Social, political, economic and other conditions and events (such as natural disasters, epidemics and pandemics, terrorism, conflicts and social unrest) will occur that create uncertainty and have significant impacts on issuers, industries, governments and other systems, including the financial markets, to which companies and their investments are exposed. As global systems, economies and financial markets are increasingly interconnected, events that once had only local impact are now more likely to have regional or even global effects. Events that occur in one country, region or financial market will, more frequently, adversely impact issuers in other countries, regions or markets, including in established markets such as the U.S. Such risks include the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia that began in February 2022, heightened tensions between China and Taiwan, the recent outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East, or the effect on world leaders and governments of global health pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. These impacts can be exacerbated by failures of governments and societies to adequately respond to an emerging event or threat. We do not currently have portfolio investments with direct exposure to the Middle East, China, Taiwan, Russia or Ukraine, but because of the increasing interconnectedness of global economies and financial markets, events in these regions could negatively affect the value of our investments. 54 54 Uncertainty can result in or coincide with, among other things: increased volatility in the financial markets for securities, derivatives, loans, credit and currency; a decrease in the reliability of market prices and difficulty in valuing assets (including portfolio company assets); greater fluctuations in spreads on debt investments and currency exchange rates; increased risk of default (by both government and private obligors and issuers); further social, economic, and political instability; nationalization of private enterprise; greater governmental involvement in the economy or in social factors that impact the economy; changes to governmental regulation and supervision of the loan, securities, derivatives and currency markets and market participants and decreased or revised monitoring of such markets by governments or self-regulatory organizations and reduced enforcement of regulations; limitations on the activities of investors in such markets; controls or restrictions on foreign investment, capital controls and limitations on repatriation of invested capital; the significant loss of liquidity and the inability to purchase, sell and otherwise fund investments or settle transactions (including, but not limited to, a market freeze); unavailability of currency hedging techniques; substantial, and in some periods extremely high, rates of inflation, which can last many years and have substantial negative effects on credit and securities markets as well as the economy as a whole; recessions; and difficulties in obtaining and/or enforcing legal judgments. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic led to disruptions in local, regional, national and global markets and economies. With respect to the U.S. credit markets (in particular for middle market loans), this outbreak resulted in the following among other things: (i) significant disruption to the businesses of many middle market loan borrowers including supply chains, demand and practical aspects of their operations, as well as lay-offs of employees; (ii) increased draws by borrowers on revolving lines of credit; (iii) increased requests by borrowers for amendments and waivers of their credit agreements to avoid default, increased defaults by such borrowers and/or increased difficulty in obtaining refinancing at the maturity dates of their loans; (iv) volatility and disruption of these markets including greater volatility in pricing and spreads and difficulty in valuing loans during periods of increased volatility, and liquidity issues; and (v) rapidly evolving proposals and/or actions by state and federal governments to address problems experienced by the markets and by businesses and the economy in general which were not necessarily adequate to address the problems faced by the loan market and middle market businesses. Although many of these conditions have resolved, similar consequences could occur in the future as a result of new variants of the virus or other infectious diseases. Any future outbreaks of infectious diseases could have an adverse impact on the markets and the economy in general, which could have a material adverse impact on, among other things, the ability of lenders to originate loans, the volume and type of loans originated, and the volume and type of amendments and waivers granted to borrowers and remedial actions taken in the event of a borrower default, each of which could negatively impact the amount and quality of loans available for investment by us and returns to us, among other things. It is impossible to determine the scope of any future outbreaks, how long any such outbreak, market disruption or uncertainties may last, the effect any governmental actions will have or the full potential impact on us and our portfolio companies in which we invest. Although it is impossible to predict the precise nature and consequences of these events, or of any political or policy decisions and regulatory changes occasioned by emerging events or uncertainty on applicable laws or regulations that impact us and our targeted investments, it is clear that these types of events are impacting and will, for at least some time, continue to impact us and our targeted investments and, in certain instances, the impact will be adverse and profound. If public health uncertainties and market disruptions continue for an extended period of time, loan delinquencies, loan non-accruals, problem assets, and bankruptcies may increase. In addition, collateral for our loans may decline in value, which could cause loan losses to increase and the net worth and liquidity of loan guarantors could decline, impairing their ability to honor commitments to us. An increase in loan delinquencies and non-accruals or a decrease in loan collateral and guarantor net worth could result in increased costs and reduced income which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. We will also be negatively affected if the operations and effectiveness of us or a portfolio company (or any of the key personnel or service providers of the foregoing) is compromised or if necessary or beneficial systems and processes are disrupted.