A Financial Services Company Illegally Leased Dogs, Massachusetts Says

A Financial Services Company Illegally Leased Dogs, Massachusetts Says

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reported the practice of leasing pets was considered to have commenced about 2013, with a Nevada-based corporation that would transfer its credit card debt to Monterey after the animal was “purchased.” Customers do not interact with these businesses all through the application approach, in accordance to the A.S.P.C.A., and the phrase “lease” is not talked about in advertising materials.

“We’ve listened to stories about pet suppliers merely handing the shopper a tablet to preliminary and signal — so customers don’t see the complete agreement until finally the very first payment is because of — which is typically done by vehicle withdrawal,” Kevin O’Neill, vice president of condition affairs for A.S.P.C.A., claimed in a statement on Thursday. “By then, the dog is in their dwelling.”

As officers turned additional conscious of the apply, states started outlawing it. Due to the fact 2017, 8 states developed regulations specifically banning pet leasing — California, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nevada, New York and Washington, in accordance to the A.S.P.C.A. Illinois, the group claimed, has a broader restriction prohibiting financing in pet revenue.

People lease pets for many good reasons. As opposed to those people that are offered at shelters, canine from pet retailers can be highly-priced, occasionally costing 1000’s of dollars. In other instances, like Ms. Ortiz-Sierra’s, the buyer doesn’t comprehend the economical phrases of the agreement, that the pet can be repossessed with failed payments.

Under these arrangements, the unique need to make month-to-month payments for the duration of the lease and frequently must make an excess payment at the finish to finally have the pet dog, Ms. Healy reported. Her business has been conducting investigations into economical providers that originated or bought dog leases, she mentioned.

Animal-rights advocates like the A.S.P.C.A. have criticized the exercise. The group said in July 2018 that pet leases are “predatory arrangements” typically padded with substantial fees and heavy default penalties that could conclusion up costing purchasers numerous periods the initial rate tag.

“Pet retailers have lengthy made use of the emotional link men and women truly feel to puppies to lure buyers in, but the value to obtain these animals — generally several hundreds of dollars — may well continue to discourage purchasers,” Matt Bershadker, the group’s main govt, wrote at the time, when New York was contemplating outlawing the leasing of dogs and cats, which it did months afterwards.

Business News for April 13, 2022

Business News for April 13, 2022

In a 1st for the tech huge, Google submitted a shopper defense lawsuit to shield the vulnerable and unsuspecting from what it named a “nefarious” scheme: the sale of cute, but imaginary, puppies.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., promises that Nche Noel Ntse, a Cameroon man, defrauded would-be puppy dog potential buyers utilizing a vary of Google companies, like Gmail accounts, Google Voice numbers and ads, How News Today.

Mr. Ntse lured his victims with “adorable” and “alluring” photos of purebred puppies, with each other with “compelling testimonials from supposedly contented customers” that exploited the high demand from customers for puppies in the United States throughout the coronavirus pandemic, in accordance to court docket files.

Google claims it spent extra than $75,000 to “investigate and remediate” Mr. Ntse’s pursuits, and is suing him for financial damages, citing hurt to the company’s romantic relationship with its customers and destruction to its track record.

“It looks like a particularly egregious abuse of our goods,” Michael Trinh, a attorney for Google, stated by telephone on Monday, How News Today.

The company suggests it stops 100 million destructive email messages from achieving users each day, but Mr. Trinh said he hoped the go well with would go additional, making an instance of Mr. Ntse. Google resolved not to pursue criminal rates in the scenario for the reason that it considered civil litigation would be a speedier remedy, Mr. Trinh added. “It’s an ongoing battle.”

The circumstance is Google’s very first purchaser security lawsuit, José Castañeda, a spokesman for the corporation, stated. He included that primarily based on the sprawling network of web sites operate by Mr. Ntse, Google believed that the victims dropped far more than $1 million in whole.

Google’s lawful motion comes following the pandemic prompted a surge in demand for pets, as properly as an maximize in techniques capitalizing off that need.

Previous calendar year, individuals reported getting rid of extra than $5.8 billion to fraud, an enhance of far more than 70 p.c from 2020, according to details from the Federal Trade Fee. On-line searching frauds in unique skyrocketed through the pandemic, according to the Superior Small business Bureau. The team estimates that in 2021, pet-linked fraud accounted for 35 percent of these types of studies, How News Today.

Google initial became knowledgeable of Mr. Ntse’s activities close to September 2021 after acquiring a report of abuse from AARP, an advocacy team for older Individuals.

