Daniel R. Trolio
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer at 
Horizon Technology Finance
Horizon Technology FinanceExecutive
About Daniel R. Trolio
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (HRZN) since January 2017; promoted to Executive Vice President in June 2021. Age 52, with responsibility for all financial reporting and accounting of the Company and its external advisor (Horizon Technology Finance Management LLC) . HRZN is externally managed; none of the Company’s executive officers (including the CFO) receive direct compensation from HRZN, and the Company reimburses the Advisor for the allocable portion of CFO/CCO staff compensation, limiting pay-for-performance visibility at the issuer level . HRZN prohibits executive hedging of company securities; a clawback policy was adopted effective October 2, 2023, though HRZN did not pay incentive-based compensation to covered executives as of April 2024 .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horizon Technology Finance Corporation / Advisor | Executive Vice President | Jun 2021 – Present | Senior finance leadership for externally managed BDC; oversight of financial reporting and accounting . |
| Horizon Technology Finance Corporation / Advisor | Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer | Jan 2017 – Present | CFO for public BDC; responsible for SEC reporting, accounting, and treasury . |
| Horizon Technology Finance Corporation / Advisor | Senior Vice President | Jan 2017 – Jun 2021 | Finance leadership during portfolio growth; maintained reporting integrity . |
| Horizon Technology Finance Corporation / Advisor | Vice President of Finance & Interim CFO | Sep 2016 – Jan 2017 | Interim CFO role through transition; ensured continuity of controls . |
| Horizon Technology Finance Corporation / Advisor | Vice President & Corporate Controller | 2010 – Sep 2016 | Built core accounting and reporting functions for the BDC and advisor . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | None disclosed in HRZN proxy statements . |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base Salary | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | HRZN does not pay executive compensation; Company reimburses Advisor for allocable CFO/CCO staff compensation per Administration Agreement . |
| Target Bonus % | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | No issuer-level disclosure given external management . |
| Actual Bonus Paid | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | No issuer-level disclosure . |
| Perquisites | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | No issuer-level disclosure . |
HRZN’s Compensation Committee confirms no compensation is paid by HRZN to its officers while externally managed; only director fees are set and paid by HRZN .
Performance Compensation
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Incentive-based executive compensation (issuer-level) | — | — | — | — | — |
| HRZN did not pay incentive-based compensation to covered executives; clawback policy effective Oct 2, 2023 per SEC/Nasdaq rules . |
Alignment exists primarily via the Advisor’s fee structure tied to HRZN performance:
- Base management fee: 2.00% of gross assets (less cash & equivalents), reduced to 1.60% on assets over $250 million .
- Income incentive fee: 20% of Pre-Incentive Fee Net Investment Income above 1.75% quarterly hurdle, with catch-up to 2.1875% .
- Capital gains incentive fee: 20% of cumulative realized capital gains net of realized losses and unrealized depreciation, annual measurement .
- Recent fees: $15.9 million (FY 2023; base $12.8m, incentive $3.1m) and $9.5 million (nine months ended Sep 30, 2024; base $9.2m, incentive $0.3m) under current agreement .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Metric | Apr 3, 2023 | Apr 19, 2024 | Dec 26, 2024 | Apr 11, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shares Beneficially Owned | 2,451 | 2,745 | 2,971 | 3,075 |
| Shares Outstanding (reference date) | — | — | — | 40,331,962 |
| Ownership as % of Shares Outstanding | — | — | — | 0.0076%* |
- Hedging policy: Executives prohibited from hedging (options, puts/calls, derivatives) on HRZN stock/debt .
- Pledging: No pledging disclosure found in proxies (not disclosed) [Search attempt found none].
- Stock ownership guidelines (executives): Not disclosed; director compensation paid in cash, no director equity awards in 2024 .
- Section 16 compliance: All required filings timely in 2024; one late Form 4 was by President Gerald A. Michaud, not by the CFO .
*Computed using 3,075 ÷ 40,331,962; both source values cited above .
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Employment start in current role | CFO & Treasurer since Jan 2017; EVP since Jun 2021 . |
| Contract term/expiration | Not disclosed; HRZN executives are employees of the external Advisor . |
| Severance provisions | Not disclosed at issuer level . |
| Change-of-control (CoC) | Issuer-level employment CoC terms not disclosed; Board approved a new Investment Management Agreement in Dec 2024 in connection with Advisor change in control; advisory fee terms unchanged . |
| Non-compete / non-solicit | Not disclosed . |
| Clawback | Adopted Oct 2, 2023 in compliance with Exchange Act Rule 10D-1/Nasdaq 5608; no incentive-based comp paid to covered executives as of Apr 2024 . |
| Hedging | Prohibited for directors and executive officers . |
Investment Implications
- Compensation alignment: Issuer-level pay-for-performance levers for the CFO are opaque because HRZN pays no executive compensation; alignment is driven at the Advisor via management/incentive fee mechanics tied to HRZN’s net investment income and realized gains . This creates potential conflicts (common in externally managed BDCs) but provides measurable linkage to portfolio performance.
- Ownership/skin-in-the-game: CFO’s direct ownership is de minimis at ~0.008% of shares outstanding as of April 2025, limiting direct equity alignment; hedging is prohibited, and no pledging is disclosed, reducing misalignment risk .
- Retention risk: Tenure since 2017 across progressive finance roles suggests continuity and low near-term transition risk; however, lack of disclosed employment/severance/CIC terms means investor visibility into retention incentives is limited .
- Trading signals: Section 16 compliance shows no disclosure of late filings for the CFO in 2024; proxies do not provide Form 4 transaction detail, constraining analysis of insider selling pressure; no pledging disclosed .