BGH Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund

As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 11, 2024

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM N-CSR

 

 

CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED

MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES

811-22562

Investment Company Act file number

 

 

Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

 

 

300 South Tryon Street, Suite 2500, Charlotte, NC 28202

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

 

 

Corporation Service Company (CSC)

251 Little Falls Drive

Wilmington, DE 19808

United States

(Name and address of agent for service)

 

 

704-805-7200

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

Date of fiscal year end: December 31

Date of reporting period: December 31, 2023

 

 

 

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Item 1. Reports to Stockholders.

 

(a)

 

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PROXY VOTING POLICIES & PROCEDURES

The Trustees of Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund (the “Fund”) have delegated proxy voting responsibilities relating to the voting of securities held by the Fund to Barings LLC (“Barings”). A description of Barings’ proxy voting policies and procedures is available (1) without charge, upon request, by calling, toll-free 1-866-399-1516; (2) on the Fund’s website at http://www.barings.com/bgh; and (3) on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) website at http://www.sec.gov.

FORM N-PORT PART F

The Fund will file its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Part F of Form N-PORT. This information is available (1) on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov; and (2) at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, DC (which information on their operation may be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330). A complete schedule of portfolio holdings as of each quarter-end is available on the Fund’s website at http://www.barings.com/bgh or upon request by calling, toll-free, 1-866-399-1516.

CERTIFICATIONS

The Fund’s President has submitted to the NYSE the annual CEO Certification as required by Section 303A.12(a) of the NYSE Listed Company Manual.

LEGAL MATTERS

The Fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, transfer agent and custodian (collectively “service providers”) who each provide services to the Fund. Shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of, these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the Fund.

Under the Fund’s Bylaws, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the Fund, including claims against Trustees and officers must be brought in courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Fund’s registration statement and this shareholder report are not contracts between the Fund and its shareholders and do not give rise to any contractual rights or obligations or any shareholder rights other than any rights conferred explicitly by federal or state securities laws that may not be waived.

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

OFFICERS OF THE FUND

 

 

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

Dear Fellow Shareholders,

We present the 2023 Annual Report for the Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund (the “Fund”) to recap portfolio performance and positioning. We believe our Global High Yield Investments Group is one of the largest teams in the market primarily focused on North American and Western European credit. Utilizing the Group’s unparalleled expertise, deep resources and time-tested process, we believe we can provide investors with an attractive level of current income while navigating the challenging times that may still lie ahead and continuing to uncover compelling opportunities across the global high yield market.

The Fund’s strategy focuses primarily on North American and Western European high yield companies, with the flexibility to dynamically shift the geographic weighting in order to capture, in our opinion, the best risk-adjusted investment opportunities. Inflationary, economic, and geopolitical dynamics are poised to evolve in coming periods, and Barings’ global capabilities on the ground in major markets allow for us to be nimble in these times and take advantage of unique opportunities as they arise. In addition, the strategy focuses closely on limiting the duration of the Fund, while maintaining what we consider to be a reasonable amount of leverage.

Market Review

After a challenging 2022, an improved market environment supported strong absolute returns across fixed income markets in 2023. A supportive macroeconomic backdrop drove spreads tighter, while moderating inflation in the second half of the year led government rates lower, reversing a primary headwind from the preceding 18 months. Returns were particularly strong in the fourth quarter, as nearly half of the 13.6% total return of the global high yield bond market generated in this period through both the tailwind of lower interest rates as well as spread compression. While corporate fundamentals in both the U.S. and Europe moderated from record high levels, earnings continued to beat forecasts.

Credit spreads in the U.S. peaked at 516 bps in the first quarter following stress in the regional banking system, before rallying through the remainder of the year to close at 323 bps. Similarly, index yields reached a low of 7.6% at year-end, driven by the decline in base rates. While all sectors generated strong absolute returns, pro-cyclical parts of the market, such as Leisure, led the way. Triple-C rated assets also outperformed given spread compression as well as reduced exposure to interest rates. New issuance of $190 bn increased from the prior year but remained muted versus historical levels. European markets experienced similar dynamics. The option-adjusted spread for the European market tightened 123 bps to close at 422 bps, while yield-to-worst fell 128 bps to 6.88%. New issue activity totaled €57 billion for the year.

Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund Overview and Performance

The Fund ended December 2023 with a portfolio of 191 issuers, slightly above prior year-end levels of 174. From a regional perspective, exposure remained relative similar from the prior year-end, with exposure to the United States decreasing to 80.1% from 81.4; the United Kingdom remains the second largest exposure at 6.6% (See Country Composition chart below). The Fund’s exposure to Rest of World issuers, whose country of risk is outside of the U.S. and Europe but fit within the Fund’s developed market focus, increased from the previous year-end to 5.9% from 4.2%. The Fund’s primary exposure continues to be in the North American market, which features the most robust opportunity set across fixed income markets.

As of December 31, 2023, the Fund’s positioning across the credit quality spectrum was as follows: 45.1% double-B rated and above, 31.6% single-B rated, and 21.3% triple-C rated and below, with approximately 36% of the portfolio consisting of secured obligations. Compared to the end of the prior period, the Fund’s exposure to higher-rated credits increased, primarily sourced from lower-rated triple-C and below securities. Non-publicly rated securities represented 2.1%.¹

The distribution per share was constant throughout the year at $0.1056 per share in addition to a onetime special dividend payment of $0.1666 per share in August. The special dividend was paid to allow the Fund to meet its 2022 distribution requirements as a regulated investment company under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Fund’s share price and net asset value (“NAV”) ended the reporting period at $15.20 and $13.44, respectively, or at an 11.6% discount to NAV. Based on the Fund’s share price and NAV on December 31, 2023, the Fund’s market price and NAV distribution rates—using the most recent monthly dividend, on an annualized basis—were 9.43% and 8.30%, respectively. Assets acquired through leverage, which represented 25.7% of the Fund’s total assets at the end of December, were accretive to net investment income and benefited shareholders.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

For fiscal year 2023, the NAV total return for the Fund was 19.23%, outperforming the global high yield bond market, as measured by the ICE Bank of America Non-Financial Developed Markets High Yield Constrained Index (HNDC), which returned 13.60% on a hedged to the U.S. dollar basis. From a market value perspective, the total return year-to-date through December 31, 2023, was 18.09%.² Performance during the year was driven by strong credit selection and overweight allocations in Energy and an underweight allocation in Media & Broadcasting. The Fund’s floating rate exposure through allocations to second lien senior secured loans and collateralized loan obligations continued to benefit in the high-income capture in the current interest rate environment.

