SEC Company Response from MSC INCOME FUND, INC. (MSIF) (CIK 0001535778) (MSIF) — May 14, 2013
MSC INCOME FUND, INC. (MSIF) (CIK 0001535778)
Date: May 14, 2013 · CIK: 0001535778 · Accession: 0001144204-13-028846
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-178548
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John A. Good
phone: (901) 543-5901
fax: (888) 543-4644
e-mail: jgood@bassberry.com
The Tower at Peabody Place
100 Peabody Place, Suite 900
Memphis, TN 38103-3672
(901) 543-5900
May 14, 2013
Edward P. Bartz
Staff Attorney
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Investment Management
100 F Street, NE
Washington, DC 20549
Re: HMS Income Fund, Inc.
Registration Statement on Form N-2
Filed March 28, 2013
File No. 333-178548
On behalf of HMS Income
Fund, Inc. (the “Fund”) and in response to oral comments received from the staff of the Division of Investment
Management (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”)
on May 10, 2013, via teleconference, relating to the Fund’s Post-Effective Amendment No. 3 to the Registration Statement
on Form N-2, as amended (File No. 333-178548) (the “Registration Statement”), we submit this letter containing
the Fund’s responses to the Staff’s oral comments. For your convenience, we have set forth below the Staff’s
comment followed by the Fund’s response in bold.
We are providing to
you a courtesy copy of this letter and a courtesy copy of Post-Effective Amendment No. 5 filed by the Fund on the date hereof,
which has been marked to reflect changes made to the Post-Effective Amendment No. 3 filed with the Commission on March 28, 2013
(the “Blackline”). The changes reflected in Post-Effective Amendment No. 5 have been made in response
to the Staff’s comments and for the purpose of updating and revising certain information in the Registration Statement. All
page references in our responses are to the pages of the Blackline. Capitalized terms used and not otherwise defined in this response
letter that are defined in the Registration Statement shall have the meanings set forth in the Registration Statement.
Comment 1: Please include disclosure on the front
cover page to reflect that (a) previous distributions to stockholders were funded from temporary fee waivers under the conditional
fee waiver agreement that may be subject to repayment to the Fund’s Advisers; (b) these distributions were not based entirely
on the Fund’s investment performance and may not continue in the future; and (c) if our Advisers had not agreed to waive
fees and expenses under the conditional fee waiver agreement, these distributions may have come from stockholder’s paid in
capital and reimbursement of these payments owed to the Fund’s Advisers may reduce the future distributions to which stockholders
would otherwise be entitled.
May 14, 2013
Page 2
Response 1: In response to the Staff’s comment,
the Fund has included the requested disclosure on the cover page of the prospectus that makes up a part of the Registration Statement.
Comment 2: Please include a table that provides
the following information regarding conditional fee waiver expenses incurred by the Fund’s Advisers pursuant to the conditional
fee waiver agreement, as well as information relating to the Fund’s ability to reimburse the Advisers for such payments:
(a) dates and amounts of fees waived; (b) operating expense ratio as of the date the fee waiver obligation was incurred; (c) annual
distribution rate as of the date the fee waiver obligation was incurred; and (d) expiration of the fee waiver.
Response 2: In response to the Staff’s comment, the Fund has included the requested table on page 120 of the Registration
Statement.
Comment 3: The conditional fee waiver agreement
provides that any repayment of waived fees shall be made within a period not to exceed three (3) years from the end of the fiscal
year in which the waiver of such waived fees is made. Please amend the agreement to reflect that this three (3) year period will
commence at the time each fee waiver is made, presumably on a quarterly basis.
Response 3: In response to the Staff’s comment, the Fund has amended the conditional fee waiver agreement to provide
that the period during which repayment of waived fees must be made will commence at the time each fee waiver is made, rather than
the last quarter in which fees were waived. Accordingly, the Fund has revised the disclosure in the Registration Statement, reflected
on page 16 thereof.
Comment 4: Please revise the disclosure with respect
to distributions paid by the Fund to include disclosure reflecting the following: (a) the Fund may fund cash distributions to stockholders
from any sources of funds available to the Fund including fee waivers from the Advisers that may be subject to repayment to them;
(b) the conditional fee waiver agreement is intended to avoid such distributions from being characterized as returns of capital
for U.S. federal tax purposes; (c) the Fund has not established limits on the amount of funds it may use from available sources
to make distributions; (d) the Fund may fund distributions in the future with fee waivers under the conditional fee waiver agreement;
(e) a description of the term of the conditional fee waiver agreement; and (f) the dollar amount and percentage of the distributions
paid in 2012 that were made based on the conditional fee waiver agreement.
