FAQ

Congress created Business Development Companies (“BDCs”) in 1980 to provide public investors another means to invest in the long-term growth of smaller U.S. businesses. BDCs invest their capital primarily in small and middle market private companies in the U.S. Typically, BDCs are structured to originate and hold debt and equity investments and can invest across a portfolio company’s capital structure.

A BDC that is a “regulated investment company”, or a “RIC”, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such as MSC Income Fund, is required to distribute at least 90% of its taxable income to shareholders in order to maintain its RIC election and avoid corporate income tax.

Our principal investment objective is to maximize our investment portfolio’s total return, primarily by generating current income from our debt investments and, to a lesser extent, by generating current income and capital appreciation from our equity and equity-related investments, including warrants, convertible securities and other rights to acquire equity securities in a portfolio company. We seek to achieve our investment objective primarily through providing debt capital to private (“Private Loan”) companies owned by or in the process of being acquired by a private equity fund (“our private loan Private Loan investment strategy”) and maintaining our portfolio of customized long-term debt and equity investments in lower middle market (“LMM”) companies ( our “LMM investment portfolio”). Our Private Loan investment strategy involves investments in companies that generally have annual revenues between $25 million and $500 million. Our LMM investment portfolio consists of investments in companies that generally have annual revenues between $10 million. Our Private Loan and LMM investments generally range in size from $1 million to $30 million. Our Private Loan investments primarily consist of debt securities that have primarily been originated directly by MSC Adviser I, LLC, MSC Income Fund’s investment adviser and administrator, to a lesser extent, through the Adviser’s strategic relationships with other investment funds on a collaborative basis through investments that are often referred to in the debt markets as “club deals” because of the small lender group size. Our portfolio also includes legacy portfolios of investments in debt securities of larger middle market companies generally issued through a syndication financing process and other portfolio investments primarily consisting of investments managed by third parties, which differ from the typical profiles for our other types of investments.

We generally are required to meet a coverage ratio, or BDC asset coverage ratio, of total assets to total senior securities, which include borrowings (other than small business investment company, or SBIC, debentures) and any preferred stock we have outstanding or may issue in the future, of at least 200% (or 150% if certain requirements are met). On January 29, 2025, our Board of Directors, including a “required majority” (as such term is defined in Section 57(o) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”)) of the Board of Directors, approved the application of the modified asset coverage requirements set forth in Section 61(a)(2) of the 1940 Act, which will result in MSC Income Fund’s asset coverage requirements applicable to senior securities being reduced from 200% to 150%, effective on January 29, 2026.

Our common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “MSIF”. For more detailed stock information, please visit our Investors page at https://www.mscincomefund.com/investors.

Yes, we may periodically issue new shares of equity to fund our growth. In order to maintain the benefits of our “regulated investment company”, or a “RIC”, tax structure for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which provides us the opportunity to avoid corporate income tax if we distribute at least 90% of our taxable income to our shareholders, we generally do not retain our taxable income. As a result, in the future additional equity issuances may be required to fund our growth.

To facilitate these equity issuances as necessary to fund our growth, we may maintain a program with certain selling agents through which we can sell shares of our common stock through at-the-market (“ATM”) offerings, and we may seek to utilize our ATM program for these needs.

The CUSIP number for our common stock is 55374X 208.

The quarterly net asset value per share may be obtained in our public filings (our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Annual Reports on Form 10-K) with the Securities and Exchange Commission via its website www.sec.gov or by accessing our SEC Filings page at https://www.mscincomefund.com/investors/sec-filings.

You can sign up for e-mail updates through our website at https://www.mscincomefund.com/news/email-alerts to receive the most recent press releases via email when they occur.

Yes, we pay regular dividends to our shareholders of record on a quarterly basis and expect to periodically pay supplemental dividends. To view our historical dividends, please visit our Investors/Dividends page at https://www.mscincomefund.com/investors/dividends.

