the Fund and Others.

The Custodian and any Domestic Subcustodian may rely upon the advice of the Fund and upon statements of the Fund’s accountants and other persons believed by it in good faith to be expert in matters upon which they are consulted, and neither the Custodian nor any Domestic Subcustodian shall be liable for any actions taken or omitted, in good faith, pursuant to such advice or statements.

(f) Information Services.

The Custodian may rely upon information received from issuers of Securities or agents of such issuers, information received from Subcustodians or depositories, information from data reporting services that provide detail on corporate actions and other securities information, and other commercially reasonable industry sources; and, provided the Custodian has acted in accordance with the standard of care set forth in Section 6 (a), the Custodian shall have no liability as a result of relying upon such information sources, including but not limited to errors in any such information.

 

17


(g) Instructions Appearing to be Genuine.

The Custodian and all Domestic Subcustodians shall be fully protected and indemnified in acting as a custodian hereunder upon any resolutions of the Board of Trustees, Instructions, Special Instructions, advice, notice, request, consent, certificate, instrument or paper appearing to it to be genuine and to have been properly executed and shall, unless otherwise specifically provided herein, be entitled to receive as conclusive proof of any fact or matter required to be ascertained from the Fund hereunder a certificate signed by any officer of the Fund authorized to countersign or confirm Special Instructions. The Custodian shall have no liability for any losses, damages or expenses incurred by the Fund arising from the use of a non-secure form of email or other non-secure electronic system or process.

(h) No Investment Advice.

The Custodian shall have no duty to assess the risks inherent in Securities or other Assets or to provide investment advice, accounting or other valuation services regarding any such Securities or other Assets.

(i) Exceptions from Liability.

Without limiting the generality of any other provisions hereof, neither the Custodian nor any Domestic Subcustodian shall be under any duty or obligation to inquire into, nor be liable for:

(i) the validity of the issue of any Securities purchased by or for the Fund, the legality of the purchase thereof or evidence of ownership required to be received by any the Fund, or the propriety of the decision to purchase or amount paid therefor;

(ii) the legality of the sale, transfer or movement of any Securities by or for the Fund, or the propriety of the amount for which the same were sold; or

(iii) any other expenditures, encumbrances of Securities, borrowings or similar actions with respect to the Fund’s Assets;

and may, until notified to the contrary, presume that all Instructions or Special Instructions received by it are not in conflict with or in any way contrary to any provisions of any the Fund’s Declaration of Trust, Partnership Agreement, Articles of Incorporation or By-Laws or votes or proceedings of the shareholders, trustees, partners or directors of the Fund, or the Fund’s currently effective Registration Statement on file with the SEC.

7. LIABILITY OF THE CUSTODIAN FOR ACTIONS OF OTHERS.

(a) Domestic Subcustodians

Except as provided in Section 7(d), the Custodian shall be liable for the acts or omissions of any Domestic Subcustodian to the same extent as if such actions or omissions were performed by the Custodian itself.

(b) Liability for Acts and Omissions of Foreign Subcustodians.

The Custodian shall be liable to the Fund for any loss or damage to the Fund caused by or resulting from the acts or omissions of any Foreign Subcustodian to the extent that, under the terms set forth in the subcustodian agreement between the Custodian or a Domestic Subcustodian and such Foreign

 

18


Subcustodian, the Foreign Subcustodian has failed to perform in accordance with the standard of conduct imposed under such subcustodian agreement and the Custodian or Domestic Subcustodian recovers from the Foreign Subcustodian under the applicable subcustodian agreement.

(c) Securities Systems, Interim Subcustodians, Special Subcustodians, Eligible Securities Depositories.

The Custodian shall not be liable to the Fund for any loss, damage or expense suffered or incurred by the Fund resulting from or occasioned by the actions or omissions of a Securities System, Interim Subcustodian, Special Subcustodian, or Eligible Securities Depository unless such loss, damage or expense is caused by, or results from, the negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct of the Custodian or the Custodian’s reckless disregard of its duties under this Agreement.

(d) Failure of Third Parties.

The Custodian shall not be liable for any loss, damage or expense suffered or incurred by the Fund resulting from or occasioned by the actions, omissions, neglects, defaults, insolvency or other failure of any (i) issuer of any Securities or of any agent of such issuer; (ii) any counterparty with respect to any Security or other Asset, including any issuer of any option, futures, derivatives or commodities contract; (iii) investment adviser or other agent of the Fund; or (iv) any broker, bank, trust company or any other person with whom the Custodian may deal (other than any of such entities acting as a Subcustodian, Securities System or Eligible Securities Depository, for whose actions the liability of the Custodian is set out elsewhere in this Agreement); or (v) any agent or depository (including but not limited to a securities lending agent) with whom the Custodian may deal at the direction of, and behalf of, the Fund; unless such loss, damage or expense is caused by, or results from, the negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct of the Custodian or the Custodian’s reckless disregard of its duties under this Agreement or the Custodian’s breach of the terms of any contract between the Fund and the Custodian.

8. INDEMNIFICATION.

(a) Indemnification by Fund.

Subject to the limitations set forth in this Agreement, the Fund agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Custodian and its nominees from all losses, damages and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) suffered or incurred by the Custodian or its nominee caused by or arising from actions taken by the Custodian, its employees or agents in the performance of its duties and obligations under this Agreement, including, but not limited to, any indemnification obligations undertaken by the Custodian under any relevant subcustodian agreement; provided, however, that such indemnity shall not apply to the extent the Custodian is liable under Sections 6 or 7 hereof.

If the Fund requires the Custodian to take any action with respect to Securities, which action involves the payment of money or which may, in the opinion of the Custodian, result in the Custodian or its nominee assigned to the Fund being liable for the payment of money or incurring liability of some other form, the Fund, as a prerequisite to requiring the Custodian to take such action, shall provide indemnity to the Custodian in an amount and form satisfactory to it.

(b) Indemnification by Custodian.

Subject to the limitations set forth in this Agreement, the Custodian agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Fund from all losses, damages and expenses (with the exception of those damages and expenses referenced in Section 6(a)) suffered or incurred by the Fund caused by the negligence, bad faith

 

19


or willful misconduct of the Custodian or the Custodian’s reckless disregard of its duties under this Agreement.

9. ADVANCES.

In the event that the Custodian or any Subcustodian, Securities System, or Eligible Securities Depository acting either directly or indirectly under agreement with the Custodian (each of which for purposes of this Section 9 shall be referred to as “Custodian”), makes any payment or transfer of funds on behalf of the Fund as to which there would be, at the close of business on the date of such payment or transfer, insufficient funds held by the Custodian on behalf of the Fund, the Custodian may, in its discretion without further Instructions, provide an advance (“Advance”) to the Fund in an amount sufficient to allow the completion of the transaction by reason of which such payment or transfer of funds is to be made. In addition, in the event the Custodian is directed by Instructions to make any payment or transfer of funds on behalf of the Fund as to which it is subsequently determined that the Fund has overdrawn its cash account with the Custodian as of the close of business on the date of such payment or transfer, said overdraft shall constitute an Advance. Any Advance shall be payable by the Fund on behalf of which the Advance was made on demand by Custodian, unless otherwise agreed by the Fund and the Custodian, and shall accrue interest from the date of the Advance to the date of payment by the Fund to the Custodian at a rate determined from time to time by the Custodian. It is understood that any transaction in respect of which the Custodian shall have made an Advance, including but not limited to a foreign exchange contract or transaction in respect of which the Custodian is not acting as a principal, is for the account of and at the risk of the Fund on behalf of which the Advance was made, and not, by reason of such Advance, deemed to be a transaction undertaken by the Custodian for its own account and risk. The Custodian and the Fund which are parties to this Agreement acknowledge that the purpose of Advances is to finance temporarily the purchase or sale of Securities for prompt delivery in accordance with the settlement terms of such transactions or to meet emergency expenses not reasonably foreseeable by the Fund. The Custodian shall promptly notify the Fund of any Advance. Such notification may be communicated by telephone, Electronic Communication or facsimile transmission or in such other manner as the Custodian may choose. Nothing herein shall be deemed to create an obligation on the part of the Custodian to advance monies to the Fund.

10. SECURITY INTEREST.

To secure the due and prompt payment of all Advances, together with any taxes, charges, fees, expenses, assessments, obligations, claims or liabilities incurred by the Custodian in connection with its or their performance of any duties under this Agreement (collectively, “Liabilities”), except for any Liabilities arising from or the Custodian’s negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct or the Custodian’s reckless disregard of its duties under this Agreement, the Fund grants to the Custodian a security interest in all of the Fund’s Securities and other Assets now or hereafter in the possession of the Custodian and all proceeds thereof (collectively, the “Collateral”). The Fund shall promptly reimburse the Custodian for any and all such Liabilities. In the event that the Fund fails to satisfy any of the Liabilities as and when due and payable, the Custodian shall have in respect of the Collateral, in addition to all other rights and remedies arising hereunder or under local law, the rights and remedies of a secured party under the Uniform Commercial Code. Without prejudice to the Custodian’s rights under applicable law, the Custodian shall be entitled, without notice to the Fund, to withhold delivery of any Collateral, sell, set-off, or otherwise realize upon or dispose of any such Collateral and to apply the money or other proceeds and any other monies credited to the Fund in satisfaction of the Liabilities. This includes, but is not limited to, any interest on any such unpaid Liability as the Custodian deems reasonable, and all costs and expenses (including reasonable attorney’s fees) incurred by the Custodian in connection with the sale, set-off or other disposition of such Collateral.

 

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11. COMPENSATION.

The Fund will pay to the Custodian such compensation as is set forth on Schedule A hereto, or as otherwise agreed to in writing by the Custodian and the Fund from time to time. In addition, the Fund shall reimburse the Custodian for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the Custodian in connection with this Agreement, but excluding salaries and usual overhead expenses. Such compensation, and expenses shall be billed to the Fund and paid in cash to the Custodian.

12. POWERS OF ATTORNEY.

Upon request, the Fund shall deliver to the Custodian such proxies, powers of attorney or other instruments as may be reasonable and necessary or desirable in connection with the performance by the Custodian or any Subcustodian of their respective obligations under this Agreement or any applicable subcustodian agreement.

13. TAX LAWS.

The Custodian shall have no responsibility or liability for any obligations now or hereafter imposed on the Fund or on the Custodian as custodian for the Fund by the tax law of any country or of any state or political subdivision thereof. The Fund agrees to indemnify the Custodian for and against any such obligations including taxes, tax reclaims, withholding and reporting requirements, claims for exemption or refund, additions for late payment, interest, penalties and other expenses (including legal expenses) that may be assessed against the Fund or the Custodian as custodian of the Fund.

14. TERM AND ASSIGNMENT.

Unless sooner terminated as provided herein, this Agreement shall continue in effect with respect to each Fund for a two-year period beginning on the date of this Agreement (the “Initial Term”). Thereafter, if not terminated as provided herein, the Agreement shall continue automatically in effect as to each Fund for successive one-year periods (each a “Renewal Term”).

In the event this Agreement is terminated by the Fund prior to the end of the Initial Term or any subsequent Renewal Term, the Fund shall be obligated to pay the Custodian the remaining balance of the fees payable to the Custodian under this Agreement through the end of the Initial Term or Renewal Term, as applicable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may terminate this Agreement, and pay fees through the date of termination: (i) at the end of the Initial Term or at the end of any successive Renewal Term by giving the other party a written notice not less than ninety (90) days’ prior to the end of the respective term; (ii) upon the material breach of the other party of any term of this Agreement if such breach is not cured within 15 business days of notice of such breach to the breaching party; and (iii) in the event of the appointment of a conservator or receiver for the Custodian by regulatory authorities or upon the happening of a like event at the direction of an appropriate regulatory agency or court of competent jurisdiction. Upon termination of this Agreement, the Fund shall pay to the Custodian such fees as may be due the Custodian hereunder as well as its reimbursable disbursements, costs and expenses paid or incurred. Upon termination of this Agreement, the Custodian shall deliver, at the terminating party’s expense, all Assets held by it hereunder to a successor custodian designated by the Fund or, if a successor custodian is not designated, then to the Fund or as otherwise designated by the Fund by Special Instructions. Upon such delivery, the Custodian shall have no further obligations or liabilities under this Agreement except as to the final resolution of matters relating to activity occurring prior to the effective date of termination. In the event that for any reason Securities or other Assets remain in the possession of the Custodian after the date such termination shall take effect, the Custodian shall be entitled to

 

21


compensation at the same rates as agreed to by the Custodian and the Fund during the term of this Agreement as set forth in Section 11.

This Agreement may not be assigned by the Custodian or the Fund without the respective consent of the other.

15. ADDITIONAL FUNDS.

[RESERVED]

16. NOTICES.

As to the Fund, notices, requests, instructions and other writings delivered to StepStone Private Credit Income Fund, 128 S. Tryon St., Suite 1600, Charlotte, NC 28202 postage prepaid, or to such other address as the Fund may have designated to the Custodian in writing, shall be deemed to have been properly delivered or given to the Fund.

Notices, requests, instructions and other writings delivered to the Custodian at its office at 928 Grand Blvd., 10th Floor, Attn: Amy Small, Kansas City, Missouri 64106, postage prepaid, or to such other addresses as the Custodian may have designated to the Fund in writing, shall be deemed to have been properly delivered or given to the Custodian hereunder; provided, however, that procedures for the delivery of Instructions and Special Instructions shall be governed by Section 2(c) hereof.

17. CONFIDENTIALITY.

The parties agree that all Information, books and records provided by the Custodian or the Fund to each other in connection with this Agreement, and all information provided by either party pertaining to its business or operations, is “Confidential Information.” All Confidential Information shall be used by the party receiving such information only for the purpose of providing or obtaining services under this Agreement and, except as may be required to carry out the terms of this Agreement, shall not be disclosed to any other party without the express consent of the party providing such Confidential Information. The foregoing limitations shall not apply to any information that is available to the general public other than as a result of a breach of this Agreement, or that is required to be disclosed by or to any entity having regulatory authority over a party hereto or any auditor of a party hereto or that is required to be disclosed as a result of a subpoena or other judicial process, or otherwise by applicable laws.

18. ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING COMPLIANCE.

Although the Fund is not subject to detailed anti-money laundering program obligations under the USA PATRIOT Act, the Fund represents and warrants that it will establish and maintain policies and procedures designed to meet the requirements imposed by the USA PATRIOT Act, including policies and procedures designed to detect and prevent money laundering, including those required by the USA PATRIOT Act. The Fund agrees to use commercially reasonable efforts to provide to the Custodian, from time to time upon the request of the Custodian, certifications regarding its compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act and other anti-money laundering laws with respect to the Fund. The Fund acknowledges that, because the Custodian will not have information regarding the shareholders of the Fund, the Custodian shall not assume responsibility for customer identification and verification and other CIP requirements in regard to such shareholders.

 

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19. MISCELLANEOUS.

(a) This Agreement is executed and delivered in the State of Delaware and shall be governed by the laws of such state.

(b) All of the terms and provisions of this Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, and be enforceable by the respective successors and assigns of the parties hereto.

(c) No provisions of this Agreement may be amended, modified or waived in any manner except in writing, properly executed by both parties hereto; provided, however, Appendix A may be amended from time to time as Domestic Subcustodians, Securities Systems, and Special Subcustodians are approved or terminated according to the terms of this Agreement.

(d) The captions in this Agreement are included for convenience of reference only, and in no way define or delimit any of the provisions hereof or otherwise affect their construction or effect.

(e) This Agreement shall be effective as of the date of execution hereof.

(f) This Agreement may be executed simultaneously in two or more counterparts, each of which will be deemed an original, but all of which together will constitute one and the same instrument.

(g) If any part, term or provision of this Agreement is held to be illegal, in conflict with any law or otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining portion or portions shall be considered severable and shall not be affected, and the rights and obligations of the parties shall be construed and enforced as if this Agreement did not contain the particular part, term or provision held to be illegal or invalid.

(h) Entire Agreement. This Agreement and the Delegation Agreement (if applicable), as amended from time to time, constitute the entire understanding and agreement of the parties thereto with respect to the subject matter therein and accordingly, supersedes as of the effective date of this Agreement any custodian agreement heretofore in effect between the Fund and the Custodian.

(i) The rights and obligations contained in Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 17 of this Agreement shall continue, notwithstanding the termination of this Agreement, in order to fulfill the intention of the parties as described in such Sections.

[Signature page to follow.]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Custody Agreement to be executed by their respective duly authorized officers.

 

    

 STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT

 INCOME FUND

 Attest:

    

 By:

    

 Name:

    

 Title:

    

 Date:

      UMB BANK, N.A.

 Attest:

    

 By:

    

 Name: Amy Small

    

 Title: Executive President

    

 Date:

 

24


Schedule A

to the

Custody Agreement

by and between

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund

and

UMB Bank, N.A.

[RESERVED]

 

25


APPENDIX A

CUSTODY AGREEMENT

The following Subcustodians and Securities Systems are approved for use in connection with the Custody Agreement dated                .

SECURITIES SYSTEMS:

Depository Trust Company

Federal Book Entry

SPECIAL SUBCUSTODIANS:

DOMESTIC SUBCUSTODIANS:

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (Foreign Securities Only)

 

 

 

 STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT

 INCOME FUND

     UMB BANK, N.A.
 

 By:

   

 By:

 

 Name:

   

 Name: Amy Small

 

 Title:

   

 Title: Executive Vice President

 

 Date:

   

 Date:

 

26

FUND ACCOUNTING AGREEMENT

THIS FUND ACCOUNTING AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”) is made as of this    day of      , 2024, by and between StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Administrator”), and UMB Fund Services, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation, its successors and assigns (the “UMBFS”).

WHEREAS, the Administrator acts as administrator to the StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (the “Fund”) and the Fund is a closed-end management investment company registered under the 1940 Act (as defined below) and is authorized to issue Shares;

WHEREAS, the Administrator and the UMBFS desire to enter into an agreement pursuant to which the UMBFS shall provide Services (as defined below) to the Fund on behalf of the Administrator.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises and agreements herein contained and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto, intending to be legally bound, do hereby agree as follows:

1.   Definitions In addition to any terms defined in the body of this Agreement, the following capitalized terms shall have the meanings set forth hereinafter whenever they appear in this Agreement:

1933 Act shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

1940 Act shall mean the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

Authorized Person shall mean any individual who is authorized to provide UMBFS with Instructions and requests on behalf of the Administrator or Fund, whose name shall be certified to UMBFS from time to time pursuant to this Agreement. Any officer of the Fund or Administrator authorized by the Board to be an Authorized Person shall be considered an Authorized Person (unless such authority is limited in a writing from the Administrator and received by UMBFS) and has the authority to appoint additional Authorized Persons, to limit or revoke the authority of any previously designated Authorized Person, and to certify to UMBFS the names of the Authorized Persons from time to time.

Board shall mean the Board of Trustees of the Fund.

By-Laws shall mean the Fund’s By-Laws, including any amendments made thereto.

Commission shall mean the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Declaration of Trustshall mean the Declaration of Trust or other similar operational document of the Fund, as the case may be, as the same may be amended from time to time.

Investment Adviser shall mean the investment adviser or investment advisers to the Fund and includes all sub-advisers or persons performing similar services.

 

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Instructions shall mean an oral communication from an Authorized Person or a written communication signed by an Authorized Person and actually received by UMBFS. Instructions shall include manually executed originals, telefacsimile transmissions of manually executed originals or electronic communications.

Prospectus shall mean the current prospectus and statement of additional information with respect to the Fund (including any applicable amendments and supplements thereto) actually received by UMBFS from the Fund with respect to which the Fund has indicated a Registration Statement has become effective under the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act.

Registration Statementshall mean any registration statement on Form N-2 at any time now or hereafter filed with the Commission with respect to any of the Shares and any amendments and supplements thereto which at any time shall have been or will be filed with the Commission.

Services shall mean the fund accounting services described on Schedule B hereto and such additional services as may be agreed to by the parties from time to time and set forth in an amendment to Schedule B.

Shares shall mean such shares of beneficial interest, or class thereof, of the Fund as may be issued from time to time.

Shareholder shall mean a record owner of Shares of the Fund.

2.   Appointment and Services

(a)  The Administrator hereby appoints UMBFS as fund accountant of the Fund and hereby authorizes UMBFS to provide Services during the term of this Agreement and on the terms set forth herein. Subject to the oversight of the Board and utilizing information provided by the Fund, the Administrator and their current and prior agents and service providers, UMBFS will provide the Services in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, UMBFS shall not be required to provide any Services or information that it believes, in its sole, reasonable discretion, to represent dishonest, unethical or illegal activity. In no event shall UMBFS provide any investment advice or recommendations to any party in connection with its Services hereunder.

(b) UMBFS may from time to time, in its reasonable discretion and at its own expense, appoint one or more other parties to carry out some or all of its responsibilities under this Agreement, provided that UMBFS shall remain responsible to the Administrator for all such delegated responsibilities in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, in the same manner and to the same extent as if UMBFS were itself providing such Services.

(c)  UMBFS’s duties shall be confined to those expressly set forth herein, and no implied duties are assumed by or may be asserted against UMBFS hereunder. The Services do not include correcting, verifying or addressing any prior actions or inactions of the Fund, Administrator or by any other current or prior agent or service provider. To the extent UMBFS agrees to take such actions, those actions taken shall be deemed part of the Services.

 

2


(d) It is understood that in determining security valuations, UMBFS employs one or more pricing services, as directed by the Administrator, to determine valuations of portfolio securities for purposes of calculating net asset values of the Fund. The Administrator shall identify to UMBFS the pricing service(s) to be utilized. If requested by the Administrator, the UMBFS shall price the securities and other holdings of the Fund for which market quotations or prices are available by the use of such pricing service(s).

For those securities where prices are not provided by the pricing service(s) utilized by UMBFS, the Administrator shall approve, in good faith, the procedures for determining the fair value of the securities. The Investment Adviser shall determine or obtain the valuation of the securities in accordance with those procedures and shall deliver to UMBFS the resulting prices for use in its calculation of net asset values. When security valuations are so provided, the following provisions will also apply:

(i)  Valued securities are typically complicated financial instruments. There are many methodologies (including computer-based analytical modeling and individual security valuations) available to generate approximations of the market value of such securities and there is significant professional disagreement about which method is best. No evaluation method, including those used by UMBFS and its suppliers, may consistently generate approximations that correspond to actual “Traded” prices of the securities.

(ii) Methodologies used to provide the pricing portion of certain data may rely on valuations, however, the Administrator acknowledges that there may be errors or defects in the software, databases, or methodologies generating the valuations that may cause resultant valuations to be inappropriate for use in certain applications.

The Fund assumes all responsibility for edit checking, external verification of valuations, and ultimately the appropriateness of using data containing valuations, regardless of any efforts made by UMBFS and its suppliers in this regard.

(e)  Subject to the terms of Section 8, and where applicable, the UMBFS further agrees to preserve for the periods prescribed by Rule 31a-2 under the 1940 Act the records described in Schedule B which are maintained by UMBFS for the Fund. To the extent required by Rule 31a-3 under the 1940 Act, UMBFS hereby agrees that all records which it maintains for the Fund hereunder are the property of the Fund and further agrees to surrender promptly to the Fund any of such records upon the Fund’s or Administrator’s request.

(f) Any resolution passed by the Board that affects accounting practices and procedures under this Agreement shall be effective upon written receipt of notice and acceptance by UMBFS.

(g) Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to appoint UMBFS and its officers, directors and employees as the Administrator’s attorney, form an attorney-client relationship or require the provision of legal advice. The Administrator acknowledges that UMBFS’s in-house attorneys exclusively represent UMBFS and the Administrator’s legal counsel will provide independent judgment on the Administrator’s behalf. Because no attorney-client relationship exists between UMBFS’s in-house attorneys and the Administrator or the Fund, any information provided to the UMBFS’s in-house attorneys may not be privileged and may be subject to compulsory disclosure under certain

 

3


circumstances, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 5. UMBFS represents that it will maintain the confidentiality of information disclosed to its in-house attorneys on a best efforts basis.

3. Representations and Deliveries

(a)   The Administrator represents and warrants to UMBFS that:

(i)   It is a limited liability company duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware; it is empowered under applicable laws and by its operating agreements to enter into and perform this Agreement; and all requisite corporate proceedings have been taken to authorize it to enter into and perform this Agreement.

(ii)   It will conduct its business in compliance in all material respects with all applicable laws and regulations, both state and federal, and has obtained (or will timely obtain) all regulatory approvals necessary to carry on its business as now conducted; there is no statute, rule, regulation, order or judgment binding on it and no provision of its Declaration of Trust, By-laws or any contract binding it or affecting its property which would prohibit its execution or performance of this Agreement.

(b)   The Administrator shall use reasonable efforts to cause the Fund’s officers and trustees, and shall use its reasonable efforts to cause the Fund’s Investment Adviser, legal counsel, independent accountants, transfer agent, custodian, distributor and other service providers and agents, past or present, to cooperate with UMBFS and to provide UMBFS with such information, documents and communications relating to the Fund and the Administrator as necessary and/or appropriate or as reasonably requested by UMBFS, in order to enable UMBFS to perform the Services. In connection with the performance of the Services, UMBFS shall (without investigation or verification) be entitled and is hereby instructed to, rely upon any and all Instructions, communications, information or documents provided to UMBFS by a representative of the Administrator or by any of the aforementioned persons. UMBFS shall be entitled to rely on any document that it reasonably believes to be genuine and to have been signed or presented by the proper party. Fees charged by such persons shall be an expense of the Administrator. UMBFS shall not be held to have notice of any change of authority of any trustee, officer, agent, representative or employee of the Fund, Investment Adviser or service provider until receipt of written notice thereof from the Administrator.

(c)   The Board, the Investment Adviser and the Administrator have and retain primary responsibility for all compliance matters relating to the Fund including but not limited to (as applicable to the specific parties) compliance with the 1940 Act, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the policies and limitations of the Fund relating to the portfolio investments as set forth in the Prospectus. UMBFS’s monitoring and other functions hereunder shall not relieve the Board, the Investment Adviser and the Administrator of their primary day-to-day responsibility for assuring such compliance. Notwithstanding the foregoing, UMBFS will be responsible for its own compliance with such statutes insofar as such statutes are applicable to the Services it has agreed to provide hereunder, and will promptly notify the Administrator if it becomes aware of any non-compliance which relates to the Fund. UMBFS shall provide the Administrator with quarterly and annual certifications (on a calendar basis) with respect to the design and operational effectiveness of its compliance and procedures.

 

4


(d)   The Administrator agrees that it shall advise UMBFS in writing at least thirty (30) days prior to affecting any change in any Prospectus which would increase or alter the duties and obligations of UMBFS hereunder, and shall proceed with such change only if it shall have received the written consent of UMBFS thereto.

(e)   The Administrator will notify UMBFS of any discrepancy between UMBFS and the Fund, including, but not limited to, failing to account for a security position in the Fund’s portfolio, upon the later to occur of: (i) three (3) business days after receipt of any reports rendered by UMBFS to the Fund; (ii) three (3) business days after discovery of any error or omission not covered in the balancing or control procedure; or (iii) three (3) business days after receiving notice from any Shareholder regarding any such discrepancy.

(f)   UMBFS represents and warrants to the Administrator that:

(i)   It is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Wisconsin; it is empowered under applicable law and by its Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws to enter into and perform this Agreement; and all requisite proceedings have been taken to authorize it to enter into and perform this Agreement.

(ii)   It is conducting its business in compliance in all material respects with all applicable laws and regulations, both state and federal, and has obtained (or will timely obtain) all regulatory approvals necessary to carry on its business as now conducted; there is no statute, rule, regulation, order or judgment binding on it and no provision of its operating documents or any contract binding it or affecting its property which would prohibit its execution or performance of this Agreement. Its execution, delivery or performance of this Agreement will not conflict with or violate (a) any provision of the organizational or governance documents of UMBFS or (b) any law applicable to UMBFS.