Response 4: In response to the Staff’s comment,
the Fund has included the requested disclosure on pages 16 and 58-59 of the Registration Statement.
Comment 5: Please disclose, based on an analysis
under FAS 5, whether potential reimbursements under the conditional fee waiver agreement need to be disclosed as a current liability
of the Fund.
Response 5: The Fund has reviewed and analyzed the accrual and disclosure requirements under FASB Accounting Standards
Codification Topic 450 (“ASC 450”), formerly Financial Accounting Standards No. 5. ASC 450 defines a “contingency”
as an existing condition, situation, or set of circumstances involving uncertainty as to possible gain (gain contingency) or loss
(loss contingency) to an entity that will ultimately be resolved when one or more future events occur or fail to occur. The Fund’s
analysis began with a determination of the likelihood that the Fund will incur a material loss, which likelihood can be categorized
in three ranges – remote, reasonably probable, and probable.
May 14, 2013
Page 3
Potential reimbursements under the conditional fee waiver
agreement cannot either be reasonably determined as to their likelihood or reasonably estimated, as both factors are based upon
unresolved matters of fact and future events that are currently undeterminable. In particular, the Fund’s future returns
are based upon multiple inputs that are currently undeterminable including, but not limited to, proceeds received from the ongoing
public offering, investment performance, and cost of debt. Further, even in the event that the Fund’s returns are substantial
enough to warrant the potential reimbursement of such waived fees, any potential reimbursement is subject to the approval of the
Fund’s board of directors, which approval cannot be guaranteed.
Based on its review of the facts and circumstances, the Fund
has concluded that the likelihood of a material loss is “reasonably probable” as it falls in the range between “remote”
and “probable,” as defined in ASC 450. However, because the Fund is unable to estimate the amount of the range of reasonable
possible fee reimbursements (losses); it cannot make an accrual in its financial statements. The Fund will, however, provide disclosure
about the contingency that allows users of the financial statements to evaluate the magnitude of the matter. The Fund also undertakes
to include such disclosure in future periodic filings made with the Commission.
Additionally, the Fund will continue to evaluate whether
the amounts are probable, reasonably probable, or remote, and update its disclosure in future filings as necessary.
Comment 6: The Fund’s December 31, 2012
financial statements reflect a waiver of administrative expenses in the amount of $438,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012.
Please explain whether this waiver was pursuant to the conditional fee waiver agreement and if it is subject to reimbursement in
accordance with the terms thereof.
Response 6: The administrative expenses were not waived pursuant to the conditional fee waiver agreement, but, rather,
the Advisers agreed to waive their administrative expenses for each individual quarter. The waived administrative expenses are,
therefore, not subject to reimbursement pursuant to the terms of the conditional fee waiver agreement and are not subject to reimbursement
pursuant to any other agreement.
Comment 7: Please note that any future disclosure
in the Fund’s financial statements, as well as any future press releases or marketing materials, should be revised to reflect
the comments discussed with respect to the Fund’s distributions and the effect of the conditional fee waiver agreement.
Response 7: The Fund acknowledges the Staff’s
comment and undertakes to make such disclosure in future financial statements, press releases and marketing materials.
Comment 8: In the fee and expenses table on page
19 of the Registration Statement, please confirm that the total annual expenses ratio of 5.25% is based on the gross amount and
does not include any waiver of fees under the conditional fee waiver agreement. Also, please confirm that an estimated annual expenses
ratio of 5.25% is appropriate based on the Fund’s total expenses and outstanding assets. Finally, please explain why the
Fund’s estimate that it will raise $300 million in gross proceeds during the following twelve months is reasonable based
on the results of its capital raising efforts during the past twelve months.
May 14, 2013
Page 4
Response 8: The Fund confirms that the total annual
expenses ratio of 5.25% is based on the gross amount of expenses, including fees, and does not include any waiver of the base management
fees under the conditional fee waiver agreement.
The Fund also confirms that, based upon the projected proceeds
from the ongoing public offering of $300 million during the following twelve months, the 5.25% total annual expenses ratio is appropriate
given the Fund’s projected expense levels and level of outstanding assets over that same period.
