UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (date of earliest event reported): July 14, 2015

 

Ares Dynamic Credit Allocation Fund, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Maryland

 

811-22535

 

46-4969053

(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation)

 

(Commission File Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer Identification
No.)

 

2000 Avenue of the Stars

12th Floor

Los Angeles, California 90067
(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (310) 201-4100

 

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 

o    Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

o    Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

o    Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

o    Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

 

 



 

Item 8.01 Other Events

 

Ares Dynamic Credit Allocation Fund, Inc. (the “Fund”) (NYSE: ARDC) announced that the Fund’s non-fundamental investment policy with respect to investments in collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) has been amended to read as follows:

 

“Under normal market conditions, the Fund will not invest more than (i) 30% of its Managed Assets in securities issued by entities commonly referred to as CLOs (“CLO Securities”) and other asset-backed securities, or (ii) more than 7.5% of its Managed Assets in subordinated (or residual) tranches of CLO Securities. The Fund can invest in investment grade and below investment grade rated CLO Securities.”

 

This change in investment policy represents an increase in the Fund’s ability to invest in CLO Securities and other asset-backed securities from 20% of Managed Assets to 30% of Managed Assets and an increase in the Fund’s ability to invest in subordinated (or residual) tranches of CLO Securities from 0% to 7.5% of Managed Assets. “Managed Assets” means the total assets of the Fund (including any assets attributable to any preferred shares that may be issued or to indebtedness) minus the Fund’s liabilities other than liabilities relating to indebtedness. This change in investment policy also permits the Fund to invest in below investment grade rated CLO Securities.

 

To the extent the Fund invests more of its Managed Assets in CLO Securities, or invests its Managed Assets in below investment grade CLO Securities or subordinated (or residual) tranches of CLO Securities, it may have greater exposure to the risks associated with those securities.  See “Risk Factors” below.

 

This change follows the approval by the Fund’s stockholders of amendments to certain of the Fund’s fundamental investment restrictions and 80% investment policy (together, the “Proposals”) at a joint special meeting of the Fund’s stockholders and the stockholders of Ares Multi-Strategy Credit Fund, Inc. that occurred on July 14, 2015 (the “Special Meeting”).  The Proposals were described in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, dated June 15, 2015, for the Special Meeting.  As detailed in the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, the amendment to the Fund’s policy on investments in CLO Securities became effective upon stockholder approval of the Proposals. Security holders may obtain free copies of the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov.

 

The Fund’s daily New York Stock Exchange closing market price for its common shares, net asset value per common share, as well as other information, including updated portfolio statistics and performance, are available at www.arespublicfunds.com. The information on or accessible through www.arespublicfunds.com is not incorporated by reference herein.

 

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Risk Factors

 

CLO Securities Risk.  CLOs issue securities in tranches with different payment characteristics and different credit ratings. The rated tranches of CLO Securities are generally assigned credit ratings by one or more nationally recognized statistical rating organizations. The subordinated (or residual) tranches do not receive ratings. Below investment grade tranches of CLO Securities typically experience a lower recovery, greater risk of loss or deferral or non-payment of interest than more senior tranches of the CLO.

 

The riskiest portion of the capital structure of a CLO is the subordinated (or residual) tranche, which bears the bulk of defaults from the loans in the CLO and serves to protect the other, more senior tranches from default in all but the most severe circumstances. Since it is partially protected from defaults, a senior tranche from a CLO typically has higher ratings and lower yields than the underlying securities, and can be rated investment grade. Despite the protection from the subordinated tranche, CLO tranches can experience substantial losses due to actual defaults, increased sensitivity to defaults due to collateral default and disappearance of protecting tranches, market anticipation of defaults and aversion to CLO Securities as a class. The risks of an investment in a CLO depend largely on the collateral and the tranche of the CLO in which the Fund invests.

 

The CLOs in which the Fund invests may have issued and sold debt tranches that will rank senior to the tranches in which the Fund invests. By their terms, such more senior tranches may entitle the holders to receive payment of interest or principal on or before the dates on which the Fund is entitled to receive payments with respect to the tranches in which the Fund invests. Also, in the event of insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of a CLO, holders of more senior tranches would typically be entitled to receive payment in full before the Fund receives any distribution. After repaying such senior creditors, such CLO may not have any remaining assets to use for repaying its obligation to the Fund. In the case of tranches ranking equally with the tranches in which the Fund invests, the Fund would have to share on an equal basis any distributions with other creditors holding such securities in the event of an insolvency, liquidation, dissolution, reorganization or bankruptcy of the relevant CLO. Therefore, the Fund may not receive back the full amount of its investment in a CLO.