(iii)   UMBFS shall maintain a disaster recovery and business continuity plan and adequate and reliable computer and other equipment necessary and appropriate to carry out its obligations under this Agreement, including commercially reasonable cybersecurity systems, policies and procedures designed to prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of Fund information. Upon the Administrator’s reasonable request, UMBFS shall provide supplemental information concerning the aspects of its cybersecurity systems, policies and procedures and disaster recovery and business continuity plan that are relevant to the Services.

(iv)   It has and will continue to have access to the necessary facilities, equipment and personnel to perform its duties and obligations under this Agreement in accordance with industry standards.

(h)   UMBFS shall act as liaison with the Fund’s independent public accountants, to the extent requested by the Administrator, and shall provide account analyses, fiscal year summaries, and other audit-related schedules. UMBFS shall take all reasonable action in the performance of its duties under this Agreement to assure that the necessary information is made available to such auditors and accountants in a timely fashion for the expression of their opinion, as required by the Administrator.

 

5


(i)   UMBFS agrees to comply (and to the extent UMBFS takes or is required to take action on behalf of the Fund hereunder shall cause the Fund to comply) with all applicable law, as well as all investment restrictions, policies and procedures adopted by the Fund. Except as set forth in this Agreement, UMBFS assumes no responsibility for such compliance by the Fund. UMBFS shall maintain at all times a program reasonably designed to prevent violations of the federal securities laws (as defined in Rule 38a-1 under the 1940 Act) with respect to the Services provided.

4.   Fees and Expenses

(a)    As compensation for the performance of the Services, the Administrator agrees to pay UMBFS the fees set forth on Schedule C hereto. Fees shall be adjusted in accordance with Schedule C or as otherwise agreed to in writing by the parties from time to time. Fees shall be earned and paid monthly in an amount equal to at least 1/12th of the applicable annual fee. The parties may amend this Agreement to include fees for any additional services requested by the Administrator, enhancements to current Services, or to add funds. The Administrator agrees to pay UMBFS’s rate (as the parties may agree to in writing from time to time) for Services added to, or for any enhancements to existing Services set forth on, Schedule B after the execution of this Agreement (as the parties may agree to in writing from time to time). In addition, to the extent that UMBFS corrects, verifies or addresses any prior actions or inactions by the Fund or by any prior service provider, UMBFS shall be entitled to additional fees as provided in Schedule C. In the event of any disagreement between this Agreement and Schedule C related to fees, the terms of Schedule C shall control.

(b)   For the purpose of determining fees payable to UMBFS, net asset value shall be computed in accordance with the Prospectus and resolutions of the Board. The fee for the period from the day of the month this Agreement is entered into until the end of that month shall be pro-rated according to the proportion that such period bears to the full monthly period. Upon any termination of this Agreement before the end of any month and subject to Section 8(b) of this Agreement, the fee for such part of a month shall be pro-rated according to the proportion which such period bears to the full monthly period and shall be payable upon the date of termination of this Agreement. Should this Agreement be terminated (other than for cause on the part of the UMBFS) or the Fund be liquidated, merged with or acquired by another fund or investment company, any accrued fees shall be immediately payable.

(c)   UMBFS will bear all expenses incurred by it in connection with its performance of Services, except as otherwise provided herein. UMBFS shall not be required to pay or finance any costs and expenses incurred in the operation of the Fund, including, but not limited to: taxes; interest; brokerage fees and commissions; salaries, fees and expenses of officers and trustees; Commission fees and state Blue Sky fees; advisory fees; charges of custodians, transfer agents, dividend disbursing and accounting services agents and other service providers; security pricing services; insurance premiums; outside auditing and legal expenses; costs of organization and maintenance of corporate existence; taxes and fees payable to federal, state and other governmental agencies; preparation, typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing of Prospectuses, statements of additional information, supplements, notices, forms and applications and proxy materials for regulatory purposes and for distribution to current Shareholders; preparation, typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing and other costs of Shareholder reports; expenses in connection with the electronic transmission of documents and information including electronic filings with the Commission and the states; research and statistical data services; expenses incidental to holding meetings of the Fund’s Shareholders and Trustees; fees and expenses associated

 

6


with internet, e-mail and other related activities; and extraordinary expenses. Expenses incurred for distribution of Shares, including, as applicable, the typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing of Prospectuses for persons who are not Shareholders, will be borne by the Fund, except for such expenses permitted to be paid under a distribution plan adopted in accordance with applicable laws. UMBFS shall not be required to pay any Blue Sky fees or take any related Blue Sky actions unless and until it has received the amount of such fees from the Administrator.

(d)   The Administrator also agrees to promptly reimburse UMBFS for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses or disbursements reasonably incurred by UMBFS in connection with the performance of Services under this Agreement. Out-of-pocket expenses shall include, but not be limited to, those items specified on Schedule C hereto. If reasonably requested by UMBFS, out-of-pocket expenses are payable in advance. Payment of postage expenses, if prepayment is reasonably requested, is due at least seven (7) days prior to the anticipated mail date. In the event UMBFS reasonably requests advance payment, UMBFS shall not be obligated to incur such expenses or perform the related Service(s) until payment is received.

(e)   The Administrator agrees to pay all amounts due hereunder within thirty (30) days of receipt of each invoice (the “Due Date”). Except as provided in Schedule C, UMBFS shall bill Service fees monthly, and out-of-pocket expenses as incurred (unless prepayment is requested by UMBFS). UMBFS may, at its option, arrange to have various service providers submit invoices directly to the Administrator for payment of reimbursable out-of-pocket expenses.

(f)   The Administrator is aware that its failure to remit to UMBFS all amounts due on or before the Due Date may cause UMBFS to incur costs not contemplated by this Agreement, including, but not limited to carrying, processing and accounting charges. Accordingly, in the event that UMBFS does not receive any amounts due hereunder by the Due Date, the Administrator agrees to pay a late charge on the overdue amount equal to one and one-half percent (1.5%) per month or the maximum amount permitted by law, whichever is less. In addition, the Administrator shall pay UMBFS’s reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs if any amounts due UMBFS in the event that an attorney is engaged to assist in the collection of amounts due. Acceptance of such late charge shall in no event constitute a waiver by UMBFS of the Administrator’s default or prevent UMBFS from exercising any other rights and remedies available to it.

(g)   In the event that any charges are disputed, the Administrator shall, on or before the Due Date, pay all undisputed amounts due hereunder and notify UMBFS in writing of any disputed charges for out-of-pocket expenses which it is disputing in good faith. Payment for such disputed charges shall be due on or before the close of the tenth (10th) business day after the day on which UMBFS provides documentation which an objective observer would agree reasonably supports the disputed charges (the “Revised Due Date”). Late charges shall not begin to accrue as to charges disputed in good faith until the first day after the Revised Due Date.

(h)   The Administrator acknowledges that the fees charged by UMBFS under this Agreement reflect the allocation of risk between the parties, including the exclusion of remedies and limitations of liability in Section 6. Modifying the allocation of risk from what is stated herein would affect the fees that UMBFS charges. Accordingly, in consideration of those fees, the Administrator agrees to the stated allocation of risk.

 

7


5.   Confidential Information

UMBFS agrees on behalf of itself and its affiliates, partners, employees, directors and agents to treat confidentially and as proprietary information of the Fund all records and other information relative to the Fund’s portfolio holdings, not to use such information other than in the performance of its responsibilities and duties hereunder, and not to disclose such information except: (i) when requested to divulge such information by duly-constituted authorities or court process; (ii) to an affiliate, as defined by Section 248.3(a) of Regulation S-P; or, (iii) pursuant to any other exception permitted by Sections 248.14 and 248.15 of Regulation S-P in the ordinary course of business to carry out the activities covered by the exception under which UMBFS received the information. In case of any requests or demands for inspection of the records of the Fund, UMBFS will endeavor to notify the Administrator promptly and to secure instructions from a representative of the Administrator as to such inspection. Records and information which have become known to the public through no wrongful act of UMBFS or any of its employees, agents or representatives, and information which was already in the possession of UMBFS prior to receipt thereof, shall not be subject to this Section. Any party appointed pursuant to Section 2(b) above shall be required to observe the confidentiality obligations contained herein. The obligations of the parties under Section 5 shall indefinitely survive the termination of this Agreement.

6.   Limitation of Liability

(a)   UMBFS shall exercise due care and reasonable care in good faith and in accordance with reasonable commercial standards in discharging its duties hereunder. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, UMBFS shall be liable to the Administrator for all losses, damages and reasonable costs and expenses suffered or incurred by such Administrator resulting from the bad faith, gross negligence, fraud, reckless disregard in the performance of its duties and obligations under this Agreement, uncured material breach of this Agreement or willful misconduct of UMBFS (the “Standard of Care”). Subject to the foregoing, UMBFS shall not be liable for: (i) any action reasonably taken or omitted to be taken in accordance with or in reasonable reliance upon Instructions, communications, data, documents or information (without investigation or verification) received by UMBFS from an officer or representative of the Administrator, or from any Authorized Person; (ii) any action taken or omission by the Administrator, the Fund, Investment Adviser, any Authorized Person or any past or current service provider; or, (iii) its reliance on the security valuations without investigation or verification provided by pricing service(s), the Investment Adviser or representatives of the Administrator, in each case only to the extent that the Fund would utilize a pricing service with respect to the valuation of any such security.

(b)   Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, each party hereto will be excused from its obligation to perform any Service or obligation required of it hereunder solely for the duration that such performance is prevented by events beyond its reasonable control and shall not be liable for any default, damage, loss of data or documents, errors, delay or any other loss whatsoever caused thereby. UMBFS will, however, take all reasonable steps to minimize service interruptions for any period that such interruption continues beyond its reasonable control.

(c)   In no event and under no circumstances shall the Indemnified Parties (as defined below) be liable to anyone, including, without limitation, the other party, under any theory of tort, contract,

 

8


strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for lost profits, exemplary, punitive, special, indirect or consequential damages for any act or failure to act under any provision of this Agreement regardless of whether such damages were foreseeable and even if advised of the possibility thereof.

(d)   The obligations of the parties under Section 6 shall indefinitely survive the termination of this Agreement.

7.   Indemnification

(a)   The Administrator agrees to indemnify and hold harmless UMBFS, and its nominees (collectively, the “UMBFS Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all claims, demands, actions and suits, and any and all judgments, liabilities, losses, damages, costs, charges, fees, penalties, and other expenses (excluding attorney’s fees) of every nature and character (“Losses”) which may be asserted against or incurred by any UMBFS Indemnified Party or for which any UMBFS Indemnified Party may be held liable (a “Claim”), arising out of or in any way relating to any of the following, except, in each case, to the extent a Claim resulted from UMBFS’s breach of the Standard of Care:

(i)   any action or omission of UMBFS;

(ii)   UMBFS’s reasonable reliance on, implementation of or use of, Instructions, communications, data, documents or information (without investigation or verification) received by UMBFS from any Authorized Person;

(iii)   any action taken, or omission by, the Administrator, the Fund, Investment Adviser, any Authorized Person or any past or current service provider (not including UMBFS);

(iv)   any Claim that arises out of the Administrator’s gross negligence or misconduct or breach of any representation or warranty of the Administrator made herein; and

(v)    its reliance on the security valuations without investigation or verification provided by pricing service(s), the Administrator, the Investment Adviser or representatives of the Fund, in each case only to the extent that the Fund would utilize a pricing service with respect to the valuation of any such security.

(b)   The UMBFS agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Administrator, the Fund, their respective employees and officers (collectively, the “Administrator Indemnified Parties” and together with the UMBFS Indemnified Parties, each, an “Indemnified Party” and together, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all Claims against the Administrator Indemnified Parties arising out of or in any way relating to the UMBFS’s breach of the Standard of Care except, in each case, to the extent a Claim resulted from the Administrator’s bad faith, gross negligence or willful misconduct or breach of any representation or warranty of the Administrator made herein.

(b)   Promptly after receipt by a party of notice of the commencement of an investigation, action, claim or proceeding, the receiving party shall, if a claim for indemnification in respect thereof is made under this Section, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof, although the failure to do so shall not prevent recovery by the Indemnified Party. The indemnifying

 

9


party shall be entitled to participate at its own expense in the defense or, if it so elects, to assume the defense of any suit brought to enforce any such Loss, but if the indemnifying party elects to assume the defense, such defense shall be conducted by counsel chosen by the indemnifying party and approved by the Indemnified Party, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. In the event the indemnifying party elects to assume the defense of any such suit and retain such counsel and notifies the Indemnified Party of such election, the indemnified defendant or defendants in such suit shall bear the fees and expenses of any additional counsel retained by them subsequent to the receipt of the indemnifying party’s election. If the indemnifying party does not elect to assume the defense of any such suit, or in case the Indemnified Party does not, in the exercise of reasonable judgment, approve of counsel chosen by the indemnifying party, or in case there is a conflict of interest between the indemnifying party and the Indemnified Party, the indemnifying party will reimburse the Indemnified Party or Parties named as defendant or defendants in such suit, for the reasonable fees and expenses of any counsel retained by them. The indemnification agreement contained in this Section 7 and the representations and warranties in this Agreement shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the Indemnified Party and shall survive the delivery of any Shares and the termination of this Agreement. This agreement of indemnity will inure exclusively to the benefit of each Indemnified Party and their estates and successors. The Administrator agrees to promptly notify UMBFS of the commencement of any litigation or proceedings against the Administrator or any of its officers or directors in connection with the issue and sale of any of the Shares.

(c)   The obligations of the parties under this Section 7 shall indefinitely survive the termination of this Agreement.

8.   Term

(a)  This Agreement shall become effective with respect to the Fund as of the date hereof. Unless sooner terminated as provided herein, this Agreement shall continue in effect with respect to the Fund for a two-year period beginning on the date of this Agreement (the “Initial Term”). Thereafter, if not terminated as provided herein, the Agreement shall continue automatically in effect as to the Fund for successive one-year periods (each a “Renewal Term”).

(b) In the event this Agreement is terminated by the Administrator prior to the end of the Initial Term or any subsequent Renewal Term, the Administrator shall be obligated to pay UMBFS the remaining balance of the fees payable to UMBFS under this Agreement through the end of the Initial Term or Renewal Term, as applicable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may terminate this Agreement: (i) at the end of the Initial Term or at the end of any successive Renewal Term by giving the other party a written notice not less than ninety (90) days’ prior to the end of the respective term; (ii) upon the material breach of the other party of any term of this Agreement if such breach is not cured within 15 business days of notice of such breach to the breaching party; and (iii) in the event of the appointment of a conservator or receiver for the UMBFS by regulatory authorities or upon the happening of a like event at the direction of an appropriate regulatory agency or court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, upon the termination of the Agreement as provided herein or the liquidation, merger or acquisition of the Fund, UMBFS shall deliver the records of the Fund to the Fund or its successor service provider at the expense of the Administrator in a form that is consistent with UMBFS’s applicable license agreements, and thereafter the Administrator or its

 

10


designee shall be solely responsible for preserving the records for the periods required by all applicable laws, rules and regulations. The Administrator shall be responsible for all expenses associated with the movement (or duplication) of records and materials and conversion thereof to a successor service provider, including all reasonable trailing expenses incurred by UMBFS. In addition, in the event of termination of this Agreement, or the proposed liquidation, merger or acquisition of the Fund, and UMBFS’s agreement to provide additional Services in connection therewith, UMBFS shall provide such Services and be entitled to such compensation as the parties may mutually agree. UMBFS shall not reduce the level of service provided to the Administrator prior to termination following notice of termination by the Administrator.

9.   Miscellaneous

(a) Any notice required or permitted to be given by either party to the other under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been given when received by the other party as set forth below. Such notices shall be sent to the addresses listed below, or to such other location as either party may from time to time designate in writing:

 

If to UMBFS:   

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

235 West Galena Street

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212

Attention: Legal Department

If to the Administrator:   

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S Tyron St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Attention: Fund Accounting Department

If notice is sent by electronic delivery or facsimile, it shall be deemed to have been given immediately (contingent upon confirmed receipt by the intended recipient). If notice is sent by first-class mail, it shall be deemed to have been given five days after it has been mailed. If notice is sent by messenger, it shall be deemed to have been given on the day it is delivered.

(b)   Except as provided to the contrary herein, this Agreement may not be amended or modified in any manner except by a written agreement executed by both parties with the formality of this Agreement.

(c)   This Agreement shall be governed by Delaware law, excluding the laws on conflicts of laws. To the extent that the applicable laws of the State of Delaware, or any of the provisions herein, conflict with the applicable provisions of the 1940 Act, the latter shall control, and nothing herein shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the 1940 Act or any rule or order of the Commission thereunder. Any provision of this Agreement which is determined by competent authority to be prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof, and any such prohibition or unenforceability in any jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction. In such case, the parties shall in good faith modify or substitute such provision consistent with the original intent of the parties.

 

11


(d)   This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original agreement but such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument. The facsimile signature of any party to this Agreement shall constitute the valid and binding execution hereof by such party.

(e)   The services of UMBFS hereunder are not deemed to be exclusive. UMBFS may render fund accounting services and any other services to others, including other investment companies.

(f)  The captions in the Agreement are included for convenience of reference only, and in no way define or limit any of the provisions hereof or otherwise affect their construction or effect.

(g)   This Agreement and the Schedules incorporated herein constitute the full and complete understanding and agreement of the Administrator and UMBFS and supersedes all prior negotiations, understandings and agreements with respect to fund accounting and administration services.

(h)   Except as specifically provided herein, this Agreement does not in any way affect any other agreements entered into among the parties hereto and any actions taken or omitted by any party hereunder shall not affect any rights or obligations of any other party hereunder.

(i)   UMBFS shall retain all right, title and interest in any and all computer programs, screen formats, report formats, procedures, data bases, interactive design techniques, derivative works, inventions, discoveries, patentable or copyrightable matters, concepts, expertise, trade secrets, trademarks and other related legal rights provided, developed or utilized by UMBFS in connection with the Services provided by UMBFS to the Fund hereunder.

(j)   This Agreement shall extend to and shall be binding upon the parties hereto, and their respective successors and assigns. This Agreement shall not be assignable by either party without the written consent of the other party, provided; however, that UMBFS may, in its sole discretion and upon advance written notice to the Fund, assign all its right, title and interest in this Agreement to an affiliate, parent or subsidiary.

(k)   The person signing below represents and warrants that he/she is duly authorized to execute this Agreement on behalf of the party on whose behalf such person is signing.

[Signature page to follow.]

 

12


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed by a duly authorized person as of the day, month and year first above written.

 

STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE WEALTH LLC

(the “Administrator”)

By:  

 

Title:  

 

Date:  

 

UMB FUND SERVICES, INC.

(“UMBFS”)

By:  

 

Title:  

 

Date:  

 

 

13


Schedule A

to the

Fund Accounting Agreement

by and between

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

and

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

[RESERVED]

 

14


Schedule B

to the

Fund Accounting Agreement

by and between

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

and

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

SERVICES

Subject to the oversight of, and utilizing information provided by the Fund, Administrator, Investment Adviser, and the Fund’s agents, the UMBFS will provide the following services:

Fund Accounting

 

1.

Cash Processing:

  a.

Provide the Investment Adviser, sub-adviser(s), and/or delegate with a daily report of cash and projected cash;

  b.

Maintain cash and position reconciliations with custodian(s) and prime brokers.

2.

Investment Accounting and Securities Processing:

  a.

Maintain daily portfolio records for each Fund, using security information provided by the Investment Adviser or sub-adviser(s);

  b.

On a daily basis, process non-discretionary corporate action activity and discretionary corporate action activity upon receipt of instructions from the Investment Adviser;

  c.

On each day a net asset value is calculated, record the prices for every portfolio position using sources approved by the Board;

  d.

On each business day, record interest and dividend accruals, on a book basis, for the portfolio securities held in each Fund and calculate and record the gross earnings on investments for that day. Account for daily or periodic distributions of income to shareholders and maintain undistributed income balances each day;

  e.

On each business day, determine gains and losses on portfolio securities sales on a book basis. Account for periodic distributions of gains to shareholders of each Fund and maintain undistributed gain or loss balance as of each day;

  f.

Provide the Investment Adviser with standard daily/periodic portfolio reports for each Fund as mutually agreed upon.

3.

General Ledger Accounting and Reconciliation:

  a.

On each business day, calculate the amount of expense accruals according to the methodology, rates or dollar amounts provided by the Investment Adviser or the Funds’ Administrator. Account for expenditures and maintain accrual balances at a level of accounting detail specified by the Investment Adviser;

  b.

Account for purchases, sales, exchanges, transfers, reinvested distributions, and other activity related to the shares of each Fund as reported by the Funds’ Transfer Agent. Reconcile activity to the transfer agency records;

  c.

Review outstanding trade, income, or reclaim receivable/payable balances with the appropriate party;

  d.

Maintain and keep current all books and records of the Funds as required by Section 31 of the 1940 Act, and the rules thereunder, in connection with the Fund Accountant’s duties hereunder.

 

15


4.

Compute NAV in accordance with Fund procedures:

  a.

Calculate the net asset value per share and other per-share amounts on the basis of shares outstanding reported by the Funds’ Transfer Agent.

  b.

Issue daily reports detailing per share information of each Fund to such persons (including Transfer Agent, NASDAQ and other reporting agencies) as directed by the Investment Adviser.

 

16


Schedule C

to the

Fund Accounting Agreement

by and between

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

and

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

[RESERVED]

 

17

SUB-ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT

THIS SUB-ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”) is made as of this ___ day of ____________, 2024, by and between StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Administrator”), and UMB Fund Services, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation, its successors and assigns (the “UMBFS”).

WHEREAS, the Administrator acts as administrator to the StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (the “Fund”) and the Fund is a closed-end management investment company registered under the 1940 Act (as defined below) and is authorized to issue Shares;

WHEREAS, the Administrator and the UMBFS desire to enter into an agreement pursuant to which the UMBFS shall provide Services (as defined below) to the Fund on behalf of the Administrator.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises and agreements herein contained and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto, intending to be legally bound, do hereby agree as follows:

1.  Definitions  In addition to any terms defined in the body of this Agreement, the following capitalized terms shall have the meanings set forth hereinafter whenever they appear in this Agreement:

1933 Act shall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

1940 Act shall mean the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

Authorized Person shall mean any individual who is authorized to provide UMBFS with Instructions and requests on behalf of the Administrator or Fund, whose name shall be certified to UMBFS from time to time pursuant to this Agreement. Any officer of the Fund or Administrator authorized by the Board to be an Authorized Person shall be considered an Authorized Person (unless such authority is limited in a writing from the Administrator and received by UMBFS) and has the authority to appoint additional Authorized Persons, to limit or revoke the authority of any previously designated Authorized Person, and to certify to UMBFS the names of the Authorized Persons from time to time.

Board shall mean the Board of Trustees of the Fund.

By-Laws shall mean the Fund’s By-Laws, including any amendments made thereto.

Commission shall mean the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Declaration of Trustshall mean the Declaration of Trust or other similar operational document of the Fund, as the case may be, as the same may be amended from time to time.

Investment Adviser shall mean the investment adviser or investment advisers to the Fund and includes all sub-advisers or persons performing similar services.

 

1


Instructions shall mean an oral communication from an Authorized Person or a written communication signed by an Authorized Person and actually received by UMBFS. Instructions shall include manually executed originals, telefacsimile transmissions of manually executed originals or electronic communications.

Prospectus shall mean the current prospectus and statement of additional information with respect to the Fund (including any applicable amendments and supplements thereto) actually received by UMBFS from the Fund with respect to which the Fund has indicated a Registration Statement has become effective under the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act.

Registration Statementshall mean any registration statement on Form N-2 at any time now or hereafter filed with the Commission with respect to any of the Shares and any amendments and supplements thereto which at any time shall have been or will be filed with the Commission.

Services shall mean the sub-administration services described on Schedule B hereto and such additional services as may be agreed to by the parties from time to time and set forth in an amendment to Schedule B.

Shares shall mean such shares of beneficial interest, or class thereof, of the Fund as may be issued from time to time.

Shareholder shall mean a record owner of Shares of the Fund.

2.  Appointment and Services

(a)  The Administrator hereby appoints UMBFS as sub-administrator of the Fund and hereby authorizes UMBFS to provide Services during the term of this Agreement and on the terms set forth herein. Subject to the oversight of the Board and utilizing information provided by the Fund, Administrator and their current and prior agents and service providers, UMBFS will provide the Services in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, UMBFS shall not be required to provide any Services or information that it believes, in its sole, reasonable discretion, to represent dishonest, unethical or illegal activity. In no event shall UMBFS provide any investment advice or recommendations to any party in connection with its Services hereunder.

(b)  UMBFS may from time to time, in its reasonable discretion and at its own expense, appoint one or more other parties to carry out some or all of its responsibilities under this Agreement, provided that UMBFS shall remain responsible to the Administrator for all such delegated responsibilities in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, in the same manner and to the same extent as if UMBFS were itself providing such Services.

(c)  UMBFS’s duties shall be confined to those expressly set forth herein, and no implied duties are assumed by or may be asserted against UMBFS hereunder. The Services do not include correcting, verifying or addressing any prior actions or inactions of the Fund, Administrator or by any other current or prior agent or service provider. To the extent UMBFS agrees to take such actions, those actions taken shall be deemed part of the Services.

 

2


(d)  Subject to the terms of Section 8, and where applicable, the UMBFS further agrees to preserve for the periods prescribed by Rule 31a-2 under the 1940 Act the records described in Schedule B which are maintained by UMBFS for the Fund. To the extent required by Rule 31a-3 under the 1940 Act, UMBFS hereby agrees that all records which it maintains for the Fund hereunder are the property of the Fund and further agrees to surrender promptly to the Fund any of such records upon the Fund’s or Administrator’s request.

(e)  Any resolution passed by the Board that affects accounting practices and procedures under this Agreement shall be effective upon written receipt of notice and acceptance by UMBFS.

(f)  Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to appoint UMBFS and its officers, directors and employees as the Administrator’s attorney, form an attorney-client relationship or require the provision of legal advice. The Administrator acknowledges that UMBFS’s in-house attorneys exclusively represent UMBFS and the Administrator’s legal counsel will provide independent judgment on the Administrator’s behalf. Because no attorney-client relationship exists between UMBFS’s in-house attorneys and the Administrator or the Fund, any information provided to the UMBFS’s in-house attorneys may not be privileged and may be subject to compulsory disclosure under certain circumstances, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 5. UMBFS represents that it will maintain the confidentiality of information disclosed to its in-house attorneys on a best efforts basis.

3. Representations and Deliveries

(a)  The Administrator represents and warrants to UMBFS that:

(i)   It is a limited liability company duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware; it is empowered under applicable laws and by its operating agreements to enter into and perform this Agreement; and all requisite corporate proceedings have been taken to authorize it to enter into and perform this Agreement.

(ii)   It will conduct its business in compliance in all material respects with all applicable laws and regulations, both state and federal, and has obtained (or will timely obtain) all regulatory approvals necessary to carry on its business as now conducted; there is no statute, rule, regulation, order or judgment binding on it and no provision of its Declaration of Trust, By-laws or any contract binding it or affecting its property which would prohibit its execution or performance of this Agreement.

