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Here are 1-3 brief analogies for New Mountain Finance (NMFC):

• It's like a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), but instead of owning properties, it provides loans to medium-sized businesses and distributes the interest income to shareholders.
• Think of it as a specialized, publicly traded bank that focuses on providing loans to mid-sized American companies.

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• First Lien Senior Secured Loans: Provides debt financing secured by a first priority lien on the borrower's assets.
• Second Lien Senior Secured Loans: Offers debt financing secured by a second priority lien on the borrower's assets, ranking below first lien debt.
• Subordinated Debt (Mezzanine Debt): Delivers unsecured debt financing that ranks below senior secured debt but above equity, often incorporating equity-like features.
• Equity Co-Investments: Makes direct equity investments, typically alongside private equity sponsors, in the common or preferred stock of portfolio companies.

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New Mountain Finance Corporation (NMFC) is a Business Development Company (BDC). As a BDC, its business model involves providing debt and equity financing to a diverse portfolio of middle-market companies. Therefore, its "customers" are the companies it lends to or invests in.

NMFC does not have "major customers" in the traditional sense of a company relying on a few large entities for a significant portion of its revenue from sales of goods or services. Instead, it maintains a diversified portfolio of investments across various industries and companies to manage risk.

The company primarily sells capital (in the form of loans and equity investments) to other companies, which are generally private entities. These companies do not typically have public stock symbols.

As of its recent disclosures (e.g., Q1 2024), some of NMFC's largest investment exposures (which could be considered its "major customers" in terms of capital provided) include investments in companies such as:

• Citrix (NMFC's investment is in the debt of Citrix Systems, Inc., which was taken private and is now part of Cloud Software Group)
• Topco (a common designation for a holding company of a private equity-backed entity)
• Curation Foods
• Validus
• Allied Universal

Please note that these are examples of its largest portfolio companies, and they are typically private businesses. NMFC's strategy is to invest in a broad range of companies rather than concentrate its exposure on a few entities, and therefore, these companies do not have public symbols relevant to NMFC's investment in them.

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• New Mountain Finance Advisers BDC, LLC
• Deloitte & Touche LLP
• The Bank of New York Mellon (Symbol: BK)

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John Kline, President and Chief Executive Officer

John Kline joined New Mountain in 2008 as a founding member of its credit platform. Before joining New Mountain, he worked at GSC Group from 2001 to 2008 as an Investment Analyst and Trader for GSC's control distressed and corporate credit funds. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Kline was with Goldman Sachs in the Credit Risk Management and Advisory Group. He currently serves on the board of Unitek Global Services, a portfolio company of New Mountain Finance Corporation.

Kris Corbett, Chief Financial Officer

Kris Corbett joined New Mountain in 2023. Prior to New Mountain, he served as a Senior Vice President, Controller, and Treasurer of both the Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED) and the Blackstone Secured Lending Fund at Blackstone Credit. Before joining Blackstone in 2016, Mr. Corbett was a Managing Director at Perella Weinberg Partners, where he held various roles in finance, accounting, and financial reporting within alternative asset management. He began his career in public accounting at Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Steven B. Klinsky, NMC Founder and CEO & Chairman of NMFC

Steven B. Klinsky established New Mountain Capital in 1999. Prior to founding New Mountain Capital, he co-founded the Leveraged Buyout Group of Goldman Sachs & Co. (1981-1984), where he helped execute over $3 billion of transactions. He then joined Forstmann Little and Co. as an Associate Partner (1984-1986) and a General Partner (1986-1999), helping to oversee seven private equity and debt partnerships totaling over $10 billion in capital. Mr. Klinsky was the most senior partner of Forstmann Little outside of the Forstmann family for a majority of the 1990s. His tenure coincided with Forstmann Little's greatest investment success, realizing over $6 billion in gains on investments made between 1990 and 1999 without a single principal loss.

Robert Hamwee, Vice Chairman and Director

Robert Hamwee joined New Mountain in 2008 and served as CEO of NMFC from its inception until the end of 2022. He has also been a Managing Director of New Mountain Capital since 2008. Before joining New Mountain, he was President of GSC Group ("GSC"), where he was responsible for managing GSC's control distressed debt funds. He was with Greenwich Street Capital Partners, the predecessor to GSC, from 1994 to 1999. Prior to that, Mr. Hamwee was with The Blackstone Group from 1992 to 1994, where he worked on assignments in the Restructuring and Merchant Banking Departments. He has chaired numerous creditor committees and bank steering groups and served as a lead director for several corporate boards, including Purina Mills, Envirosource, and Viasystems.

Laura Holson, Chief Operating Officer

Laura Holson joined New Mountain in 2009. Before her time at New Mountain, Ms. Holson worked at Morgan Stanley from 2007 to 2009 in the Healthcare investment banking group. She also served as interim CFO for a year before Kris Corbett's appointment in 2023.