 

The transaction documents relating to the issuance of CLO Securities may impose eligibility criteria on the assets of the CLO, restrict the ability of the CLO’s investment manager to trade investments and impose certain portfolio-wide asset quality requirements. These criteria, restrictions and requirements may limit the ability of the CLO’s investment manager to maximize returns on the CLO Securities. In addition, other parties involved in CLOs, such as third-party credit enhancers and investors in the rated tranches, may impose requirements that have an adverse effect on the returns of the various tranches of CLO Securities. Furthermore, CLO Securities issuance transaction documents generally contain provisions that, in the event that certain tests are not met (generally interest coverage and over-collateralization tests at varying levels in the capital structure), proceeds that would otherwise be distributed to holders of a junior tranche must be diverted to pay down the senior tranches until such tests are satisfied. Failure (or increased likelihood of failure) of a CLO to make timely payments on a particular tranche will have an adverse effect on the liquidity and market value of such tranche.

 

Payments to holders of CLO Securities may be subject to deferral. If cash flows generated by the underlying assets are insufficient to make all current and, if applicable, deferred payments on CLO Securities, no other assets will be available for payment of the deficiency and, following realization of the underlying assets, the obligations of the borrower of the related CLO Securities to pay such deficiency will be extinguished.

 

The market value of CLO Securities may be affected by, among other things, changes in the market value of the underlying assets held by the CLO, changes in the distributions on the underlying assets, defaults and recoveries on the underlying assets, capital gains and losses on the underlying assets, prepayments on underlying assets and the availability, prices and interest rate of underlying assets. Furthermore, the leveraged nature of each subordinated class may magnify the adverse impact on such class of changes in the value of the assets, changes in the distributions on the assets, defaults and recoveries on the assets, capital gains and losses on the assets, prepayment on assets and availability, price and interest rates of

 

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assets. Finally, CLO Securities are limited recourse and may not be paid in full and may be subject to up to 100% loss.

 

Below Investment Grade Rating Risk.  Debt instruments that are rated below investment grade are often referred to as “high yield” securities or “junk bonds.” Below investment grade instruments are rated “Ba1” or lower by Moody’s, “BB+” or lower by S&P or “BB+” or lower by Fitch or, if unrated, are judged by Ares Capital Management II LLC (the “Adviser”) to be of comparable credit quality. While generally providing greater income and opportunity for gain, below investment grade debt instruments may be subject to greater risks than securities or instruments that have higher credit ratings, including a higher risk of default. The credit rating of an instrument that is rated below investment grade does not necessarily address its market value risk, and ratings may from time to time change, positively or negatively, to reflect developments regarding the borrower’s financial condition. Below investment grade instruments often are considered to be speculative with respect to the capacity of the borrower to timely repay principal and pay interest or dividends in accordance with the terms of the obligation and may have more credit risk than higher rated securities. Lower grade securities and similar debt instruments may be particularly susceptible to economic downturns. It is likely that a prolonged or deepening economic recession could adversely affect the ability of some borrowers issuing such debt instruments to repay principal and pay interest on the instrument, increase the incidence of default and severely disrupt the market value of the securities and similar debt instruments.

 

The secondary market for below investment grade instruments may be less liquid than that for higher rated instruments. Because unrated securities may not have an active trading market or may be difficult to value, the Fund might have difficulty selling them promptly at an acceptable price. To the extent that the Fund invests in unrated securities, the Fund’s ability to achieve its investment objectives will be more dependent on the Adviser’s credit analysis than would be the case when the Fund invests in rated securities.

 

Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest in debt instruments rated in the lower rating categories (“Caa1” or lower by Moody’s, “CCC+” or lower by S&P or CCC+ or lower by Fitch) or unrated and of comparable quality. For these securities, the risks associated with below investment grade instruments are more pronounced. The Fund may incur additional expenses to the extent it is required to seek recovery upon a default in the payment of principal or interest on its portfolio holdings. In any reorganization or liquidation proceeding relating to an investment, the Fund may lose its entire investment or may be required to accept cash or securities with a value substantially less than its original investment.

 

A copy of the Fund’s press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits

 

(a) Not Applicable.

 

(b) Not Applicable.

 

(c) Not Applicable.

 

(d) Exhibits

 

Exhibit 99.1  Press Release announcing changes to CLO investment policy, dated July 15, 2015.

 

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

 

ARES DYNAMIC CREDIT ALLOCATION FUND, INC.

 

 

 

 

 Date: July 15, 2015

By:

/s/ Daniel J. Hall

 

Name:

Daniel J. Hall

 

Title:

Secretary

 

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EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit No. 

 

Description

99.1

 

Press Release announcing changes to CLO investment policy, dated July 15, 2015.

 

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