(b)  The Administrator shall use reasonable efforts to cause the Fund’s officers and trustees, and shall use its reasonable efforts to cause the Fund’s Investment Adviser, legal counsel, independent accountants, transfer agent, custodian, distributor and other service providers and agents, past or present, to cooperate with UMBFS and to provide UMBFS with such information, documents and communications relating to the Fund and the Administrator as necessary and/or appropriate or as reasonably requested by UMBFS, in order to enable UMBFS to perform the Services. In connection with the performance of the Services, UMBFS shall (without investigation or verification) be entitled and is hereby instructed to, rely upon any and all Instructions, communications, information or documents provided to UMBFS by a representative of the Administrator or by any of the aforementioned persons. UMBFS shall be entitled to rely on any document that it reasonably believes to be genuine and to have been signed or presented by the proper party. Fees charged by such persons shall

 

3


be an expense of the Administrator. UMBFS shall not be held to have notice of any change of authority of any trustee, officer, agent, representative or employee of the Fund, Investment Adviser or service provider until receipt of written notice thereof from the Administrator.

(c)  The Board, the Investment Adviser and the Administrator have and retain primary responsibility for all compliance matters relating to the Fund including but not limited to (as applicable to the specific parties) compliance with the 1940 Act, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the policies and limitations of the Fund relating to the portfolio investments as set forth in the Prospectus. UMBFS’s monitoring and other functions hereunder shall not relieve the Board, the Investment Adviser and the Administrator of their primary day-to-day responsibility for assuring such compliance. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the UMBFS will be responsible for its own compliance with such statutes insofar as such statutes are applicable to the Services it has agreed to provide hereunder, and will promptly notify the Administrator if it becomes aware of any non-compliance which relates to the Fund. The UMBFS shall provide the Administrator with quarterly and annual certifications (on a calendar basis) with respect to the design and operational effectiveness of its compliance and procedures.

(d)  The Administrator agrees that it shall advise UMBFS in writing at least thirty (30) days prior to affecting any change in any Prospectus which would increase or alter the duties and obligations of UMBFS hereunder, and shall proceed with such change only if it shall have received the written consent of UMBFS thereto.

(e)  UMBFS represents and warrants to the Administrator that:

(i)  It is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Wisconsin; it is empowered under applicable law and by its Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws to enter into and perform this Agreement; and all requisite proceedings have been taken to authorize it to enter into and perform this Agreement.

(ii)  It is conducting its business in compliance in all material respects with all applicable laws and regulations, both state and federal, and has obtained (or will timely obtain) all regulatory approvals necessary to carry on its business as now conducted; there is no statute, rule, regulation, order or judgment binding on it and no provision of its operating documents or any contract binding it or affecting its property which would prohibit its execution or performance of this Agreement. Its execution, delivery or performance of this Agreement will not conflict with or violate (a) any provision of the organizational or governance documents of UMBFS or (b) any law applicable to UMBFS.

(iii)  UMBFS shall maintain a disaster recovery and business continuity plan and adequate and reliable computer and other equipment necessary and appropriate to carry out its obligations under this Agreement, including commercially reasonable cybersecurity systems, policies and procedures designed to prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of Fund information. Upon the Administrator’s reasonable request, UMBFS shall provide supplemental information concerning the aspects of its cybersecurity systems, policies and procedures and disaster recovery and business continuity plan that are relevant to the Services.

 

4


(iv)  It has and will continue to have access to the necessary facilities, equipment and personnel to perform its duties and obligations under this Agreement in accordance with industry standards.

(f)  UMBFS shall act as liaison with the Fund’s independent public accountants, to the extent requested by the Administrator, and shall provide account analyses, fiscal year summaries, and other audit-related schedules. UMBFS shall take all reasonable action in the performance of its duties under this Agreement to assure that the necessary information is made available to such auditors and accountants in a timely fashion for the expression of their opinion, as required by the Administrator.

(g)  UMBFS agrees to comply (and to the extent UMBFS takes or is required to take action on behalf of the Fund hereunder shall cause the Fund to comply) with all applicable law, as well as all investment restrictions, policies and procedures adopted by the Fund. Except as set forth in this Agreement, UMBFS assumes no responsibility for such compliance by the Fund. UMBFS shall maintain at all times a program reasonably designed to prevent violations of the federal securities laws (as defined in Rule 38a-1 under the 1940 Act) with respect to the Services provided.

4.  Fees and Expenses

(a)  As compensation for the performance of the Services, the Administrator agrees to pay UMBFS the fees set forth on Schedule C hereto. Fees shall be adjusted in accordance with Schedule C or as otherwise agreed to in writing by the parties from time to time. Fees shall be earned and paid monthly in an amount equal to at least 1/12th of the applicable annual fee. The parties may amend this Agreement to include fees for any additional services requested by the Administrator, enhancements to current Services, or to add funds. The Administrator agrees to pay UMBFS’s rate (as the parties may agree to in writing from time to time) for Services added to, or for any enhancements to existing Services set forth on, Schedule B after the execution of this Agreement (as the parties may agree to in writing from time to time). In addition, to the extent that UMBFS corrects, verifies or addresses any prior actions or inactions by the Fund or by any prior service provider, UMBFS shall be entitled to additional fees as provided in Schedule C. In the event of any disagreement between this Agreement and Schedule C related to fees, the terms of Schedule C shall control.

(b)  For the purpose of determining fees payable to UMBFS, net asset value shall be computed in accordance with the Prospectus and resolutions of the Board. The fee for the period from the day of the month this Agreement is entered into until the end of that month shall be pro-rated according to the proportion that such period bears to the full monthly period. Upon any termination of this Agreement before the end of any month and subject to Section 8(b) of this Agreement, the fee for such part of a month shall be pro-rated according to the proportion which such period bears to the full monthly period and shall be payable upon the date of termination of this Agreement. Should this Agreement be terminated (other than for cause on the part of the UMBFS) or the Fund be liquidated, merged with or acquired by another fund or investment company, any accrued fees shall be immediately payable.

(c)  UMBFS will bear all expenses incurred by it in connection with its performance of Services, except as otherwise provided herein. UMBFS shall not be required to pay or finance any costs and expenses incurred in the operation of the Fund, including, but not limited to: taxes; interest; brokerage fees and commissions; salaries, fees and expenses of officers and trustees; Commission fees

 

5


and state Blue Sky fees; advisory fees; charges of custodians, transfer agents, dividend disbursing and accounting services agents and other service providers; security pricing services; insurance premiums; outside auditing and legal expenses; costs of organization and maintenance of corporate existence; taxes and fees payable to federal, state and other governmental agencies; preparation, typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing of Prospectuses, statements of additional information, supplements, notices, forms and applications and proxy materials for regulatory purposes and for distribution to current Shareholders; preparation, typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing and other costs of Shareholder reports; expenses in connection with the electronic transmission of documents and information including electronic filings with the Commission and the states; research and statistical data services; expenses incidental to holding meetings of the Fund’s Shareholders and Trustees; fees and expenses associated with internet, e-mail and other related activities; and extraordinary expenses. Expenses incurred for distribution of Shares, including, as applicable, the typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing of Prospectuses for persons who are not Shareholders, will be borne by the Fund, except for such expenses permitted to be paid under a distribution plan adopted in accordance with applicable laws. UMBFS shall not be required to pay any Blue Sky fees or take any related Blue Sky actions unless and until it has received the amount of such fees from the Administrator.

(d)  The Administrator also agrees to promptly reimburse UMBFS for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses or disbursements reasonably incurred by UMBFS in connection with the performance of Services under this Agreement. Out-of-pocket expenses shall include, but not be limited to, those items specified on Schedule C hereto. If reasonably requested by UMBFS, out-of-pocket expenses are payable in advance. Payment of postage expenses, if prepayment is reasonably requested, is due at least seven (7) days prior to the anticipated mail date. In the event UMBFS reasonably requests advance payment, UMBFS shall not be obligated to incur such expenses or perform the related Service(s) until payment is received.

(e)  The Administrator agrees to pay all amounts due hereunder within thirty (30) days of receipt of each invoice (the “Due Date”). Except as provided in Schedule C, UMBFS shall bill Service fees monthly, and out-of-pocket expenses as incurred (unless prepayment is requested by UMBFS). UMBFS may, at its option, arrange to have various service providers submit invoices directly to the Administrator for payment of reimbursable out-of-pocket expenses.

(f)  The Administrator is aware that its failure to remit to UMBFS all amounts due on or before the Due Date may cause UMBFS to incur costs not contemplated by this Agreement, including, but not limited to carrying, processing and accounting charges. Accordingly, in the event that UMBFS does not receive any amounts due hereunder by the Due Date, the Administrator agrees to pay a late charge on the overdue amount equal to one and one-half percent (1.5%) per month or the maximum amount permitted by law, whichever is less. In addition, the Administrator shall pay UMBFS’s reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs if any amounts due UMBFS in the event that an attorney is engaged to assist in the collection of amounts due. Acceptance of such late charge shall in no event constitute a waiver by UMBFS of the Administrator’s default or prevent UMBFS from exercising any other rights and remedies available to it.

(g)  In the event that any charges are disputed, the Administrator shall, on or before the Due Date, pay all undisputed amounts due hereunder and notify UMBFS in writing of any disputed charges for out-of-pocket expenses which it is disputing in good faith. Payment for such disputed charges shall

 

6


be due on or before the close of the tenth (10th) business day after the day on which UMBFS provides documentation which an objective observer would agree reasonably supports the disputed charges (the “Revised Due Date”). Late charges shall not begin to accrue as to charges disputed in good faith until the first day after the Revised Due Date.

(h)  The Administrator acknowledges that the fees charged by UMBFS under this Agreement reflect the allocation of risk between the parties, including the exclusion of remedies and limitations of liability in Section 6. Modifying the allocation of risk from what is stated herein would affect the fees that UMBFS charges. Accordingly, in consideration of those fees, the Administrator agrees to the stated allocation of risk.

5.  Confidential Information

UMBFS agrees on behalf of itself and its affiliates, partners, employees, directors and agents to treat confidentially and as proprietary information of the Fund all records and other information relative to the Fund’s portfolio holdings, not to use such information other than in the performance of its responsibilities and duties hereunder, and not to disclose such information except: (i) when requested to divulge such information by duly-constituted authorities or court process; (ii) to an affiliate, as defined by Section 248.3(a) of Regulation S-P; or, (iii) pursuant to any other exception permitted by Sections 248.14 and 248.15 of Regulation S-P in the ordinary course of business to carry out the activities covered by the exception under which UMBFS received the information. In case of any requests or demands for inspection of the records of the Fund, UMBFS will endeavor to notify the Administrator promptly and to secure instructions from a representative of the Administrator as to such inspection. Records and information which have become known to the public through no wrongful act of UMBFS or any of its employees, agents or representatives, and information which was already in the possession of UMBFS prior to receipt thereof, shall not be subject to this Section. Any party appointed pursuant to Section 2(b) above shall be required to observe the confidentiality obligations contained herein. The obligations of the parties under Section 5 shall indefinitely survive the termination of this Agreement.

6.  Limitation of Liability

(a)  UMBFS shall exercise due care and reasonable care in good faith and in accordance with reasonable commercial standards in discharging its duties hereunder. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, UMBFS shall be liable to the Administrator for all losses, damages and reasonable costs and expenses suffered or incurred by such Administrator resulting from the bad faith, gross negligence, fraud, reckless disregard in the performance of its duties and obligations under this Agreement, uncured material breach of this Agreement or willful misconduct of UMBFS (the “Standard of Care”). Subject to the foregoing, UMBFS shall not be liable for: (i) any action reasonably taken or omitted to be taken in accordance with or in reasonable reliance upon Instructions, communications, data, documents or information (without investigation or verification) received by UMBFS from an officer or representative of the Administrator, or from any Authorized Person; (ii) any action taken or omission by the Administrator, the Fund, Investment Adviser, any Authorized Person or any past or current service provider (not including the Sub-Administrator or its affiliates); or, (iii) its reliance on the security valuations without investigation or verification provided by pricing service(s), the Investment Adviser or representatives of the Administrator, in each case only to the extent that the Fund would utilize a pricing service with respect to the valuation of any such security.

 

7


(b)  Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, each party hereto will be excused from its obligation to perform any Service or obligation required of it hereunder solely for the duration that such performance is prevented by events beyond its reasonable control and shall not be liable for any default, damage, loss of data or documents, errors, delay or any other loss whatsoever caused thereby. UMBFS will, however, take all reasonable steps to minimize service interruptions for any period that such interruption continues beyond its reasonable control.

(c)  In no event and under no circumstances shall the Indemnified Parties (as defined below) be liable to anyone, including, without limitation, the other party, under any theory of tort, contract, strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for lost profits, exemplary, punitive, special, indirect or consequential damages for any act or failure to act under any provision of this Agreement regardless of whether such damages were foreseeable and even if advised of the possibility thereof.

(d)  The obligations of the parties under Section 6 shall indefinitely survive the termination of this Agreement.

7.  Indemnification

(a)  The Administrator agrees to indemnify and hold harmless UMBFS, and its nominees (collectively, the “UMBFS Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all claims, demands, actions and suits, and any and all judgments, liabilities, losses, damages, costs, charges, fees, penalties, and other expenses (excluding attorney’s fees) of every nature and character (“Losses”) which may be asserted against or incurred by any UMBFS Indemnified Party or for which any UMBFS Indemnified Party may be held liable (a “Claim”), arising out of or in any way relating to any of the following, except, in each case, to the extent a Claim resulted from UMBFS’s breach of the Standard of Care:

(i)  any action or omission of UMBFS;

(ii)  UMBFS’s reasonable reliance on, implementation of or use of, Instructions, communications, data, documents or information (without investigation or verification) received by UMBFS from any Authorized Person;

(iii)  any action taken, or omission by, the Administrator, the Fund, Investment Adviser, any Authorized Person or any past or current service provider (not including UMBFS);

(iv)  any Claim that arises out of the Administrator’s gross negligence or misconduct or breach of any representation or warranty of the Administrator made herein; and

(v)  its reliance on the security valuations without investigation or verification provided by pricing service(s), the Investment Adviser or representatives of the Fund, in each case only to the extent that the Fund would utilize a pricing service with respect to the valuation of any such security.

(b)  The UMBFS agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Administrator and their respective employees and officers (collectively, the “Administrator Indemnified Parties” and together

 

8


with the UMBFS Indemnified Parties, each, an “Indemnified Party” and together, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all Claims against the Administrator Indemnified Parties arising out of or in any way relating to the UMBFS’s breach of the Standard of Care except, in each case, to the extent a Claim resulted from the Administrator’s bad faith, gross negligence or willful misconduct or breach of any representation or warranty of the Administrator made herein.

(c)  Promptly after receipt by a party of notice of the commencement of an investigation, action, claim or proceeding, the receiving party shall, if a claim for indemnification in respect thereof is made under this Section, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof, although the failure to do so shall not prevent recovery by the Indemnified Party. The indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate at its own expense in the defense or, if it so elects, to assume the defense of any suit brought to enforce any such Loss, but if the indemnifying party elects to assume the defense, such defense shall be conducted by counsel chosen by the indemnifying party and approved by the Indemnified Party, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. In the event the indemnifying party elects to assume the defense of any such suit and retain such counsel and notifies the Indemnified Party of such election, the indemnified defendant or defendants in such suit shall bear the fees and expenses of any additional counsel retained by them subsequent to the receipt of the indemnifying party’s election. If the indemnifying party does not elect to assume the defense of any such suit, or in case the Indemnified Party does not, in the exercise of reasonable judgment, approve of counsel chosen by the indemnifying party, or in case there is a conflict of interest between the indemnifying party and the Indemnified Party, the indemnifying party will reimburse the Indemnified Party or Parties named as defendant or defendants in such suit, for the reasonable fees and expenses of any counsel retained by them. The indemnification agreement contained in this Section 7 and the representations and warranties in this Agreement shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the Indemnified Party and shall survive the delivery of any Shares and the termination of this Agreement. This agreement of indemnity will inure exclusively to the benefit of each Indemnified Party and their estates and successors. The Administrator agrees to promptly notify UMBFS of the commencement of any litigation or proceedings against the Administrator or any of its officers or directors in connection with the issue and sale of any of the Shares.

(c)  The obligations of the parties under this Section 7 shall indefinitely survive the termination of this Agreement.

8.  Term

(a)  This Agreement shall become effective with respect to the Fund as of the date hereof. Unless sooner terminated as provided herein, this Agreement shall continue in effect with respect to the Fund for a two-year period beginning on the date of this Agreement (the “Initial Term”). Thereafter, if not terminated as provided herein, the Agreement shall continue automatically in effect as to the Fund for successive one-year periods (each a “Renewal Term”).

(b)  In the event this Agreement is terminated by the Administrator prior to the end of the Initial Term or any subsequent Renewal Term, the Administrator shall be obligated to pay UMBFS the remaining balance of the fees payable to UMBFS under this Agreement through the end of the Initial Term or Renewal Term, as applicable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may terminate this Agreement: (i) at the end of the Initial Term or at the end of any successive Renewal Term by giving the

 

9


other party a written notice not less than ninety (90) days’ prior to the end of the respective term; (ii) upon the material breach of the other party of any term of this Agreement if such breach is not cured within 15 business days of notice of such breach to the breaching party; and (iii) in the event of the appointment of a conservator or receiver for the UMBFS by regulatory authorities or upon the happening of a like event at the direction of an appropriate regulatory agency or court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, upon the termination of the Agreement as provided herein or the liquidation, merger or acquisition of the Fund, UMBFS shall deliver the records of the Fund to the Fund or its successor service provider at the expense of the Administrator in a form that is consistent with UMBFS’s applicable license agreements, and thereafter the Administrator or its designee shall be solely responsible for preserving the records for the periods required by all applicable laws, rules and regulations. The Administrator shall be responsible for all expenses associated with the movement (or duplication) of records and materials and conversion thereof to a successor service provider, including all reasonable trailing expenses incurred by UMBFS. In addition, in the event of termination of this Agreement, or the proposed liquidation, merger or acquisition of the Fund, and UMBFS’s agreement to provide additional Services in connection therewith, UMBFS shall provide such Services and be entitled to such compensation as the parties may mutually agree. UMBFS shall not reduce the level of service provided to the Administrator prior to termination following notice of termination by the Administrator.

9.   Power of Attorney

The Administrator hereby grants to Administrator the limited power of attorney on behalf of the Fund to sign Blue Sky forms and related documents in connection with the performance of Services under this Agreement.

10.  Miscellaneous

(a)  Any notice required or permitted to be given by either party to the other under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been given when received by the other party as set forth below. Such notices shall be sent to the addresses listed below, or to such other location as either party may from time to time designate in writing:

 

If to UMBFS:

  UMB Fund Services, Inc.
  235 West Galena Street
  Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212
  Attention: Legal Department

If to the Administrator:

  StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC
  128 S Tyron St., Suite 1600
  Charlotte, NC 28202
  Attention: Fund Accounting Department

If notice is sent by electronic delivery or facsimile, it shall be deemed to have been given immediately (contingent upon confirmed receipt by the intended recipient). If notice is sent by first-class mail, it shall be deemed to have been given five days after it has been mailed. If notice is sent by messenger, it shall be deemed to have been given on the day it is delivered.

 

10


(b)  Except as provided to the contrary herein, this Agreement may not be amended or modified in any manner except by a written agreement executed by both parties with the formality of this Agreement.

(c)  This Agreement shall be governed by Delaware law, excluding the laws on conflicts of laws. To the extent that the applicable laws of the State of Delaware, or any of the provisions herein, conflict with the applicable provisions of the 1940 Act, the latter shall control, and nothing herein shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the 1940 Act or any rule or order of the Commission thereunder. Any provision of this Agreement which is determined by competent authority to be prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof, and any such prohibition or unenforceability in any jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction. In such case, the parties shall in good faith modify or substitute such provision consistent with the original intent of the parties.

(d)  This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original agreement but such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument. The facsimile signature of any party to this Agreement shall constitute the valid and binding execution hereof by such party.

(e)  The services of UMBFS hereunder are not deemed to be exclusive. UMBFS may render sub-administration services and any other services to others, including other investment companies.

(f)  The captions in the Agreement are included for convenience of reference only, and in no way define or limit any of the provisions hereof or otherwise affect their construction or effect.

(g)  This Agreement and the Schedules incorporated herein constitute the full and complete understanding and agreement of Administrator and the UMBFS and supersedes all prior negotiations, understandings and agreements with respect to sub-administration services.

(h)  Except as specifically provided herein, this Agreement does not in any way affect any other agreements entered into among the parties hereto and any actions taken or omitted by any party hereunder shall not affect any rights or obligations of any other party hereunder.

(i)  UMBFS shall retain all right, title and interest in any and all computer programs, screen formats, report formats, procedures, data bases, interactive design techniques, derivative works, inventions, discoveries, patentable or copyrightable matters, concepts, expertise, trade secrets, trademarks and other related legal rights provided, developed or utilized by UMBFS in connection with the Services provided by UMBFS to the Fund hereunder.

(j)  This Agreement shall extend to and shall be binding upon the parties hereto, and their respective successors and assigns. This Agreement shall not be assignable by either party without the written consent of the other party, provided; however, that UMBFS may, in its sole discretion and upon advance written notice to the Fund, assign all its right, title and interest in this Agreement to an affiliate, parent or subsidiary.

 

11


(l)  The person signing below represents and warrants that he/she is duly authorized to execute this Agreement on behalf of the party on whose behalf such person is signing.

[Signature page to follow.]

 

12


  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed by a duly authorized person as of the day, month and year first above written.

 

STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE WEALTH LLC
(the “Administrator”)
By:  

 

Title:  

 

Date:  

 

UMB FUND SERVICES, INC.
(“UMBFS”)
By:  

 

Title:  

 

Date:  

 

 

13


Schedule A

to the

Sub-Administration Agreement

by and between

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

and

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

[RESERVED]

 

14


Schedule B

to the

Sub-Administration Agreement

by and between

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

and

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

SERVICES

Subject to the oversight of, and utilizing information provided by the Administrator, Fund, Investment Adviser, and the Fund’s agents, the UMBFS will provide the following services:

Regulatory Administration

Subject to the direction of and utilizing information provided by the Administrator, the Fund, the Investment Adviser, and the Fund’s agents, UMBFS will provide the services listed below. UMBFS’s provision of these services shall not relieve the Fund and the Fund’s Investment Adviser of their primary day-to-day responsibility for assuring such compliance. UMBFS’s ability to provide information regarding compliance with respect to applicable rules and regulations may be limited by the characteristics of the Fund’s investments. UMBFS shall perform the following duties on behalf of the Fund:

 

1.

General Fund Management

 

  a.

Provide appropriate personnel, office facilities, information technology, record keeping and other resources as necessary for UMBFS to perform its duties and responsibilities under this agreement;

 

  b.

Act as liaison among all Fund service providers.

 

2.

Financial Reporting and Audits

 

  a.

Prepare quarterly, semi-annual and annual schedules and financial statements including schedule of investments and the related statements of operations, assets and liabilities, changes in net assets and cash flow (if required), and financial highlights to each financial statement;

 

  b.

Draft footnotes to financial statements for approval by the Fund’s officers and independent accountants;

 

  c.

Provide facilities, information and personnel as necessary to accommodate annual audits with the Fund’s independent accountants or examinations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

 

3.

Compliance

 

  a.

From time to time as UMBFS deems appropriate (but no less frequently than quarterly), check the Fund’s compliance with the policies and limitations of the Fund relating to the portfolio investments as set forth in the Fund’s Offering Memorandum and Statement of Additional Information (but these functions shall not relieve the Fund’s Portfolio Managers, if any, of their primary day-to-day responsibility for assuring such compliance);

 

  b.

Monitor Fund activity for compliance with subchapter M under the Internal Revenue Code (but these functions shall not relieve the Fund’s Portfolio Managers, if any, of their primary day-to-day responsibility for assuring such compliance). Compliance testing is dependent on receiving necessary information from any underlying investment.

 

4.

Expenses

 

15


  a.

Prepare annual Fund-level and class-level budgets and update on a periodic basis;

  b.

Coordinate the payment of expenses;

  c.

Establish accruals and provide to the Fund’s Fund Accountant;

  d.

Provide expense summary reporting as reasonably requested by the Fund.

 

5.

Filings

 

  a.

Provide the following for Form N-2 filings and required updates:

 

  i.

Preparation of expense table;

 

  ii.

Performance information;

 

  iii.

Preparation of shareholder expense transaction and annual fund operating expense examples; and

 

  iv.

Investment Advisor and trustee fee data.

 

  b.

Subject to having received all relevant information from the Fund and upon the advice and direction of Fund counsel, prepare Form N-PX and provide to Fund counsel for its review; upon the advice and direction of Fund counsel, file Form N-PX with the Commission as required;

 

  c.

Assist in compiling exhibits and disclosures for Form N-CEN and Form N-CSR and file when approved by the principal officers of the Fund;

 

 

  d.

File Rule 17g-1 fidelity bond filing when received from the Fund or broker.

 

6.

Other

 

  a.

Calculate dividend and capital gain distributions, subject to review and approval by the Fund’s officers and independent accountants;

 

 

  b.

Calculate standard performance, as defined by Rule 482 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as requested by the Fund;

 

 

  c.

Report performance and other portfolio information to outside reporting agencies as directed by the Investment Adviser;

 

 

  d.

Assist in securing and monitoring the directors and officers liability coverage and fidelity bond for the Fund;

 

 

  e.

Provide periodic updates on recent accounting, tax and regulatory events affecting the Fund and/or Investment Adviser;

 

 

  f.

Assist the Fund during SEC audits, including providing applicable documents from the SEC’s document request list;

 

 

  g.

Maintain a regulatory compliance calendar (initially provided by the Fund’s CCO) listing various Board approval and SEC filing dates.

 

 

1.

Tax Preparation, Compliance and Reporting – 1099

 

1.

Prepare income tax and excise tax provisions. Calculate required income and excise dividend and capital gains distribution amounts subject to review and approval by the Fund’s officers and their independent accountants.

 

2.

Prepare analysis in determining qualified dividend income amounts for notification to shareholders and prepare ICI Primary and Secondary Layouts for shareholder reporting.

 

3.

Prepare forms 1099-MISC Miscellaneous Income for board members and other required Fund vendors.

Online Board Books

Provide web portal access for directors, officers and/or client staff to view completed board materials.

 

16


Blue Sky State Filings

Prepare and file state securities qualification/notice compliance filings, with the advice of the Fund’s legal counsel, upon and in accordance with instructions from the Fund, which instructions will include the states to qualify in, the amounts of shares to initially and subsequently qualify and the warning threshold to be maintained; promptly prepare an amendment to the Fund’s notice permit to increase the offering amount as necessary.

 

17


Schedule C

to the

Sub-Administration Agreement

by and between

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

and

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

[RESERVED]

 

18

ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT

THIS ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) is made this day of     2024, by and between StepStone Private Credit Income Fund, a statutory trust formed in the State of Delaware and registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 as a closed-end management investment company that is operated as an interval fund (hereinafter referred to as the “Fund”) and SEI Investments – Global Fund Services Limited, an investment business firm authorised by the Central Bank under section 10 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 (hereinafter referred to as the “Administrator”).

WHEREAS, the Fund has appointed StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC as its investment advisor (hereinafter referred to as the “Investment Advisor”) as set out in the Offering Memorandum of the Fund.

WHEREAS, the Administrator has agreed, at the request of the Investment Advisor, to provide the Fund with certain administrative services on the terms and subject to the conditions hereinafter contained.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the covenants hereinafter contained and intending to be legally bound, the Fund and the Administrator hereby agree as follows:

 

SECTION 1

DEFINITIONS

 

  1.01

Actions” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 3.01(b) of this Agreement.

 

  1.02

Administrator” shall have the meaning given to such term in the preamble of this Agreement.

 

  1.03

Agreement” shall have the meaning given to such term in the preamble of this Agreement.

 

  1.04

Authorized Person” shall include, as applicable, any managing member, general partner, director or trustee or other Person having similar status or performing similar functions, as the case may be, acting on behalf of the Fund.