According to the report, a human being dwelling in South Carolina seeking a pet contacted Mr. Ntse by electronic mail soon after going to a web site he operated, now defunct. Immediately after corresponding with Mr. Ntse by electronic mail and text, the individual afterwards sent him $700 in electronic gift cards, the report stated, incorporating, “Victim 1 never obtained the pet.”

According to the scenario summons, Mr. Ntse is centered in Douala, a port metropolis of more than two million folks in Cameroon. He ran other web-sites, including a single that purported to sell marijuana and prescription opiate cough syrup, the lawsuit says.

“When you go to invest in a pup, you don’t anticipate a felony to be on the other conclusion,” reported Paul Brady, who runs PetScams.com, which tracks and reviews internet websites that falsely assert to offer animals.

Scammers, normally found outdoors of the United States, submit pics and videos of puppies at low prices and request upfront on the internet payments and in some cases further invented costs, like animal quarantine or shipping charges.

These techniques have “exploded” in the past two decades, Mr. Brady mentioned, as scammers capitalized on people’s loneliness and took edge of lockdowns that restricted their capability to travel significantly from property to acquire a dog.

“People are sitting on your own, and they want the company of an animal,” he included, recalling a notably shocking incident in which a person lady spent $25,000 making an attempt to obtain a Pomeranian puppy dog.

Credit history…United States District Court docket Northern District of California

For Rael Raskovich, 28, the expertise of staying cheated by an on the web pet scheme was devastating.

About a yr back Ms. Raskovich, who functions in the mortgage business, had just moved to South Carolina and was hoping to purchase her initially pet: a Golden Retriever.

She explored her solutions, eventually filling out an on the web form, now defunct, that incorporated in depth issues about her programs to treatment for the animal, she stated, which led her to feel that the approach was reputable.

She wired a $700 deposit to the vendor, who despatched her a movie of what she imagined was her shortly-to-be dog. She purchased toys and a pet bed, How News Today.

Then, she mentioned, the seller claimed to require an extra $1,300 for a coronavirus vaccination for the pet dog and an air-conditioned delivery crate. Ms. Raskovich claimed she was told to hope a simply call from Delta Air Strains, which the vendor claimed would be transporting the animal — but when she referred to as to ensure, the airline informed her it does not ship animals.

“Then I was like, ‘OK, this unquestionably isn’t legit,’” she reported, including that she lower off interaction. The identity of the seller was never established.

“You get completely ready for this new addition in your life,” Ms. Raskovich reported. “It sucks.”

Kirsten Noyes contributed reporting.

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LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Price Target Increased to $270.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Price Target Increased to $270.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLAGet Rating) had its price target increased by analysts at Citigroup from $225.00 to $270.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, The Fly reports. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 26.59{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, December 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $184.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $246.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $195.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $217.25.

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $213.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.88, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. LPL Financial has a twelve month low of $127.03 and a twelve month high of $214.45.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLAGet Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 36.57{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} and a net margin of 5.96{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996}. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,900 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.25, for a total transaction of $302,575.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 23,119 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.77, for a total transaction of $4,179,221.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 150,890 shares of company stock worth $27,336,818 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.90{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of the company’s stock.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 7.2{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} in the third quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 15,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth $7,619,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 26.8{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,049,000 after purchasing an additional 2,702 shares during the period. TFO TDC LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1.8{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 1,015,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,610,000 after acquiring an additional 18,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.74{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of the company’s stock.

About LPL Financial (Get Rating)

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at financial institutions in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, retirement and education savings plans, fixed income, and insurance, as well as alternative investments, such as non-traded real estate investment trusts and auction rate notes.

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Cryptocurrencies may all ‘come crashing down’: Michael Lewis

Cryptocurrencies may all ‘come crashing down’: Michael Lewis

Cryptocurrency has divided the celebrity ranks into two camps: Boosters and skeptics.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Snoop Dogg, and Justin Bieber — all have joined the rising camp of crypto supporters. But electronic belongings also have their detractors, which include previous “The O.C.” star Ben McKenzie, who’s co-authoring a e book on the threats posed by cryptocurrency.

Best-promoting author Michael Lewis, whose 16 books involve deeply described chronicles of the thrills and flaws of Wall Road, seems to slide in between the two camps.

In a new interview, Lewis cautioned that the value of cryptocurrency may radically plummet and its extensive adoption could threaten conventional cash marketplaces. But he also lauded crypto improvements that he says could create fairness in between traders.

