Ken Leonard
About Ken Leonard
Kenneth B. Leonard (born 1963) is Co-Chief Executive Officer of KBDC and serves on the Advisor’s investment committee; he has been Co-Head of Kayne Anderson Private Credit since 2011 and previously served as Co-Chief Investment Officer of KBDC from inception to 2023 . Under his co-leadership, KBDC’s portfolio remains predominantly first-lien senior secured loans (94% at 9/30/2025) with non-accruals at 1.4% of fair value, and net investment income per share was $0.43 in Q3 2025 while NAV per share was $16.34 . KBDC’s leadership highlights 90+ years of combined lending experience among Ken Leonard and peers, with $17.2 billion of underwritten middle market loan commitments since 2000 across cycles .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kayne Anderson BDC, Inc. (KBDC) | Co-Chief Executive Officer | 2023–present | Jointly and primarily responsible for day-to-day management of KBDC’s portfolio; member of Advisor’s investment committee . |
| Kayne Anderson BDC, Inc. (KBDC) | Co-Chief Investment Officer | Inception–2023 | Led investment activities pre-IPO and through early public company phase . |
| Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors – Private Credit (KAPC) | Managing Partner & Co-Head | 2011–present | Co-head of KAPC; contributes to scaled direct lending platform managing ~$7.1B AUM in middle market private credit as of 12/31/2024 . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| KA Credit Advisors (KBDC’s Advisor) | Investment Committee Member | Current | Unanimously approves KBDC investments, sizing, monitoring; supports portfolio construction and credit oversight . |
| Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P. | Co-Head, Private Credit | 2011–present | Leads private credit strategy, sourcing, and underwriting across KAPC platform . |
Fixed Compensation
- KBDC does not directly compensate executive officers; compensation is paid by the external Advisor (KA Credit Advisors, LLC) or affiliates, and KBDC indirectly bears these costs through fees to the Advisor .
- Neither KBDC nor KDL maintain compensation plans authorizing issuance of their equity to executives, and they do not pay salaries, bonuses, pensions, perquisites, or termination/change-in-control payments to executive officers .
Performance Compensation
- Executive officers’ pay is determined by the Advisor and may take into account KBDC performance; however, KBDC does not disclose base salary, bonus targets, or equity award metrics (e.g., revenue growth, EBITDA, TSR), and no company equity incentives are granted by KBDC to executives .
- As a result, no vesting schedules, award units, or payout curves are disclosed at the issuer level for Ken Leonard .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Value | As-of |
|---|---|---|
| KBDC shares beneficially owned (Leonard) | 67,757 | April 3, 2025 |
| Ownership as % of KBDC outstanding | <1% (calculated ~0.095% using 71,260,915 shares outstanding) | April 3, 2025 |
| KBDC shares outstanding | 71,260,915 | April 3, 2025 |
| Executive equity plans at KBDC | None (issuer does not maintain executive equity comp plans) | Current |
- KBDC’s Code of Ethics prohibits directors/officers from short selling KBDC stock, entering into hedging or monetization transactions, or trading puts/calls or other derivatives on KBDC securities (except derivative securities issued by KBDC itself) .
- No pledging policy disclosure specific to executives appears in the proxy; pledging is not addressed in the cited sections .
Employment Terms
- No employment agreements between KBDC/KDL and executive officers; the Advisor’s personnel devote time as required under the investment management agreements .
- No severance provisions or change-of-control payments at KBDC for executive officers; no accelerated vesting terms, clawbacks, tax gross-ups, pensions, or perquisites disclosed at the issuer level .
- Investment Advisory Agreement renewed to March 15, 2026; the Advisor manages origination, underwriting, and monitoring; agreements may be terminated with 60 days’ notice .
Performance & Track Record
| Metric | Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net Investment Income per share ($) | 0.52 | 0.48 | 0.40 | 0.40 | 0.43 |
| Net Income per share ($) | 0.53 | 0.50 | 0.31 | 0.35 | 0.35 |
| NAV per share ($) | 16.70 | 16.70 | 16.51 | 16.37 | 16.34 |
- Portfolio construction under Ken’s co-leadership: 94% first-lien senior secured loans; 96% floating-rate debt; 1.4% of debt investments on non-accrual at 9/30/2025 .
- Earnings commentary from Q3 2025: “We remain defensively positioned with 94% of our portfolio invested in first-lien senior secured loans… average leverage level of 4.2x… non-accrual rate of just 1.4%” — Ken Leonard, Co-CEO .
- Strategic initiatives: Completed minority equity/credit investment in SG Credit Partners (term loan, delayed draw, and equity), expected to be immediately accretive to 2025 earnings .
Governance, Section 16, and Committees
- Section 16(a) compliance: KBDC believes all filing requirements were met in a timely manner for 2024 except for limited events described in the proxy; details not provided in the cited excerpt .
- Audit Committee membership and independent director structure disclosed; executive officers are employees of the Advisor, and KBDC does not maintain an executive compensation committee given the external management model .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Leonard owns 67,757 KBDC shares (<1% of outstanding), and KBDC’s Code of Ethics prohibits shorting/hedging, reducing misalignment risk from derivatives; however, absence of issuer-level equity awards means limited incremental alignment via performance-based vesting at the KBDC entity .
- Transparency: External management limits issuer disclosure of pay-for-performance specifics (no disclosed base salary, bonus targets, or PSUs/RSUs at KBDC), which reduces visibility into compensation levers; compensation is influenced by company performance at the Advisor, offering indirect linkage .
- Retention/Change-of-control: No employment agreements or severance/CoC protections at KBDC can imply reliance on Advisor-level retention mechanisms; issuer-level departure economics are not a factor for trading signals .
- Execution: Under Leonard’s co-leadership, KBDC demonstrates steady NII per share and high first-lien mix with low non-accruals, supporting dividend sustainability; the SG Credit investment broadens proprietary sourcing and is communicated as accretive, a positive for earnings momentum .
- Net view: For pay-for-performance analysis, focus on Advisor-level incentives and KBDC portfolio performance metrics (NII/NAV, non-accruals, leverage) rather than issuer equity incentives; insider selling pressure should be monitored via Form 4s, though proxy does not detail transactions .