Here are 1-3 brief analogies for Great Elm Capital (GECC):

• A publicly traded bank for mid-sized businesses, specializing in loans.

• Like a venture capital firm, but for established mid-sized businesses needing loans, not startup equity.

• Essentially, a publicly traded private lender that finances middle-market companies.

• Loan Investments: Providing debt financing to middle market companies across various industries.
• Mezzanine Investments: Offering hybrid debt and equity financing solutions, typically subordinated debt with equity upside.
• Equity Investments: Making direct investments in the ownership shares of middle market companies.

Great Elm Capital Corp. (GECC) is a business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing to other companies. As such, its "major customers" are the companies in which it makes these investments (its portfolio companies).

Based on the provided information, the specific names of GECC's major customer companies (its portfolio companies) are not listed. However, Great Elm Capital targets its investments in:

• Middle market companies.
• Companies with revenues typically between $3 million and $75 million.
• Companies operating in sectors such as media, commercial services and supplies, healthcare, telecommunication services, and communications equipment.

Matt Kaplan
President & Chief Executive Officer

Matt Kaplan has served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Great Elm Capital Corp. since March 2022. He is also a Portfolio Manager for Great Elm Capital Management (GECM) and a Managing Director of Imperial Capital Asset Management (ICAM), focusing on investment opportunities across the capital structure. Prior to joining ICAM in 2020, he spent four years (2015-2019) at Citadel LLC, where he focused on special situations and event-driven credit and equities. Kaplan also served as a Senior Vice President of Imperial Capital UK from 2014 to 2015, where he advised on complex transactions, including the liquidation of a failed bank.

Keri A. Davis
Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer

Keri A. Davis has been the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Great Elm Capital Corp. since March 2019, and Chief Financial Officer of Great Elm Group, Inc. since May 2023. She brings over two decades of finance and accounting experience in the asset management industry. Before her current roles, she was an SEC Reporting Manager for Great Elm Group and GECC. Ms. Davis previously spent over a decade at PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) from 2005 to 2017 as a Senior Manager in the Audit practice, specializing in hedge funds, private equity, and other investment entities within the Financial Services industry group.

Jason W. Reese
Executive Chairman of the Board

Jason W. Reese was appointed Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Great Elm Capital Corp. on March 2, 2026. He also serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Great Elm Group, Inc. Mr. Reese is a Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Imperial Capital Asset Management, LLC (ICAM) and a Co-Founder of Imperial Capital, LLC, both founded in 1997. ICAM has managed various hedge funds, investment partnerships, a private REIT, and a private equity fund. He formed Monomoy Properties REIT, LLC in 2014 and is a founding member of City Ventures, LLC, a private homebuilder, since 2009. Prior to Imperial Capital, Mr. Reese was a Principal with Gordon Investment Corporation, a merchant banking firm, where he focused on distressed real estate, high-yield securities, and leveraged buyouts.

Adam M. Kleinman
Chief Compliance Officer & Secretary

Adam M. Kleinman has served as Great Elm Capital Corp.'s Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary since September 2017. He is also President, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer of Great Elm Group, Inc. and Great Elm Capital Management, LLC (GECM). Previously, Mr. Kleinman was a Partner, Chief Operating Officer, and General Counsel of MAST Capital from March 2009 to September 2017, which was an institutional credit/distressed investing platform. He began his career as an associate in the Banking and Leverage Finance group at Bingham McCutchen LLP.

Michael P. Keller
President, Specialty Finance Business

Michael P. Keller has been the President of Great Elm Specialty Finance, a subsidiary of GECC, since November 2021. He possesses extensive experience in direct lending, encompassing origination, underwriting, portfolio management, and workouts. Before joining Great Elm, Mr. Keller was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Credit Value Partners, LLC, where he oversaw the firm's Direct Lending and Investment Platform. He also served on CapitalSource Finance's senior management team, managing its stressed loan portfolio and leading special situation lending initiatives, including a $300 million opportunistic credit fund. Earlier in his career, he led restructuring efforts for the $1.8 billion Healthcare Finance Division of FINOVA on behalf of Berkadia, LLC, and held senior financial/investment positions at PNC Bank and Household International.

Key Risks to Great Elm Capital (GECC)

1. Credit Market Conditions and Portfolio Performance: As a business development company (BDC) specializing in middle-market debt and equity investments, Great Elm Capital (GECC) is highly exposed to fluctuations in credit market conditions, interest rate volatility, and broader economic cycles. This directly influences the performance and valuation of its investment portfolio, impacting its ability to generate income and capital appreciation. Evidence of this risk can be seen in the impact of credit market conditions, interest rate volatility, and inflationary pressure on projected results. The company's net asset value (NAV) has experienced declines due to unrealized losses stemming from volatility in specific equity holdings and lower fair values of Collateralized Loan Obligation (CLO) investments. Furthermore, the bankruptcy of a portfolio company, First Brands Group LLC, directly led to a significant adverse impact on GECC's net asset value and annualized cash total investment income, demonstrating the tangible effect of credit events on its portfolio.