Market Outlook

Despite a strong rebound in 2023, value remains in the high yield market. While current spread levels are tight and may move wider should the macroeconomic environment deteriorate beyond expectations, a significant discount to par remains priced and provides potential for strong prospective total returns. In addition, investors demonstrated a willingness throughout 2023 to support the asset class at elevated yield levels and we expect this support to continue in the new year, providing a backstop for spread widening. Finally, while maturity walls inch closer, capital markets should be receptive considering the higher-quality nature of near-term debt and minimal distress priced into markets.

At Barings, we remain committed to focusing on corporate fundamentals as market sentiment can change quickly and unexpectedly. Our focused and disciplined approach emphasizes our fundamental bottom-up research, with the goal of preserving investor capital while seeking to capture attractive capital appreciation opportunities that may exist through market and economic cycles. On behalf of the Barings team, we continue to take a long-term view of investing despite the recent economic challenges and look forward to helping you achieve your investment goals.

Sincerely,

 

Sean Feeley

 

 

1.

Ratings are based on Moody’s, S&P and Fitch. If securities are rated differently by the rating agencies, the higher rating is applied and all ratings are converted to the equivalent Moody’s major rating category for purposes of the category shown. Credit ratings are based largely on the rating agency’s investment analysis at the time of rating and the rating assigned to any particular security is not necessarily a reflection of the issuer’s current financial condition. The rating assigned to a security by a rating agency does not necessarily reflect its assessment of the volatility of the security’s market value or of the liquidity of an investment in the security. Ratings of Baa3 or higher by Moody’s and BBB- or higher by S&P and Fitch are considered to be investment grade quality.

 

2.	Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher. All performance is net of fees, which is inclusive of advisory fees, administrator fees and interest expenses.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

PORTFOLIO COMPOSITION (% OF ASSETS*)

 

 

 

*	The percentages shown above represent a percentage of the assets as of December 31, 2023.

COUNTRY COMPOSITION (% OF ASSETS*)

 

 

 

*	The percentages shown above represent a percentage of the assets as of December 31, 2023.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

 

AVERAGE ANNUAL RETURNS DECEMBER 31, 2023		1 YEAR				5 YEAR				10 YEAR
Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund (BGH)			18.09	%			6.29	%			4.69	%
ICE Bank of America Non-Financial Developed Markets High Yield Constrained Index (HNDC)			13.60	%			4.65	%			5.63	%

Data for Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund (the “Fund”) represents returns based on the change in the Fund’s net asset value assuming the reinvestment of all dividends and distributions. These returns differ from the total investment return based on market value of the Fund’s shares due to the difference between the Fund’s net asset value of its shares outstanding (See the Fund’s Financial Highlights within this report for total investment return based on market value). Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

ICE Bank of America Non-Financial Developed Markets High Yield Constrained Index (HNDC) contains all securities in the ICE Bank of America Global High Yield Index that are non-financials and from developed markets countries, but caps issuer exposure at 2%. Developed markets is defined as an FX G10 member, a Western European nation, or a territory of the U.S. or a Western European nation. Indices are unmanaged. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or the redemption of the Fund shares.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

FINANCIAL REPORT

 

 

Statement of Assets and Liabilities		7
Statement of Operations		8
Statement of Cash Flows		9
Statements of Changes in Net Assets		10
Financial Highlights		11
Schedule of Investments		12-23
Notes to the Financial Statements		24-37
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm		38
Results of Shareholder Meeting		39
Interested Trustee		40
Officers of the Fund		42
Approval of Investment Management Agreement and Sub-Advisory Agreement		44
Fund Dividend Reinvestment Plan		46
Joint Privacy Notice		47

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

 

 

		DECEMBER 31, 2023
Assets
Investments, at fair value (cost $434,470,378)		$	402,010,748
Cash and cash equivalents			14,287,905
Foreign currency, at fair value (cost $353,640)			363,876
Interest receivable			9,019,428
Receivable for investments sold			1,730,229
Prepaid expenses and other assets			79,506
Total assets			427,491,692
Liabilities
Credit facility			109,500,000
Payable for investments purchased			7,628,999
Dividend payable			2,118,791
Payable to adviser			294,057
Excise tax payable on undistributed income			1,038,466
Unrealized depreciation on forward foreign exchange contracts			1,043,070
Accrued expenses and other liabilities			885,053
Total liabilities			122,508,436
Total net assets		$	304,983,256
Net assets:
Common shares, $0.00001 par value		$	201
Additional paid-in capital			465,778,590
Total accumulated loss			(160,795,535	)
Total net assets		$	304,983,256
Common shares issued and outstanding (unlimited shares authorized)			20,064,313
Net asset value per share		$	15.20

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

 

 

		YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2023
Investment Income
Interest income		$	40,916,370
Dividend income (net of foreign taxes withheld of $55)			87,862
Other income			2,988
Total investment income			41,007,220
Operating Expenses
Interest expense			6,105,722
Advisory fees			3,401,105
Accounting and administration fees			444,469
Other operating expenses			225,706
Professional fees			284,171
Trustee fees			126,250
Excise tax on undistributed income			1,038,466
Total expenses			11,625,889
Net investment income			29,381,331
Realized losses and unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments and foreign currency related transactions
Net realized loss on investments			(13,785,967	)
Net realized loss on forward foreign exchange contracts			(116,212	)
Net realized loss on foreign currency related transactions			(432,359	)
Net realized loss on investments, forward foreign exchange contracts and foreign currency transactions			(14,334,538	)
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments			33,510,950
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on forward foreign exchange contracts			(839,727	)
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on foreign currency transactions			(20,089	)
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments, forward foreign exchange contracts and foreign currency transactions			32,651,134
Net realized loss and unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments and foreign currency transactions			18,316,596
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations		$	47,697,927

