Securities Valuation - The Board of Directors (the “Board”) has established procedures (the “Procedures”) pursuant to which the Fund prices its securities, consistent with Sections 2(a)(5) and 2(a)(41) of the 1940 Act, as follows:
Publicly Traded Securities - Investments in securities that are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) are valued, except as indicated below, at the official closing price reflected at the close of the NYSE on the business day as of which such value is being determined. If there has been no published closing price on such day, the securities are valued at the mean of the closing bid and ask prices for the day or, if no ask price is available, at the bid price. Securities not listed on the NYSE but listed on other domestic or foreign securities exchanges are valued in a similar manner. Securities traded on more than one securities exchange are valued at the closing price of the exchange representing the principal market for such securities on the business day as of which such value is being determined. If, after the close of a domestic or foreign market, but prior to the close of business on the day the securities are being valued, market conditions change significantly, the domestic or foreign securities may be fair valued pursuant to the Procedures.
Securities traded in the over-the-counter market, such as fixed-income securities and certain equities, including listed securities whose primary market is believed by Versus Capital Advisors LLC (the “Adviser”) to be over-the-counter, are valued at the official closing prices as reported by sources as the Board deems appropriate to reflect their fair market value. If there has been no official closing price on such day, the securities are valued at the mean of the closing bid and ask prices for the day or, if no ask price is available, at the bid price. Fixed-income securities typically will be valued on the basis of prices provided by a pricing service, generally an evaluated price or the mean of closing bid and ask prices obtained by the pricing service, when such prices are believed by the Adviser to reflect the fair market value of such securities. Syndicated loans are valued by Approved Pricing Sources at the average of broker quotes obtained from market makers deemed reliable by their internal evaluation staff or by internally developed models that incorporate both indicative quotes and actual trade data for similar loans.
Short-term debt securities, which have a maturity date of 60 days or less, are valued at amortized cost, which approximates fair value.
Investments in open-end mutual funds are valued at their closing Net Asset Value ("NAV").
Securities for which market prices are unavailable, or securities for which the Adviser determines that the market quotation is unreliable, will be valued at fair value pursuant to the Procedures. In these circumstances, the Adviser determines fair value in a manner that fairly reflects the market value of the security on the valuation date based on consideration of any information or factors it deems appropriate. These may include recent transactions in comparable securities, information relating to the specific security and developments in the markets. The Fund’s use of fair value pricing may cause the NAV of the Shares to differ from the NAV that would be calculated using market quotations. Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that the fair value determined for a security may be materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of such security.
Private Debt Investments - The Fund will use its best efforts to value each private debt investment at its fair value under current market conditions. In doing so, the Fund will engage external valuation consultants to aid in the fair value determination of each private debt investment.
The Fund will work with the external valuation consultants to select an appropriate fair valuation approach for each private debt investment, which may include, but is not limited to, yield, market and cost approaches, or a combination of approaches. The external valuation consultant, in consultation with the Valuation Designee, may develop a unique valuation model or method for each individual private debt investment. The models and/or methods used may consider, among other things, comparable sector curve information, public market valuations, transaction prices, discounted cash flow analyses, assessments of borrower credit quality, borrower- or project-specific financial information, and/or other relevant information. Models may apply changes to certain public market inputs, such as comparable sector curves and/or benchmarks, only upon a change exceeding predetermined volatility thresholds and may also incorporate adjustments to public market inputs, such as the application of haircuts at levels which may vary based on market circumstances. The models and/or methods used by the external valuation consultant will produce information such as a specific price estimate, an estimated valuation range or confirmation that the prior day’s price estimate remains appropriate.
The Fund will review the intended valuation approach and/or valuation model for each private debt investment as developed by an external valuation consultant prior to its implementation. This review may consider numerous factors such as the particular investment’s contractual cash flows, the financial strength and operational performance of the borrower, and the debt instrument’s spread to relevant base rates. The Fund may receive certain initial and/or periodic financial information from the borrower, loan administrator, arranger, monitoring agent, and/or other external parties, and will provide this information to the external valuation consultant for consideration in the valuation model.
The Fund will determine a fair valuation for each private debt investment daily, typically based on information received from an external valuation consultant (i.e., outputs from the models and/or methods described above). The Fund will review the valuation estimates provided by the external valuation consultants for reasonableness based on its knowledge of each investment and current market conditions. When a valuation range is provided, the Fund will generally determine to keep the valuation unchanged if the prior day’s price falls within the current day’s range. These valuation processes may result in a private debt investment’s valuation being unchanged for a period of time.
In certain circumstances, an externally provided valuation range or specific price estimate may be unavailable or the Fund may determine that the valuation received does not represent the fair value of the private debt investment based on current market conditions. In such an instance, the Fund will determine the fair value of the investment, in good faith, via alternative means which may include, among others, valuing the investment at its prior day’s price, valuing the investment at its amortized cost, or implementing an internally developed model. In determining such a fair valuation, the Fund may consider any information it deems appropriate including as received directly from the borrower, as received from alternative external information sources, including monitoring agents, or as reflected by current general market conditions.