 

  1.05

Board” means any board of directors, board of trustees, board of managers, managing members, general partners or other Persons having similar responsibilities to any of the foregoing.

 

  1.06

Breach Notice” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 9.02(a) of this Agreement.

 

  1.07

Confidential Information” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 11.01 of this Agreement.

 

  1.09

Data Protection Laws” means the laws applicable to the processing of Personal Data under this Agreement, including, as relevant, the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and the Council of 27 April 2016), including any amendments thereto (“GDPR”), and any applicable consequential national data protection legislation and any guidance and/or codes of practice issued by any relevant European supervisory authority, including without limitation the European Data Protection Board, in each case as amended, supplemented or replaced from time to time.

 

  1.10

Disclosing Party” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 11.01 of this Agreement.

 

  1.11

Fund shall have the meaning given to such term in the preamble of this Agreement.

 

  1.12

Fund Data” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 2.04 of this Agreement.


  1.13

Gross Negligence” means an act or omission of the Administrator (as described in Section 5.01) which the Administrator knew, or would have known on reasonable inquiry, that such act or omission would be to disregard of the rights of, or consequences to, others, or otherwise without the bounds of reason, and not merely a lack of due care.

 

  1.14

Initial Term” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 9.01 of this Agreement.

 

  1.15

Interested Party” or “Interested Parties” means the Administrator, its subsidiaries and its affiliates and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, delegates and associates.

 

  1.16

Interests” means any partnership interest in, membership interest in, shares of stock of or other equity interest in, as the case may be, the Fund.

 

  1.17

Investment Advisor” shall have the meaning given to such term in the preamble of this Agreement.

 

  1.18

Investments” shall mean such cash, securities and all other assets and property of whatsoever nature now owned or subsequently acquired by or for the account of the Fund.

 

  1.19

Live Date” means the date on which the Administrator begins providing Services under this Agreement.

 

  1.20

Offering Memorandum” means any prospectus, private placement memorandum, notice, circular, proxy or other client/investor communication issued in respect of the Fund from time to time, as appropriate, including all amendments or supplements thereto.

 

  1.21

Organizational Documents” means, as applicable, the articles of incorporation, declaration of trust, certificate of formation, memorandum of association, partnership agreement, bylaws or other similar documentation setting forth the respective rights and obligations of directors or trustees, managers and Interest holders in the Fund.

 

  1.22

Person” shall mean any natural person, partnership, estate, association, custodian, nominee, limited liability company, corporation, trust or other legal entity.

 

  1.23

Personal Data” has the meaning given to that term in the Data Protection Laws.

 

  1.24

Personal Data Breach” has the meaning given to that term in the Data Protection Laws.

 

  1.25

Proprietary Information” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 12.01 of this Agreement.

 

  1.26

Reasonable Steps” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 11.01 of this Agreement.

 

  1.27

Receiving Party” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 11.01 of this Agreement.

 

  1.28

Relevant Data” has the meaning specified in Section 12.12(b) of this Agreement.

 

  1.29

Renewal Term” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 9.01 of this Agreement.

 

  1.30

Services” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 2.01 of this Agreement.

 

  1.31

Sub-Processor has the meaning specified in Section 12.12(c) of this Agreement.


  1.32

Web Access” shall have the meaning given to such term in Section 12.01 of this Agreement.

 

SECTION 2

APPOINTMENT AND CONTROL

 

  2.01

Services. The Fund hereby appoints the Administrator to be, and the Administrator agrees to provide loan administration services to the Fund for the term and subject to the provisions hereof. The Administrator shall perform or cause to be performed the services set forth in this Agreement, including the services set forth in Schedule I of this Agreement and those agreed to in writing and signed by the parties from time to time (collectively, the “Services”).

 

  2.02

Authority. Each of the activities engaged in under the provisions of this Agreement by the Administrator on behalf of the Fund shall be subject to the overall direction and control of the Fund or any Authorized Person; provided, however, that the Administrator shall have the general authority to do all acts deemed in the Administrator’s reasonable good faith belief to be necessary and proper to perform its obligations under this Agreement. In performing its duties hereunder, the Administrator shall observe and generally comply with the Organizational Documents, Offering Memorandum, all applicable resolutions and/or directives of any Authorized Person of which it has notice, and applicable laws which may from time to time apply to the Services rendered by the Administrator. In the event that the Fund desires to amend its Organizational Documents in any manner that can reasonably be expected to have a material impact on the Administrator’s performance of the Services hereunder, the Fund shall notify the Administrator in advance of such amendment and the parties will work together in good faith to minimize the impact of such change on the Administrator’s operations and where necessary compensate the Administrator in connection therewith. The Administrator (i) shall not have or be required to have any authority to supervise the investment or reinvestment of the securities or other properties which comprise the assets of the Fund and (ii) shall not provide any investment advisory services to the Fund, and shall have no liability related to the foregoing.

 

  2.03

Third Parties; Affiliates. The Administrator may delegate to, or sub-contract with, third parties or affiliates administrative or other functions it deems necessary to perform its obligations under this Agreement upon prior written notice to the Fund and in accordance with the requirements of the Central Bank; provided, however, all fees and expenses incurred in any delegation or sub-contract shall be paid by the Administrator and the Administrator shall remain responsible to each Fund for the acts or omissions of such other entities as if such acts or omissions were the acts or omissions of the Administrator. Prior to delegating or sub-contracting any function to an affiliate or third party, the Administrator shall have notified the Central Bank in writing and received specific approval from the Central Bank of such outsourcing activity. The Administrator shall take all reasonable steps to satisfy itself as to the ability and competence of the third party to discharge the duties delegated to it and shall take suitable measures to ensure that the outsourced activities continue to meet the performance and quality standards that would apply if Administrator were performing the outsourced activities. The Fund acknowledges that during the term of this Agreement, the services to be performed by the Administrator may be completed by one or more of the Administrator’s affiliates or third parties located in or outside of Ireland; provided, however, that the Administrator shall comply with all applicable Central Bank requirements relating to the outsourcing of such administration activities.

 

  2.04

Fund Data. The Fund shall be responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of all data and other information provided to the Administrator by or on behalf of the Fund pursuant to this Agreement (including, without limitation, (i) prices provided by pricing sources, (ii) sufficient transaction supporting documentation, (iii) detailed valuation methodologies with respect to the Fund’s Investments, (iv) the terms of any agreement between the Fund and an investor regarding any special fee or specific fee arrangement or access to portfolio information that may impact or affect the Services, (v) trade and settlement information from prime brokers and custodians (if any), and (vi) the terms of any side letter or side pocket arrangements that may impact or affect


 

the Services (collectively, “Fund Data”). All Fund Data shall be provided to the Administrator on a timely basis and in a format and medium reasonably requested by the Administrator from time to time. The Fund shall have an ongoing obligation to promptly update all Fund Data so that such information remains current, complete and accurate. All Fund Data shall be prepared and maintained, by or on behalf of the Fund, in accordance with applicable law, the Offering Memorandum and generally acceptable accounting principles. The Administrator shall be entitled to rely on all Fund Data and shall have no liability for any loss, damage or expense incurred by the Fund or any other Person to the extent that such loss, damage or expense arises out of or is related to Fund Data that is not timely, current, complete and accurate.

 

SECTION 3

REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS OF THE FUND

 

  3.01

The Fund represents and warrants that:

 

  (a)

it has full power, right and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby; the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby have been duly and validly approved by all requisite actions on its part, and no other proceedings on its part are necessary to approve this Agreement or to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby; this Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by it; this Agreement constitutes a legal, valid and binding obligation, enforceable against it in accordance with its terms;

 

  (b)

it is not a party to any, and there are no, pending or threatened legal, administrative, arbitral or other proceedings, claims, actions or governmental or regulatory investigations or inquiries (collectively, “Actions”) of any nature against it or its properties or assets which could, individually or in the aggregate, have a material effect upon its business or financial condition. There is no injunction, order, judgment, decree, or regulatory restriction imposed specifically upon it or any of its properties or assets that is material to its overall business;

 

  (c)

it is not in default under any contractual or statutory obligations whatsoever (including the payment of any tax) which, individually or in the aggregate, could materially and adversely affect, its business or financial condition;

 

  (d)

it has obtained all consents and given all notices (regulatory or otherwise) material to its business, made all material required regulatory filings and is in material compliance with all material applicable laws and regulations;

 

  (e)

it will appoint an independent auditor with respect to each Fund and will provide additional information regarding such service providers, including information regarding the terms of its agreement with such service providers, upon request;

 

  (f)

it has notified the Administrator of any and all separate agreements between the Fund and any third party that could have a material impact on the Administrator’s performance of its obligations pursuant to this Agreement; and

 

  (g)

it has disclosed the terms of any agreement between the Fund and an investor in the Fund regarding any special fee or specific fee arrangement or access to portfolio information that may impact or affect the Services.


  3.02

The Fund covenants and agrees that:

 

  (a)

it will furnish the Administrator from time to time with copies, authenticated or certified, of its Organizational Documents, a current version of the applicable Offering Memorandum and with any other information or documents, including Fund Data, that the Administrator may reasonably request;

 

  (b)

it shall timely perform all obligations identified in this Agreement as obligations of the Fund, including, without limitation, providing the Administrator with all Fund Data and Organizational Documents reasonably requested by the Administrator;

 

  (c)

it will notify the Administrator as soon as reasonably practical in advance of any matter which could materially affect the Administrator’s performance of its duties and obligations under this Agreement, including any amendment to the documents referenced in Section 3.02(a) above;

 

  (d)

it will promptly notify the Administrator in the event that the Fund’s investment strategy materially changes from the strategy adopted by the Fund;

 

  (e)

any reference to the Administrator or this Agreement in an Offering Memorandum shall be limited solely to the description provided by the Administrator in writing from time to time or such other description as the parties shall mutually agree in advance and in writing; provided that the Fund may make such disclosures as may be required in one or more regulatory filings, however if such disclosures go beyond the description in an Offering Memorandum the Administrator’s consent to the particular disclosure is required;

 

  (f)

it shall be solely responsible for its compliance with applicable investment policies, the Offering Memorandum, and any laws and regulations governing the manner in which its assets may be invested, and shall be solely responsible for any losses attributable to non-compliance with the Offering Memorandum, any applicable policies, laws and regulations governing the Fund, its activities or the duties, actions or omissions of the Investment Advisor; and

 

  (g)

it will promptly notify the Administrator in the event of any changes to the representations and warranties made hereunder.

 

SECTION 4

REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS OF THE ADMINISTRATOR

 

  4.01

The Administrator represents and warrants that:

 

  (a)

it has full power, right and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby; the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby have been duly and validly approved by all requisite action on its part, and no other proceedings on its part are necessary to approve this Agreement or to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby; this Agreement has been duly executed and delivered by it; this Agreement constitutes a legal, valid and binding obligation, enforceable against it in accordance with its terms.


  (b)

it is not a party to any, and there are no, pending or threatened Actions of any nature against it or its properties or assets which could, individually or in the aggregate, have a material effect upon its business or financial condition. There is no injunction, order, judgment, decree, or regulatory restriction imposed specifically upon it or any of its properties or assets.

 

  (c)

it is not in default under any statutory obligations whatsoever (including the payment of any tax) which materially and adversely affects, or is likely to materially and adversely affect, its business or financial condition.

 

  (d)

the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions herein contemplated and compliance with the terms hereof do not and will not conflict with or result in a breach of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under the constitutional documents or other constitutive powers of the Administrator, any existing applicable law or rule or regulation or any judgment, order or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction applicable to or binding on the Administrator;

 

  (e)

it has obtained all consents and given all notices (regulatory or otherwise), made all required regulatory filings and is in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as pertain to the Administrator’s provision of the Services;

 

  (f)

it has not relied on any oral representation made by the Fund (other than the representations contained in this Agreement) or any person on its behalf, and acknowledges that this Agreement sets out to the fullest extent the duties of the Administrator; and

 

  (g)

to the best of its knowledge, information and belief having regard to any requests made to it by the Fund and to the duties and responsibilities of the Administrator hereunder full disclosure has been made to the Fund prior to the date hereof of all facts in relation to the Administrator and its business affairs as are material and ought properly to be made known to any person proposing to enter into this Agreement with the Administrator.

 

  4.02

The Administrator covenants and agrees that:

 

  (a)

it will observe and comply with all laws, regulations, applicable to the Administrator in the performance of the Services hereunder;

 

  (b)

it will promptly notify the Fund in the event of any changes to the representations and warranties made hereunder.

 

SECTION 5

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION

 

  5.01.

The duties of the Administrator shall be confined to those expressly set forth in this Agreement, and no implied duties are assumed by or may be asserted against the Administrator. In the absence of Gross Negligence, bad faith, fraud or willful default in the performance of the Services, the Administrator shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss arising out of any investment or for any act or omission in carrying out its duties under this Agreement. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the Administrator shall not in any circumstances be liable for any indirect, special, punitive or consequential damages of any nature whatsoever. Each party shall have the duty to mitigate its damages for which another party may become responsible. For the avoidance of doubt, the Administrator shall not be responsible for any breach in the performance of its obligations under this Agreement due to (i) the failure or delay of the


 

Fund, underlying fund or either of their respective agents to perform its obligations under this Agreement or (ii) the Administrator’s reliance on Fund Data. As used in this Section 5, the term “Administrator” shall include the officers, directors, employees, affiliates and agents of the Administrator as well as that entity itself.

 

  5.02

The Administrator may apply to any the Fund at any time for instructions and may consult counsel for the Fund or with accountants, counsel and other experts with respect to any matter arising in connection with the Administrator’s duties hereunder, and provided that the Fund shall have given its prior consent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) to the choice of advisors and that a copy of the advice is provided to the Fund for its consideration prior to the Administrator taking any action in reliance on such advice, the Administrator shall not be liable or accountable for any action taken or omitted by it in good faith in accordance with such instruction or with the advice of counsel, accountants or other experts. Also, the Administrator shall not be liable for actions taken pursuant to any document which it reasonably believes to be genuine and to have been signed by an Authorized Person. The Administrator shall not be held to have notice of any change of authority of any officer, employee or agent of the Fund until receipt of written notice thereof. To the extent that the Administrator consults with the Fund’s counsel pursuant to this provision, any such expense shall be borne by the Fund.

 

  5.03

The Administrator shall have no liability for its reliance on Fund Data or the performance or omissions of unaffiliated third parties (subject always to the provisions of Section 2.03) such as, by way of example and not limitation, transfer agents, sub-transfer agents, custodians, prime brokers, placement agents, third party marketers, asset data service providers, investment advisers (including, without limitation, any Investment Advisor) or sub-advisers, current or former third party service providers, pricing sources, software providers, printers, postal or delivery services, prior administrators, telecommunications providers and processing and settlement services. The Administrator may rely on and shall have no duty to investigate or confirm the accuracy or adequacy of any information provided by any of the foregoing third parties.

 

  5.04

The Administrator shall have no obligations with respect to any laws relating to the purchase or sale of Interests in the Fund.

 

  5.05

The Fund shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Administrator from and against and the Administrator shall have no liability in connection with any and all actions, suits and claims, whether groundless or otherwise, and from and against any and all losses, damages, costs, charges, reasonable counsel fees and disbursements, payments, expenses and liabilities (including reasonable investigation expenses) arising directly or indirectly out of: (i) any act or omission of the Administrator in carrying out its duties hereunder or as a result of the Administrator’s reliance upon any instructions, notice or instrument that the Administrator believes is genuine and signed or presented by an Authorized Person; provided that this indemnification shall not apply if any such loss, damage or expense is caused by or arises from the Administrator’s bad faith, fraud, recklessness, Gross Negligence or willful default in the performance of the Services; (ii) any violation by the Fund or the Investment Advisor of any applicable investment policy, law or regulation, (iii) any misstatement or omission in the Offering Memorandum or any Fund Data; (iv) any material breach by the Fund of any representation, warranty or agreement contained in this Agreement; (v) any act or omission of the Fund, an underlying fund, the Fund’s administrator or the Fund’s other service providers (such as administrators, custodians, prime brokers, transfer agents, investment advisors and sub-advisers); (vi) any pricing error caused by the failure of the Fund’s Investment Advisor or sub-adviser to provide a trade ticket or for incorrect information included in any trade ticket; (vii) any side pocket or side letter arrangement between an investor in the Fund and the Fund or its sponsor; or (viii) any act or omission of the Administrator as a result of the


 

Administrator’s compliance with applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, returning an investor’s Investment or restricting the payment of redemption proceeds; provided that none of the foregoing indemnifications shall apply if such loss, damage or expense is caused by or arises from the Administrator’s bad faith, fraud, recklessness, Gross Negligence or willful default. For the avoidance of doubt and subject to the foregoing provisions, any costs contemplated by Section 5.06 hereof shall be considered to constitute direct losses for the purposes of this Section 5.05. The Administrator shall have a duty to mitigate its damages and losses for which the Fund may become responsible.

 

  5.06

Upon the request by the Administrator in connection with a claim against the Administrator arising out of the Agreement the indemnification rights afforded to Administrator hereunder shall include the right to reasonable advances of defense expenses on an as-incurred basis in the event of any pending or threatened litigation or Action with respect to which indemnification hereunder may ultimately be merited. If in any case the Fund may be asked to indemnify or hold the Administrator harmless, the Administrator shall promptly advise the Fund of the pertinent facts concerning the situation in question, and the Administrator will use all reasonable care to identify and notify the Fund promptly concerning any situation which presents or appears likely to present the probability of such a claim for indemnification, but failure to do so shall not affect the rights hereunder.

 

  5.07

The Fund shall be entitled to participate at its own expense or, if it so elects, to assume defence of any claim brought against the Administrator in respect of which the Administrator may have recourse to the Fund pursuant to Section 5.05 and Section 5.06. If the Fund elects to assume the defense of any such claim, the defense shall be conducted by counsel chosen by the Fund and reasonably satisfactory to the Administrator, whose approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. In the event that the Fund elects to assume the defense of any suit and retain counsel, the Administrator shall bear the fees and expenses of any additional counsel retained by it. If the Fund does not elect to assume the defense of a suit, the Fund will advance to the Administrator for the properly vouched fees and expenses of any counsel retained by the Administrator. None of the parties hereto shall settle or compromise any action, suit, proceeding or claim if such settlement or compromise provides for an admission of liability on the part of the indemnified party without such indemnified party’s written consent.

 

  5.08

The provisions of this Section 5 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

 

SECTION 6

[INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]

 

SECTION 7

ALLOCATION OF CHARGES AND EXPENSES

 

  7.01

The Administrator. The Administrator shall furnish at its own expense the personnel necessary to perform its obligations under this Agreement.

 

  7.02

Expenses. The Fund shall reimburse the Administrator for its reasonable and properly vouched costs and out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the performance of the Services, including all reasonable charges for independent third party audit charges, printing, copying, postage, telephone, and fax charges incurred by the Administrator in the performance of its duties.

 

SECTION 8

COMPENSATION

 

  8.01

Fees. The Fund shall pay to the Administrator, as compensation for the Services performed and the facilities and personnel provided by the Administrator pursuant to this Agreement, the fees set forth in the written fee schedule annexed hereto as Schedule II and incorporated herein. The Fund shall not have a right of set-off against any amounts which may become due and owing


 

from the Administrator to the Fund. The fees set forth herein are determined based on the characteristics of the Fund as described in the relevant Offering Memorandum in effect on the Live Date. Any material change to the characteristics of the Fund may give rise to an adjustment to the fees set forth in this Agreement as may be agreed between the parties from time to time. The Fund shall pay the Administrator’s fees quarterly in U.S. Dollars, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties. If this Agreement becomes effective subsequent to the first day of any calendar quarter or terminates before the last day of any calendar quarter, the Administrator’s compensation for that part of the quarter in which this Agreement is in effect shall be prorated in a manner consistent with the calculation of the fees as set forth in Schedule II.

 

  8.02

Adjustment of Fees. The Fund acknowledges that from time to time after the first anniversary of the entering into of this Agreement, Administrator may increase all non-asset based Fees upon thirty days written notice to the Fund, in an amount equal to the greater of: (a) five percent; or (b) the percentage increase in the CPI since the entering into this Agreement of the first such increase and since the date of the immediately preceding increase with respect to all subsequent increases; provided, however, that Administrator may not increase the Fees more than one time during any twelve-month period.

 

SECTION 9

DURATION AND TERMINATION

 

  9.01

Term and Renewal. This Agreement shall become effective as of the date hereof and shall remain in effect for a period of one year from and after the Live Date (the “Initial Term”), and thereafter shall automatically renew for successive one year terms (each such period, a “Renewal Term”) unless terminated by any party giving written notice of non-renewal at least ninety days prior to the last day of the then current term to each other party hereto.

 

  9.02

Termination for Cause.

 

  (a)

This Agreement may be terminated forthwith by any party giving at least sixty days prior notice in writing to the other parties if (i) at any time the other party or parties have been first notified in writing that such party shall have materially failed to perform its duties and obligations under this Agreement (such notice shall be of the specific asserted material breach) (“Breach Notice”) and (ii) the party receiving the Breach Notice shall not have remedied the noticed failure within sixty days after receipt of the Breach Notice requiring it to be remedied.

 

  (b)

This Agreement shall be terminated automatically in the event that the Administrator’s authorisation under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 is withdrawn such termination effective on the date of revocation of authorisation.

 

  (c)

This Agreement may be terminated by the Fund forthwith by notice in writing if at any time the Administrator shall go into liquidation (except a voluntary liquidation for the purpose of reconstruction or amalgamation upon terms previously approved in writing by the Fund) or be unable to pay its debts or commit any act of insolvency under the laws of Ireland (including the entering into of an examinership) or if a receiver is appointed over any of the assets of the Administrator or if some event having an equivalent effect occurs.

 

  9.03

Effect of Termination.

 

  (a)

The termination of this Agreement shall be without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued hereunder to any party hereto prior to such termination.

 

  (b)

After termination of this Agreement and upon payment of all accrued fees, reimbursable expenses and other moneys owed to the Administrator, the


 

Administrator shall deliver to the Fund, or as it shall direct, all books of account, records, registers, correspondence, documents and assets relating to the affairs of or relating to the Fund in the possession of or under the control of the Administrator or any of its agents or delegates.

 

  (c)

In the event any and all accrued fees, reimbursable expenses and other moneys owed to the Administrator hereunder remain unpaid in whole or in part for more than thirty days past due, the Administrator, without further notice, may take any and all actions it deems necessary to collect such amounts due, and any and all of its collection expenses, costs and fees shall be paid by the Fund as appropriate, including, without limitation, administrative costs, attorneys fees, court costs, collection agencies or agents and interest.

 

  (d)

Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event this Agreement is terminated and for any reason the Administrator, with the prior written consent of the Fund, in fact continues to perform any one or more of the services contemplated by this Agreement, the pertinent provisions of this Agreement, including without limitation, the provisions dealing with payment of fees and indemnification shall continue in full force and effect. The Administrator shall be entitled to collect from the Fund, in addition to the compensation described in Schedule II, the amount of all of the Administrator’s expenses in connection with the Administrator’s activities following such termination, including without limitation, the delivery to the Fund and/or its designees of the relevant property, records, instruments and documents.

 

SECTION 10

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

 

  10.01

Non-Exclusive. The services of the Administrator rendered to the Fund are not deemed to be exclusive. The Administrator is free to render such services to others. The Administrator shall not be deemed to be affected by notice of, or to be under any duty to disclose to the Fund or Person acting on the Fund’s behalf, information which has come into its possession or the possession of an Interested Party in the course of or in connection with providing administrative or other services to any other Person or in any manner whatsoever other than in the course of carrying out its duties pursuant to this Agreement.

 

  10.02

Rights of Interested Parties. Subject to applicable law, nothing herein contained shall prevent:

  (a)

an Interested Party from buying, holding, disposing of or otherwise dealing in any Interests for its own account or the account of any of its customers or from receiving remuneration in connection therewith, with the same rights which it would have had if the Administrator were not a party to this Agreement; provided, however, that the prices quoted by the Administrator are no more favorable to the Interested Party than to a similarly situated investor in or redeeming holder of Interests;

 

  (b)

an Interested Party from buying, holding, disposing of or otherwise dealing in any securities or other investments for its own account or for the account of any of its customers and receiving remuneration in connection therewith, notwithstanding that the same or similar securities or other investments may be held by or for the account of the Fund;

 

  (c)

an Interested Party from receiving any commission or other remuneration which it may negotiate in connection with any sale or purchase of Interests or Investments effected by it for the account of the Fund; provided, however, that


 

the amount of such commission or other remuneration is negotiated at arm’s length; and

 

  (d)

an Interested Party from contracting or entering into any financial, banking or other transaction with the Fund or from being interested in any such contract or transaction; provided, however, that the terms of such transaction are negotiated at arm’s length.

 

  10.03

Conflicts of Interest Policy.

The Administrator agrees that it will implement and maintain an effective conflicts of interest policy pursuant to which the Administrator endeavours to manage any conflicts of interest which may arise in relation to services provided under this Agreement. The Administrator will ensure that all persons involved in the provision of services to the Fund (“Relevant Persons”) carry out such services with an appropriate degree of independence.

The Administrator will promptly disclose any conflict it deems material in relation to the Fund to the Fund.

 

SECTION 11

CONFIDENTIALITY

 

  11.01

Confidential Information. The Administrator and the Fund (in such capacity, the “Receiving Party”) acknowledge and agree to maintain the confidentiality of Confidential Information (as hereinafter defined) provided by the Administrator and the Fund (in such capacity, the “Disclosing Party”) in connection with this Agreement. The Receiving Party shall not disclose or disseminate the Disclosing Party’s Confidential Information to any Person other than those employees, agents, contractors, subcontractors and licensees of the Receiving Party, and with respect to the Administrator as a Receiving Party, to those employees, agents, technology service providers, contractors, subcontractors, licensors and licensees of any agent or affiliate, who have a need to know it in order to assist the Receiving Party in performing its obligations, or to permit the Receiving Party to exercise its rights under this Agreement. In addition, the Receiving Party (a) shall take all Reasonable Steps (as hereinafter defined) to prevent unauthorized access to the Disclosing Party’s Confidential Information, and (b) shall not use the Disclosing Party’s Confidential Information, or authorize other Persons to use the Disclosing Party’s Confidential Information, for any purposes other than in connection with performing its obligations or exercising its rights hereunder. As used herein, “Reasonable Steps” means steps that a party takes to protect its own, similarly confidential or proprietary information of a similar nature, which steps shall in no event be less than a reasonable standard of care.

 

 

The term “Confidential Information,” as used herein, means any of the Disclosing Party’s proprietary or confidential information including, without limitation, the terms of (or any exercise of rights granted by) this Agreement, technical data; trade secrets; know-how; business processes; product plans; product designs; service plans; services; customer lists and customers; markets; software; developments; inventions; processes; formulas; technology; operational information designs; drawings; and marketing, distribution or sales methods and systems; sales and profit figures or other financial information or other matters of a confidential nature that is disclosed, directly or indirectly, to the Receiving Party by or on behalf of the Disclosing Party, whether in writing, orally or by other means and whether or not such information is marked as confidential.

 

  11.02

Exclusions. The provisions of this Section 11 respecting Confidential Information shall not apply to the extent, but only to the extent, that such Confidential Information: (a) is already known to the Receiving Party free of any restriction at the time it is obtained from the Disclosing Party, (b) is subsequently learned from an independent third party free of any restriction and without breach of this Agreement; (c) is or becomes publicly available through no wrongful act of the Receiving Party or any third party; (d) is independently developed by or for the Receiving Party without reference to or use of any Confidential Information of the Disclosing Party; (e) is disclosed to


 

professional advisers of the Receiving Party or (f) is required to be disclosed pursuant to an applicable law, rule, regulation, government requirement or court order, or the rules of any stock exchange (provided, however, that the Receiving Party shall advise the Disclosing Party of such required disclosure promptly upon learning thereof in order to afford the Disclosing Party a reasonable opportunity to contest, limit and/or assist the Receiving Party in crafting such disclosure).