2. Competition for Investment Opportunities and Sourcing Quality Assets: GECC operates in a competitive environment for attractive investment opportunities within the middle market. Its strategy involves targeting underserved market segments to achieve superior risk-adjusted returns. However, intense competition for these investment opportunities could lead to a limited availability of high-quality assets. If GECC is unable to consistently source and deploy capital into attractive investments, it may be forced to hold a larger percentage of its assets in liquid securities, potentially hindering its ability to meet investment objectives and generate desired returns.

3. Regulatory Compliance and RIC Status: As a BDC, Great Elm Capital must qualify and maintain its status as a Regulated Investment Company (RIC) under the U.S. federal income tax code. Failure to meet the requirements for RIC qualification would result in GECC being subject to corporate-level U.S. federal income tax, which would significantly reduce its net income and, consequently, the amounts available for distribution to shareholders.

The addressable market for Great Elm Capital (GECC), a business development company specializing in middle-market investments, is primarily the U.S. middle-market private credit and direct lending market.

The U.S. private credit market was projected to be approximately $1.34 trillion in 2025. More specifically, the U.S. middle-market direct lending market was estimated at $1.0 trillion as of March 31, 2022. This market segment, encompassing private drawdown funds and Business Development Companies (BDCs), represents a significant portion of the broader private credit landscape, with direct lending assets at approximately $850.5 billion.

GECC focuses on providing debt instruments, including secured loans, high-yield bonds, structured finance products like collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), and mezzanine and equity investments to middle-market companies. These middle-market companies are generally defined as businesses with annual revenues between $3 million and $75 million, or EBITDA typically ranging from $10 million to $100 million. The U.S. middle market consists of nearly 200,000 individual businesses.

1. Continued Growth and Increased Distributions from the CLO Joint Venture: The company highlights its Collateralized Loan Obligation (CLO) joint venture as a significant contributor to income and a driver of future growth. Management anticipates that distributions from this venture will become more consistent over time, and they plan to scale their CLO exposure to approximately 20% of their total asset base.

2. Strategic Capital Deployment into Higher-Yielding Debt and Income-Generating Equity Investments: GECC aims to actively deploy its available capital into attractive investment opportunities, with a particular focus on senior secured loans. This strategy involves harvesting non-yielding assets to reinvest in cash-generating investments and rotating capital into more secure positions, including new syndicated credit investments.

3. Expansion and Enhanced Profitability of the Specialty Finance Platform: The company has successfully repositioned its specialty finance platform for future growth and improved profitability. This segment, including its invoice financing business (Prestige), is expected to see continued positive volume trends. GECC also has a stated goal to increase the percentage of its assets invested in specialty finance companies to a target of approximately 50%.

Capital Allocation Decisions for Great Elm Capital (GECC) Over the Last 3-5 Years

Share Repurchases

• In the fourth quarter of 2025, Great Elm Capital Corp.'s Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program allowing for the opportunistic repurchase of up to an aggregate of $10 million of its outstanding common shares. This authorization represented approximately 11% of the company's market capitalization as of February 27, 2026.
• GECC repurchased approximately $18.7 million of its 5.875% senior notes due June 2026 (GECCO notes) in open market transactions, with $18.5 million repurchased in the fourth quarter of 2025 and an additional $0.2 million through February 27, 2026.
• The company called $20 million aggregate principal amount of its 5.875% Notes due 2026 for redemption on March 31, 2026.

Share Issuance

• In the third quarter of 2025, Great Elm Capital Corp. generated net proceeds of approximately $27 million from equity issuances, totaling approximately 2.4 million shares of common stock.
• This amount included $13 million in net proceeds from the issuance of 1.1 million shares through its at-the-market (ATM) program during the third quarter of 2025.
• In August 2025, GECC issued approximately 1.3 million shares in a private placement to Poor Richard, LLC, an affiliate of a director of Great Elm Group, Inc., for net proceeds of $14 million.

Inbound Investments

• In August 2025, an affiliate of Booker Smith, a newly appointed director of Great Elm Group, Inc., invested in Great Elm Capital Corp. by acquiring approximately 1.3 million shares in a private placement, generating gross proceeds of $15 million for GECC. This was part of the approximately $27 million equity raised in the third quarter of 2025.

Outbound Investments

• As of December 31, 2025, Great Elm Capital Corp. held total investments at fair value of $298.3 million, which included 67 debt investments in corporate credit, an investment in Great Elm Specialty Finance, and other equity investments.
• The company's investment objective is to generate current income and capital appreciation by investing in debt and income-generating equity securities, with a focus on specialty finance companies and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs).
• In the third quarter of 2025, GECC sold $4.5 million principal amount of its First Lien Loan in First Brands Group for $4.4 million.