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

 

 

		YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2023
Cash flows from operating activities
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations		$	47,697,927
Adjustments to reconcile net increase in net assets resulting from operations to net cash provided by operating activities:
Purchases of long-term investments			(203,761,227	)
Proceeds from sales of long-term investments			197,716,353
Proceeds from short-term investments			15,000,000
Net change in unrealized appreciation on investments			(33,510,950	)
Net change in unrealized depreciation on foreign currency transactions			20,089
Net realized loss on investments			12,731,850
Net realized loss on forward foreign exchange contracts			116,212
Net realized loss on foreign currency related transactions			432,359
Amortization and accretion			(1,719,158	)
Net change in unrealized depreciation on forward foreign exchange contracts			839,727
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Increase in interest and dividend receivable			(180,976	)
Increase in prepaid expenses and other assets			(52,485	)
Increase in payable to Adviser			4,632
Increase in excise tax payable on undistributed income			20,988
Decrease in accrued expenses and other liabilities			(28,938	)
Net cash provided by operating activities			35,326,403
Cash flows from financing activities
Advances from credit facility			19,000,000
Repayments on credit facility			(18,000,000	)
Distributions paid to common shareholders			(28,756,173	)
Net cash used in financing activities			(27,756,173	)
Net change in cash and cash equivalents			7,570,230
Cash and cash equivalents (including foreign currency), beginning of year			7,081,551
Cash and cash equivalents (including foreign currency), end of year		$	14,651,781
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information
Excise taxes paid		$	1,017,478
Interest paid			6,000,128

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

 

 

		YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2023				YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022
Operations
Net investment income		$	29,381,331			$	29,393,217
Net realized loss on investments, forward foreign exchange contracts and foreign currency transactions			(14,334,538	)			(8,537,949	)
Net change in unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments, forward foreign exchange contracts and foreign currency translation			32,651,134				(68,060,177	)
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations			47,697,927				(47,204,909	)
Distributions to common shareholders
From distributable earnings			(28,756,173	)			(25,425,498	)
Total Distributions to common shareholders			(28,756,173	)			(25,425,498	)
Total increase (decrease) in net assets			18,941,754				(72,630,407	)
Net assets
Beginning of year			286,041,502				358,671,909
End of year		$	304,983,256			$	286,041,502

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

		YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2023				YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022				YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021				YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020				YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019
Per Common Share Data
Net asset value, beginning of year		$	14.26			$	17.88			$	16.68			$	18.32			$	18.28
Income from investment operations:
Net investment income			1.49				1.46				1.72				1.59				1.87
Net realized gain (loss) and unrealized appreciation/depreciation on investments and foreign currency transactions			0.88				(3.81	)			0.75				(1.86	)			(0.05	)
Total increase (decrease) from investment operations			2.37				(2.35	)			2.47				(0.27	)			1.82
Less distributions to common stockholders:
Net investment income			(1.43	)			(1.27	)			(1.27	)			(1.37	)			(1.78	)
Total distributions to common stockholders			(1.43	)			(1.27	)			(1.27	)			(1.37	)			(1.78	)
Net asset value, end of year		$	15.20			$	14.26			$	17.88			$	16.68			$	18.32
Per common share market value, end of year		$	13.44			$	12.68			$	17.34			$	15.09			$	17.53
Total investment return based on net asset value (1)			19.23	%			(12.88	)%			15.71	%			0.79	%			10.77	%
Total investment return based on market value (1)			18.09	%			(19.98	)%			23.97	%			(4.65	)%			21.45	%
Supplemental Data and Ratios
Net assets, end of year (000’s)		$	304,983			$	286,042			$	358,672			$	334,576			$	367,649
Ratio of expenses (before reductions and reimbursements) to average net assets			3.95	%			2.73	%			2.17	%			2.32	%			3.00	%
Ratio of expenses (after reductions and reimbursements) to average net assets			3.95	%			2.60	%			1.95	%			2.23	%			3.00	%
Ratio of net investment income (before reductions and reimbursements) to average net assets			9.98	%			9.17	%			8.54	%			10.53	%			10.22	%
Ratio of net investment income (after reductions and reimbursements) to average net assets			9.98	%			9.31	%			8.76	%			10.61	%			10.22	%
Portfolio turnover rate			49.94	%			34.04	%			52.08	%			42.21	%			52.25	%

 

 

 

(1)

Total investment return calculation assumes reinvestment of dividends at actual prices pursuant to the Fund’s dividend reinvestment plan. Total investment return does not reflect brokerage commissions.

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS

 

December 31, 2023

 