 

  11.03

Permitted Disclosure. The Receiving Party shall advise its employees, agents, contractors, subcontractors and licensees, and shall require its affiliates to advise their employees, agents, contractors, subcontractors and licensees, of the Receiving Party’s obligations of confidentiality and non-use under this Section 11, and shall be responsible for ensuring compliance by its and its affiliates’ employees, agents, contractors, subcontractors and licensees with such obligations. In addition, the Receiving Party shall require all Persons that are provided access to the Disclosing Party’s Confidential Information, other than the Receiving Party’s accountants and legal counsel, to execute confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements containing provisions substantially similar to those set forth in this Section 11. The Receiving Party shall promptly notify the Disclosing Party in writing upon learning of any unauthorized disclosure or use of the Disclosing Party’s Confidential Information by such Persons.

 

  11.04

Effect of Termination. Upon the Disclosing Party’s written request following the termination of this Agreement, the Receiving Party promptly shall return to the Disclosing Party, or destroy, all Confidential Information of the Disclosing Party provided under or in connection with this Agreement, including all copies, portions and summaries thereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, (a) the Receiving Party may retain one copy of each item of the Disclosing Party’s Confidential Information for purposes of identifying and establishing its rights and obligations under this Agreement, for archival or audit purposes and/or to the extent required by applicable law, and (b) the Administrator shall have no obligation to return or destroy Confidential Information of the Fund that resides in saved tapes of Administrator; provided, however, that in either case all such Confidential Information retained by the Receiving Party shall remain subject to the provisions of Section 11 for so long as it is so retained. If requested by the Disclosing Party, the Receiving Party shall certify in writing its compliance with the provisions of this Section 11.04.

 

  11.05

Reputation. No party hereto shall knowingly do or suffer any act or matter or thing which would or might reasonably be expected to prejudice materially or bring into disrepute the business or reputation of the other parties.

 

  11.06

The Administrator shall establish, implement and maintain systems and procedures that are adequate to safeguard the security, integrity and confidentiality of information in the possession of the Administrator relating to the Fund, taking into account the nature of the information in question.

 

SECTION 12

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

 

  12.01

Internet Access. Data and information may be made electronically accessible to the Fund or its Investment Advisor its adviser and/or sub-adviser(s) and its investors through Internet access to one or more web sites provided by the Administrator (“Web Access”). As between the Fund and the Administrator, the Administrator shall own all right, title and interest to such Web Access, including, without limitation, all content, software, interfaces, documentation, data, trade secrets, design concepts, “look and feel” attributes, enhancements, improvements, ideas and inventions and all intellectual property rights inherent in any of the foregoing or appurtenant thereto including all patent rights, copyrights, trademarks, know-how and trade secrets (collectively, the “Proprietary Information”). The Fund recognizes that the Proprietary Information is of substantial value to the Administrator and the Fund shall not use or disclose the Proprietary Information except as specifically authorized in writing by the Administrator. Use of the Web Access by the Fund or its delegated or agents or investors of the Fund will be subject to any additional terms of


 

use set forth on the web site. All Web Access and the information (including text, graphics and functionality) on the web sites related to such Web Access is presented “as is” and “as available” without express or implied warranties including, but not limited to, implied warranties of non-infringement, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The Administrator neither warrants that the Web Access will be uninterrupted or error free, nor guarantees the accessibility, reliability, performance, timeliness, sequence, or completeness of information provided on the Web Access.

 

  12.02

Independent Contractor. In making, and performing under, this Agreement, the Administrator shall be deemed to be acting as an independent contractor and neither the Administrator nor its employees shall be deemed an agent, affiliate, legal representative, joint venturer or partner of the Fund. No party is authorized to bind any other party to any obligation, affirmation or commitment with respect to any other Person.

 

  12.03

Assignment; Binding Effect. The Fund may not assign, delegate or transfer, by operation of law or otherwise, this Agreement (in whole or in part), or any of the Fund’s obligations hereunder, without the prior written consent of the Administrator, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. The Administrator may on prior written notice assign or transfer, by operation of law or otherwise, all of its rights under this Agreement to an affiliate of the Administrator or to any person or entity who purchases all or substantially all of the business or assets of the Administrator to which this Agreement relates, provided that such affiliate, person or entity agrees in advance and in writing to be bound by the terms, conditions and provisions of this Agreement. To the extent that any such assignment or transfer is proposed to be made to a third party unaffiliated with the Administrator, the Administrator shall obtain the Fund’s prior written consent in advance of any such assignment or transfer. Subject to the foregoing, all of the terms, conditions and provisions of this Agreement shall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of each party’s successors and permitted assigns. Any assignment, delegation, or transfer in violation of this provision shall be void and without legal effect.

 

  12.04

Governing Law; Jurisdiction. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New York without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction. Each party to this Agreement, by its execution hereof, (i) hereby irrevocably submits to the nonexclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Ireland for the purpose of any action between the parties arising in whole or in part under or in connection with this Agreement, and (ii) hereby waives to the extent not prohibited by applicable law, and agrees not to assert, by way of motion, as a defence or otherwise, in any such action, any claim that it is not subject personally to the jurisdiction of the above-named courts, that its property is exempt or immune from attachment or execution, that any such action brought in one of the above-named courts should be dismissed on grounds of forum non conveniens, should be transferred or removed to any court other than one of the above-named courts, or should be stayed by reason of the pendency of some other proceeding in any other court other than one of the above-named courts, or that this Agreement or the subject matter hereof may not be enforced in or by such court.

 

  12.05

Equitable Relief. Each party agrees that any other party’s violation of the provisions of Section 11 (Confidentiality) may cause immediate and irreparable harm to the other party for which money damages may not constitute an adequate remedy at law. Therefore, the parties agree that, in the event any party breaches or threatens to breach said provision or covenant, the affected party shall have the right to seek, in any court of competent jurisdiction, an injunction to restrain said breach or threatened breach, without posting any bond or other security.

 

  12.06

Dispute Resolution. Whenever any party desires to institute legal proceedings against the other concerning this Agreement, it shall provide written notice to that effect to such other party. The party providing such notice shall refrain from instituting said legal proceedings for a period of thirty days following the date of provision of such notice. During such period, the parties shall attempt


 

in good faith to amicably resolve their dispute by negotiation among their executive officers. This Section 12.06 shall not prohibit any party from seeking, at any time, equitable relief as permitted under Section 12.05.

 

  12.07

Notice. All notices provided for or permitted under this Agreement (except for correspondence between the parties related to operations in the ordinary course) shall be deemed effective upon receipt, and shall be in writing and (a) delivered personally, (b) sent by commercial overnight courier with written verification of receipt, (c) sent by certified or registered U.S. mail, postage prepaid and return receipt requested or (d) sent via email communication, to the party to be notified, at the address for such party set forth below, or at such other address of such party specified in the opening paragraph of this Agreement. Notices to the Administrator shall be sent to the attention of:

General Counsel,

SEI Global Services, Inc.,

One Freedom Valley Drive,

Oaks,

Pennsylvania 19456

United States of America

with a copy, given in the manner prescribed above, to the Fund’s current relationship manager. Notices to the Fund shall be sent to the persons specified in Schedule III.

 

  12.08

Entire Agreement; Amendments. This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. This Agreement supersedes all prior or contemporaneous representations, discussions, negotiations, letters, proposals, agreements and understandings between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof, whether written or oral. This Agreement may be amended, modified or supplemented only by a written instrument duly executed by an authorized representative of each of the parties.

 

  12.09

Severability. Any provision of this Agreement that is determined to be invalid or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall be ineffective to the extent of such invalidity or unenforceability in such jurisdiction, without rendering invalid or unenforceable the remaining provisions of this Agreement or affecting the validity or enforceability of such provision in any other jurisdiction. If a court of competent jurisdiction declares any provision of this Agreement to be invalid or unenforceable, the parties agree that the court making such determination shall have the power to reduce the scope, duration, or area of the provision, to delete specific words or phrases, or to replace the provision with a provision that is valid and enforceable and that comes closest to expressing the original intention of the parties, and this Agreement shall be enforceable as so modified.

 

  12.10

Waiver. Any term or provision of this Agreement may be waived at any time by the party entitled to the benefit thereof by written instrument executed by such party. No failure of either party hereto to exercise any power or right granted hereunder, or to insist upon strict compliance with any obligation hereunder, and no custom or practice of the parties with regard to the terms of performance hereof, will constitute a waiver of the rights of such party to demand full and exact compliance with the terms of this Agreement.

 

  12.11

Anti-Money Laundering Laws. It shall be a condition precedent to providing the Services to the Fund under this Agreement that the Administrator is satisfied, in its absolute discretion, that it has sufficient and appropriate information to discharge its obligations under applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations.

 

  12.12

Data Protection


  (a)

Terms within this Section 12.12 shall, except where the context requires otherwise, have the same meaning as that assigned to them by the Data Protection Laws.

 

  (b)

The parties acknowledge that the Fund is a Data Controller with respect to Personal Data. In processing any Personal Data provided by the Fund, or the directors or trustees, members, partners, agents of either and / or investors and prospective investors (“Relevant Data”) on behalf of the Fund for the purposes of performing this Agreement, the Administrator shall comply with the following in relation to such Relevant Data:

 

  i.

process the Relevant Data only for the purposes of the Services or otherwise in accordance with the documented instructions of the Fund, and not for any other purpose, unless required to do so under applicable European Union or European Union member state laws to which the Administrator is subject;

 

  ii.

ensure that any persons authorised to process the Relevant Data by it (including its employees, contractors, agents and subcontractors) have agreed to comply with appropriate obligations of confidentiality;

 

  iii.

implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures in accordance with the Data Protection Laws, where applicable, against (i) unauthorised access to, (ii) unauthorised or unlawful alteration, disclosure, destruction or other unauthorised or unlawful processing of, (iii) accidental loss or destruction of, or (iv) damage to, the Relevant Data;

 

  iv.

provide reasonable assistance to the Fund in order to assist the Fund in meeting its obligations with regard to the exercise of data subject rights. The Administrator reserves the right to charge a reasonable fee for such assistance;

 

  v.

in the case of a Personal Data Breach, without undue delay after the Administrator becoming aware of any such incident, notify the Fund of the Personal Data Breach, providing the Fund with sufficient information to allow the Fund to meet any obligations to report or inform the relevant supervisory authority or the relevant data subjects of the Personal Data Breach under the Data Protection Laws taking into account the nature of the processing and information available to, the Administrator. For the avoidance of doubt, where the Personal Data Breach is solely the result of a breach by the Administrator of its obligations hereunder, the Administrator shall be responsible for all costs reasonably and properly incurred by the Administrator in performing its obligations under this Section 12.12(b)(v);

 

  vi.

at the discretion of the Fund, delete or return the Relevant Data to the Fund, and delete all existing copies of it, on termination of this Agreement or at any other time at the instruction of the Fund (in response to the exercise of a data subject’s right to erasure of its Personal Data), provided however that the Administrator may retain Relevant Data to the extent required by applicable laws and always provided that the Administrator shall ensure the confidentiality of all such Relevant Data and shall ensure that such Relevant Data is only processed as necessary for the purpose(s) specified in the applicable


 

laws requiring its storage and for no other purpose;

 

  vii.

provide advance written notice of any intention to engage in new processing, in particular using new technologies, which is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of the data subjects whose Personal Data is processed by the Administrator on behalf of the Fund and shall provide the Fund with reasonable assistance where required to allow the Fund to comply with its obligations under the Data Protection Laws.

 

  (c)

The Administrator may engage a third party (a “Sub-Processor”) to carry out processing activities on any Relevant Data, provided that the Administrator shall ensure that at least the same data protection obligations as set out in this Section 12.12 are imposed on that Sub-Processor by way of a written agreement, and shall notify the Fund of any such appointment not less than 14 business days in advance within which period the Fund may object (not unreasonably) to any such proposed appointment. The Administrator may continue to use those Sub-Processors already engaged by the Administrator as at the date of this Agreement, subject to the Administrator meeting the obligations set out above (save as to prior notice) and providing the Fund with details of any such Sub-Processors and of their location. The Administrator shall provide the Fund with at least 14 business days’ notice in writing of any intention to replace any Sub-Processors used by it within which period the Fund may object (not unreasonably) to any such proposed replacement;

 

  (d)

Subject to the Data Protection Laws, the Personal Data processed by the Administrator on behalf of the Fund shall not be shared with third parties other than those parties designated by the Fund or permitted Sub-Processors. The Administrator (or a Sub-Processor in the European Union, in performing those obligations under this Agreement which have been sub-contracted to it) may from time to time transfer Relevant Data outside of the European Economic Area (the “EEA”). The Administrator shall not so transfer Relevant Data (other than to the Fund) without the prior instruction of the Fund, unless required or permitted to do so by European Union or Irish law; provided however that the Administrator may, on prior written notice to the Fund, transfer Relevant Data to any of its Sub-Processors located outside the EEA where such Sub-Processor is located in a third country in respect of which the European Commission has issued a finding of adequacy with regard to data protection or otherwise where one of the safeguarding measures specified in the Data Protection Laws has been implemented (and the Administrator will furnish details of same to the Fund on request).

 

  (e)

The Administrator shall on request make available to the Fund, all information reasonably necessary to demonstrate the Administrator’s compliance with the obligations laid down in this Section 12.12 and allow for and contribute to audits, including inspections conducted by the Fund or another auditor mandated by the Fund, in connection with the discharge by the Administrator of its obligations under this Section 12.12. Any such inspection or audit shall be on not less than 30 days prior written notice, and shall take place during normal business hours and with minimum disruption to the business and clients of the Administrator. The Administrator need not give access to its premises for the purpose of such audit or inspection for the purposes of more than one audit or inspection, in any calendar year, except for (i) an additional audit or inspection which the Fund wishes to carry out following a Personal Data Breach or (ii) any additional audits or inspections which the Fund is


 

required or requested to carry out by a relevant European supervisory authority responsible for the enforcement of Data Protection Laws in any country or territory, where the Fund has identified the relevant requirement or request in its notice to the Administrator of the audit or inspection. Nothing in this Section 12.12 shall entitle the Fund or an auditor mandated the Fund to access any confidential information of another client of the Administrator.

 

  (f)

If under the Data Protection Laws, the Administrator or a Sub-Processor is required to provide information directly to a data subject in relation to his or her Relevant Data which is in the possession of the Administrator or a Sub-Processor, the Administrator shall notify the Fund and the Administrator or relevant Sub-Processor shall only disclose such Relevant Data as is required by applicable law.

 

  (g)

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 12.12, the Fund acknowledge and agrees that the Administrator shall be a separate controller in its own right of the Relevant Data to the extent that it is:

 

  i.

necessary for the Administrator to comply with its own legal obligations under anti-money laundering legislation pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) of GDPR; and/or

 

  ii.

for the purposes of anti-money laundering verification and monitoring in connection with investments made by investors in other collective investment schemes administered by the Administrator pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) of GDPR.

In connection with the use by the Administrator of the Relevant Data as referred to in this clause, the Fund hereby agrees to provide adequate notice, as agreed with the Administrator, to the relevant data subjects of the Administrator’s status as a data controller and the processing activities undertaken by it in this capacity as outlined in this Section 12.12(g).

The Administrator acknowledges that all rights afforded to a data subject under the Data Protection Laws in respect of whom the Administrator has performed the processing activities described in this Section 12.12(g) shall be exercisable by that data subject solely against the Administrator. However, nothing within this Agreement shall relieve either party of its own direct responsibilities and liabilities as a data controller under the Data Protection Laws.

 

  (h)

It is further agreed that the Administrator shall not be entitled to be indemnified under any other provision of this Agreement with respect to a failure to comply with its obligations set out in this Section 12.12.

 

  (i)

The Fund warrants that any Relevant Data provided by it to the Administrator has been collected in accordance with the Data Protection Laws and the relevant data subjects have been informed of the purposes for which their Personal Data will be processed and has complied with the requirements of the Data Protection Laws regarding the transfer of Personal Data to third countries. The Fund will ensure that it complies with the Data Protection Laws in the instructions which it gives to the Administrator.

 

  (j)

Nothing in this Agreement shall be constructed as preventing either party from taking such steps as are necessary to comply with the Data Protection Laws.


  12.13

Force Majeure. No breach of any obligation of a party to this Agreement (other than obligations to pay amounts owed) will constitute an event of default or breach to the extent it arises out of a cause, existing or future, that is beyond the control and without negligence of the party otherwise chargeable with breach or default, including without limitation acts of God or public enemy, war, civil war, terrorism, insurrections or riots, explosions, earthquakes, natural disasters or serious accidents, epidemics or quarantine restrictions, closure of the relevant markets, general insolvency of issuers, industrial disputes, and acts or regulations of any governmental or supranational bodies or authorities and breakdown, failure or malfunction of any telecommunication or computer service or systems or any other cause (whether similar or dissimilar to any of the foregoing) whatsoever beyond its reasonable control or the reasonable control of any delegate or securities system. The party whose obligations are affected by any of the above force majeure events shall use its reasonable endeavours to minimize the effects of any such event. In any such event, the non-performing party shall be excused from any further performance and observance of the obligations so affected to the extent that the party is prevented, hindered or delayed by such event only for so long as such circumstances prevail and such party continues to use commercially reasonable effort to recommence performance or observance as soon as practicable.

As soon as possible after the commencement of the force majeure event, the party whose obligations are so affected shall notify the other parties in writing of the occurrence of the force majeure event, the date of commencement of the force majeure event and the effect of the force majeure event on its ability to perform its obligations under this Agreement. As soon as possible after the cessation of the force majeure event, the party whose obligations are so affected shall notify the other parties in writing of the cessation of the force majeure event and shall resume performance of its obligations under this Agreement.

 

  12.14

Business Continuity. The Administrator shall establish, implement and maintain an adequate business continuity policy for disaster recovery aimed at ensuring, in the event of an interruption to its systems and procedures, the preservation of essential data and functions, and the maintenance of services and activities, or, where that is not possible, the timely recovery of such data and functions and the timely resumption of its services and activities.

The Administrator undertakes and agrees to ensure periodic testing of its business continuity policies and procedures and back up facilities.

The Administrator shall maintain a log of all business continuity events relating to the Fund. In the event that a material business continuity event relating to the Services occurs, the Administrator shall advise the Fund promptly of such event and the steps proposed in order to minimise any interruption to its services hereunder.

 

  12.15

Non-Solicitation. During the term of this Agreement and for a period of one year thereafter, the Fund shall not solicit, make an offer of employment to, hire, or enter into a consulting relationship with, any person who was an employee of the Administrator during the term of this Agreement. If the Fund breaches this provision, the Fund shall pay to the Administrator liquidated damages equal to 100% of the most recent twelve month salary of the Administrator’s former employee together with all legal fees reasonably incurred by the Administrator in enforcing this provision. The foregoing restriction on solicitation does not apply to unsolicited applications for jobs, responses to public advertisements or candidates submitted by recruiting firms, provided that such firms have not been contacted to circumvent the spirit and intention of this Section 12.15.

 

  12.16

Headings. All Section headings contained in this Agreement are for convenience of reference only, do not form a part of this Agreement and will not affect in any way the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement.


  12.17

Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, all of which shall constitute one and the same instrument. Each such counterpart shall be deemed an original, and it shall not be necessary in making proof of this Agreement to produce or account for more than one such counterpart. This Agreement shall be deemed executed by all parties when any one or more counterparts hereof or thereof, individually or taken together, bears the original, facsimile or scanned signatures of each of the parties.

 

  12.18

Publicity. Except to the extent required by applicable law, neither the Administrator nor the Fund shall issue or initiate any press release arising out of or in connection with this Agreement or the Services rendered hereunder; provided, however, that if no special prominence is given or particular reference made to the Fund over other clients, nothing herein shall prevent the Administrator from (i) placing the Fund’s name and/or logo (including any registered trademark or service mark) on the Administrator’s client list(s) (and sharing such list(s) with current or potential clients of the Administrator) and/or marketing material which will include the Fund’s name, logo and those services provided to the Fund by the Administrator; (ii) using the Fund’s name as reference in sales presentations; or (iii) otherwise orally disclosing that the Fund is a client of the Administrator at presentations, conferences or other similar meetings. If the Administrator desires to engage in any type of publicity other than as set forth in subsections (i) through (iii) above or if the Fund desires to engage in any type of publicity, the party desiring to engage in such publicity shall obtain the prior written consent of the other party hereto, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned.

 

  12.19

Electronic Data Processing. The Administrator shall make appropriate and sufficient arrangements for suitable electronic systems as to permit the timely and proper recording on its records of the investments of the Fund. The Administrator shall maintain procedures designed to ensure a high standard of security during the electronic data processing relating to such transactions and integrity and confidentiality of the recorded information, as appropriate.

[The remainder of this page has intentionally been left blank.]


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed and delivered this Agreement as of the day and year first above WRITTEN.

 

ADMINISTRATOR:

SEI INVESTMENTS – GLOBAL FUND SERVICES

LIMITED

By:

 

 

Name:

 

Title:

 

FUND:

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

By:

 

 

Name:

 

Title:

 

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

As of April [], 2024

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund

128 S Tryon St., Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

Re:   Expense Limitation and Reimbursement Agreement

Ladies and Gentlemen:

StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC (the “Adviser”) hereby confirms its agreement as follows in respect of StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (the “Fund”):

1.     Expense Limitation. For the period from the effective date of that certain Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Advisory Agreement”), between the Fund and the Adviser, for a one-year term beginning with the commencement of operations (the “Initial Closing Date”) and ending on the one year anniversary thereof (the “Limitation Period”), subject to the terms hereof, the Adviser agrees that, except as provided in Section 2 below, it will pay, absorb or reimburse on a daily basis the Fund’s aggregate ordinary operating expenses, excluding certain “Specified Expenses” listed below, borne by the Fund in respect of each Class of Shares during the Limitation Period to an amount set forth on Schedule A, on an annualized basis, of each Class’s prior day net assets (the “Expense Cap”). For any day in which the Fund’s aggregate ordinary operating expenses, exclusive of the Specified Expenses, in respect of any Class of Shares on an annualized basis exceed the Expense Cap, the Adviser will reimburse the Fund for expenses to the extent necessary to eliminate such excess. The Adviser may also directly pay expenses on behalf of the Fund and waive reimbursement under this letter agreement.

2.     Specified Expenses. Each Expense Cap applies only to each Class’s aggregate ordinary operating expenses (“Ordinary Expenses”) and excludes Specified Expenses. Specified Expenses not covered by this letter agreement include: (i) the management fee; (ii) all fees and expenses of Private Credit and other investments in which the Fund invests (including the underlying fees of the Investment Funds and other investments (the Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses)); (iii) the Incentive Fee; (iv) transactional costs, including legal costs and brokerage commissions, and sourcing and servicing or related fees incurred by the Fund in connection with servicing by non-affiliated third parties of, and other related administrative services associated with the acquisition and disposition of the Fund’s investments; (v) interest payments incurred on borrowings by the Fund or its subsidiaries; (vi) fees and expenses incurred in connection with any credit facility obtained by the Fund or any of its subsidiaries, including any expenses for acquiring ratings related to the credit facilities; (vii) distribution and shareholder servicing fees, as applicable; (viii) taxes; and (ix) extraordinary expenses resulting from events and transactions that are distinguished by their unusual nature and by the infrequency of their occurrence, including, without limitation, costs incurred in connection with any claim, litigation, arbitration, mediation, government investigation or similar proceeding, indemnification expenses, and expenses in connection with holding and/or soliciting proxies for all annual and other meetings of Shareholders.

 

1


3.     Term. This letter agreement will remain in effect throughout the Limitation Period, unless terminated by the Fund’s Board of Trustees upon thirty (30) days written notice to the Adviser. This letter agreement may be renewed by the mutual agreement of the Adviser and the Fund for successive terms of one year. Unless so renewed, this letter agreement will terminate automatically at the end of the Limitation Period. This letter agreement will also terminate automatically upon the termination of the Advisory Agreement, unless a new investment advisory agreement with the Adviser (or with an affiliate under common control with the Adviser) becomes effective upon such termination.

4.     Excess Expenses. In consideration of the Adviser’s agreement as provided herein, the Fund agrees to carry forward the amount of fees and expenses in respect of the applicable Class of shares waived, reimbursed or paid by the Adviser (“Excess Expenses”) for a period not to exceed three years from the end of the month in which such fees and expenses were waived, reimbursed or paid by the Adviser, and to reimburse the Adviser in the amount of such Excess Expenses as promptly as possible, on a monthly basis, even if (i) such reimbursement occurs after the termination of the Limitation Period, provided that the Ordinary Expenses in respect of the applicable Class of shares have fallen to a level below the relevant Expense Cap of the Class and (ii) the reimbursement amount does not raise the level of Ordinary Expenses plus waived fees, reimbursed expenses or directly paid expenses in respect of the applicable Class of shares in the month the reimbursement is being made to a level that exceeds the Expense Cap of the Class (or such other Expense Cap as may be in effect at the time). For the avoidance of doubt, if in respect of the applicable Class of Shares, at the end of any fiscal year in which the Fund has reimbursed the Adviser for any Excess Expenses, the Fund’s waived fees, reimbursed expenses or directly paid expenses for such fiscal year exceed the Expense Cap (or such other Expense Cap as may be in effect at the time) of the Class, the Adviser shall promptly pay the Fund an amount equal to the lesser of: (i) the amount by which the Fund’s waived fees, reimbursed expenses or directly paid expenses in respect of the applicable Class of shares for such fiscal year exceed the Expense Cap of the Class (or such other Expense Cap as may be in effect at the time); and (ii) the amount of reimbursements for Excess Expenses in respect of the applicable Class of Shares paid by the Fund to the Adviser in such fiscal year. Any payment by the Adviser to the Fund pursuant to the foregoing sentence shall be subject to later reimbursement by the Fund in accordance with this Section 4. The Adviser’s obligations under this Section 4 shall survive termination of this letter agreement.

5.     Entire Agreement; Amendment. This letter agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all prior agreements between the parties hereto relating to the matters contained herein and may not be modified, waived or terminated orally and may only be amended by an agreement in writing signed by the parties hereto.

6.     Construction and Forum. This letter agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflicts of law principles. Each of the parties hereto irrevocably and unconditionally submits, for itself and its property, to the exclusive jurisdiction of any New York State court or Federal court of the United States of America sitting in New York, in any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this letter agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby, and each of the parties hereto irrevocably and unconditionally agrees that all claims in respect of any such action or proceeding may be heard and determined in such New York

 

2


State court or, to the extent permitted by law, in such Federal court. Capitalized terms used, but not defined, herein shall have the meanings provided to such terms in the Fund’s registration statement on Form N-2.

7.     Counterparts. This letter agreement may be executed in any number of separate counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but the several counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same agreement of the parties hereto.

8.     Severability. If any one or more of the covenants, agreements, provisions or texts of this letter agreement shall be held invalid, then such covenants, agreements, provisions or terms shall be deemed severable from the remaining covenants, agreements, provisions or terms of this letter agreement and shall in no way affect the validity or enforceability of the other provisions of this letter agreement.