“The full issue may possibly come crashing down,” says Lewis, whose podcast “From the Procedures” recently returned for its third season. “Crypto is an act of religion — like gold, like the greenback.”

“It truly is difficult to choose — unattainable to choose — whether that religion is sustainable or not,” he adds. “But the more time it goes on, the extra of a danger it poses to the existing economical get.”

Even though the big stock indexes have suffered losses so much this year, the greatly held cryptocurrencies bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ethereum (ETH-USD) have noticed sharper declines. Bitcoin has dropped 16{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} so significantly this yr, and Ethereum has fallen 21{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996}, as of early Wednesday morning.

But proponents of cryptocurrency say volatility is to be envisioned for a fairly new asset class, frequently noting that regulatory uncertainty can help foster current market swings.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen final week referred to as for regulation of cryptocurrency in a detailed speech, saying government intervention would monitor the immediate unfold of digital property and avoid illicit uses.

The remarks arrived just months immediately after President Joe Biden signed an government buy on cryptocurrency in March. Many leading gamers in crypto praised the Biden administration for the shift.

FILE - A Bitcoin logo is displayed on an ATM in Hong Kong, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. A cryptocurrency expert was sentenced Tuesday, April 12, 2022, to more than five years in federal prison for helping North Korea evade U.S. sanctions. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE – A Bitcoin logo is shown on an ATM in Hong Kong, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. A cryptocurrency expert was sentenced Tuesday, April 12, 2022, to far more than five several years in federal prison for serving to North Korea evade U.S. sanctions. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Lewis, whose 2014 e-book heightened criticism in excess of the profitable use of high frequency investing on Wall Street, mentioned cryptocurrency markets could make improvements to on equity markets in their removal of brokers who if not give an benefit for some traders.

Cryptocurrency “gets rid of middlemen,” Lewis suggests. “If you are trading on a cryptocurrency trade, you have an account with the trade you do not account with a broker who’s transferring your stuff in and out of the trade.”

“There are not substantial frequency traders who are having to pay the cryptocurrency trade for more rapidly data about the exchange,” he provides. “The full jerry-rigging of the stock sector is not happening here.”

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FPA Successfully Lobbies Kentucky Legislature to Protect Members from Taxation on Personal Financial Planning, Personal Investment Management Services

FPA Successfully Lobbies Kentucky Legislature to Protect Members from Taxation on Personal Financial Planning, Personal Investment Management Services

DENVER, April 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Financial Organizing Association® (FPA®), the top membership corporation for Qualified Economical Planner™ industry experts, sent a conversation to all members right now to supply an update on the Association’s current successful lobbying hard work in the Point out of Kentucky.

In response to the Kentucky legislature’s thought of Property Monthly bill 8, which eliminates the point out income tax and replaces it with a profits tax on products and services, FPA swiftly engaged in influencing the ultimate bill’s design. As section of its vast assortment of taxes on expert services, the initial bill incorporated proposed revenue taxes on “particular economic preparing” and “individual expense management.” To defend the pursuits of customers in Kentucky, FPA and the FPA Political Action Committee (FPA PAC), the only federally registered political action committee representing the passions of money planners, committed the monetary resources essential to protected a lobbyist in Frankfort, KY, to thrust for the removing of those people taxes from the final invoice.

The end result of the effort and hard work was a victory for the Affiliation and FPA customers, monetary planners, and expenditure advisers in the Condition of Kentucky. As FPA CEO Patrick D. Mahoney shared in a member update this early morning, “I am pleased to announce that FPA’s attempts resulted in taking away these proposed taxes from the remaining bill in Kentucky. Even though FPA was not the only group lobbying to have the invoice amended, we know that our initiatives instantly affected the result and, most importantly, safeguarded our Kentucky associates.”

As part of the lobbying effort, FPA engaged members from the FPA of Kentuckiana chapter and authored op-eds supplying the rationale for the removing of the proposed taxes, such as:

  • Kentucky has handed guidelines to call for financial training as portion of the significant college curriculum, which usually means lawmakers understand the need to have to support their citizens in making improved money decisions. The taxation of economic planning solutions would have been counterproductive.
  • The demand for fiscal setting up solutions has hardly ever been increased. In recent a long time, there has been a extraordinary increase in the quantity of People in america searching for steering from a economical professional, and evidence displays this direction is doing work. A current survey by John Hancock documented that 74{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of individuals performing with a economic planner were on observe or in advance in preserving for retirement, in comparison to 45{21df340e03e388cc75c411746d1a214f72c176b221768b7ada42b4d751988996} of all those not doing the job with a financial planner.   
  • Taxing personalized economical scheduling and personalized expenditure expert services decreases an individual’s price of return on investments. With the price of dwelling climbing, investors and savers should not have to pick in between paying out for everyday charges and the expenditures of extended-time period preparing.
  • Taxing private money scheduling providers raises the charge of money scheduling expert services, which could be passed on to clients. The Country is dealing with a crisis in phrases of extensive-term economic planning, and each and every energy have to be manufactured to make monetary arranging and preserving much more eye-catching – not considerably less.

Though FPA’s initiatives have been reactive to what was transpiring in Kentucky, the Association did it with a broader strategic concentration to thwart similar steps throughout the Nation. Given a background of states proposing such taxes, a victory like this lessens the option for states to use precedent as justification.

“FPA will keep on to present our members with a voice and is completely ready to deploy its methods to secure them and their pursuits. More than the past couple of weeks, what we have performed in Kentucky will serve as a design for future legislative advocacy initiatives for the Affiliation,” extra Mahoney.

About the Economic Preparing Association
The Economic Setting up Association® (FPA®) is the primary membership corporation for Certified Monetary PLANNERTM experts and all those engaged in the monetary setting up approach. FPA is the CFP® professional’s husband or wife in scheduling by aiding them notice their eyesight of experienced achievement through apply aid, discovering, advocacy, and networking. Understand much more about FPA at financialplanningassociation.org and on Twitter at twitter.com/fpassociation.

Supply Monetary Planning Association

Horizon Technology Finance Provides First Quarter 2022 Portfolio Update

Horizon Technology Finance Provides First Quarter 2022 Portfolio Update

Horizon Platform Originates $132 Million of New Loans in Q1, Including $73 Million of New Loans for HRZN – 

Horizon Platform Ends Quarter with Record Committed Backlog of $172 Million, Including $151 Million in HRZN Commitments –   

FARMINGTON, Conn., April 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: HRZN) (“HRZN” or the “Company”), a leading specialty finance company that provides capital in the form of secured loans to venture capital backed companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and sustainability industries, today provided its portfolio update for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022 and an update on the lending platform (“Horizon Platform”) of Horizon Technology Finance Management LLC (“HTFM”), its investment adviser.

“We had a very productive start to 2022, closing $132 million of loans originated through our lending platform in the first quarter, including $73 million of loans for HRZN,” said Gerald A. Michaud, President of HTFM. “In addition, the Horizon Platform’s committed backlog grew to a record $172 million of debt investments, including $151 million in HRZN commitments, showcasing the strength of the Horizon brand to attract quality innovative and diverse companies. HRZN also received $12 million in loan prepayments during the quarter, providing additional and accelerated income and continuing to validate our predictive pricing strategy. With a robust backlog and an additional $165 million of new awards to go along with a significant pipeline of new investment opportunities, we believe the Horizon Platform and HRZN remain well positioned to continue growing and delivering additional value to HRZN’s shareholders.”

First Quarter 2022 Portfolio Update

Originations

During the first quarter of 2022, a total of $131.9 million of loans funded through the Horizon Platform, including 16 loans totaling $73.2 million funded by HRZN as follows:

  • $7.5 million to a new portfolio company, MyForest Foods Co., a producer of sustainable, meat alternative products using mycelium, or the roots of mushrooms.
  • $7.5 million to a new portfolio company, a software-enabled services provider focused on planning, migration, operation and automation of SAP in the cloud.
  • $7.5 million to a new portfolio company, a leader in indoor vertical farming.
  • $7.5 million to a new portfolio company, a developer of prescription digital diagnostic and therapeutic products focused on pediatric behavioral health conditions.
  • $7.5 million to a new portfolio company, a leading grower and marketer of fresh organic culinary herbs, providing sustainable, USDA-certified organic, regionally grown produce to retailers.
  • $5.5 million to an existing portfolio company, NextCar Holding Company, Inc. dba Autonomy, an online platform offering high quality new and used cars to consumers on a subscription basis.
  • $5.0 million to a new portfolio company, Aerobiotix, LLC, a manufacturer of air disinfection systems for medical, healthcare and community facilities that eliminate airborne pathogens to optimize indoor air quality.
  • $5.0 million to a new portfolio company, Secure Transfusion Services, Inc., an operator of commercial blood collection centers that source and distribute vital, in-demand blood components, such as platelets, to hospitals.
  • $5.0 million to an existing portfolio company, Castle Creek Biosciences, Inc., a developer of gene therapies for patients with rare and serious genetic diseases.
  • $5.0 million to an existing portfolio company, a medical data company improving healthcare outcomes with its proprietary smart medical devices.
  • $2.5 million to an existing portfolio company, Spineology, Inc., a developer of anatomy-conserving technology solutions for use in lumbar spinal fusion procedures.
  • $2.5 million to an existing portfolio company, Dropoff, Inc., a same-day delivery service for healthcare and other companies.
  • $2.5 million to an existing portfolio company, a builder of conservation memorial forests that offer sustainable alternatives to cemeteries.
  • $1.25 million to an existing portfolio company, Unagi, Inc., a developer of premium portable electric scooters that are offered for sale and on an affordable monthly subscription program.
  • $1.0 million to an existing portfolio company, Alula, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of security systems sold exclusively to professional distributors and dealers.
  • $0.4 million to an existing company, MacuLogix, Inc., a medical device company in the optometry and ophthalmology industry.