The Fund believes that $300 million is a reasonable estimate
for gross proceeds during the following twelve months as Hines Securities, Inc., the Fund’s dealer manager (the “Dealer
Manager”), experienced numerous delays in marketing the Fund to potential investors in the previous twelve months, which
delays caused the amount of proceeds raised in the previous twelve months to be significantly lower than was originally anticipated
and is projected for the following twelve months. Although the Fund was declared effective on June 4, 2012, the Dealer Manager’s
wholesale marketing efforts for broker dealers were not commenced until January 2013. The delay was largely due to the delay in
the Dealer Manager’s receipt of a due diligence report from a major reputable firm, which was a necessary precursor to the
Dealer Manager gaining access to various broker dealer firms to commence the marketing of the Fund. The report was finally received
in late August 2012. Secondly, the Dealer Manager received, and was required to respond to, multiple rounds of comments on the
Fund’s marketing materials from FINRA, which materials were finally approved in late November 2012. Both of these significant
hurdles, which are considered one-time milestones, delayed the commencement of the Fund’s marketing strategy.
In April 2013, the Dealer Manager signed agreements with
two large securities firms, representing approximately 25% of the Fund’s current total population of financial advisers that
it has signed. Further, the Dealer Manager has recently begun due diligence with one of the larger broker dealer firms and anticipates
that it will sign an agreement with such firm within 60 days. The broker dealer anticipates that this new relationship will substantially
contribute to the Fund’s capital raising success. Additionally, other broker dealer firms have indicated that once the Dealer
Manager begins to raise additional proceeds and / or sign the larger securities firms, they, too, will commence due diligence and
bring the Fund onto their respective platform.
Lastly, the Dealer Manager has significant experience in
marketing and selling retail securities through its network of over 130 broker dealer firms for its two non-traded REITs, Hines
REIT and Hines Global REIT; both of which offerings have been successful. Through this network,
the Dealer Manager has successfully executed and established a track record of raising approximately $500 million per year for
the past eight years. The Fund believes that the Dealer Manager’s previous experience will contribute
positively to the Fund’s selling efforts in the future.
Based on the foregoing, the Fund believes that it is reasonable
to estimate $300 million of gross proceeds during the following twelve months.
Comment 9: Please include disclosure on the cover
page of the prospectus to reflect the Fund’s strategy and the quality of its assets, including, specifically, a reference
to “junk” investments. Please also include a reference to “junk” investments in the summary section entitled
“Our Investment Objective and Strategies.”
May 14, 2013
Page 5
Response 9: In response to the Staff’s comment,
the Fund has included the requested disclosure on the cover page of the prospectus that makes up a part of the Registration Statement.
Comment 10: Please include disclosure on the cover
page of the prospectus to specify whether the segregated account in which subscription payments are placed pending release at the
next scheduled closing is interest-bearing or non-interest bearing.
Response 10: In response to the Staff’s comment,
the Fund has supplemented the disclosure on the cover page of the prospectus that makes up a part of the Registration Statement
to specify that the segregated account in which subscription payments are placed pending release at the next scheduled closing
is an interest-bearing account.
Comment 11: Please include summary risk factors
on page 5 of the Registration Statement regarding “junk” investments and the risk that there may be instances where
the Fund’s Advisers have collected a fee on an investment that provides for PIK interest, and
such investment fails, in which instance, the Advisers would not be required to re-pay the fee that they received with respect
to such investment.
Response 11: In response to the Staff’s comment, the Fund has included the requested disclosure on page 5 of the
Registration Statement.
Comment 12: In the summary risk factor on page
5 regarding future distributions representing a return of capital, please include a definition of return of capital.
Response 12: In response to the Staff’s comment, the Fund has revised the disclosure on page 4 of the Registration
statement to include a definition of return of capital.
Comment 13: Please disclose whether the Fund has
a policy regarding the terms and maturity dates of investments in which it invests. If so, please disclose the policy. If no maturity
policy exists, please state so.
Response 13: The Fund does not have a defined policy regarding the terms of the maturity dates of the investments in
which it invests. However, both the Fund’s sub-adviser, through both its evaluation of suitable investment opportunities
and ongoing evaluation of the Fund’s portfolio, and the adviser’s Investment Committee, through its review of investment
materials, will consider the Fund’s overall diversification strategy, pursuant to which the Fund seeks to diversify its portfolio
broadly by considering a number of differentiating factors, including investment maturities.
Further, as described in the Registration Statement, although
the Fund expects that its debt investme