• Direct Loans: Provides customized debt financing solutions directly to privately held, middle-market companies.
• Senior Secured Loans: Primarily invests in first-lien debt, which is secured by the assets of the borrowing company.

The public company Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) operates as a direct lending fund. Its primary "customers" are other companies to which it provides debt financing. These are typically:

• Private, middle-market companies: These are businesses that are generally too large for venture capital and too small to access traditional public capital markets or large institutional bank loans. They seek capital for purposes such as organic growth, acquisitions, recapitalizations, or leveraged buyouts.

Due to the nature of direct lending and the diversification of its investment portfolio, MSDL does not typically have a few "major customers" in the traditional sense, and its borrowers are generally not publicly traded entities. Therefore, specific names and symbols of individual customer companies are not applicable or publicly disclosed as "major customers." Instead, MSDL generates revenue from interest income across a broad portfolio of these private companies.

• Morgan Stanley (MS)
• State Street Corporation (STT)
• Deloitte & Touche LLP
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Michael Occi, Chief Executive Officer

Michael Occi was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund effective July 25, 2025. He previously served as President from January 1, 2025, and as Chief Administrative Officer from January 2023. Mr. Occi joined Morgan Stanley in 2006 and has been a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley Investment Management since April 2022. His prior roles include leading Financial Institutions Equity Capital Markets and various positions within Equity Capital Markets, Fixed Income Capital Markets, and the Investment Banking Division. He holds a BA in Finance and Accounting from Georgetown University. Mr. Occi is also appointed as President or CEO for several other business development companies that share the same investment adviser.

David Pessah, Chief Financial Officer

David Pessah was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund in December 2023, and also serves as CFO across the broader Morgan Stanley Private Credit BDC complex. He has been a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Investment Management since December 2023. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Pessah held various positions at Goldman Sachs from September 2010 to November 2023, most recently serving as the Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, and Chief Accounting Officer of its private credit BDC complex. He began his career as an auditor at Ernst & Young LLP in September 2007. Mr. Pessah earned a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Delaware and an MBA in Finance from Baruch College.

Ashwin Krishnan, Chief Investment Officer

Ashwin Krishnan was appointed Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund effective July 25, 2025. He is the Head of North America Private Credit and Portfolio Manager of the Opportunistic Credit strategy at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Mr. Krishnan joined Morgan Stanley in 2003 and has over 22 years of experience. He has been a part of the Morgan Stanley Private Credit platform since its inception in 2009 and a member of the investment committee of MS Capital Partners Adviser Inc. since 2019. Previously, he worked in the Communications Investment Banking group at UBS. Mr. Krishnan holds an M.S. in Engineering from Columbia University and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Bangalore University, India.

Orit Mizrachi, Co-President & Chief Operating Officer

Orit Mizrachi was appointed Co-President of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund effective July 25, 2025, and also serves as Chief Operating Officer and Secretary. She is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley.

Jeff Day, Co-President

Jeff Day was appointed Co-President of Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund effective July 25, 2025. He is a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley.

• U.S. Direct Lending Market: The U.S. direct lending market was approximately $1 trillion in size as of October 2025, a significant increase from around $400 billion in 2019. Total direct lending volume in the U.S. reached $369 billion across 3,533 deals in 2025. The North American direct lending market is estimated to be about $1.5 trillion and is projected to reach nearly $2 trillion by the end of the decade. The U.S. private credit market, more broadly, expanded from $500 billion to $1.3 trillion over the last five years and is anticipated to continue growing in 2026. The U.S. middle-market direct lending sector, which MSDL primarily targets, was estimated at $1.0 trillion as of March 31, 2022.
• European Private Credit Market: The private credit industry in Europe controlled over €1.7 trillion (approximately $1.85 trillion as of current exchange rates) in assets as of January 2026. European private credit assets were roughly $500 billion as of September 2025. Between 2013 and 2023, the AUM in European private credit grew from $93 billion to $505 billion. The European direct lending market is estimated to be between $500 billion and $1 trillion.

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) is expected to drive future revenue growth over the next 2-3 years through several key factors:

1. Ramp-up of Joint Venture: The successful launch and continued scaling of MSDL's joint venture is anticipated to be accretive to its net investment income. The joint venture is already close to 50% ramped, indicating a clear path for further contribution to revenue.
2. Rebound in Private Equity Sponsor and M&A Activity: A notable rebound in private equity sponsor activity during the second half of 2025 is creating a structural tailwind for direct lenders such as MSDL. This increasing M&A activity is expected to generate more opportunities for the company's direct lending services.
3. Robust Origination and Capital Deployment: MSDL's consistent capability to originate and commit to new, high-quality investments, including new leveraged buyout (LBO) transactions, is a significant driver. The fund committed $146 million to new investments in the fourth quarter of 2025, demonstrating its ability to expand its loan portfolio.
4. Stable Spread Environment and Slowing Yield Compression: While recent interest rate fluctuations have impacted investment income, management expects a "largely stable spread backdrop" and "slowing yield compression" to contribute positively to near-term net investment income. This stability in lending spreads is crucial for maintaining and growing revenue from its predominantly floating-rate loan portfolio.

Share Repurchases

• In January 2024, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund authorized a share repurchase program to acquire up to $100.0 million of its common stock at prices below net asset value.
• The Board authorized an amended and restated share repurchase program on February 27, 2025, with a maximum size of $100.0 million, exclusive of prior repurchases.
• For the three months ended March 31, 2025, the company repurchased 491,332 shares at an average price of $20.38 per share. During the fourth quarter of 2025, MSDL repurchased 534,908 shares at an average price of $17.03 per share.
• On February 26, 2026, a new share repurchase program was authorized for up to $100 million over a 24-month period, replacing the 2025 program.

Share Issuance

• Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund priced its initial public offering (IPO) on January 24, 2024, issuing 5,000,000 shares of common stock at $20.67 per share, which generated approximately $97 million in net proceeds.
• On March 28, 2025, the company established an at-the-market (ATM) offering, allowing it to sell shares of common stock with an aggregate offering price of up to $300.0 million.

Outbound Investments

• MSDL's core investment strategy involves making directly originated senior secured term loans to U.S. middle-market companies, with a portfolio value of approximately $3.8 billion across 210 companies as of December 31, 2025.
• In February 2026, the company launched Capstone Lending LLC, a joint venture, committing up to $200 million, with about 47% of this commitment called.
• During the first quarter of 2025, new investment commitments totaled $233.4 million, with $205.6 million in fundings.

Capital Expenditures

• As a direct lending fund, MSDL's operations are not capital expenditure intensive, with its last 12-month capital expenditure reported as $0.0.
• Reported capital expenditures for Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund are negligible or not reported across various periods.