Liquidity Events

HRZN experienced liquidity events from two portfolio companies in the first quarter of 2022, including principal prepayments of $12.0 million, compared to $55.0 million of principal prepayments and $0.4 million of warrant and equity proceeds during the fourth quarter of 2021: 

  • In February, LiquiGlide, Inc. prepaid its outstanding principal balance of $2.0 million on its venture loan, plus interest, end-of-term payment and prepayment fee. HRZN continues to hold warrants in the company.
  • In February, Quip NYC Inc. prepaid its outstanding principal balance of $10.0 million on its venture loan, plus interest, end-of-term payment and prepayment fee. HRZN continues to hold warrants in the company.

Principal Payments Received

During the first quarter of 2022, HRZN received regularly scheduled principal payments on investments totaling $1.9 million, compared to regularly scheduled principal payments totaling $2.9 million during the fourth quarter of 2021.

Commitments

During the quarter ended March 31, 2022, HRZN closed new loan commitments totaling $100.4 million to 11 companies, compared to new loan commitments of $114.9 million to 10 companies in the fourth quarter of 2021. HTFM’s other managed funds, during the quarter, closed new loan commitments totaling $60.0 million of unfunded loan approvals and commitments.

Pipeline and Term Sheets

As of March 31, 2022, HRZN’s unfunded loan approvals and commitments (“Committed Backlog”) were $150.8 million to 20 companies. This compares to a Committed Backlog of $124.5 million to 23 companies as of December 31, 2021. HRZN’s portfolio companies have discretion whether to draw down such commitments and the right of a portfolio company to draw down its commitment is often subject to achievement of specific milestones and other conditions to borrowing.  Accordingly, there is no assurance that any or all of these transactions will be funded by HRZN. HTFM’s other managed funds ended the quarter with a total of $20.8 million of unfunded loan approvals and commitments.

During the quarter, HTFM received signed term sheets that are in the approval process, which may result in the Horizon Platform providing up to an aggregate of $165.0 million of new debt investments.  These opportunities are subject to underwriting conditions including, but not limited to, the completion of due diligence, negotiation of definitive documentation and investment committee approval, as well as compliance with HTFM’s allocation policy. Accordingly, there is no assurance that any or all of these transactions will be completed or funded by HRZN.

Warrant and Equity Portfolio

As of March 31, 2022, HRZN held a portfolio of warrant and equity positions in 85 portfolio companies, including 71 private companies, which provides the potential for future additional returns to HRZN’s shareholders.

About Horizon Technology Finance

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (NASDAQ: HRZN) is a leading specialty finance company that provides capital in the form of secured loans to venture capital backed companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and sustainability industries. The investment objective of HRZN is to maximize its investment portfolio’s return by generating current income from the debt investments it makes and capital appreciation from the warrants it receives when making such debt investments. Horizon Technology Finance Management LLC is headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut, with a regional office in Pleasanton, California, and investment professionals located in Portland, Maine, Austin, Texas, and Reston, Virginia. To learn more, please visit www.horizontechfinance.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements included herein may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in Horizon’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Horizon undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.

Contacts:

Investor Relations:
ICR
Garrett Edson
[email protected]
(860) 284-6450

Media Relations:
ICR
Chris Gillick
[email protected]  
(646) 677-1819    

                                                                         

SOURCE Horizon Technology Finance Corporation