FOR EXISTING LIMITED PARTNERS ONLY
Dear Limited Partners,
Interest rates and Bitcoin appear ready to enter new phases in 2024. We believe this presents an environment in which the Build Secured Income Fund I (the “Fund”) is uniquely positioned to thrive among its peers. The Fund’s contrarian thesis regarding sound lending collateral sets it apart from its competitors in the global U.S. Dollar credit market. In its inaugural year, the Fund’s strategy proved effective, delivering a 4.96% total net return (10.16% annualized) over the six months since its inception in July 2023i,1.
The Fund generates a high nominal level of interest income from its portfolio of fixed-rate credit obligations typically maturing in less than one year and backed by borrowers’ bitcoin at conservative loan-to-value (LTV) ratiosii . At the end of 2023, the Fund reported a 14.32% blended annual percentage yield (APY) and a 40.5% weighted average LTV across its holdings. With short-term interest rates showing signs of peaking (at the time of writing, the Federal Reserve (Fed) has maintained the Fed Funds Rate unchanged for six consecutive months since July 2023), it appears that markets are nearing the point where economic realities tend to necessitate a policy shift. We anticipate a transition from a restrictive monetary policy in place since 2022 to an accommodative one, under a continued backdrop of heavy fiscal spending out of Washington. We believe the shift should benefit the Fund’s borrowers, their productive capacity in the real economy, and the continued adoption of bitcoin as a broadly held balance sheet asset.
As the Bitcoin protocol is an emerging technology working its way up the adoption curve, the dollar liquidity market for existing owners of bitcoin operates in a state of insufficient supply relative to demand. At present, we assess that our partners at Unchained (based in Austin, Texas) set the standard for operational integrity and robustness in their lending business. We believe their attractive borrower list and growing lending practice—built through years of hard work, customer obsession, and business integrity—attest to our appraisal.
Within the landscape of credit markets and the unknowns that lie ahead, we believe our firm and the Fund are uniquely positioned to help our clients succeed. Thank you for your continued trust in our partnership, our process, and our team.
Highlights
%
inception-to-date total net returni,iii,iv,1
inception-to-date net total value to paid-in-capital (TVPI)iii,iv,v
leveragevi
%
average loan APYvii
Matt Dines
Chief Investment Officer
John Ruth
President & CEO
David Martin
Chief Operating Officer
1 Past performance of the Fund, Build or its personnel is not indicative of future Fund results.
i Returns greater than one year, since inception, or representing FY values are annualized. Any return information provided in this Presentation has not been audited and represents the Fund’s performance during the periods noted herein, net of the Fund’s fees and expenses.
ii Loan-to-Value is calculated as the total debt through each loan divided by the fair value of the loan collateral.
iii Since inception of fee-paying LPs (July 2023) through December 2023.
iv Calculated using fee-paying LP capital only.
v Total Value to Paid-in-Capital is calculated using distributions and the residual value of the Fund, divided by the total paid-in-capital. Distributions are subject to manager discretion. There is no guarantee of any distributions, and the composition of the distributions, if any, may consist of non-cash items, such as return of capital or borrowings.
vi Leverage is calculated using the average daily borrowings during the month divided by average net assets.
vii Average Interest Rate represents the net ratio of interest rates for each loan, weighted based on the fair value of total applicable private debt investments.
