• The Board will discuss the valuation of the Fund’s investments and will determine the fair value of each such investment in the portfolio in good faith based on various statistical and other factors, including the input and recommendation of FS Credit Income Advisor, the audit committee of the Board and any approved independent third-party valuation service, if applicable.
Determination of fair value involves subjective judgments and estimates. Accordingly, these notes to the Fund’s unaudited financial statements refer to the uncertainty with respect to the possible effect of such valuations and any change in such valuations on the Fund’s unaudited financial statements. In making its determination of fair value, FS Credit Income Advisor, under supervision of the Board, may use any approved independent third-party pricing or valuation services; provided that FS Credit Income Advisor, under supervision of the Board, shall not be required to determine fair value in accordance with the valuation provided by any single source, and FS Credit Income Advisor, under supervision of the Board, shall retain the discretion to use any relevant data, including information obtained by FS Credit Income Advisor, any investment sub-adviser or from any approved independent third-party valuation or pricing service, that FS Credit Income Advisor, under supervision of the Board, deems to be reliable in determining fair value under the circumstances.
Below is a description of factors that FS Credit Income Advisor, any approved independent third-party valuation service and the Board may consider when determining the fair value of the Fund’s investments.
Valuation of fixed income investments, such as loans and debt securities, depends upon a number of factors, including prevailing yields for like securities, expected volatility in future interest rates, call features, put features and other relevant terms of the debt. For investments without readily available market prices, these factors may be incorporated into valuation models to arrive at fair value. Other factors that may be considered include the borrower’s ability to adequately service its debt, the fair market value of the borrower in relation to the face amount of its outstanding debt and the quality of the collateral securing its debt investments.
For convertible debt securities, fair value will generally approximate the fair value of the debt plus the fair value of an option to purchase the underlying security (i.e. the security into which the debt may convert) at the conversion price. To value such an option, a standard option pricing model may be used.
The Fund’s equity interests in companies for which no active secondary market exists and, therefore, no bid and ask prices can be readily obtained, will be valued at fair value. FS Credit Income Advisor, under supervision of the Board, in its determination of fair value, may consider various factors, including, but not limited to, multiples of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), cash flows, net income, revenues or, in limited instances, book value or liquidation value. All of these factors may be subject to adjustments based upon the particular circumstances of a company or the Fund’s actual investment position. For example, adjustments to EBITDA may take into account compensation to previous owners or non-recurring costs related to an acquisition, recapitalization, restructuring or other related items.
FS Credit Income Advisor, any approved independent third-party valuation service and the Board may also consider private merger and acquisition statistics, public trading multiples discounted for illiquidity and other factors, valuations implied by third-party investments in the companies, the acquisition price of such investment or industry practices in determining fair value. FS Credit Income Advisor, any approved independent third-party valuation service and the Board may also consider the size and scope of a company and its specific strengths and weaknesses, and may apply discounts or premiums, where and as appropriate, due to the higher (or lower) financial risk and/or the size of the company relative to comparable firms, as well as such other factors as FS Credit Income Advisor, under supervision of the Board, and any approved independent third-party valuation service, if applicable, may consider relevant in assessing fair value.
When the Fund receives warrants or other equity securities at nominal or no additional cost in connection with an investment in a debt security, the cost basis in the investment will be allocated between the debt securities and any such warrants or other equity securities received at the time of origination. Such warrants or other equity securities will subsequently be valued at fair value. Publicly traded securities that carry certain restrictions on sale will typically be valued at a discount from the public market values of the securities, where applicable.
If events materially affecting the price of foreign portfolio securities occur between the time when their price was last determined on such foreign securities exchange or market and the time when the Fund’s NAV was last calculated (for example, movements in certain U.S. securities indices which demonstrate strong correlation to movements in certain foreign securities markets), such securities may be valued at their fair value as determined in good faith in accordance with procedures established by the Board For purposes of calculating NAV, all assets and liabilities initially expressed in foreign currencies will be converted into U.S. dollars at prevailing exchange rates as may be determined in good faith by FS Credit Income Advisor, under supervision of the Board, in consultation with any approved independent third-party valuation service, if applicable.
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts typically will be valued at their quoted daily prices obtained from an independent third party. Futures contracts traded on exchanges typically will be valued daily at their last sale price. Swaps (other than centrally cleared) typically will be valued at their prices obtained from an independent third party and are based on the present value of fixed and projected floating rate cash flows over the term of the swap contract. Future cash flows on swaps are discounted to their present value