										SHARES				COST				FAIR VALUE
Equities* — 0.60%:
Common Stocks — 0.56%:
Flint Group Ordinary A Shares Stapled to 2L¤+											1,395,572				$149				$0
ESC CB 144A High Ridge											2,982				0				0
KCA Deutag Ordinary A Shares											25,580				1,103,387				1,711,302
Travelex Private Equity Stapled to 12.5% New Money Notes¤+											16,764				1				0
Naviera Armas Class B2 Shares Stapled to 1.5L SSNS¤+											169				0				0
Naviera Armas Class B3 Shares¤+											1,194				0				0
Naviera Armas Class A3 Shares¤+											937				0				0
Naviera Armas Class A2 Shares Stapled to 1.5L SSNS¤+											133				0				0
Total Common Stocks											1,443,331				1,103,537				1,711,302
Warrant — 0.04%:
Travelex Topco Limited+											2,218				0				113,087
Total Warrant											2,218				0				113,087
Total Equities											1,445,549				1,103,537				1,824,389
		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Fixed Income — 131.21%:
Asset-Backed Securities — 14.55%:
CDO/CLO — 14.55%:
610 FDG 2016-2R CLO LTD, 3M SOFR + 7.250%+~^#			12.93	%			1/20/2034				$1,550,000				$1,534,190				$1,483,386
Anchorage Capital 2016-9A ER2, 3M SOFR + 6.820%+~^#			12.48				7/15/2032				1,500,000				1,485,000				1,466,607
Anchorage Capital CLO LTD 2013-1R, 3M SOFR + 6.800%+~^#			12.46				10/13/2030				1,000,000				977,213				1,000,235
Anchorage Capital CLO LTD 2021-20 E, 3M SOFR + 7.350%+~^#			13.03				1/20/2035				1,000,000				980,000				940,113
Ares CLO LTD 2013-27R2, 3M SOFR + 6.750%+~^#			12.40				10/28/2034				1,700,000				1,683,000				1,679,802
Bain CAP CR CLO 2020-2R LTD, 3M SOFR + 6.610%+~^#			12.27				7/19/2034				1,000,000				990,000				930,152
Ballyrock CLO LTD 2019-2R, 3M SOFR + 6.500%+~^#			12.13				11/20/2030				2,000,000				2,000,000				2,000,100
BlueMountain CLO LTD 2018-23A, 3M SOFR + 5.650%+~^#			11.33				10/20/2031				1,000,000				1,000,000				953,055
Canyon CLO LTD 2019-2R, 3M SOFR + 6.750%+~^#			12.41				10/15/2034				1,000,000				1,000,000				950,629
Carbone CLO, LTD 2017-1A, 3M SOFR + 5.900%+~^#			11.58				1/20/2031				750,000				750,000				723,648
Carlyle US CLO LTD 2019-3R, 3M SOFR + 6.750%+~^#			12.43				10/20/2032				1,000,000				1,000,000				997,196

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Asset-Backed Securities (Continued)
CDO/CLO — (Continued)
Carlyle Global Market Strategies 2017-5A, 3M SOFR + 5.300%+~^#			10.98	%			1/20/2030			$	700,000			$	700,000			$	641,103
CIFC Funding 2020-1 LTD, 3M SOFR + 6.250%+~^#			11.91				7/15/2036				1,900,000				1,900,000				1,878,566
Galaxy CLO LTD 2017-24A, 3M SOFR + 5.500%+~^#			11.16				1/15/2031				1,000,000				1,000,000				950,153
GoldenTree Loan Management 2018-3A, 3M SOFR + 6.500%+~^#			12.18				4/20/2030				1,500,000				1,471,617				1,253,293
GoldenTree Loan Opportunities XI LTD 2015-11A, 3M SOFR + 5.400%+~^#			11.06				1/18/2031				500,000				500,000				492,522
KKR Financial CLO LTD 2017-20, 3M SOFR + 5.500%+~^#			11.16				10/16/2030				1,500,000				1,500,000				1,402,443
KKR Financial CLO LTD 34-2, 3M SOFR + 6.850%+~^#			12.51				7/15/2034				2,000,000				1,980,000				1,928,814
KVK 2016-1A ER2, 3M SOFR + 7.350%+~^#			13.01				10/15/2034				3,000,000				2,970,000				2,483,400
LCM LTD 2031-30, 3M SOFR + 6.500%+~^#			12.18				4/20/2031				1,100,000				1,100,000				1,054,560
Madison Park Funding LTD 2015-19A, 3M SOFR + 4.350%+~^#			10.02				1/22/2028				1,000,000				1,000,000				1,000,000
Madison Park Funding LTD 2018-29A, 3M SOFR + 7.570%+~^			13.23				10/18/2030				2,000,000				1,960,000				1,886,678
Madison Park Funding LTD XXXV 2019-35R E-R, 3M SOFR + 6.100%+~^#			11.78				4/20/2032				1,400,000				1,400,000				1,399,951
Madison Park Funding LTD 2019-32R E-R, 3M SOFR + 6.200%+~^#			11.87				1/22/2031				1,000,000				1,000,000				999,074
Magnetite CLO LTD 2016-18A, 3M SOFR + 7.600%+~^#			13.24				11/15/2028				1,400,000				1,386,000				1,341,080
Octagon 2021-57 LTD, 3M SOFR + 6.600%+~^#			12.26				10/15/2034				1,500,000				1,500,000				1,456,252
OHA Credit Partners LTD 2015-11A, 3M LSOFR + 7.900%+~^#			13.58				1/20/2032				2,000,000				1,970,323				1,827,162
OHA Loan Funding LTD 2013-1A, 3M SOFR + 7.900%+~^#			13.57				7/23/2031				1,500,000				1,477,500				1,461,349
Sound Point CLO XVIII 2018-18D, 3M SOFR + 5.500%+~^#			11.18				1/21/2031				2,000,000				2,000,000				1,341,486
Sound Point CLO LTD 2020-27R, 3M SOFR + 6.560% E-R+~^#			12.20				10/25/2034				1,400,000				1,372,000				1,198,431
Sound Point CLO LTD Series 2020-1A Class ER, 3M SOFR + 6.860%+~^#			12.54				7/20/2034				1,600,000				1,584,000				1,376,813
TICP CLO LTD 2018-10A, 3M SOFR + 5.500%+~^#			11.18				4/20/2031				1,000,000				966,216				962,019
Wellfleet CLO LTD 2017-3A, 3M SOFR + 5.550%+~^#			11.21				1/17/2031				1,500,000				1,500,000				1,143,091