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Key Risks to New Mountain Finance (NMFC)

New Mountain Finance (NMFC), a business development company (BDC), faces several key risks primarily stemming from its investment strategy and the broader economic environment. These risks are inherent to its operations of providing direct lending solutions to middle-market companies.

1. Macroeconomic Downturns, Interest Rate Fluctuations, and Associated Credit Risk: NMFC's financial performance is highly susceptible to adverse economic conditions, including recessions and significant fluctuations in interest rates. Such conditions can negatively impact the financial health of its portfolio companies, potentially leading to increased defaults, credit deterioration, and impairments on its investments. An unfavorable economic climate could directly affect NMFC's earnings and overall financial stability.
2. Portfolio Quality, Investment Concentration, and Speculative Nature of Investments: The company's investment strategy, which includes a notable allocation towards non-first lien debt structures and a degree of concentration in its top holdings, exposes it to elevated risk. The investments made by NMFC are described as potentially "highly speculative and aggressive," carrying a higher risk of volatility or loss of principal compared to alternative investment options.
3. Regulatory Compliance and Potential Conflicts of Interest with the Investment Adviser: As a BDC and a Regulated Investment Company (RIC), NMFC is subject to stringent regulatory requirements. Any changes in these regulatory policies or tax guidelines could adversely affect its business operations. Furthermore, the incentive fee structure for its Investment Adviser may create an incentive to pursue riskier or more speculative investments, which could potentially lead to higher investment losses for NMFC.

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Intense and growing competition within the private credit market from a broad array of institutional capital providers, leading to significant yield compression, tighter credit spreads, and potentially looser underwriting standards across middle-market lending. This trend directly impacts the profitability and risk-adjusted returns for BDCs like New Mountain Finance by making it more challenging to source attractive new investments and maintain historical margins.

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New Mountain Finance (NMFC) is expected to drive future revenue growth over the next two to three years through several key strategies:

1. Continued Focus on Defensive Growth Sectors: NMFC consistently emphasizes its investment strategy in "defensive growth" sectors such as healthcare, information technology software, insurance services, and infrastructure services. This focus aims to provide stable income and mitigate the impact of market fluctuations, thereby ensuring consistent, high-quality origination volume in resilient industries.
2. Increasing Senior-Oriented Assets and Portfolio Diversification: The company has made a strategic priority of increasing its percentage of senior-oriented assets and enhancing portfolio diversification. This shift towards a higher proportion of senior debt generally entails lower risk and more predictable interest income streams. As of Q2 2025, NMFC had increased its senior-oriented asset mix to 78%.
3. Leveraging the Strength of the Direct Lending Market: Management commentary highlights direct lending as a "financing market of choice for sponsors" due to its flexibility and customized capital structures. This favorable market environment positions NMFC, as a prominent direct lender, to capitalize on increased origination opportunities from sponsor-backed companies.
4. Optimization of Liability Structure: NMFC has been actively working to re-price its credit facilities and implement "substantial positive changes to our liability structure." These efforts to improve financial efficiency by optimizing the cost of liabilities are expected to enhance the net interest margin, directly contributing to higher net investment income and overall revenue. The company anticipates a significant shift in its liability mix towards approximately 85% floating and 15% fixed rates due to upcoming refinancing activities.
5. Anticipated Pickup in Sponsor-Backed M&A Activity: Although sponsor-backed merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has been described as "episodic," it is projected to accelerate in early 2025. A resurgence in M&A typically generates increased demand for financing solutions, which could translate into higher origination volumes for business development companies like New Mountain Finance.

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Share Repurchases

• New Mountain Finance authorized a new stock repurchase program on October 23, 2025, allowing for the buyback of up to $100 million of its common stock, with the program expiring on December 31, 2026, or once the full amount is repurchased.
• This new program replaced a prior stock repurchase program, which terminated on October 8, 2025, after fully utilizing its $50 million authorization for common stock repurchases.
• In the third quarter of 2025, NMFC repurchased $27.6 million of shares, contributing to the full utilization of the original $50 million stock repurchase plan.

Share Issuance

• New Mountain Finance has not reported any significant equity share issuances within the last 3-5 years. The company primarily raises capital through debt offerings.

Outbound Investments

• NMFC's investment strategy focuses on originating and sourcing debt securities, including first and second lien debt, notes, bonds, and mezzanine securities, with occasional equity interests, in U.S. middle-market "defensive growth" companies.
• As of September 30, 2025, the company's investment portfolio had a fair value of $2,957.1 million, comprising investments in 127 portfolio companies.
• The company has strategically increased its senior-oriented asset mix to 80% as of September 30, 2025, up from 75% a year prior, and is exploring a secondary portfolio sale of up to $500 million to reduce PIK income, diversify the portfolio, and enhance financial flexibility.