Joshua Lefkowitz
About Joshua Lefkowitz
Born 1974, Joshua Lefkowitz serves as Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary of Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (CGBD) since November 2021 and is a Managing Director at Carlyle; prior roles include Principal at Ares, earlier at American Capital, and associate positions at Mayer Brown and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan . As CCO, he delivers an annual written compliance report to the Board and meets in executive session with Independent Directors at least four times per year, anchoring oversight of compliance risk . Company performance context during his tenure: in Q3 2025, CGBD reported $0.37 NII per share ($0.38 Adjusted), NAV per share of $16.36 (down 0.4% q/q), and total investments of $2.4B .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (CGBD) | Chief Compliance Officer; Secretary | Nov 2021–Present | Corporate compliance leader; company Secretary and named proxy; oversees compliance policies and reporting cadence to the Board . |
| Carlyle Secured Lending III (CSL III) | Chief Compliance Officer; Secretary | Nov 2021–Mar 2025 | Compliance lead for affiliated BDC until its merger into CGBD in Mar 2025 . |
| Carlyle (Global Credit) | Managing Director | 2018–Present | Senior platform role across Carlyle Direct Lending and affiliates . |
| Ares Management | Principal | Pre-2018 (dates not disclosed) | Senior legal/compliance and investment platform experience at a leading credit manager . |
| American Capital, Ltd. | Legal/finance roles (not specified) | Pre-2018 (dates not disclosed) | Experience at BDC/credit platform prior to Ares acquisition . |
| Mayer Brown; Stroock & Stroock & Lavan | Associate (legal) | Not disclosed | Foundational legal training in corporate/securities law . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlyle Credit Solutions, Inc. (CARS) | Chief Compliance Officer; Secretary | Current | Parallel CCO/Secretary responsibilities across the fund complex (CGBD and CARS) . |
| Carlyle Global Credit Investment Management L.L.C. | Global Credit Chief Legal Officer (signatory) | 2025 | Capital markets/underwriting agreement signatory for CGBD’s 2025 notes offering, indicating platform-level legal leadership . |
| Carlyle Global Credit Administration L.L.C. | Managing Director (signatory) | 2025 | Administrative affiliate signatory in 2025 deal documentation . |
Fixed Compensation
CGBD is externally managed; executive officers are employees of the Adviser/affiliates. The Company does not pay base salary, bonus, or equity awards directly to officers; instead, it reimburses the Administrator for the allocable portion of compensation for the CFO and CCO.
| Component | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Base salary | Not paid directly by CGBD; reimbursable allocable portion for CCO via Administrator . |
| Target/actual bonus | Not paid directly by CGBD; not disclosed . |
| Benefits/perquisites | Not disclosed (officers are Adviser employees) . |
| Pension/SERP/deferred comp | Not disclosed (officers are Adviser employees) . |
Performance Compensation
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Company-paid executive incentive plan | None disclosed; officers receive no direct compensation from CGBD . |
| Clawback policy | CGBD adopted a clawback compliant with Nasdaq/Exchange Act 10D, requiring recovery of erroneously awarded incentive compensation to covered executive officers for the last three completed fiscal years preceding an accounting restatement . |
Notes
- No company-level RSU/PSU/option grants, performance metric weightings, targets, payouts, or vesting schedules are disclosed for officers; any such arrangements would be at the Adviser level and are not reported in CGBD’s proxy .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Metric | 2024 (Record date: Apr 3, 2024) | 2025 (Record date: Apr 7, 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Shares beneficially owned | 837 | 986 |
| Percent of common outstanding | <0.1% (asterisk in proxy) | <0.1% (asterisk in proxy) |
| Common shares outstanding (context) | 50,794,941 | 72,902,981 |
- Ownership type: Direct ownership indicated in footnotes; no options/derivatives disclosed for officers .
- Hedging/shorting/derivatives: Prohibited for executives and directors; margin purchases restricted unless cash coverage for margin calls is arranged .
- Pledging: No explicit pledging disclosure found in the proxy; policy text restricts hedging/shorting/derivative strategies but does not specifically address pledging .
Employment Terms
| Term | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Employment start date (CGBD) | Appointed Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary in November 2021 . |
| Role in governance | Secretary; named proxy for meetings; address for stockholder communications to the Board . |
| Officer election/term | Officers are elected by the Board and serve until death, resignation, termination, or until a successor is duly elected and qualified . |
| Employment agreement/severance | Not disclosed; officers are Adviser employees . |
| Change-of-control economics | Not disclosed for officers (externally managed structure) . |
| Non-compete / non-solicit | Not disclosed . |
| Clawback | Company policy requires recovery of erroneously awarded incentive compensation to covered executive officers following an accounting restatement, covering last 3 completed fiscal years before restatement . |
| Insider trading policy | Prohibits trading inconsistent with long-term investment; bans short sales, day trading, arbitrage trading, derivatives/hedging; margin purchases only if cash coverage for any margin calls . |
| Compliance cadence | CCO delivers annual written report on adequacy/effectiveness of compliance policies; meets separately with Independent Directors at least four times annually . |
| Audit Committee cadence (context) | Audit Committee held 8 meetings in 2024 (independent-only committee) . |
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance transparency: As an externally managed BDC, CGBD discloses that officers receive no direct company compensation, and compensable elements reside at the Adviser; this limits visibility into base/bonus/equity metrics and weakens direct pay-for-performance linkage at the public company level .
- Equity alignment and selling pressure: Mr. Lefkowitz’s direct holdings are de minimis (<0.1%), suggesting low direct equity alignment but also minimal insider selling pressure; hedging/derivative use is prohibited, which supports alignment with long-term shareholders .
- Retention risk: No company-level employment agreement, severance or change-of-control terms are disclosed; retention is likely driven by Carlyle platform compensation and roles (he holds concurrent senior roles across CGBD, CARS, and Carlyle affiliates), implying retention dynamics are primarily at the Adviser level rather than CGBD .
- Governance and controls signal: The Board’s compliance oversight relies on the CCO’s annual reporting and quarterly executive sessions, indicating a structured compliance environment; this reduces execution risk around regulatory matters within the BDC framework .
- Trading/financing activity involvement: As Secretary/CCO and a Carlyle Global Credit legal leader, Mr. Lefkowitz served as signatory on CGBD’s 2025 notes offering documentation—indicating active involvement in capital markets execution that supports platform financing and liquidity .
- Clawback protection: The company’s clawback policy provides a backstop for any erroneously awarded incentive compensation to executive officers following restatements, though its practical relevance is constrained by the lack of company-paid executive incentives .
Overall: The externally managed structure concentrates compensation and retention levers at Carlyle rather than CGBD, reducing direct pay-for-performance alignment visibility for public shareholders. Low direct ownership and no disclosed company-level severance or CIC terms suggest limited direct alignment but also limited selling pressure, while robust trading/hedging prohibitions and formal compliance oversight mitigate governance risk .