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

13

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Asset-Backed Securities (Continued)
CDO/CLO — (Continued)
Wind River 2017-1A ER, 3M SOFR + 7.060%+~^#			12.72	%			4/18/2036			$	2,000,000			$	1,960,000			$	1,784,024
Total CDO/CLO											48,000,000				47,597,059				44,387,187
Total Asset-Backed Securities											48,000,000				47,597,059				44,387,187
Bank Loans§ — 15.76%:
Beverage, Food and Tobacco — 0.73%:
8th Avenue Food & Provisions, 3M SOFR + 7.7500%~			13.22				10/1/2026				368,204				256,941				290,653
Dessert Holdings, 3M SOFR + 7.2500%~			12.71				6/8/2029				1,000,000				982,700				835,000
Florida Food Products 2nd Lien T/L, 3M SOFR + 8.0000%¤~			13.46				10/18/2029				1,500,000				1,463,333				1,095,000
Total Beverage, Food and Tobacco											2,868,204				2,702,974				2,220,653
Broadcasting and Entertainment — 0.48%:
Learfield Communications, Inc., 3M SOFR + 5.5000%			10.85				6/30/2028				1,524,000				1,466,850				1,466,850
Total Broadcasting and Entertainment											1,524,000				1,466,850				1,466,850
Cargo Transport — 0.83%:
Worldwide Express 2nd Lien T/L, 3M SOFR + 7.0000%~			12.50				7/26/2029				3,000,000				2,955,227				2,535,000
Total Cargo Transport											3,000,000				2,955,227				2,535,000
Chemicals, Plastics and Rubber — 0.38%:
Flint Group 2L, 3M EURIBOR + 6.9000% PIK and 0.1000% Cash~¤+			10.93				12/31/2027				1,544,116				265,461				154,412
LSF 11 A5 Holdco LLC, 3M SOFR + 3.5000%~			8.96				9/29/2028				994,937				988,718				995,564
Total Chemicals, Plastics and Rubber											2,539,053				1,254,179				1,149,976
Diversified/Conglomerate Manufacturing — 1.78%:
Belfor, 3M SOFR + 3.7500%~			9.10				10/31/2030				813,954				805,814				815,484
CP Iris Holdco I 2nd Lien T/L (IPS), 3M SOFR + 7.0000%~			12.45				9/21/2029				2,398,019				2,374,039				2,152,222
SunSource, Inc., 3M SOFR + 8.0000%~			13.45				4/30/2026				2,500,000				2,507,245				2,468,750
Total Diversified/Conglomerate Manufacturing											5,711,973				5,687,098				5,436,456
Diversified/Conglomerate Service — 1.91%:
Evertec, 3M SOFR + 3.5000%¤~			8.85				10/31/2030				1,983,471				1,953,719				1,985,950
Internet Brands, Inc., 3M SOFR + 4.2500%~			9.60				4/20/2028				1,423,706				1,383,168				1,397,410
Quest Software, 3M SOFR + 7.5000%~			9.77				1/19/2029				724,620				515,339				550,508
Quest Software, 3M SOFR + 7.5000%~			13.18				1/18/2030				879,573				868,578				519,572
Sonicwall, Inc., 3M SOFR + 7.5000%~			13.01				5/18/2026				1,506,038				1,498,508				1,369,079
Total Diversified/Conglomerate Service											6,517,408				6,219,312				5,822,519

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

14

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Bank Loans§ (Continued)
Ecological — 0.39%:
Patriot Container 2nd Lien T/L, 3M SOFR + 7.7500%~			13.20	%			3/20/2026			$	1,400,000			$	1,346,008			$	1,204,000
Total Ecological											1,400,000				1,346,008				1,204,000
Electronics — 1.44%:
McAfee Enterprise 2nd Lien T/L, 3M SOFR + 8.2500%~			13.89				5/3/2029				11,567,000				11,488,073				4,395,460
Total Electronics											11,567,000				11,488,073				4,395,460
Finance — 1.02%:
Cetera Financial Group, 3M SOFR + 4.5000%~			10.06				8/9/2030				1,963,922				1,905,454				1,959,680
GIP Pilot Acquisition Partners, L.P., 3M SOFR + 3.0000%~			8.39				9/30/2030				1,166,975				1,161,140				1,166,006
Total Finance											3,130,897				3,066,594				3,125,686
Healthcare, Education and Childcare — 1.72%:
Bausch Health Cos Inc., 3M SOFR + 4.0000%~			9.35				9/14/2028				3,145,034				3,113,584				3,133,240
LifePoint Health, 3M SOFR + 5.5000%~			11.17				11/16/2028				876,552				875,457				872,827
Medical Solutions T/L, 3M SOFR + 7.0000%~			12.52				9/22/2027				1,473,684				1,458,947				1,236,053
Total Healthcare, Education and Childcare											5,495,270				5,447,988				5,242,120
Hotels, Motels, Inns and Gaming — 0.61%:
Four Seasons Holdings, Inc., 3M SOFR + 3.2500%~			7.92				11/30/2029				1,851,439				1,824,564				1,856,530
Total Hotels, Motels, Inns and Gaming											1,851,439				1,824,564				1,856,530
Machinery Non-Agricultural, Non-Construction, Non-Electronic — 0.50%:
Barnes Group, Inc., 3M SOFR + 3.0000%~			8.45				8/12/2030				1,520,767				1,510,424				1,523,808
Total Machinery Non-Agricultural, Non-Construction, Non-Electronic											1,520,767				1,510,424				1,523,808
Mining, Steel, Iron and Non Precious Metals — 0.38%:
Arsenal AIC Parent LLC, 3M SOFR + 4.5000%~			9.85				7/26/2030				1,151,700				1,140,183				1,154,936
Total Mining, Steel, Iron and Non Precious Metals											1,151,700				1,140,183				1,154,936
Packaging and Containers — 0.99%:
Pretium Package Holdings 2nd Lien T/L (9/21), 3M SOFR + 6.7500%~			12.21				9/21/2029				2,770,637				2,763,527				1,035,027
Valcour Packaging (MOLD-RITE) 2nd Lien T/L, 3M SOFR + 7.0000%~			12.46				9/30/2029				5,000,000				4,950,000				1,975,000
Total Packaging and Containers											7,770,637				7,713,527				3,010,027
Personal Transportation — 0.05%:
Anarafe SLU Facility C, 3M EURIBOR + 10.0000% Cash, 5.00% PIK¤+~			15.00				6/30/2025				40,015				43,465				41,966