 

STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE WEALTH LLC
By:                 
   Name: Robert W. Long
   Title:  President

 

Accepted and Agreed:
STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND
By:                    
   Name: Robert W. Long
   Title:  Chief Executive Officer

 

3


SCHEDULE A

 

Share Class    Expense Cap
   

Class T

   []
   

Class S

   []
   

Class D

   []
   

Class I

   []

 

4

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

DISTRIBUTION AND SHAREHOLDER SERVICES PLAN

WHEREAS, StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (the “Fund”) is engaged in business as a closed-end management investment company and is registered as such under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Act”); and

WHEREAS, the Fund relies upon exemptive relief granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission to permit the Fund to offer multiple classes of shares (the “Exemptive Relief”); and

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Exemptive Relief, the Fund is subject to Rule 12b-1 (“Rule 12b-1”) under the Act.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Fund hereby adopts the terms of this Distribution and Shareholder Services Plan (the “Plan”) under Rule 12b-1, with respect to the classes of shares of beneficial interest (each, a “Class”) listed on Schedule A hereto, as such Schedule A may be amended from time to time, on the following terms and conditions:

1.  The Fund may pay to UMB Distribution Services, LLC, the Fund’s distributor (the “Distributor”) and other affiliated broker-dealers, unaffiliated broker-dealers, financial institutions and/or intermediaries (collectively, “Service Agents”) as compensation for the services provided and expenses incurred relating to the distribution, offering and marketing of a Class, fees as set forth in Schedule A hereto, as may be amended from time to time. Such fees shall be calculated and accrued monthly and paid monthly or at such other intervals as the Fund and the Distributor shall mutually agree. In addition to the payment of the fees, the Fund may pay for (i) due diligence expenses, (ii) expenses in connection with the printing and mailing of prospectuses to other than current shareholders and the printing and mailing of sales literature and (iii) expenses related to offering the Fund as an option on any distribution “platform” a Service Agent administers, including expenses for any services provided in connection therewith.

2.  Any shareholder service fees may be paid for the provision of “personal service and/or the maintenance of shareholder accounts” as provided for in the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Rule 2341. If FINRA amends the definition of “service fee” or adopts a related definition intended to define the same concept, the services provided under the Plan shall be automatically amended, without further action of the parties, to conform to such definition.

3.  This Plan must be approved, together with any related agreements, by votes of a majority of both (a) the Board of Trustees of the Fund (the “Board”) and (b) those Trustees of the Fund who are not “interested persons” of the Fund, as defined in the Act, and who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or in any agreements related to the Plan (the “Independent Trustees”), cast in person at a meeting (or meetings) called for the purpose of voting on the Plan and related agreements.

4.  This Plan shall continue in full force and effect for so long as such continuance is specifically approved at least annually in the manner provided for approval of this Plan in Paragraph 3 hereof.

5.  The Distributor shall provide to the Board and the Board shall review, at least quarterly, a written report of Fund payments made in accordance with this Plan and the purposes for which such payments were made.


6.  This Plan may be terminated at any time without penalty with respect to a Class of the Fund by the vote of a majority of the Independent Trustees or by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of such Class.

7.  This Plan may not be amended to increase materially the amount payable hereunder by a Class unless such amendment is approved by a vote of at least a majority (as defined in the Act) of the outstanding voting securities of such Class, and no material amendment to this Plan shall be made unless approved in the manner provided in Paragraph 3 hereof.

8.  While this Plan is in effect, the selection and nomination of the Independent Trustees shall be committed to the discretion of the Independent Trustees then in office.

9.  The Distributor may direct that all or any part of the amounts receivable by it under this Plan be paid directly to affiliated broker-dealers, unaffiliated broker-dealers, financial institutions and/or intermediaries. All payments made hereunder pursuant to the Plan shall be in accordance with the terms and limitations of the FINRA Rules.

10. The Fund shall preserve copies of this Plan (including any amendments thereto) and any related agreements and all reports made pursuant to Paragraph 5 hereof for a period of not less than six years from the date of this Plan, the first two years in an easily accessible place.

11. The obligations of the Fund hereunder are not personally binding upon, nor shall be held to the private property of, any of the Trustees, shareholders, officers, employees or agents of the Fund, but only the Fund’s property allocable to the applicable Class(es) shall be bound.

12. This Plan only relates to those Classes stated on Schedule A hereto and the fees determined in accordance with Paragraph 1 hereof shall be based upon the average monthly net assets of the Fund attributable to the applicable Class.

 

2


SCHEDULE A

 

  1.

Class T and S – Shareholders of Class T and Class S shares shall pay a fee at the annual rate of 0.85% of the Fund’s average monthly net assets attributable to Class T and Class S shares, 0.25% of which shall be a “shareholder service fee”. Such fee shall be calculated and accrued monthly (before repurchases of any Class T and Class S shares).

 

  2.

Class D – Shareholders of Class D shares shall pay a fee at the annual rate of 0.25% of the Fund’s average monthly net assets attributable to Class D shares, all 0.25% of which shall be a “shareholder service fee.” Such fee shall be calculated and accrued monthly (before repurchases of any Class D shares).

 

  3.

Class I – Shareholders of Class I shares will not be subject to a fee under this Plan.

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

MULTIPLE CLASS PLAN

February 21, 2024

WHEREAS, StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (the “Fund”) is engaged in business as a closed-end management investment company and is registered as such under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”); and

WHEREAS, the Fund relies upon exemptive relief granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission to permit the Fund to offer multiple classes of shares (the “Exemptive Relief”); and

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Exemptive Relief, the Fund is subject to Rule 18f-3 (“Rule 18f-3”) under the 1940 Act, as if it were an open-end management investment company.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Fund hereby adopts this multiple class plan pursuant to Rule 18f-3 (the “Plan”).

The provisions of the Plan are:

 

A.

General Description of Classes

As of the effective date of the Plan as set forth above, the Fund will offer four (4) classes of shares of beneficial interest: Class T Shares, Class S Shares, Class D Shares and Class I Shares. In addition, pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act, the Fund has adopted a Distribution and Shareholder Services Plan (the “12b-1 Plan”) under which shares of certain classes are subject to a sales load and a distribution and shareholder servicing fee. A general description of the fees applicable to each class of shares is set forth below.

 

  1.

Class T. Class T Shares are subject to a sales load of up to 3.50% of the investment amount. Class T Shares are subject to a monthly distribution and shareholder servicing fee at the annual rate of 0.85% of the Fund’s month-end average net assets attributable to Class T Shares under the 12b-1 Plan. Class T Shares require a minimum initial investment of $25,000 and a minimum subsequent investment of $5,000.

 

  2.

Class S. Class S Shares are subject to a sales load of up to 3.50% of the investment amount. Class S Shares are subject to a monthly distribution and shareholder servicing fee at the annual rate of 0.85% of the Fund’s month-end average net assets attributable to Class S Shares under the 12b-1 Plan. Class S Shares require a minimum initial investment of $25,000 and a minimum subsequent investment of $5,000.

 

  3.

Class D. Class D Shares are subject to a sales load of up to 1.50% of the investment amount. Class D Shares are subject to a monthly shareholder servicing fee at the annual rate of 0.25% of the Fund’s month-end average net assets attributable to Class D Shares under the 12b-1 Plan. Class D Shares require a minimum initial investment of $25,000 and a minimum subsequent investment of $5,000.

 

  4.

Class I. Class I Shares are not subject to a sales load. Class I Shares are not subject to a distribution or shareholder servicing fee under the 12b-1 Plan. Class I Shares require a minimum initial investment of $1,000,000 and a minimum subsequent investment of $100,000.

 

1


B.

Expense Allocation of Each Class

All expenses incurred by the Fund will be allocated among its classes of shares based on the respective net assets of the Fund attributable to each such class, except that the net asset value and expenses of each class will reflect the expenses associated with the 12b-1 Plan of that class (if any), shareholder services fees attributable to a particular class (including transfer agency fees, if any).

Each class of shares may, by action of the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) or its delegate, also pay a different amount of the following expenses:

 

  1.

administrative and/or accounting or similar fees (each as described in the Fund’s prospectus, as amended or supplemented from time to time);

 

  2.

legal, printing and postage expenses related to preparing and distributing to current shareholders of a specific class materials such as shareholder reports, prospectuses and proxies;

 

  3.

Blue Sky fees incurred by a specific class;

 

  4.

Securities and Exchange Commission registration fees incurred by a specific class;

 

  5.

expenses of administrative personnel and services required to support the Shareholders of a specific class;

 

  6.

Trustees’ fees incurred as a result of issues relating to a specific class;

 

  7.

Auditor’s fees, litigation expenses, and other legal fees and expenses relating to a specific class;

 

  8.

incremental transfer agent fees and shareholder servicing expenses identified as being attributable to a specific class;

 

  9.

account expenses relating solely to a specific class;

 

  10.

expenses incurred in connection with any shareholder meetings as a result of issues relating to a specific class; and

 

  11.

any such other expenses (not including advisory or custodial fees or other expenses related to the management of the Fund’s assets) actually incurred in a different amount by a class or related to a class’s receipt of services of a different kind or to a different degree than another class, including reimbursement for any expense support provided to such class.

 

C.

Voting Rights

Each share of the Fund entitles the shareholder of record to one vote. Shareholders of each class will vote separately as a class to approve any material increase in payments applicable to each class authorized under the 12b-1 Plan and on other matters for which class voting is required under applicable law. In addition, each class shall have separate voting rights on any matter submitted to shareholders in which the interests of one class differ from the interests of any other class.

 

2


D.

Exchanges

A class of shares of the Fund may be exchanged without payment of any exchange fee for another class of shares of the Fund at their respective net asset values, to the extent provided in the Fund’s prospectus.

 

E.

Waivers and Reimbursements

Fees and expenses may be waived or reimbursed by StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC, the Fund’s investment adviser, or any other service provider. Such waiver or reimbursement may be applicable to some or all of the classes and may be in different amounts for one or more classes.

 

F.

Income, Gains and Losses

Income and realized and unrealized capital gains and losses shall be allocated to each class on the basis of the net asset value of that class in relation to the net asset value of the Fund.

The Fund may allocate income and realized and unrealized capital gains and losses to each share based on relative net assets (settled shares) of each class, as permitted by Rule 18f-3 under the 1940 Act.

 

G.

Dividends

Dividends paid by the Fund, with respect to its classes of shares, to the extent any dividends are paid, will be calculated in the same manner, at the same time and will be in the same amount, except that any expenses relating to a class of shares will be borne exclusively by that class.

 

H.

Class Designation

Subject to approval by the Board, the Fund may alter the nomenclature for the designations of one or more of its classes of shares.

 

I.

Additional Information

This Plan is qualified by and subject to the terms of the then-current prospectus and Statement of Additional Information for the applicable classes; provided, however, that none of the terms set forth in any such prospectus and Statement of Additional Information shall be inconsistent with the terms of the classes contained in this Plan.

 

J.

Effective Date

This Plan is effective upon the date set forth above, provided that this Plan shall not become effective with respect to the Fund or a class of shares of the Fund unless first approved by a majority of the Trustees, including a majority of the Trustees who are not considered “interested persons” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of the Fund (the “Independent Trustees”). This Plan may be terminated or amended at any time with respect to the Fund or a class of shares thereof by a majority of the Independent Trustees.

 

3

TRANSFER AGENCY AGREEMENT

THIS TRANSFER AGENCY AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”) is made as of this  day of     , 2024, by and between StepStone Private Credit Income Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Fund”), and UMB Fund Services, Inc., a Wisconsin corporation, its successors and assigns (the “Transfer Agent”).

WHEREAS, the Fund is a closed-end management investment company registered under the 1940 Act (as defined below) and authorized to issue Shares (as defined below); and

WHEREAS, the Fund and Transfer Agent desire to enter into an agreement pursuant to which Transfer Agent shall provide Services (as defined below) to the Fund.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises and agreements contained herein and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto, intending to be legally bound, do hereby agree as follows:

1.   Definitions In addition to any terms defined in the body of this Agreement, the following capitalized terms shall have the meanings set forth hereinafter whenever they appear in this Agreement:

1933 Actshall mean the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

1934 Actshall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

1940 Actshall mean the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

Authorized Personshall mean any individual who is authorized to provide Transfer Agent with Instructions on behalf of the Fund, whose name shall be certified to Transfer Agent from time to time pursuant to Section 3(b) of this Agreement. Any officer of the Fund shall be considered an Authorized Person (unless such authority is limited in a writing from the Fund and received by Transfer Agent) and has the authority to appoint additional Authorized Persons, to limit or revoke the authority of any previously designated Authorized Person, and to certify to Transfer Agent the names of the Authorized Persons from time to time.

Boardshall mean the Board of Trustees of the Fund.

Commissionshall mean the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Custodianshall mean the financial institution appointed as custodian under the terms and conditions of a custody agreement between the financial institution and the Fund, or its successor.

Declaration of Trust” shall mean the Declaration of Trust or other similar operational document of the Fund, as the case may be, as the same may be amended from time to time.

Fund Business Dayshall mean each day on which the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. is open for trading.

 

1


Investment Advisershall mean the investment adviser or investment advisers to the Fund and includes all sub-advisers or persons performing similar services.

Instructionsshall mean an oral communication from an Authorized Person or a written communication signed by an Authorized Person and actually received by Transfer Agent. Instructions shall include manually executed originals, telefacsimile transmissions of manually executed originals or electronic communications.

Offering Priceshall mean the price per share that the Shares will be offered for sale to the public calculated in accordance with the Fund’s then current Prospectus.

Prospectusshall mean the current prospectus and statement of additional information with respect to the Fund (including any applicable amendments and supplements thereto) actually received by Transfer Agent from the Fund with respect to which the Fund has indicated a Registration Statement has become effective under the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act.

Registration Statementshall mean any registration statement on Form N-2 at any time now or hereafter filed with the Commission with respect to any of the Shares and any amendments and supplements thereto which at any time shall have been or will be filed with the Commission.

Services shall mean the transfer agency and dividend disbursement services described on Schedule B hereto and such additional services as may be agreed to by the parties from time to time and set forth in an amendment to Schedule B.

Sharesshall mean such shares of beneficial interest, or class thereof, of the Fund as may be issued from time to time.

Shareholdershall mean a record owner of Shares of the Fund.

 

2.

Appointment and Services

(a)  The Fund hereby appoints Transfer Agent as transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent of all Shares and hereby authorizes Transfer Agent to provide Services during the term of this Agreement and on the terms set forth herein. Subject to the direction and control of the Board and utilizing information provided by the Fund and its current and prior agents and service providers, Transfer Agent will provide the Services in accordance with the terms of this Agreement. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, Transfer Agent shall not be required to provide any Services or information that it believes, in its sole discretion, to represent dishonest, unethical or illegal activity. In no event shall Transfer Agent provide any investment advice or recommendations to any party in connection with its Services hereunder.

(b)  Transfer Agent may from time to time, in its discretion and at its own expense, appoint one or more other parties to carry out some or all of its duties under this Agreement, provided that Transfer Agent shall remain responsible to the Fund for all such delegated responsibilities in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement, in the same manner and to the same extent as if Transfer Agent were itself providing such Services.

 

2


(c)  Transfer Agent’s duties shall be confined to those expressly set forth herein, and no implied duties are assumed by or may be asserted against Transfer Agent hereunder. The Services do not include correcting, verifying or addressing any prior actions or inactions of the Fund or by any other current or prior agent or service provider. To the extent that Transfer Agent agrees to take such actions, those actions shall be deemed part of the Services.

(d)  Transfer Agent shall not be responsible for the payment of any original issue or other taxes required to be paid by the Fund in connection with the issuance of any Shares in accordance with this Agreement.

(e)  Processing and Procedures

(i)  Transfer Agent agrees to accept purchase orders and repurchase requests with respect to the Shares of the Fund via postal mail, telephone, electronic delivery or personal delivery on each Fund Business Day in accordance with the Fund’s Prospectus; provided, however, that Transfer Agent shall only accept purchase orders from jurisdictions in which the Shares are qualified for sale, as indicated from time to time by the Fund or pursuant to an Instruction. Transfer Agent shall, as of the time at which the net asset value (“NAV”) of the Fund is computed as of the last business day of each calendar month, issue to the accounts specified in a purchase order in proper form and accepted by the Fund the appropriate number of full and fractional Shares based on the NAV per Share of the Fund specified in a communication received on such Fund Business Day from or on behalf of the Fund. Transfer Agent shall redeem from accounts any Shares tendered for repurchase in accordance with procedures stated in the Fund’s Prospectus or pursuant to an Instruction. Transfer Agent shall not be required to issue any Shares after it has received from an Authorized Person or from an appropriate federal or state authority written notification that the sale of Shares has been suspended or discontinued, and Transfer Agent shall be entitled to rely upon such written notification. Payment for Shares shall be in the form of a check, wire transfer, Automated Clearing House transfer (“ACH”) or such other methods to which the parties shall mutually agree.

(ii)  Upon receipt of a repurchase request and monies paid to it by the Custodian in connection with a repurchase of Shares, Transfer Agent shall cancel the repurchased Shares and after making appropriate deduction for any withholding of taxes required of it by applicable federal law, make payment in accordance with the Fund’s repurchase and payment procedures described in the Prospectus.

(iii)  Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, Transfer Agent will exchange, transfer or repurchase Shares upon presentation to Transfer Agent of instructions endorsed for exchange, transfer or repurchase, accompanied by such documents as Transfer Agent deems necessary to evidence the authority of the person making such exchange, transfer or repurchase. Transfer Agent reserves the right to refuse to exchange, transfer or repurchase Shares until it is satisfied that the endorsement or instructions are valid and genuine. For that purpose, it will require, unless otherwise instructed by an Authorized Person or except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, a Medallion signature guarantee by an “Eligible Guarantor Institution” as that term is defined by Commission in Rule 17Ad-15. Transfer Agent also reserves the right to refuse to exchange, transfer or repurchase Shares until it is satisfied that the requested exchange, transfer or repurchase is legally authorized, and it shall incur no liability for the refusal, in good faith, to make exchanges, transfers or repurchases which Transfer Agent, in its judgment, deems improper or unauthorized, or until it is satisfied that there is no reasonable basis to any claims adverse to such exchange, transfer or repurchase. Notwithstanding any provision contained in this

 

3


Agreement to the contrary, Transfer Agent shall not be required or expected to require, as a condition to any exchange, transfer or repurchase of any Shares pursuant to an electronic data transmission, any documents to evidence the authority of the person requesting the exchange, transfer or repurchase and/or the payment of any stock transfer taxes, and shall be fully protected in acting in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Section 3(e).

(iv)  In connection with each purchase and each repurchase of Shares, Transfer Agent shall send such statements as are prescribed by the federal securities laws applicable to transfer agents or as described in the Prospectus. It is understood that certificates for Shares have not been and will not be offered by the Fund or made available to Shareholders.

(v)  Transfer Agent and the Fund shall establish procedures for effecting purchase, repurchase, exchange or transfer transactions accepted from Shareholders by methods consistent with the terms of the Prospectus. Transfer Agent may establish such additional procedures, rules and requirements governing the purchase, repurchase, exchange or transfer of Shares, as it may deem advisable and consistent with the Prospectus and industry practice. Transfer Agent, the Fund, and the Fund’s distributor (the “Distributor”) shall establish procedures for effecting commission and additional compensation to selling agents through which the Distributor has a selling group agreement or other financial arrangement with, including any periodic reporting necessary for the Distributor to perform its duties with respect to the Fund. Transfer Agent shall not be liable, and shall be held harmless by the Fund, for its actions or omissions which are consistent with the forgoing procedures if such actions and omissions do not constitute gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct by the Transfer Agent.

(f)  Dividends and Distributions

(i) When a dividend or distribution has been declared, the Fund shall give or cause to be given to Transfer Agent a copy of a resolution of the Board that either:

(A)  sets forth the date of the declaration of a dividend or distribution, the date of accrual or payment, as the case may be, thereof, the record date as of which Shareholders entitled to payment or accrual, as the case may be, shall be determined, the amount per Share of such dividend or distribution, the payment date on which all previously accrued and unpaid dividends are to be paid, and the total amount, if any, payable to Transfer Agent on such payment date; or

(B)  authorizes the declaration of dividends and distributions on a daily or other periodic basis and further authorizes Transfer Agent to rely on a certificate of an Authorized Person setting forth the information described in subparagraph (A) above.

(ii)  In connection with a reinvestment of a dividend or distribution of Shares of the Fund, Transfer Agent shall as of each Fund Business Day, as specified in a certificate or resolution described in subparagraph (i), issue Shares of the Fund based on the NAV per Share of the Fund specified in a communication received from or on behalf of the Fund on such Fund Business Day.

(iii)  Upon the mail date specified in such certificate or resolution, as the case may be, the Fund shall, in the case of a cash dividend or distribution, cause the Custodian to deposit in an account in the name of Transfer Agent on behalf of the Fund, an amount of cash sufficient for Transfer Agent to make the payment, as of the mail date specified in such certificate or resolution, as the case may be, to the

 

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Shareholders who were of record on the record date. Transfer Agent will, upon receipt of any such cash, make payment of such cash dividends or distributions to the Shareholders as of the record date. Transfer Agent shall not be liable for any improper payments made in accordance with a certificate or resolution described in the preceding paragraph. If Transfer Agent does not receive from the Custodian sufficient cash to make payments of any cash dividend or distribution to all Shareholders of the Fund as of the record date, Transfer Agent shall, upon notifying the Fund, withhold payment to such Shareholders until sufficient cash is provided to Transfer Agent.

(iv)  It is understood that Transfer Agent in its capacity as transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent shall in no way be responsible for the determination of the rate or form of dividends or capital gain distributions due to the Shareholders pursuant to the terms of this Agreement. It is further understood that Transfer Agent shall file with the Internal Revenue Service and Shareholders such appropriate federal tax forms concerning the payment of dividend and capital gain distributions but shall in no way be responsible for the collection or withholding of taxes due on such dividends or distributions due to shareholders, except and only to the extent, required by applicable federal law.

(g)  Records

(i)  Transfer Agent shall keep those records specified in Schedule D hereto in the form and manner, and for such period, as it may deem advisable but not inconsistent with the rules and regulations of appropriate government authorities, in particular Rules 31a-2 and 31a-3 under the 1940 Act. Transfer Agent shall destroy records only at the direction of the Fund, and any such destruction shall comply with the provisions of Section 248.30(b) of Regulation S-P (17 CFR 248.1-248.30). Transfer Agent may deliver to the Fund from time to time at Transfer Agent’s discretion, for safekeeping or disposition by Transfer Agent in accordance with law, such records, papers and documents accumulated in the execution of its duties as transfer agent, as Transfer Agent may deem expedient, other than those which Transfer Agent is itself required to maintain pursuant to applicable laws and regulations. The Fund shall assume all responsibility for any failure thereafter to produce any record, paper, or other document so returned, if and when required. To the extent required by Section 31 of the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, the records specified in Schedule D hereto maintained by Transfer Agent, which have not been previously delivered to the Fund pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, shall be considered to be the property of the Fund, shall be made available upon request for inspection by the trustees, officers, employees, and auditors of the Fund. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, Transfer Agent shall be permitted to maintain copies of any such records, papers and documents to the extent necessary to comply with the recordkeeping requirements of federal and state securities laws, tax laws and other applicable laws.

(h)  Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) Services

(i)  Background Although the Fund currently is not subject to detailed anti-money laundering (“AML”) program obligations under the USA PATRIOT Act, the Fund has sought to implement appropriate controls reasonably designed to prevent the use of the Fund for money laundering or other illicit purposes. To the extent the other provisions of this Agreement require the Transfer Agent to establish, maintain and monitor accounts of investors in the Fund consistent with securities laws, the Transfer Agent shall perform reasonable actions necessary to help the Fund be in compliance with Section 352 of the USA PATRIOT Act, as follows: the Transfer Agent shall: (a) establish and implement written internal policies, procedures and controls reasonably designed to help prevent the Fund from being used

 

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to launder money or finance terrorist activities; (b) provide for independent testing, by an employee who is not responsible for the operation of the Transfer Agent’s AML program or by an outside party, for compliance with Transfer Agent’s established AML Procedures; (c) designate a person or persons responsible for implementing and monitoring the operation and internal controls of the Transfer Agent’s AML Program; and (d) provide ongoing training of the Transfer Agent’s personnel relating to the prevention of money-laundering activities.

In order to assist its transfer agency clients with their AML responsibilities under the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, the customer identification program rules jointly adopted by the Commission and the U.S. Treasury Department and other applicable regulations adopted thereunder (the “AML Laws”), Transfer Agent offers various tools designed to: (a) aid in the detection and reporting of potential money laundering activity by monitoring certain aspects of Shareholder activity; and (b) assist in the verification of persons opening accounts with the Fund and determine whether such persons appear on any list of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations, including the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) Specially Designated Nationals (“SDN”) list (“AML Monitoring Activities”). In connection with the AML Monitoring Activities, Transfer Agent may encounter Shareholder activity that would require it to file a Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”) with the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), as required by 31 CFR 103.15(a)(2) (“Suspicious Activity”). The Fund has, after review, selected various procedures and tools offered by Transfer Agent to comply with its AML and customer identification program obligations under the AML Laws (the “AML Procedures”), and desires to implement the AML Procedures as part of its overall AML program and, subject to the terms of the AML Laws, delegate to Transfer Agent the day- to-day operation of the AML Procedures on behalf of the Fund.

(ii)  Delegation The Fund acknowledges that it has had an opportunity to review, consider and select the AML Procedures and the Fund has determined that the AML Procedures, as part of the Fund’s overall AML program, are reasonably designed to prevent the Fund from being used for money laundering or the financing of terrorist activities and to achieve compliance with the applicable provisions of the AML Laws. Based on this determination, the Fund hereby instructs and directs Transfer Agent to implement the AML Procedures on its behalf, as such may be amended or revised from time to time. The customer identification verification component of the AML Procedures applies only to Shareholders who are residents of the United States. The Fund hereby also delegates to Transfer Agent the authority to report Suspicious Activity to FinCEN.

(iii)   SAR Filing Procedures

(A)  When Transfer Agent observes any Suspicious Activity, Transfer Agent shall prepare a draft of a SAR on Form SAR-SF, and shall send a copy to the Fund for review. Transfer Agent shall complete each SAR in accordance with the procedures set forth in 31 CFR §103.15(a)(3), with the intent to satisfy the reporting obligation of both Transfer Agent and the Fund. Accordingly, the SAR shall include the name of both Transfer Agent and the Fund, and shall include the words, “joint filing” in the narrative section.

(B)   The Fund shall review the SAR and provide comments, if any, to Transfer Agent within a time frame sufficient to permit Transfer Agent to file the SAR in accordance with the deadline set forth in 31 CFR §103.15(b)(3). Upon receipt of final approval from the Fund, Transfer Agent (or its affiliate) shall file the SAR in accordance with the procedures set forth in 31 CFR §103.15(b).

 

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(C)  Transfer Agent shall provide to the Fund a copy of each SAR filed, together with supporting documentation. In addition, Transfer Agent shall maintain a copy of the same for a period of at least five (5) years from the date of the SAR filing.

(D)  Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent either party from making a determination that such party has an obligation under the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 to file a SAR relating to any Suspicious Activity, and from making such filing independent of the other party hereto.

(iv)  Amendment to Procedures It is contemplated that the AML Procedures will be amended from time to time by the parties as directed by the Fund as additional regulations are adopted and/or regulatory guidance is provided relating to the Fund’s AML responsibilities.

(v)  Reporting Transfer Agent agrees to provide to the Fund: (i) prompt notification of any transaction or combination of transactions that Transfer Agent believes, based on the AML Procedures, evidence potential money laundering activity in connection with the Fund or any Shareholder; (ii) prompt notification of any true and complete match of a Shareholder(s) to the names included on the OFAC list or any Section 314(a) search list, or list referenced in Section 2(h)(i), above; (iii) any reports received by Transfer Agent from any government agency or applicable industry self-regulatory organization pertaining to Transfer Agent’s AML Monitoring Activities; (iv) any action taken in response to AML violations as described above; (v) quarterly reports of its monitoring and verification activities on behalf of the Fund; (vi) all updates to Transfer Agent’s AML Procedures; and (vii) a summary of the AML training provided for appropriate Transfer Agent personnel. Transfer Agent shall provide such other reports on the verification activities conducted at the direction of the Fund as may be agreed to from time to time by Transfer Agent and the Fund’s AML officer.

