Golub Capital BDC, Inc. GBDC

Competitive advantage analysis · financial-services

Asset Management Specialized
Overall moat score
48/100
Developing

About Golub Capital BDC, Inc.

Golub Capital BDC, Inc. (GBDC) is a business development company and operates as an externally managed closed-end non-diversified management investment company. It invests in debt and minority equity investments in middle-market companies that are, in most cases, sponsored by private equity investors. It typically invests in diversified consumer services, automobiles, healthcare technology, insurance, health care equipment and supplies, hotels, restaurants … Full GBDC analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Durable Capital Returns Return durability is high (score 0.89).
  • Stable Earnings Earnings stability is solid (score 0.89).

Key risks

  • AUM Retention Risk Revenue stickiness is low (stability score 0.37).
  • Elevated Leverage Leverage is elevated vs peers (score 0.25).

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Fee Revenue Quality

Moderate
58

Where GBDC ranks in Asset Management

Golub Capital BDC, Inc. ranks #93 of 173 scored companies in Asset Management by moat score — the top 54%. The widest moat in the group is Sound Point Meridian Capital Inc (SPMC) at 77/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near GBDC in Asset Management
# Company Moat score Rating
89 Westwood Holdings Group Inc WHG 49/100 Developing
90 Vinci Partners Investments Ltd. VINP 49/100 Developing
91 Cohen & Steers Inc CNS 48/100 Developing
92 P10, Inc. PX 48/100 Developing
93 Golub Capital BDC, Inc. GBDC 48/100 Developing
94 PennantPark Investment Corporat PNNT 48/100 Developing
95 Monroe Capital Corporation MRCC 48/100 Developing
96 SLR Investment Corp. SLRC 48/100 Developing
97 Thornburg Income Builder Opportunities Trust TBLD 48/100 Developing

See every Asset Management & Capital Markets company ranked by moat score →

How GBDC scores on the Asset Management Specialized defenses

Fee Revenue Quality

Score 58 · 20% of the moat score

Fee revenue quality is the ability to charge above the industry's falling average and keep charging it.

Client Retention & Revenue Stickiness

Score 30 · 18% of the moat score

Assets under management leave far more easily than they arrive, and the fee leaves with them.

Compensation Discipline

Score 50 · 18% of the moat score

Compensation is the largest expense in asset management and the one that decides whether a good year ever reaches shareholders.

Capital Efficiency

Score 65 · 20% of the moat score

Asset managers are asset-light: with little capital employed, a healthy business should earn a very high return on equity, and a merely average one is a real warning.

Earnings Quality & Cash Conversion

Score 50 · 14% of the moat score

Reported profits here can be flattered by performance fees, seed-capital gains and consolidated fund accounting, none of which recur reliably.

Balance Sheet Strength

Score 20 · 10% of the moat score

Because the business needs so little capital, an asset manager carrying meaningful debt has usually borrowed to buy another manager or to fund distributions.

How each Asset Management Specialized defense is measured, in full →

Understanding GBDC's moat

What is Golub Capital BDC, Inc.'s moat score?

Golub Capital BDC, Inc. (GBDC) scores 48 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #93 of 173 scored companies in Asset Management, the top 54%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 174 companies in Asset Management. Its strongest defense is Capital Efficiency (65/100) and its weakest is Balance Sheet Strength (20/100).

How does Golub Capital BDC, Inc. compare with other Asset Management companies?

Golub Capital BDC, Inc. ranks #93 of 173 scored companies in Asset Management by moat score. The widest moat in Asset Management is Sound Point Meridian Capital Inc (SPMC) at 77/100. The companies ranked closest are P10, Inc. (PX) at 48 just above it and PennantPark Investment Corporat (PNNT) at 48 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Asset Management Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 174 companies in Asset Management. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Golub Capital BDC, Inc. scored with the Asset Management Specialized template?

An asset manager owns almost nothing. It charges a fee on someone else's money, pays much of that fee out in compensation, and keeps the remainder — so its economics turn on the fee rate it can defend, whether client money stays, and how much revenue survives the bonus pool. The Asset Management template scores those questions rather than the balance sheet, which in this industry is largely beside the point.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Golub Capital BDC, Inc.?

The Asset Management Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and GBDC scores: Fee Revenue Quality (58), Client Retention & Revenue Stickiness (30), Compensation Discipline (50), Capital Efficiency (65), Earnings Quality & Cash Conversion (50), Balance Sheet Strength (20). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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