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

15

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Bank Loans§ (Continued)
Personal Transportation — (Continued)
Anarafe SLU Facility F, 3M EURIBOR + 10.0000% Cash, 5.00% PIK¤+~			15.00	%			6/30/2025			$	88,869			$	88,888			$	85,059
Anarafe SLU Facility A, 3M EURIBOR + 10.0000% Cash, 5.00% PIK¤+~			15.00				6/30/2025				19,213				19,896				20,149
Total Personal Transportation											148,097				152,249				147,174
Printing and Publishing — 0.30%:
Nielsen Holdings Ltd., 3M SOFR + 5.0000%~			10.40				4/11/2029				993,758				903,317				905,562
Total Printing and Publishing											993,758				903,317				905,562
Telecommunication — 1.58%:
BMC Software, 3M SOFR + 4.2500%~			9.60				12/31/2028				3,816,155				3,798,619				3,838,098
BMC Software~			10.40				6/28/2029				1,000,000				987,126				990,630
Total Telecommunication											4,816,155				4,785,745				4,828,728
Utilities — 0.67%:
Invenergy Thermal Operating I LLC, 3M SOFR + 4.5000%~			9.93				8/4/2029				1,881,912				1,844,489				1,879,560
Invenergy Thermal Operating I LLC, 3M SOFR + 4.5000%~			9.93				8/4/2029				155,530				152,437				155,336
Total Utilities											2,037,442				1,996,926				2,034,896
Total Bank Loans											64,043,800				61,661,238				48,060,381
Corporate Bonds — 100.90%:
Aerospace and Defense — 2.12%:
American Airlines^#			8.50				5/15/2029				858,000				858,000				905,937
Spirit AeroSystems Inc^			9.75				11/15/2030				1,696,000				1,696,000				1,823,716
Triumph Group, Inc.^			9.00				3/15/2028				886,000				886,000				941,950
Triumph Group, Inc.			7.75				8/15/2025				2,789,000				2,764,212				2,781,969
Total Aerospace and Defense											6,229,000				6,204,212				6,453,572
Automobile — 3.70%:
Adient PLC+^			8.25				4/15/2031				870,000				870,000				921,088
Faurecia SE+#			7.25				6/15/2026				721,000				788,409				842,708
Ford Motor Company			9.63				4/22/2030				5,000,000				5,842,432				5,898,468
INA-Holding Schaeffler GmbH & Co KG+#			8.75				5/15/2028				2,350,000				2,530,941				2,821,095
RAC Group Holdings Limited+#			8.25				11/6/2028				575,000				701,127				788,953
Total Automobile											9,516,000				10,732,909				11,272,312
Banking — 0.37%:
Macquarie Airfinance Holdings Ltd.+^			8.13				3/30/2029				281,000				281,000				293,708
Macquarie Airfinance Holdings Ltd.+^			8.38				5/1/2028				788,000				788,000				825,312
Total Banking											1,069,000				1,069,000				1,119,020

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

16

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Corporate Bonds (Continued)
Broadcasting and Entertainment — 5.45%:
Banijay+			6.50	%			3/1/2026			$	3,700,000			$	3,901,405			$	4,072,067
Clear Channel Worldwide Holdings Inc.^			9.00				9/15/2028				708,000				708,000				738,773
Clear Channel Worldwide Holdings Inc.^#			7.75				4/15/2028				3,337,000				3,402,977				2,875,734
Dish Dbs Corporation#			7.38				7/1/2028				6,000,000				5,484,608				3,586,667
Dish Network Corporation^			11.75				11/15/2027				1,770,000				1,765,944				1,853,082
iHeartCommunications, Inc.			8.38				5/1/2027				607,000				610,230				393,989
Inmarsat Finance PLC+^			6.75				10/1/2026				1,500,000				1,453,420				1,491,225
Reorganized ISA SA+^			6.50				3/15/2030				1,000,000				914,639				952,683
Townsquare Media, LLC^			6.88				2/1/2026				659,000				668,189				645,556
Total Broadcasting and Entertainment											19,281,000				18,909,412				16,609,776
Buildings and Real Estate — 6.07%:
BlueLinx^#			6.00				11/15/2029				1,101,000				1,000,067				1,018,899
Knife River Corporation^			7.75				5/1/2031				2,107,000				2,123,450				2,243,140
Maison Hold Limited+			6.00				10/31/2027				1,045,000				1,419,991				1,148,191
New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co.^			9.75				7/15/2028				11,859,000				12,029,606				11,859,000
Service Properties Trust^			8.63				11/15/2031				545,000				537,316				570,972
Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete^			8.88				11/15/2031				1,583,000				1,583,000				1,664,225
Total Buildings and Real Estate											18,240,000				18,693,430				18,504,427
Cargo Transport — 4.16%:
Atlas Corporation+^#			5.50				8/1/2029				4,786,000				3,978,132				4,003,869
Carriage Purchaser Inc.^#			7.88				10/15/2029				7,106,000				6,387,665				5,817,784
Railworks Hldgs Lp / Railworks Sr^			8.25				11/15/2028				2,881,000				2,821,297				2,852,190
Total Cargo Transport											14,773,000				13,187,094				12,673,843
Chemicals, Plastics and Rubber — 5.45%:
Consolidated Energy Finance SA+^			6.50				5/15/2026				492,000				447,955				444,030
LSF11 A5 Holdco LLC^#			6.63				10/15/2029				4,448,000				3,985,515				3,761,387
Monitchem HoldCo+#			8.75				5/1/2028				300,000				328,904				337,332
Monitchem HoldCo, 3M EURIBOR + 5.2500%+~#			9.18				5/1/2028				215,000				230,517				239,129
Olympus Water US Holding Corporation^			7.13				10/1/2027				1,500,000				1,482,940				1,501,680
Olympus Water US Holding Corporation^#			6.25				10/1/2029				2,348,000				2,179,250				2,084,651
Prince^#			9.00				2/15/2030				3,689,000				3,687,540				2,895,274
Proman AG+^			5.63				10/15/2028				3,427,000				2,993,686				2,901,915
SI Group^#			6.75				5/15/2026				1,176,000				1,035,449				376,320
Windsor Holdings III LLC^			8.50				6/15/2030				2,000,000				2,000,000				2,090,056
Total Chemicals, Plastics and Rubber											19,595,000				18,371,756				16,631,774
Containers, Packaging and Glass — 5.42%:
Ardagh Packaging+			4.75				7/15/2027				100,000				108,367				92,161
Novolex Holdings, Inc.^			8.75				4/15/2030				7,423,000				6,791,026				6,920,958
Packaging Holdings Ltd.^#			7.13				8/15/2028				1,775,000				1,558,148				1,597,500
SCI Packaging Inc.^			7.88				8/15/2026				5,197,000				5,197,000				5,288,436