(vi)  Inspection The Fund hereby directs, and Transfer Agent agrees to: (1) permit federal regulators access to such information and records maintained by Transfer Agent and relating to Transfer Agent’s implementation of the AML Procedures on behalf of the Fund, as they may request; and, (2) permit such federal regulators to inspect Transfer Agent’s implementation of the AML Procedures on behalf of the Fund.

(vii)  Disclosure Obligations Regarding SARs Neither Transfer Agent nor the Fund shall disclose any SAR filed or the information included in a SAR to any third party other than affiliates of Transfer Agent or the Fund on a need to know basis and in accordance with applicable law, rule, regulation and interpretation, that would disclose that a SAR has been filed.

3.  Representations and Deliveries

(a) The Fund shall deliver or cause the following documents to be delivered to Transfer Agent:

(1)  A copy of the Declaration of Trust and By-laws and all amendments thereto, certified by a duly authorized person of the Fund;

(2)  Copies of the Fund’s Registration Statement, as of the date of this Agreement, together with any applications filed in connection therewith;

 

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(3)  A certificate signed by the President and Secretary of the Fund specifying the number of authorized Shares and the number of such authorized Shares issued and currently outstanding, if any, the validity of the authorized and outstanding Shares, whether such Shares are fully paid and non- assessable, and the status of the Shares under the 1933 Act and any other applicable federal law or regulation;

(4)  A certified copy of the resolutions of the Board appointing Transfer Agent and authorizing the execution of this Agreement on behalf of the Fund;

(5)  A certificate containing the names of the initial Authorized Persons in a form acceptable to Transfer Agent. Any officer of the Fund shall be considered an Authorized Person (unless such authority is limited in a writing from the Fund and received by Transfer Agent) and has the authority to appoint additional Authorized Persons, to limit or revoke the authority of any previously designated Authorized Person, and to certify to Transfer Agent the names of the Authorized Persons from time to time. The certificate required by this paragraph shall be signed by an officer of the Fund and designate the names of the Fund’s initial Authorized Persons;

(6)  Prior written notice of any increase or decrease in the total number of Shares authorized to be issued, or the issuance of any additional Shares of the Fund pursuant to stock dividends, stock splits, recapitalizations, capital adjustments or similar transactions, if applicable, and to deliver to Transfer Agent such documents, certificates, reports and legal opinions as it may reasonably request; and

(7)  All other documents, records and information that Transfer Agent may reasonably request in order for Transfer Agent to perform the Services hereunder.

(b)   The Fund represents and warrants to Transfer Agent that:

(1)  It is a statutory trust duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware; it is empowered under applicable laws and by its Declaration of Trust and By-laws to enter into and perform this Agreement; and all requisite corporate proceedings have been taken to authorize it to enter into and perform this Agreement.

(2)  Any officer of the Fund has the authority to appoint additional Authorized Persons, to limit or revoke the authority of any previously designated Authorized Person, and to certify to Transfer Agent the names of such Authorized Persons (unless such authority is limited in a writing from the Fund and received by Transfer Agent).

(3)  It is duly registered as a closed-end management investment company under the 1940 Act.

(4)  A Registration Statement under the 1933 Act will be effective before the Fund will issue Shares and will remain effective during such period as the Fund is offering Shares for sale in any public offering. Additionally, appropriate state securities laws filings will be made before Shares are issued in any jurisdiction and such filings will continue to be made, with respect to Shares of the Fund being offered for sale.

 

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(5)  All outstanding Shares are validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and when Shares are hereafter issued in accordance with the terms of the Declaration of Trust and the Fund’s Prospectus, such Shares shall be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

(6)  It will conduct its business in compliance in all material respects with all applicable laws and regulations, both state and federal, and has obtained (or will timely obtain) all regulatory approvals necessary to carry on its business as now conducted; there is no statute, rule, regulation, order or judgment binding on it and no provision of its Declaration of Trust, By-laws or any contract binding it or affecting its property which would prohibit its execution or performance of this Agreement.

(c)  During the term of this Agreement, the Fund shall have the ongoing obligation to provide Transfer Agent with a copy of the Fund’s currently effective Prospectus as soon as it becomes effective. For purposes of this Agreement, Transfer Agent shall not be deemed to have notice of any information contained in any such Prospectus until a reasonable time after it is actually received by Transfer Agent.

(d)  The Board, the administrator of the Fund (the “Administrator”) and the Investment Adviser have and retain primary responsibility for all compliance matters relating to the Fund including but not limited to (as applicable to the specific parties) compliance with the 1940 Act, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the policies and limitations of the Fund related to the portfolio investments as set forth in the Prospectus. Transfer Agent’s Services hereunder shall not relieve the Board, the Administrator and the Investment Adviser of their primary day-to-day responsibility for assuring such compliance. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Transfer Agent will be responsible for its own compliance with such statutes insofar as such statutes are applicable to the Services it has agreed to provide hereunder, and will promptly notify the Fund if it becomes aware of any material non-compliance which relates to the Fund. The Transfer Agent shall provide the Fund with quarterly and annual certifications (on a calendar basis) with respect to the design and operational effectiveness of its compliance and procedures.

(e)  The Fund agrees to take or cause to be taken all requisite steps to qualify the Shares for sale in all states in which the Shares shall at the time be offered for sale and require qualification. If the Fund receives notice of any stop order or other proceeding in any such state affecting such qualification or the sale of Shares, or of any stop order or other proceeding under the federal securities laws affecting the sale of Shares, the Fund will give prompt notice thereof to Transfer Agent.

(f)  The Fund agrees that it shall advise Transfer Agent in writing at least thirty (30) days prior to affecting any change in any Prospectus which would increase or alter the duties and obligations of Transfer Agent hereunder, and shall proceed with such change only if it shall have received the written consent of Transfer Agent thereto, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.

(g) Fund Instructions

(i)  The Fund shall use reasonable efforts to cause the Fund’s officers, trustees, Investment Adviser, legal counsel, independent accountants, administrator, fund accountant, Custodian and other service providers and agents, past or present, to cooperate with Transfer Agent and to provide Transfer Agent with such information, documents and communications as necessary and/or appropriate or as requested by Transfer Agent, in order to enable Transfer Agent to perform the Services. In connection with the performance of the Services, Transfer Agent shall (without investigation or verification) be

 

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entitled, and is hereby instructed to, rely upon any and all Instructions, communications, information or documents provided to Transfer Agent by a representative of the Fund or by any of the aforementioned persons. Transfer Agent shall be entitled to rely on any document that it reasonably believes to be genuine and to have been signed or presented by the proper party. Fees charged by such persons shall be an expense of the Fund. Transfer Agent shall not be held to have notice of any change of authority of any trustee, officer, agent, representative or employee of the Fund, Investment Adviser, Authorized Person or service provider until receipt of written notice thereof from the Fund.

(ii)  The Fund shall provide Transfer Agent with an updated certificate evidencing the appointment, removal or change of authority of any Authorized Person, it being understood Transfer Agent shall not be held to have notice of any change in the authority of any Authorized Person until receipt of written notice thereof from the Fund.

(iii)  Transfer Agent, its officers, agents or employees shall accept Instructions given to them by any person representing or acting on behalf of the Fund only if such representative is an Authorized Person. The Fund agrees that when oral Instructions are given, it shall, upon the request of Transfer Agent, confirm such Instructions in writing.

(iv)  At any time, Transfer Agent may request Instructions from the Fund with respect to any matter arising in connection with this Agreement. If such Instructions are not received within a reasonable time, then Transfer Agent may seek advice from legal counsel for the Fund at the expense of the Fund, or its own legal counsel at its own expense, and it shall not be liable for any action taken or not taken by it in good faith in accordance with such Instructions or in accordance with advice of counsel.

(h)  Transfer Agent represents and warrants to the Fund that:

(i)  It is a corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Wisconsin; it is empowered under applicable law and by its Articles of Incorporation and By-laws to enter into and perform this Agreement; and all requisite proceedings have been taken to authorize it to enter into and perform this Agreement.

(ii)  It is conducting its business in compliance in all material respects with all applicable laws and regulations, both state and federal, and has obtained all regulatory approvals necessary to carry on its business as now conducted; there is no statute, rule regulation, order or judgment binding on it and no provision of its operating documents or any contract binding it or affecting its property which would prohibit its execution or performance of this Agreement.

(iii)  Transfer Agent shall maintain a disaster recovery and business continuity plan and adequate and reliable computer and other equipment necessary and appropriate to carry out its obligations under this Agreement, including commercially reasonable cybersecurity systems, policies and procedures designed to prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of Fund information. Upon the Fund’s reasonable request, the Transfer Agent shall provide supplemental information concerning the aspects of its cybersecurity systems, policies and procedures and disaster recovery and business continuity plan that are relevant to the Services.

(iv)  It is duly registered as a transfer agent under Section 17A of the 1934 Act to the extent required.

 

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4.

Fees and Expenses

(a)  As compensation for the performance of the Services, the Fund agrees to pay Transfer Agent the fees set forth on Schedule C hereto. Fees shall be adjusted in accordance with Schedule C or as otherwise agreed to in writing by the parties from time to time. Fees shall be earned and paid monthly in an amount equal to at least 1/12th of the applicable annual fee. The parties may amend this Agreement to include fees for any additional services requested by the Fund, enhancements to current Services, or to add funds. The Fund agrees to pay Transfer Agent’s then current rate for Services added to, or for any enhancements to existing Services set forth on Schedule B after the execution of this Agreement. In addition, to the extent that Transfer Agent corrects, verifies or addresses any prior actions or inactions by the Fund or by any prior agent or service provider, Transfer Agent shall be entitled to additional fees as provided in Schedule C. In the event of any disagreement between this Agreement and Schedule C related to fees, the terms of Schedule C shall control.

(b)  For the purpose of determining fees payable to Transfer Agent, NAV shall be computed in accordance with the Prospectus and resolutions of the Board. The fee for the period from the day of the month this Agreement is entered into until the end of that month shall be pro-rated according to the proportion that such period bears to the full monthly period. Upon any termination of this Agreement before the end of any month and subject to Section 8(b) of this Agreement, the fee for such part of a month shall be pro-rated according to the proportion which such period bears to the full monthly period and shall be payable upon the date of termination of this Agreement. Should this Agreement be terminated (other than for cause on the part of the Transfer Agent) or the Fund be liquidated, merged with or acquired by another fund or investment company, any accrued fees shall be immediately payable.

(c)  Transfer Agent will bear all expenses incurred by it in connection with its performance of Services, except as otherwise provided herein. Transfer Agent shall not be required to pay or finance any costs and expenses incurred in the operation of the Fund, including, but not limited to: taxes; interest; brokerage fees and commissions; salaries, fees and expenses of officers and trustees; Commission fees and state Blue Sky fees; advisory fees; charges of custodians, administrators, fund accountants, dividend disbursing and accounting services agents and other service providers; security pricing services; insurance premiums; outside auditing and legal expenses; costs of organization and maintenance of corporate existence; taxes and fees payable to federal, state and other governmental agencies; preparation, typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing of Prospectuses, statements of additional information, supplements, notices, forms and applications and proxy materials for regulatory purposes and for distribution to current Shareholders; preparation, typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing and other costs of Shareholder reports; expenses in connection with the electronic transmission of documents and information including electronic filings with the Commission and the states; research and statistical data services; expenses incidental to holding meetings of the Fund’s Shareholders and Trustees; fees and expenses associated with internet, e-mail and other related activities; and extraordinary expenses. Expenses incurred for distribution of Shares, including, as applicable, the typesetting, printing, proofing and mailing of Prospectuses for persons who are not Shareholders, will be borne by the Fund, except for such expenses permitted to be paid under a distribution plan adopted in accordance with applicable laws.

(d)  The Fund also agrees to promptly reimburse Transfer Agent for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses or disbursements reasonably incurred by Transfer Agent in connection with the performance of Services under this Agreement. Out-of-pocket expenses shall include, but not be limited

 

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to, those items specified on Schedule C hereto. If reasonably requested by Transfer Agent, out-of-pocket expenses are payable in advance. Payment of postage expenses, if prepayment is reasonably requested, is due at least seven (7) days prior to the anticipated mail date. In the event Transfer Agent reasonably requests advance payment, Transfer Agent shall not be obligated to incur such expenses or perform the related Service(s) until payment is received.

(e)  The Fund agrees to pay all amounts due hereunder within thirty (30) days of receipt of each invoice for such Services (the “Due Date”). Except as provided in Schedule C, Transfer Agent shall bill Service fees monthly, and out-of-pocket expenses as incurred (unless prepayment is requested by Transfer Agent). Transfer Agent may, at its option, arrange to have various service providers submit invoices directly to the Fund for payment of reimbursable out-of-pocket expenses.

(f)  The Fund is aware that its failure to remit to Transfer Agent all amounts due on or before the Due Date will cause Transfer Agent to incur costs not contemplated by this Agreement, including, but not limited to carrying, processing and accounting charges. Accordingly, in the event that Transfer Agent does not receive any amounts due hereunder by the Due Date, the Fund agrees to pay a late charge on the overdue amount equal to one and one-half percent (1.5%) per month or the maximum amount permitted by law, whichever is less. In addition, the Fund shall pay Transfer Agent’s reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs if any amounts due Transfer Agent in the event that an attorney is engaged to assist in the collection of amounts due. The parties hereby agree that such late charge represents a fair and reasonable computation of the costs incurred by reason of the Fund’s late payment. Acceptance of such late charge shall in no event constitute a waiver by Transfer Agent of the Fund’s default or prevent Transfer Agent from exercising any other rights and remedies available to it.

(g)  In the event that any charges are disputed, the Fund shall, on or before the Due Date, pay all undisputed amounts due hereunder and notify Transfer Agent in writing of any disputed charges for out-of-pocket expenses which it is disputing in good faith. Payment for such disputed charges shall be due on or before the close of the tenth (10th) Fund Business Day after the day on which Transfer Agent provides documentation which an objective observer would agree reasonably supports the disputed charges (the “Revised Due Date”). Late charges shall not begin to accrue as to charges disputed in good faith until the first day after the Revised Due Date.

(h)  The Fund acknowledges that the fees charged by Transfer Agent under this Agreement reflect the allocation of risk between the parties, including the exclusion of remedies and limitations of liability in Sections 2, 3 and 6. Modifying the allocation of risk from what is stated herein would affect the fees that Transfer Agent charges. Accordingly, in consideration of those fees, the Fund agrees to the stated allocation of risk.

 

5.

Confidential Information

Transfer Agent agrees on behalf of itself and its affiliates, partners, employees, directors and agents to treat confidentially and as proprietary information of the Fund all records and other information relative to the Fund’s Shareholders, not to use such information other than in the performance of its responsibilities and duties hereunder, and not to disclose such information except: (i) when requested to divulge such information by duly-constituted authorities or court process; (ii) when requested by a Shareholder or Shareholder’s agent with respect to information concerning an account as to which such Shareholder has either a legal or beneficial interest; (iii) when requested by the Fund, the Shareholder, the Shareholder’s

 

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agent or the dealer of record with respect to such account; (iv) to seek to prevent fraud and/or money laundering by providing certain shareholder information to other financial institutions; (v) to an affiliate, as defined by Section 248.3(a) of Regulation S-P; or, (vi) pursuant to any other exception permitted by Sections 248.14 and 248.15 of Regulation S-P in the ordinary course of business to carry out the activities covered by the exception under which Transfer Agent received the information. In case of any requests or demands for inspection of the records of the Fund, Transfer Agent will endeavor to notify the Fund promptly and to secure instructions from a representative of the Fund as to such inspection. Records and information which have become known to the public through no wrongful act of Transfer Agent or any of its employees, agents or representatives, and information which was already in the possession of Transfer Agent prior to receipt thereof, shall not be subject to this section. Any party appointed pursuant to Section 2(b) above shall be required to observe the confidentiality obligations contained herein. Transfer Agent will implement and maintain such appropriate security measures as are necessary for the protection of confidential shareholder information. The obligations of the parties under Section 5 shall indefinitely survive the termination of this Agreement.

6.  Limitation of Liability In addition to the limitations of liability contained in Sections 2 and 3 of this Agreement:

(a)  Transfer Agent shall not be liable for any error of judgment or mistake of law or for any loss suffered by the Fund or the Fund in connection with the matters to which this Agreement relates, except for a loss resulting from Transfer Agent’s willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations and duties under this Agreement. Furthermore, Transfer Agent shall not be liable for: (1) any action taken or omitted to be taken in accordance with or in reasonable reliance upon Instructions, communications, data, documents or information (without investigation or verification) received by Transfer Agent from any Authorized Person; or, (2) any action taken, or omission by, the Fund, Investment Adviser, any Authorized Person or any past or current service provider (not including Transfer Agent or its affiliates).

(b)  Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, each party hereto will be excused from its obligation to perform any Service or obligation required of it hereunder solely for the duration that such performance is prevented solely by events beyond its reasonable control and shall not be liable for any default, damage, loss of data or documents, errors, delay or any other loss whatsoever caused thereby. Transfer Agent will, however, take all reasonable steps to minimize service interruptions for any period that such interruption continues beyond its reasonable control.

(c)  In no event and under no circumstances shall the Indemnified Parties (as defined below) be liable to anyone, including, without limitation, the other party, under any theory of tort, contract, strict liability or other legal or equitable theory for lost profits, exemplary, punitive, special, indirect or consequential damages for any act or failure to act under any provision of this Agreement regardless of whether such damages were foreseeable and even if advised of the possibility thereof.

(d)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, Transfer Agent shall have no duty or obligation under this Agreement to inquire into, and shall not be liable for:

(i)  the legality of the issue or sale of any Shares, the sufficiency of the amount to be received therefor, or the authority of the Fund, as the case may be, to request such sale or issuance;

 

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(ii)  the legality of a transfer, exchange, purchase or repurchase of any Shares, the propriety of the amount to be paid therefor, or the authority of the Fund, as the case may be, to request such transfer, exchange or repurchase;

(iii)  the legality of the declaration of any dividend by the Fund, or the legality of the issue of any Shares in payment of any stock dividend;

(iv)  the legality of any recapitalization or readjustment of Shares;

(v)  Transfer Agent’s acting upon telephone or electronic instructions relating to the purchase, transfer, exchange or repurchase of Shares received by Transfer Agent in accordance with procedures established in writing by Transfer Agent and the Fund; or

(vi)  the offer or sale of Shares in violation of any requirement under the securities laws or regulations of any jurisdiction that such Shares be qualified for sale in such state or in violation of any stop order or determination or ruling by any state with respect to the offer or sale of such Shares in such state.

(e)  Transfer Agent may, in effecting transfers and repurchases of Shares, rely upon those provisions of the Uniform Act for the Simplification of Fiduciary Security Transfers (or such other statutes which protect it and the Fund in not requiring complete fiduciary documentation) and shall not be responsible for any act done or omitted by it in good faith in reliance upon such laws. Notwithstanding the foregoing or any other provision contained in this Agreement to the contrary, Transfer Agent shall be fully protected by the Fund in not requiring any instruments, documents, assurances, endorsements or guarantees, including, without limitation, any Medallion signature guarantees, in connection with a repurchase, exchange or transfer of Shares whenever Transfer Agent reasonably believes that requiring the same would be inconsistent with the transfer, exchange and repurchase procedures described in the Prospectus.

(f)  The obligations of the parties under Section 6 shall indefinitely survive the termination of this Agreement.

 

7.

Indemnification

(a)  The Fund agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Transfer Agent, its employees, agents, officers, directors, shareholders, affiliates and nominees (collectively, “Transfer Agent Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all claims, demands, actions and suits, and any and all judgments, liabilities, losses, damages, costs, charges, attorneys’ fees and other expenses of every nature and character (“Losses”) which may be asserted against or incurred by any Transfer Agent Indemnified Party or for which any Transfer Agent Indemnified Party may be held liable (a “Claim”), arising out of or in any way relating to any of the following, except to the extent a Claim resulted from Transfer Agent’s willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations and duties hereunder:

(i)  any action or omission of Transfer Agent;

 

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(ii)  Transfer Agent’s reasonable reliance on, implementation of, or use of Instructions, communications, data, documents or information (without investigation or verification) received by Transfer Agent from any Authorized Person;

(iii)  any action taken, or omission by, the Fund, Investment Adviser, any Authorized Person or any past or current service provider (not including Transfer Agent);

(iv)  the Fund’s refusal or failure to comply with the terms of this Agreement, or any Claim that arises out of the Fund’s gross negligence or misconduct or breach of any representation or warranty of the Fund made herein;

(v)  the legality of the issue or sale of any Shares, the sufficiency of the amount received therefore, or the authority of the Fund, as the case may be, to have requested such sale or issuance;

(vi)  the legality of the declaration of any dividend by the Fund, or the legality of the issue of any Shares in payment of any stock dividend;

(vii)  the legality of any recapitalization or readjustment of Shares;

(viii)  Transfer Agent’s acting upon telephone or electronic instructions relating to the purchase, transfer, exchange or repurchase of Shares received by Transfer Agent in accordance with written procedures established by Transfer Agent and the Fund;

(ix)  the acceptance, processing and/or negotiation of a fraudulent payment for the purchase of Shares unless the result of Transfer Agent’s or its affiliates’ willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations and duties under this Agreement. In the absence of a finding to the contrary, the acceptance, processing and/or negotiation of a fraudulent payment for the purchase, repurchase, transfer or exchange of Shares shall be presumed not to have been the result of Transfer Agent’s or its affiliates’ willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence; and

(x)  the offer or sale of Shares in violation of any requirement under the securities laws or regulations of any state or other jurisdiction that such Shares be qualified for sale in such state or in violation of any stop order or determination or ruling by any state with respect to the offer or sale of such Shares in such state.

(b)  Transfer Agent agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Fund, its employees, officers, and Board (collectively, the “Fund Indemnified Parties” and together with the Transfer Agent Indemnified Parties, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all Claims against the Fund Indemnified Parties arising out of or in any way relating to Transfer Agent’s willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties or from reckless disregard by it of its obligations and duties under this Agreement except, in each case, to the extent a Claim resulted from the Fund’s bad faith, gross negligence or willful misconduct or breach of any representation or warranty of the Fund made herein.

(c)  Promptly after receipt by a party of notice of the commencement of an investigation, action, claim or proceeding, the receiving party shall, if a claim for indemnification in respect thereof is made under this section, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof, although the

 

15


failure to do so shall not prevent recovery by the Indemnified Party. The indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate at its own expense in the defense or, if it so elects, to assume the defense of any suit brought to enforce any such Loss, but if the indemnifying party elects to assume the defense, such defense shall be conducted by counsel chosen by the indemnifying party and approved by the Indemnified Party, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. In the event the indemnifying party elects to assume the defense of any such suit and retain such counsel and notifies the Indemnified Party of such election, the indemnified defendant or defendants in such suit shall bear the fees and expenses of any additional counsel retained by them subsequent to the receipt of the indemnifying party’s election. If the indemnifying party does not elect to assume the defense of any such suit, or in case the Indemnified Party does not, in the exercise of reasonable judgment, approve of counsel chosen by the indemnifying party, or in case there is a conflict of interest between the indemnifying party and the Indemnified Party, the indemnifying party will reimburse the Indemnified Party or Parties named as defendant or defendants in such suit, for the reasonable fees and expenses of any counsel retained by them. The indemnification agreement contained in this Section 7 and the representations and warranties in this Agreement shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the Indemnified Party, and shall survive the delivery of any Shares and the termination of this Agreement. This agreement of indemnity will inure exclusively to the benefit of each Indemnified Party and their estates and successors. The Fund agrees to promptly notify Transfer Agent of the commencement of any litigation or proceedings against the Fund or any of its officers or directors in connection with the issue and sale of any of the Shares.

(c)  The obligations of the parties under this Section 7 shall indefinitely survive the termination of this Agreement.

 

8.

Term

(a)  This Agreement shall become effective with respect to the Fund as of the date hereof. Unless sooner terminated as provided herein, this Agreement shall continue in effect with respect to the Fund for a two-year period beginning on the date of this Agreement (the “Initial Term”). Thereafter, if not terminated as provided herein, the Agreement shall continue automatically in effect as to the Fund for successive one-year periods (each a “Renewal Term”).

(b)  In the event this Agreement is terminated by the Fund prior to the end of the Initial Term or any subsequent Renewal Term, the Fund shall be obligated to pay Transfer Agent the remaining balance of the fees payable to Transfer Agent under this Agreement through the end of the Initial Term or Renewal Term, as applicable. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may terminate this Agreement: (i) at the end of the Initial Term or at the end of any successive Renewal Term by giving the other party a written notice not less than ninety (90) days’ prior to the end of the respective term; (ii) upon the material breach of the other party of any term of this Agreement if such breach is not cured within 15 business days of notice of such breach to the breaching party; and (iii) in the event of the appointment of a conservator or receiver for Transfer Agent by regulatory authorities or upon the happening of a like event at the direction of an appropriate regulatory agency or court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, upon the termination of the Agreement as provided herein or the liquidation, merger or acquisition of the Fund, Transfer Agent shall deliver the records of the Fund to the Fund or its successor service provider at the expense of the Fund in a form that is consistent with Transfer Agent’s applicable license agreements, and thereafter the Fund or its designee shall be solely responsible for preserving the

 

16


records for the periods required by all applicable laws, rules and regulations. The Fund shall be responsible for all expenses associated with the movement (or duplication) of records and materials and conversion thereof to a successor service provider, including all reasonable trailing expenses incurred by Transfer Agent. In addition, in the event of termination of this Agreement, or the proposed liquidation, merger or acquisition of the Fund, and Transfer Agent’s agreement to provide additional Services in connection therewith, Transfer Agent shall provide such Services and be entitled to such compensation as the parties may mutually agree. Transfer Agent shall not reduce the level of service provided to the Fund prior to termination following notice of termination by the Fund.

(c)  In the event such notice is given by the Fund pursuant to subparagraph (b), it shall be accompanied by a copy of a resolution of the Board certified by the Secretary or any Assistant Secretary, electing to terminate this Agreement and designating the successor transfer agent or transfer agents. In the event such notice is given by Transfer Agent, the Fund shall on or before the termination date, deliver to Transfer Agent a copy of a resolution of its Board certified by the Secretary or any Assistant Secretary designating a successor transfer agent or transfer agents. In the absence of such designation by the Fund, the Fund shall be deemed to be its own transfer agent as of the termination date and Transfer Agent shall thereby be relieved of all duties and responsibilities pursuant to this Agreement.

 

9.

Miscellaneous

(a)  Any notice required or permitted to be given by either party to the other under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been given when received by the other party as set forth below. Such notices shall be sent to the addresses listed below, or to such other location as either party may from time to time designate in writing:

 

If to Transfer Agent:

 

  UMB Fund Services, Inc.

 

  235 West Galena Street

  Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212

  Attention: Legal Department

If to the Fund:

 

  StepStone Private Credit Income Fund

  128 S Tyron St., Suite 1600

  Charlotte, NC 28202

  Attention: Fund Accounting Department

If notice is sent by electronic delivery or facsimile, it shall be deemed to have been given immediately (contingent upon confirmed receipt by the intended recipient). If notice is sent by first-class mail, it shall be deemed to have been given five days after it has been mailed. If notice is sent by messenger, it shall be deemed to have been given on the day it is delivered.

(b)  Except as provided to the contrary herein, this Agreement may not be amended or modified in any manner except by a written agreement executed by both parties with the formality of this Agreement.