To determine who will receive a dividend, you need to look at two important dates – the “record date” and the “ex-dividend date”.  When we declare a dividend, we set a record date when you must be on our corporate books and records as a shareholder to receive the dividend.  Once a record date is established, the ex-dividend date is set based on stock exchange rules. Stock trades generally settle in one business day at which time the buyer becomes a shareholder of record.  Therefore, the ex-dividend date for stocks and the record date are usually set as the same date. The ex-dividend date represents the date on or after which shares trade without the rights to the specific dividend. If a buyer purchases shares on the ex-dividend date or after, the buyer will not receive the dividend payment. Instead, the seller retains the dividend payment. If a buyer purchases shares before the ex-dividend date, the buyer will receive the dividend (provided the buyer does not subsequently sell the shares prior to the ex-dividend date).  There is no requirement to hold shares of record past the record date for a dividend to receive the dividend, including on the payment date which can be weeks or months after the record date. To view record dates, ex-dividend dates and payment dates for our dividends, please visit www.mscincomefund.com/investors/dividends.

Yes, the DRIP provides registered shareholders who hold their shares with SS&C Global Investor and Distribution Solutions (“SS&C”), our transfer agent and registrar, and shareholders holding shares of our common stock through certain brokerage firms that have elected to participate in the DRIP, the ability to purchase additional shares of our common stock automatically by reinvesting all or a portion of their cash dividends paid on shares of our common stock. The DRIP is an “opt-out” program. Therefore, if we declare a cash dividend, registered shareholders who have not elected to receive dividends in cash will have their cash dividend automatically reinvested into additional shares of our common stock. Non-participating brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries may provide a similar dividend reinvestment program. If you hold your shares through a bank, broker or other intermediary, please contact your bank, broker or other intermediary to inquire about their dividend reinvestment options. For more information on the DRIP, please visit our Investors/Listed Securities Information/Dividend Reinvestment page at https://www.mscincomefund.com/investors/listed-securities-information/dividend-reinvestment-purchase-plan or contact SS&C at 800-234-0556.

Following the end of each year we provide a Form 1099-DIV and a tax status letter to our shareholders that describe the tax characteristics of the dividends paid in the preceding year, including a breakdown between ordinary income, capital gains and qualified dividends. DRIP participants are taxed on the dividends as if they had received cash. For information on the tax status of our historical dividends, please visit our Investors/Tax Information page at https://www.mscincomefund.com/investors/tax-information. For information about taxes in respect of dividends received by you, you should consult your own tax advisor.

Unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) is income that a tax-exempt entity, such as a charitable organization, religious organization, qualified retirement trust, university, or other similar organization, earns from business activities that are not substantially related to the performance of the organization’s exempt purpose and thus does not qualify for exemption from UBTI. In addition, an individual retirement account (“IRA”) can also earn active business income from the investments held by the IRA and UBTI earned in excess of certain statutory limits can cause certain additional tax reporting requirements and tax obligations for the IRA. Since we are a regulated investment company, or a “RIC”, which is a corporation for federal income tax purposes, we are able to act as a “blocker” and “shield” against UBTI and we can therefore pass the income and gains we earn through to our shareholders as dividends that are not subject to unrelated business income tax.

Please see the last page of our quarterly Investor Presentation located at our Investors/ Presentations page at www.mscincomefund.com/investors/presentations to view a detailed list of the analysts who follow us.

You are a registered shareholder if you hold shares of our common stock registered in your name and you either hold a certificate representing such shares or such shares are held in book-entry form with SS&C, our transfer agent and registrar. If your shares are not registered in your name, but instead are held in the name of your bank, broker or other intermediary, your securities are considered to be held in “street name”.

Registered shareholders should contact SS&C, our transfer agent and registrar, at 800-234-0556 with any questions.

Shareholders who hold their shares in “street name” through a bank, broker or other intermediary should contact their bank, broker or other intermediary with any questions.