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

17

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Corporate Bonds (Continued)
Containers, Packaging and Glass — (Continued)
SCI Packaging Inc.^			9.25	%			4/15/2027			$	1,327,000			$	1,228,600			$	1,302,480
Titan Holdings II+			5.13				7/15/2029				113,000				133,866				106,658
Trident Parent, LLC^			12.75				12/31/2028				1,151,000				1,156,032				1,231,570
Total Containers, Packaging, and Glass											17,086,000				16,173,039				16,539,763
Diversified/Conglomerate Manufacturing — 0.62%:
Heat Exchangers+			7.78				10/9/2025				652,344				707,298				667,841
United Site Services^#			8.00				11/15/2029				2,397,000				2,374,500				1,222,470
Total Diversified/Conglomerate Manufacturing											3,049,344				3,081,798				1,890,311
Diversified/Conglomerate Service — 8.48%:
Albion Fing 1 S A R L & Aggre Sr+^			8.75				4/15/2027				1,800,000				1,807,263				1,773,000
AMS Osram AG+#			10.50				3/30/2029				2,000,000				2,148,336				2,395,015
Apcoa Parking Holdings+			4.63				1/15/2027				385,000				455,648				398,547
Engineering Group+#			11.13				5/15/2028				1,485,000				1,627,861				1,749,973
Global Infrastructure Solutions, Inc.^			7.50				4/15/2032				5,298,000				4,767,074				4,885,435
Libra Group Bhd+			5.00				5/15/2027				700,000				850,082				743,785
Presidio, Inc.^			8.25				2/1/2028				5,462,000				5,423,255				5,518,248
Sabre Holdings Corporation^			11.25				12/15/2027				317,000				312,101				311,462
Summer BC Holdco+			9.25				10/31/2027				1,666,932				2,084,645				1,637,783
Verisure Midholding AB+#			7.13				2/1/2028				915,000				994,381				1,060,501
Verisure Midholding+			5.25				2/15/2029				3,575,000				4,323,356				3,759,149
Veritas Bermuda Ltd.^			7.50				9/1/2025				1,958,000				1,834,398				1,616,467
Total Diversified/Conglomerate Service											25,561,932				26,628,400				25,849,365
Finance — 9.17%:
Avolon Holdings+^			6.50				9/15/2024				3,214,964				3,002,493				3,022,066
Cerved Group, 3M EURIBOR + 5.250%+~			9.18				2/15/2029				477,000				542,554				508,837
Cetera Financial Group^			10.00				8/15/2030				1,107,000				1,107,000				1,176,354
CPUK FINANCE LTD+#			5.88				8/28/2027				235,000				292,809				306,486
Galaxy Bidco Ltd.+			6.50				7/31/2026				500,000				664,453				615,018
GTCR W Dutch Finance Sub B.V.^			7.50				1/15/2031				434,000				434,000				458,617
Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. (HASI)^#			8.00				6/15/2027				428,000				428,000				445,670
Icahn Enterprises LP#			6.38				12/15/2025				5,451,000				5,316,678				5,351,531
Icahn Enterprises LP#			6.25				5/15/2026				1,762,000				1,662,398				1,680,944
OneMain Finance Corporation#			7.88				3/15/2030				600,000				596,478				617,697
OneMain Finance Corporation+#			4.50				8/28/2027				965,000				1,021,190				1,082,397
PRA Group^#			5.00				10/1/2029				3,835,000				2,830,983				3,162,690
PRA Group^			7.38				9/1/2025				473,000				431,197				468,294
PRA Group^#			8.38				2/1/2028				4,518,000				4,268,396				4,349,546
Travelex(12.50%PIK)¤+			12.50				8/5/2025				3,037,988				3,923,064				4,511,307
Travelex¤+#>			8.00				5/15/2024				4,600,000				5,097,344				0
TVL FINANCE PLC, 3M EURIBOR + 5.5000%+~#			9.45				4/28/2028				200,000				217,342				224,786
Total Finance											31,837,952				31,836,379				27,982,240