(c)  This Agreement shall be governed by Delaware law, excluding the laws on conflicts of laws. To the extent that the applicable laws of the State of Delaware, or any of the provisions herein, conflict with the applicable provisions of the 1940 Act, the latter shall control, and nothing herein shall be

 

17


construed in a manner inconsistent with the 1940 Act or any rule or order of the Commission thereunder. Any provision of this Agreement which is determined by competent authority to be prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions hereof, and any such prohibition or unenforceability in any jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction. In such case, the parties shall in good faith modify or substitute such provision consistent with the original intent of the parties.

(d)  This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original agreement but such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same instrument. The facsimile signature of any party to this Agreement shall constitute the valid and binding execution hereof by such party.

(e) The services of Transfer Agent hereunder are not deemed exclusive. Transfer Agent may render transfer agency and dividend disbursement services and any other services to others, including other investment companies.

(f) The captions in the Agreement are included for convenience of reference only, and in no way define or limit any of the provisions hereof or otherwise affect their construction or effect.

(g)  This Agreement is executed by the Fund and the obligations hereunder are not binding upon any of the trustees, officers or Shareholders of the Fund individually but are binding only upon the Fund to which such obligations pertain and the assets and property of the Fund. All obligations of the Fund under this Agreement shall apply only to the Fund. The Fund’s Certificate of Trust is on file with the Secretary of State of Delaware.

(h)  This Agreement and the Schedules incorporated herein constitute the full and complete understanding and agreement of Transfer Agent and the Fund and supersedes all prior negotiations, understandings and agreements with respect to transfer agency and dividend disbursement services.

(i)  Except as specifically provided herein, this Agreement does not in any way affect any other agreements entered into among the parties hereto and any actions taken or omitted by any party hereunder shall not affect any rights or obligations of any other party hereunder.

(j)  Transfer Agent shall retain all right, title and interest in any and all computer programs, screen formats, report formats, procedures, data bases, interactive design techniques, derivative works, inventions, discoveries, patentable or copyrightable matters, concepts, expertise, trade secrets, trademarks and other related legal rights provided, developed or utilized by Transfer Agent in connection with the Services provided by Transfer Agent to the Fund hereunder.

(k)  This Agreement shall extend to and shall be binding upon the parties hereto, and their respective successors and assigns. This Agreement shall not be assignable by either party without the written consent of the other party, provided; however, that Transfer Agent may, in its sole discretion and upon advance written notice to the Fund, assign all its right, title and interest in this Agreement to an affiliate, parent or subsidiary.

 

18


(l) The person signing below represents and warrants that he/she is duly authorized to execute this Agreement on behalf of the party on whose behalf such person is signing.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed by a duly authorized officer as of the day, month and year first above written.

 

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

(the “Fund”)

By:  

 

Title:  

 

Date:  

 

UMB FUND SERVICES, INC.

(“Transfer Agent”)

By:  

 

Title:  

 

Date:  

 

 

19


Schedule A

to the

Transfer Agency Agreement

by and between

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund

and

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

[RESERVED]

 

20


Schedule B

to the

Transfer Agency Agreement

by and between

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund and

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

SERVICES

In addition to, or in connection with, the Services set forth in Section 2 of the Agreement and subject to the direction of, and utilizing information provided by, the Fund, Investment Adviser, and the Fund’s agents, Transfer Agent will provide the following Services:

Transfer Agency/Investor Servicing

 

1.

Process Investor Subscriptions

 

  a.

Monitor and receive subscription documents from investors.

 

  b.

Review subscription documents for completeness.

 

  c.

Obtain investor demographic information.

 

  d.

Receive subscription money and match to subscription document.

 

  e.

Maintain, monitor, and reconcile DDA and escrow accounts.

 

  f.

Obtain appropriate approvals and transfer money to the trading account.

 

  g.

Provide good-order, pending wire, pending sub-docs reports.

 

2.

Process Investor Redemptions

 

  a.

Monitor and receive redemption request.

 

  b.

Calculate redemption fee as appropriate.

 

  c.

Monitor tender cap and apply if applicable.

 

  d.

Calculate holdback percentage as appropriate.

 

  e.

Receive money from the trading account.

 

  f.

Obtain approvals and distribute money as appropriate.

 

  g.

Retain holdback according to Fund documents and distribute as appropriate.

 

  h.

Provide redemption and holdback reports.

 

3.

Generate investor statements and confirmations.

 

4.

Receive and respond to investor inquiries by telephone, mail, or email.

 

5.

File IRS Forms 1099, 5498, 1042, 1042-S, and 945 with shareholders and/or the IRS.

USA PATRIOT Act (AML)

 

1.

Conduct AML screening for new domestic investors, which shall include initial comparison of investor information against Identity Chek, OFAC and other watch lists; provide Fund with any exceptions. Systematically compare updates against investor name for each update of the OFAC list.

 

 

21


2.

File Suspicious Activity Reports, if any, with the appropriate reporting authorities.

 

 

3.

Provide AML certification report upon request.

 

Internet Services

 

1.

Provide and maintain a web portal for the fund sponsor, investors, and financial advisors to access account information.

 

 

2.

Allow investors to sign up for electronic document delivery.

 

 

3.

Send email notifications to investors when statements or regulatory documents are available online.

 

 

4.

Post fund documents on the portal for access by investors.

 

 

5.

Send email notifications to investors when documents have been posted online.

 

FATCA

Onboarding of Foreign Investors

 

1.

Review account opening documents, including tax certifications Form W-9 and original W-8, for FATCA-specified U.S. indicia.

 

 

2.

Remediate missing or invalid tax certifications.

 

 

3.

Set the current account up to include Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (TEFRA) for FATCA/non-resident alien (“NRA”) withholding as applicable.

 

 

4.

Transmit copy of new account documents for NRA and Foreign entities to the Fund to complete its AML/W-8 comparison.

 

Support and Maintenance of Existing Foreign Investor Accounts

 

1.

Act as Withholding Agent:

 

 

  a.

Maintain constructive receipt of the tax certifications original IRS Form W-8 and relevant documentary evidence for audit and compliance reviews.

 

 

  b.

Ongoing review of FATCA Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN) against list of Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs) on the IRS web site.

 

 

  c.

Complete FATCA/NRA and back up withholding deposits to the IRS by the required due date.

 

 

  d.

Complete and file Tax Forms 1042 and 945.

 

 

2.

Monitor and remediate for “Change of Circumstance” and/or expiration of Form W-8 certification:

 

 

22


  a.

Notify and solicit the investor for a new and compliant Form W-8 as required.

 

 

  b.

Notify the Fund of change of circumstance to complete its AML comparison review.

 

 

3.

Provide the Fund with reports and other documentation as requested.

 

Electronic Subscription Document Services

Implement a process for the Fund’s investors and potential investors to electronically complete and submit subscription documents for investments in interests of the Fund.

 

23


Schedule C

to the

Transfer Agency Agreement

by and between

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund and

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

[RESERVED]

 

24


Schedule D

to the

Transfer Agency Agreement

by and between

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund and

UMB Fund Services, Inc.

RECORDS MAINTAINED BY TRANSFER AGENT

 

 

Account applications

 

 

 

Checks including check registers, reconciliation records, any adjustment records and tax withholding documentation

 

 

 

Indemnity bonds for replacement of lost or missing checks

 

 

 

Liquidation, repurchase, withdrawal and transfer requests including signature guarantees and any supporting documentation

 

 

 

Shareholder correspondence

 

 

 

Shareholder transaction records

 

 

 

Share transaction history of the Fund

 

 

25

LOGO      1095 Avenue of the Americas
   New York, NY 10036-6797
   +1 212 698 3500 Main
   +1 212 698 3599 Fax
  

www.dechert.com

 

 

 

May 17, 2024

 

StepStone Private Credit Income Fund

 

128 S Tryon St.

Suite 1600

Charlotte, NC 28202

 

Re:  Registration Statement on Form N-2

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

We have acted as counsel to StepStone Private Credit Income Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Fund”), in connection with the preparation and filing of a Registration Statement on Form N-2 (Registration No. 333-276309) as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), and as subsequently amended on or about the date hereof (the “Registration Statement”), relating to the proposed issuance of the Fund’s common shares of beneficial interest, par value $0.001 per share (“Shares”).

 

In rendering the opinion expressed below, we have examined and relied on originals or copies, certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction, of such documents, corporate records and other instruments and such agreements, certificates and receipts of public officials, certificates of officers or other representatives of the Fund and others, and such other documents as we have deemed necessary or appropriate as a basis for rendering this opinion, including the following documents:

 

(i) the Registration Statement;

 

(ii)  the Certificate of Trust of the Fund;

 

(iii) the Agreement and Declaration of Trust of the Fund;

 

(iv) the By-Laws of the Fund;


   May 17, 2024
LOGO    Page 2

 

 

(v)   resolutions of the board of trustees of the Fund relating to, among other things, the authorization and issuance of the Shares; and

 

(vi) a Certificate of Good Standing issued by the Delaware Secretary of State. 

 

As to the facts upon which this opinion is based, we have relied, to the extent we deem proper, upon certificates of public officials and certificates and written statements of officers, directors, employees and representatives of the Fund. 

 

In our examination, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as original documents and the conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to us as copies. In addition, we have assumed (i) the legal capacity of natural persons and (ii) the legal power and authority of all persons signing on behalf of the parties to all documents (other than the Fund).

 

On the basis of the foregoing and subject to the assumptions and qualifications set forth in this letter, we are of the opinion that when the Shares are issued and sold in the manner described in the Registration Statement, the Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

 

The opinion expressed herein is limited to the Delaware Statutory Trust Act and judicial interpretations thereof. We are not members of the bar of the State of Delaware. 

 

We assume no obligation to advise you of any changes in the foregoing subsequent to the date of this opinion.

 

We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and to the reference to this firm under the caption “Legal Counsel” in the Statement of Additional Information forming a part of the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.

 

Very truly yours,

 

 

Dechert LLP

Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

We consent to the reference to our firm under the caption “Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” in the Preliminary Statement of Additional Information dated May 22, 2024 and included in this Pre-Effective Amendment No. 3 to the Registration Statement (Form N-2, File No. 333-276309) of StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (the “Registration Statement”).

We also consent to the use of our report dated May 22, 2024, with respect to the financial statements of StepStone Private Credit Income Fund as of April 25, 2024 and for the period from December 18, 2023 (inception) to April 25, 2024, included in this Registration Statement, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

New York, NY

May 22, 2024

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT

This Subscription Agreement is entered into this []th day of [], 2024 by and between StepStone Private Credit Income Fund, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Fund”), and [] (the “Subscriber”);

WITNESSETH:

WHEREAS, the Fund has been formed for the purposes of carrying on business as a closed-end management investment company; and

WHEREAS, the Subscriber wishes to subscribe for and purchase, and the Fund wishes to sell to the Subscriber, 10,000 Class I shares of beneficial interest (the “Shares”) for a purchase price of $10 per share.

NOW THEREFORE, IT IS AGREED:

 

  1.

The Subscriber subscribes for and agrees to purchase from the Fund 10,000 Shares for a purchase price of $10 per share. Subscriber agrees to make payment for these Shares at such time as demand for payment may be made by an officer of the Fund.

 

  2.

The Fund agrees to issue and sell said Shares to Subscriber promptly upon its receipt of the purchase price.

 

  3.

To induce the Fund to accept its subscription and issue the Shares subscribed for, the Subscriber:

 

  a.

Represents and warrants that it has no present intention of selling or redeeming the Shares subscribed for under this Subscription Agreement.

 

  4.

This Subscription Agreement and all of its provisions shall be binding upon the legal representatives, heirs, successors and assigns of the parties hereto.

 

  5.

This Agreement is executed on behalf of the Fund by the Fund’s officers as officers and not individually and the obligations imposed upon the Fund by this Subscription Agreement are not binding upon any of the Fund’s Trustees, officers or shareholders individually but are binding only upon the assets and property of the Fund.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, this Subscription Agreement has been executed by the parties hereto as of the day and date first above written.

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

By:  

 

Name: Robert W. Long
Title:  President
[]
By:  

 

Name: []
Title: []

CODE OF ETHICS

FOR

STEPSTONE PRIVATE CREDIT INCOME FUND

STEPSTONE GROUP PRIVATE WEALTH LLC

 

Section I

  

Statement of General Fiduciary Principles

This Code of Ethics (the “Code”) has been adopted by each of StepStone Private Credit Income Fund (the “Fund”) and StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC, the Fund’s investment adviser (the “Adviser”), in compliance with Rule 17j-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Act”). The purpose of the Code is to establish standards and procedures for the detection and prevention of activities by which persons having knowledge of the investments and investment intentions of the Fund may abuse their fiduciary duty to the Fund, and otherwise to deal with the types of conflict of interest situations to which Rule 17j-1 is addressed. All Access Persons must read this Code of Ethics.

The Code is based on the principle that the trustees and officers of the Fund, and the managers, partners, officers, employees and shared employees of the Adviser, who provide services to the Fund, owe a fiduciary duty to the Fund to conduct their personal securities transactions in a manner that does not interfere with the Fund’s transactions or otherwise take unfair advantage of their relationship with the Fund. All Access Persons are expected to adhere to this general principle as well as to comply with all of the specific provisions of this Code that are applicable to them. Any Access Person who is affiliated with the Adviser or another entity that is a registered investment adviser is, in addition, expected to comply with the provisions of the code of ethics that has been adopted by the Adviser or such other investment adviser.

All Access Persons must seek to avoid any actual or potential conflicts between their personal interests and the interests of the Fund and its shareholders. In sum, all Access Persons shall place the interests of the Fund before their own personal interests.

 

Section II

  

Definitions

(A)  “Access Person” means any director, trustee, officer, general partner or Advisory Person (as defined below) of the Fund or the Adviser.

(B)  An “Advisory Person” of the Fund or the Adviser means: (i) any director, trustee, officer, general partner or employee of the Fund or the Adviser, or any Fund in a Control (as defined below) relationship to the Fund or the Adviser, who in connection with his or her regular functions or duties makes, participates in, or obtains information regarding the purchase or sale of any Covered Security (as defined below) by the Fund, or whose functions relate to the making of any recommendation with respect to such purchases or sales; (ii) any natural person in a Control relationship to the Fund or the Adviser, who obtains information concerning recommendations made to the Fund with regard to the purchase or sale of any Covered Security by the Fund and (iii) any other person deemed to be an Advisory Person by the Chief Compliance Officer.

(C)  “Beneficial Ownership” is interpreted in the same manner as it would be under Rule 16a-1(a)(2) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “1934 Act”) in determining whether a person is a beneficial owner of a security for purposes of Section 16 of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.

(D)  “Chief Compliance Officer” means the Chief Compliance Officer of the Fund (who also may serve as the compliance officer of the Adviser and/or one or more affiliates of the Adviser) and his or her delegate.

(E)  “Control” shall have the same meaning as that set forth in Section 2(a)(9) of the Act.

 

1


(F)  “Covered Security” means a security as defined in Section 2(a)(36) of the Act, which includes: any note, stock, treasury stock, security future, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in any profit-sharing agreement, collateral-trust certificate, pre-organization certificate or subscription, transferable share, investment contract, voting-trust certificate, certificate of deposit for a security, fractional undivided interest in oil, gas, or other mineral rights, any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege on any security (including a certificate of deposit) or on any group or index of securities (including any interest therein or based on the value thereof), or any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege entered into on a national securities exchange relating to foreign currency, or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as a “security,” or any certificate of interest or participation in, temporary or interim certificate for, receipt for, guarantee of, or warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase, any of the foregoing.

Except that “Covered Security” does not include: (i) direct obligations of the Government of the United States; (ii) bankers’ acceptances, bank certificates of deposit, commercial paper and high-quality short-term debt instruments, including repurchase agreements; and (iii) shares issued by open-end investment companies registered under the Act. References to a Covered Security in this Code (e.g., a prohibition or requirement applicable to the purchase or sale of a Covered Security) shall be deemed to refer to and to include any warrant for, option in, or security immediately convertible into that Covered Security, and shall also include any instrument that has an investment return or value that is based, in whole or in part, on that Covered Security (collectively, “Derivatives”). Therefore, except as otherwise specifically provided by this Code: (i) any prohibition or requirement of this Code applicable to the purchase or sale of a Covered Security shall also be applicable to the purchase or sale of a Derivative relating to that Covered Security; and (ii) any prohibition or requirement of this Code applicable to the purchase or sale of a Derivative shall also be applicable to the purchase or sale of a Covered Security relating to that Derivative.

(G)  “Independent Trustee” means a trustee of the Fund who is not an “interested person” of the Fund within the meaning of Section 2(a)(19) of the Act.

(H)  “Initial Public Offering” means an offering of securities registered under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “1933 Act”), the issuer of which, immediately before the registration, was not subject to the reporting requirements of Sections 13 or 15(d) of the 1934 Act.

(I)  “Limited Offering” means an offering that is exempt from registration under the 1933 Act pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) or Section 4(a)(5) thereof or pursuant to Rule 504, Rule 505, or Rule 506 thereunder.

(J)  “Security Held or to be Acquired” by the Fund means: (i) any Covered Security which, within the most recent 15 days: (A) is or has been held by the Fund; or (B) is being or has been considered by the Fund or the Adviser for purchase by the Fund; and (ii) any option to purchase or sell, and any security convertible into or exchangeable for, a Covered Security described in Section II (F).

(K)  “17j-1 Organization” means the Fund or the Adviser, as the context requires.

 

Section III

  

Objective and General Prohibitions

Access Persons may not engage in any investment transaction under circumstances in which such Access Person benefits from or interferes with the purchase or sale of investments by the Fund. In addition, Access Persons may not use information concerning the investments or investment intentions of the Fund, or their ability to influence such investment intentions, for personal gain or in a manner detrimental to the interests of the Fund.

 

2


Access Persons may not engage in conduct that is deceitful, fraudulent or manipulative, or that involves false or misleading statements, in connection with the purchase or sale of investments by the Fund. In this regard, Access Persons should recognize that Rule 17j-1 makes it unlawful for any affiliated person of the Fund, or any affiliated person of the Adviser, in connection with the purchase or sale, directly or indirectly, by the person of a Security Held or to be Acquired by the Fund to:

 

  (i)

employ any device, scheme or artifice to defraud the Fund;

 

  (ii)

make any untrue statement of a material fact to the Fund or omit to state to the Fund a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading;

 

  (iii)

engage in any act, practice or course of business that operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon the Fund; or

 

  (iv)

engage in any manipulative practice with respect to the Fund.

Access Persons should also recognize that a violation of this Code or of Rule 17j-1 may result in the imposition of: (1) sanctions as provided by Section VII below; or (2) administrative, civil and, in certain cases, criminal fines, sanctions or penalties.

 

Section IV

  

Prohibited Transactions

(A)  Other than securities purchased or acquired by a fund affiliated with the Fund and pursuant to an exemptive order under Section 57(i) of the Act permitting certain types of co-investments, an Access Person may not purchase or otherwise acquire direct or indirect Beneficial Ownership of any Covered Security, and may not sell or otherwise dispose of any Covered Security in which he or she has direct or indirect Beneficial Ownership, if he or she knows or should know at the time of entering into the transaction that: (1) the Fund has purchased or sold such Covered Security within the last 15 calendar days, or is purchasing or selling or intends to purchase or sell such Covered Security in the next 15 calendar days; or (2) the Adviser has within the last 15 calendar days considered purchasing or selling such Covered Security for the Fund or within the next 15 calendar days intends to consider purchasing or selling such Covered Security for the Fund.

(B)  No Access Person may purchase a Covered Security without first obtaining preapproval from the Chief Compliance Officer of the Fund. From time to time, the Chief Compliance Officer of the Fund or the Adviser may exempt individual Covered Securities or categories of Covered Securities from this requirement.

(C)  Access Persons of the Fund or the Adviser must obtain approval from the Fund or the Adviser, as the case may be, before directly or indirectly acquiring Beneficial Ownership in any securities in an Initial Public Offering or in a Limited Offering, except when such securities are acquired by a fund affiliated with the Fund and pursuant to an exemptive order under Section 57(i) of the Act permitting certain types of co-investments. Such approval must be obtained from the Chief Compliance Officer, unless he or she is the person seeking such approval, in which case it must be obtained from the President of the 17j-1 Organization.

(D)  No Access Person shall recommend any transaction in any Covered Securities by the Fund without having disclosed to the Chief Compliance Officer his or her interest, if any, in such Covered Securities or the issuer thereof, including: the Access Person’s Beneficial Ownership of any Covered Securities of such

 

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issuer, except when such securities transactions are to be made by a fund affiliated with the Fund and pursuant to an exemptive order under Section 57(i) of the Act permitting certain types of co-investments; any contemplated transaction by the Access Person in such Covered Securities; any position the Access Person has with such issuer; and any present or proposed business relationship between such issuer and the Access Person (or a party in which the Access Person has a significant interest).

 

Section V

  

Reports by Access Persons

(A)  Personal Securities Holdings Reports.

All Access Persons shall within 10 days of the date on which they become Access Persons, and thereafter, within 30 days after the end of each calendar year, disclose the title, number of shares and principal amount of all Covered Securities in which they have a direct or indirect Beneficial Ownership as of the date the person became an Access Person, in the case of such person’s initial report, and as of the last day of the year, as to annual reports. Such report is hereinafter called a “Personal Securities Holdings Report.” Each Personal Securities Holdings Report must also disclose the name of any broker, dealer or bank with whom the Access Person maintained an account in which any securities were held for the direct or indirect benefit of the Access Person as of the date the person became an Access Person or as of the last day of the year, as the case may be. Each Personal Securities Holdings Report shall state the date it is being submitted.

(B)  Quarterly Transaction Reports.

Within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter, each Access Person shall make a written report to the Chief Compliance Officer of all transactions occurring in the quarter in a Covered Security in which he or she had any direct or indirect Beneficial Ownership. Such report is hereinafter called a “Quarterly Securities Transaction Report.” A Quarterly Securities Transaction Report shall be in the form approved by the Chief Compliance Officer.

(C)  Independent Trustees.

Notwithstanding the reporting requirements set forth in this Section V, an Independent Trustee who would be required to make a report under this Section V solely by reason of being a trustee of the Fund is not required to file a Personal Securities Holding Report upon becoming a trustee of the Fund or annually thereafter. Such Independent Trustee also need not file a Quarterly Securities Transaction Report unless such trustee knew or, in the ordinary course of fulfilling his or her official duties as a trustee of the Fund, should have known that during the 15-day period immediately preceding or after the date of the transaction in a Covered Security by the trustee such Covered Security is or was purchased or sold by the Fund or the Fund or the Adviser considered purchasing or selling such Covered Security.

(D)  Brokerage Accounts and Statements.

Access Persons, except Independent Trustees, shall:

(1) instruct the brokers, dealers or banks with whom they maintain such an account to provide duplicate account statements to the Chief Compliance Officer.

(2) on an annual basis, certify that they have complied with the requirements of (1) above.

 

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(E)  Form of Reports.

A Quarterly Securities Transaction Report may consist of broker statements or other statements that provide a list of all personal Covered Securities holdings and transactions in the time period covered by the report and contain the information required in a Quarterly Securities Transaction Report.

(F)  Responsibility to Report.

Access Persons will be informed of their obligations to report, however, it is the responsibility of each Access Person to take the initiative to comply with the requirements of this Section V. Any effort by the Fund, or by the Adviser and its affiliates, to facilitate the reporting process does not change or alter that responsibility. A person need not make a report hereunder with respect to transactions effected for, and Covered Securities held in, any account over which the person has no direct or indirect influence or control.

(G)  Where to File Reports and Forms.

(1) All Quarterly Securities Transaction Reports and Personal Securities Holdings Reports, as well as Private Fund Securities and IPO Request and Reporting Forms, must be filed with the Chief Compliance Officer.

(2) The Chief Compliance Officer may, from time to time, adopt new methods to submit all Quarterly Securities Transaction Reports and Personal Securities Holdings Reports, as well as Private Fund Securities and IPO Request and Reporting Forms. These new methods, which could include electronic submission of information equivalent to the information currently required under this Code, will be deemed to satisfy the reporting obligations under this Code.

(H)  Disclaimers.

Any report required by this Section V may contain a statement that the report will not be construed as an admission that the person making the report has any direct or indirect Beneficial Ownership in the Covered Security to which the report relates.

 

Section VI

  

Annual Certification

(A)  Access Persons.

Access Persons who are directors, trustees, managers, partners, officers or employees of the Fund or the Adviser shall be required to certify annually that they have read this Code, and that they understand the applicable code and recognize that they are subject to it. Further, such Access Persons shall be required to certify annually that they have complied with the requirements of this Code.

(B)  Board Review.

No less frequently than annually, the Fund and the Adviser must furnish to the Fund’s board of trustees, and the board must consider, a written report that: (A) describes any material issues arising under this Code or procedures since the last report to the board, including, but not limited to, information about material violations of the Code or procedures and sanctions imposed in response to violations; and (B) certifies that the Fund or the Adviser, as applicable, has adopted procedures reasonably necessary to prevent Access Persons from violating the Code.

 

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Section VII

  

Sanctions

Any violation of this Code shall be subject to the imposition of such sanctions by the 17j-1 Organization as may be deemed appropriate under the circumstances to achieve the purposes of Rule 17j-1 and this Code. The sanctions to be imposed shall be determined by the board of trustees, including a majority of the Independent Trustees, provided, however, that with respect to violations by persons who are directors, managers, partners, officers or employees of the Adviser (or of a Fund that controls the Adviser), the sanctions to be imposed shall be determined by the Adviser (or the controlling person thereof). Sanctions may include, but are not limited to, suspension or termination of employment, a letter of censure and/or restitution of an amount equal to the difference between the price paid or received by the Fund and the more advantageous price paid or received by the offending person.

Adopted: [ ], 2024

 

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POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that the undersigned, Ron D. Sturzenegger, hereby constitutes and appoints Robert W. Long, Kimberly Zeitvogel and Dean Caruvana, and each of them, as his true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent with full power of substitution and resubstitution for such attorney-in-fact in such attomey-in-fact’s name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all registration statements of StepStone Private Infrastructure Fund, and any amendments or supplements thereto and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection therewith, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent or his substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

 

Dated: February 21, 2024

/s/ Ron D. Sturzenegger

Ron D. Sturzenegger


POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that the undersigned, Tracy G. Schmidt, hereby constitutes and appoints Robert W. Long, Kimberly Zeitvogel and Dean Caruvana, and each of them, as his true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent with full power of substitution and resubstitution for such attorney-in-fact in such attorney-in-fact’s name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all registration statements of StepStone Private Infrastructure Fund, and any amendments or supplements thereto and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection therewith, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attomey-in-fact and agent or his substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

 

Dated: February 21, 2024

/s/ Tracy G. Schmidt

Tracy G. Schmidt


POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that the undersigned, Thomas K. Sittema, hereby constitutes and appoints Robert W. Long, Kimberly Zeitvogel and Dean Caruvana, and each of them, as his true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent with full power of substitution and resubstitution for such attorney-in-fact in such attorney-in-fact’s name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all registration statements of StepStone Private Credit Income Fund, and any amendments or supplements thereto and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection therewith, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attomey-in-fact and agent full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attomey-in-fact and agent or his substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

 

Dated: February 21, 2024

/s/ Thomas K. Sittema

Thomas K. Sittema


POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that the undersigned, Robert W. Long, hereby constitutes and appoints Kimberly Zeitvogel and Dean Caruvana, and each of them, as his true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent with full power of substitution and resubstitution for such attorney-in-fact in such attorney-in-fact’s name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all registration statements of StepStone Private Infrastructure Fund, and any amendments or supplements thereto and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection therewith, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent or his substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

 

Dated: February 21, 2024

/s/ Robert W. Long

Robert W. Long