Certain Relationships and Transactions
NMFC has entered into an investment advisory and management agreement (the “Investment Management Agreement”) with the Investment Adviser. Under the Investment Management Agreement, the Investment Adviser manages the day-to-day operations of, and provides investment advisory services to, the Company. For providing these services, the Investment Adviser receives a fee from the Company, consisting of two components—a base management fee and an incentive fee. On November 1, 2021, the Company entered into Amendment No. 1 to the Investment Management Agreement (“Amendment No. 1”). As described below, the sole purpose of Amendment No. 1 was to reduce the base management fee from 1.75% of the Company’s gross assets to 1.4% of the Company’s gross assets.
Pursuant to Amendment No. 1, the base management fee is calculated at an annual rate of 1.4% of the Company's gross assets, which equals the Company's total assets on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities, less cash and cash equivalents. Prior to Amendment No. 1, pursuant to the Investment Management Agreement, the base management fee was calculated at an annual rate of 1.75% of the Company's gross assets, which equaled the Company's total assets on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities, less (i) the borrowings under the New Mountain Finance SPV Funding, L.L.C. Loan and Security Agreement, as amended and restated, dated October 27, 2010 (the “SLF Credit Facility”) and (ii) cash and cash equivalents. The base management fee is payable quarterly in arrears, and is calculated based on the average value of the Company's gross assets, which equals the Company's total assets, as determined in accordance with GAAP, less cash and cash equivalents at the end of each of the two most recently completed calendar quarters, and appropriately adjusted on a pro rata basis for any equity capital raises or repurchases during the current calendar quarter. The Company has not invested, and currently is not invested, in derivatives. To the extent the Company invests in derivatives in the future, the Company will use the actual value of the derivatives, as reported on the Consolidated Statements of Assets and Liabilities, for purposes of calculating its base management fee.
Since the initial public offering (“IPO”) and through November 1, 2021, the date of Amendment No. 1, the base management fee calculation has deducted the borrowings under the SLF Credit Facility. The SLF Credit Facility had historically consisted of primarily lower yielding assets at higher advance rates. As part of an amendment to the Company’s existing credit facilities with Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, the SLF Credit Facility merged with the NMF Holdings Loan and Security Agreement, as amended and restated, dated May 19, 2011, and formed the Holdings Credit Facility on December 18, 2014, as amended and restated on October 25, 2017. The amendment merged the credit facilities and combined the amount of borrowings previously available. Post credit facility merger and to be consistent with the methodology since the IPO, the Investment Adviser continued to waive management fees on the leverage associated with those assets held under revolving credit facilities that share the same underlying yield characteristics with investments leveraged under the legacy SLF Credit Facility. Effective as of and for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 through the quarter ending December 31, 2022, the Investment Adviser entered into a fee waiver agreement (the “Fee Waiver Agreement”) pursuant to which the Investment Adviser will waive base management fees in order to reach a target base management fee of 1.25% on gross assets (the “Reduced Base Management Fee”) as opposed to the Company’s then-current (i.e., prior to Amendment No. 1) base management fee of 1.75% on gross assets less the borrowings under the SLF Credit Facility and less cash and cash equivalents. On November 2, 2021, the Investment Adviser extended the term of the Fee Waiver Agreement to be effective through the quarter ended December 31, 2023, rather than the quarter ended December 31, 2022. If, for any quarterly period during the term of the Fee Waiver Agreement, the Reduced Base Management Fee would be greater than the base management fee calculated under the terms of the Investment Management Agreement, as amended by Amendment No. 1 (i.e., 1.4% of the Company’s gross assets), the Investment Adviser shall only be entitled to the lesser of those two amounts. The Investment Adviser cannot recoup management fees that the Investment Adviser has previously waived.
The incentive fee consists of two parts. The first part is calculated and payable quarterly in arrears and equals 20.0% of the Company’s “Pre-Incentive Fee Adjusted Net Investment Income” for the immediately preceding quarter, subject to a “preferred return”, or “hurdle”, and a “catch-up” feature. Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income means interest income, dividend income and any other income (including any other fees (other than fees for providing managerial assistance), such as commitment, origination, structuring, upfront, diligence and consulting fees or other fees that the Company receives from portfolio companies) accrued during the calendar quarter, minus the Company’s operating expenses for the quarter (including the base management fee, expenses payable under an administration agreement, as amended and restated (the “Administration