RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 BDCs: The Most Important Commercial Lenders You’ve Never Heard About JF The Journal of Alternative Investments FD Institutional Investor Journals SP 8 OP 20 DO 10.3905/jai.2018.20.4.008 VO 20 IS 4 A1 Andrea Beltratti A1 Jonathan Bock YR 2018 UL https://pm-research.com/content/20/4/8.abstract AB A business development company (BDC) is a closed-end mutual fund, the main purpose of which is to extend direct loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Most BDCs are traded in official secondary markets and therefore, provide investors with the possibility to invest, in a liquid way, into relatively illiquid assets. The authors first review the main characteristics of BDCs as financial intermediaries, looking at their relevance in financial markets, their typical operations, organizational structure, and governance, and also in comparison to banks. They then view BDCs from the lens of financial investors and compare their returns with those offered by other asset classes.TOPICS: Real assets/alternative investments/private equity, mutual funds/passive investing/indexing, performance measurement