More profit-taking in BDC sector

• The sector has been a big beneficiary of the rates lower-for-longer thesis, the bounce in oil and the related major move higher in high-yield.
• All three of those themes have been called into question since Labor Day. SA author BDC Buzz reminds not all BDCs are created equal, and says the higher risk ones will likely be underperformers in a correction ... Think Prospect Capital (PSEC -4%), TICC Capital (TICC -1%) and KCAP Financial (KCAP -2.7%). Fifth Street Finance (FSC -2%), Medley Capital (MCC -2.6%) and Full Circle Capital (FULL -0.4%) also fit the bill, and PennantPark (PNNT -1.5%), Gladstone (GLAD -3.4%), and Apollo Investment (AINV -1.2%) have the highest amount of oil exposure.
• Those BDCs with "true" first-lien assets and stable NAV will be the outperformers: New Mountain Finance (NMFC -1.8%), Solar Senior (SUNS -0.1%), Goldman Sachs BDC (GSBD -0.7%), Golub Capital (GBDC -0.5%), FS Investment (FSIC-OLD -1.7%), Monroe Capital (MRCC -0.1%), TPG (TSLX -0.6%), Main Street (MAIN -0.1%), PennatPark Floating Rate (PFLT -0.1%), Hercules (HTGC -1.4%), Horizon (HRZN -1.8%), and TCP Capital (TCPC -0.7%) are worth a look.
• ETFs: BDCL, BDCS, BIZD, FGB, LBDC