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

18

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Corporate Bonds (Continued)
Healthcare, Education and Childcare — 6.84%:
AdaptHealth LLC^#			4.63	%			8/1/2029			$	602,000			$	499,899			$	464,442
AdaptHealth LLC^#			5.13				3/1/2030				2,729,000				2,341,280				2,130,093
Bausch Health Companies Inc.+^			8.38				10/1/2028				296,000				296,000				312,262
Bausch Health Companies Inc.+^			9.00				12/15/2025				846,000				844,943				790,494
Bausch Health Companies Inc.+^			9.00				1/30/2028				337,000				673,270				328,609
Bausch Health Companies Inc.+^			11.00				9/30/2028				598,000				1,036,213				434,734
Bausch Health Companies Inc.+^			14.00				10/15/2030				118,000				151,158				64,810
Cidron Aida Finco+			6.25				4/1/2028				1,650,000				2,275,266				1,975,255
Community Health System Inc.^#			10.88				1/15/2032				1,650,000				1,650,000				1,728,248
Community Health System Inc.^			6.88				4/15/2029				286,000				286,000				187,390
Consensus Cloud Solutions Inc.^			6.50				10/15/2028				717,000				625,060				650,359
LifePoint Health Inc.^			9.88				8/15/2030				2,140,000				2,138,189				2,162,214
LifePoint Health Inc.^			11.00				10/15/2030				1,785,000				1,785,000				1,880,205
Neogen Corporation^			8.63				7/20/2030				2,298,000				2,315,601				2,458,906
Nidda BondCo GmbH+#			7.50				8/21/2026				500,000				514,818				567,836
Radiology Partners Inc.^			9.25				2/1/2028				6,061,000				6,355,465				3,103,535
RP Escrow Issuer LLC^#			5.25				12/15/2025				2,035,000				1,532,609				1,628,188
Total Healthcare, Education and Childcare											24,648,000				25,320,771				20,867,580
Home and Office Furnishings, Housewares, and Durable Consumer Products — 0.83%:
Staples Inc.^			10.75				4/15/2027				3,478,000				3,550,446				2,534,878
Total Home and Office Furnishings, Housewares, and Durable Consumer Products											3,478,000				3,550,446				2,534,878
Hotels, Motels, Inns and Gaming — 0.07%:
SANI/IKOS Financial Holdings+#			5.63				12/15/2026				215,000				253,957				223,583
Total Lodging											215,000				253,957				223,583
Leisure, Amusement, Entertainment — 3.13%:
Allegiant Travel Co.^			7.25				8/15/2027				2,810,000				2,778,907				2,749,420
Carnival Corp.+^			7.00				8/15/2029				183,000				183,000				191,168
Carnival Corp.+^#			6.00				5/1/2029				1,873,000				1,530,516				1,801,648
Center Parcs+#			6.50				8/28/2026				825,000				1,151,050				1,014,721
Center Parcs+#			6.14				8/28/2031				235,000				292,798				310,971
Motion Topco Limited+#			7.38				6/15/2030				1,600,000				1,723,284				1,801,791
Ontario Gaming GTA LP+^			8.00				8/1/2030				694,000				700,680				715,687
Silk TopCo AS+			3.38				2/24/2025				950,000				874,584				954,153
Total Leisure, Amusement, Entertainment											9,170,000				9,234,819				9,539,559
Machinery (Non-Agriculture, Non-Construct, Non-Electronic) — 1.03%:
Emerald JV Holdings LP^			6.63				12/15/2030				2,371,000				2,371,000				2,421,668
Harsco Corp.^#			5.75				7/31/2027				793,000				704,566				739,415
Total Machinery (Non-Agriculture, Non-Construct, Non-Electronic)											3,164,000				3,075,566				3,161,083

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Corporate Bonds (Continued)
Mining, Steel, Iron and Non-Precious Metals — 7.23%:
Arsenal AIC Parent LLC^			8.00	%			10/1/2030			$	1,182,000			$	1,180,155			$	1,233,252
Coronado Global Resources Inc.+^			10.75				5/15/2026				4,846,000				5,072,157				5,048,624
First Quantum Minerals+^			7.50				4/1/2025				7,774,000				7,649,906				7,427,408
First Quantum Minerals+^			6.88				10/15/2027				200,000				200,000				169,969
First Quantum Minerals+^			8.63				6/1/2031				4,045,000				4,045,000				3,429,675
Hecla Mining Company			7.25				2/15/2028				4,699,000				4,956,582				4,730,378
Total Mining, Steel, Iron and Non-Precious Metals											22,746,000				23,103,800				22,039,306
Oil and Gas — 17.60%:
AmeriGas Partners LP^			9.38				6/1/2028				1,273,000				1,273,000				1,314,834
Calumet Specialty Products^			9.25				7/15/2024				2,850,000				2,832,042				2,850,000
CGG SA+			7.75				4/1/2027				1,500,000				1,787,033				1,520,063
Energy Transfer LP~#			6.50				11/15/2172				3,440,000				3,147,600				3,268,963
Energy Transfer LP~#			7.13				5/15/2172				2,211,000				1,890,405				2,037,389
Enlink Midstream Partners LP			5.60				4/1/2044				5,413,000				3,631,396				4,707,354
Enlink Midstream Partners LP#			5.45				6/1/2047				3,000,000				2,402,234				2,617,500
Genesis Energy LP			7.75				2/1/2028				3,408,000				3,213,780				3,419,850
Genesis Energy LP			8.00				1/15/2027				2,639,000				2,639,388				2,684,953
Genesis Energy LP			8.88				4/15/2030				1,000,000				979,463				1,033,626
Harvest Midstream I LP^			7.50				9/1/2028				4,015,000				3,973,948				3,992,820
IMTT^#			6.50				8/1/2029				6,018,000				5,663,686				5,323,764
KCA Deutag+			9.88				12/1/2025				1,179,286				1,179,286				1,192,621
KCA Deutag International Limited(15.00%PIK)+			15.00				12/1/2027				991,351				991,352				1,001,265
KCA Deutag, 3M SOFR + 9.0000%+~			14.46				12/1/2025				1,343,874				1,343,874				1,357,313
Nabors Industries LTD^			9.13				1/31/2030				246,000				246,000				246,999
NGL Energy Finance Corp.^			7.50				2/1/2026				4,203,000				4,236,766				4,245,215
Occidental Pete Corp.			8.50				7/15/2027				4,523,000				4,553,376				4,933,568
Var Energi+~#			7.86				11/15/2083				1,350,000				1,440,675				1,585,010
Waldorf Production UK LD+#			9.75				10/1/2024				1,139,956				1,136,139				1,108,607
Weatherford Intl Ltd Bermuda Sr Glbl+^			8.63				4/30/2030				3,092,000				3,105,579				3,227,652
Total Oil and Gas											54,835,467				51,667,022				53,669,366
Personal, Food, and Miscellaneous — 0.44%:
Brinker International^			8.25				7/15/2030				998,000				997,288				1,043,988
Raising Cane’s Restaurants LLC^			9.38				5/1/2029				296,000				296,000				315,901
Total Personal, Food, and Miscellaneous											1,294,000				1,293,288				1,359,889
Personal Transportation — 0.12%:
Naviera Armas¤+			15.64				3/31/2026				542,950				677,933				377,615
Total Personal Transportation											542,950				677,933				377,615

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Corporate Bonds (Continued)
Printing and Publishing — 2.63%:
Cimpress PLC+			7.00	%			6/15/2026			$	2,069,000			$	2,069,000			$	2,022,447
Getty Images Inc.^			9.75				3/1/2027				5,972,000				6,081,919				6,006,835
Total Printing and Publishing											8,041,000				8,150,919				8,029,282
Retail Store — 2.37%:
Bath & Body Works Inc.#			6.88				11/1/2035				262,000				238,394				265,322
Bath & Body Works Inc.#			7.60				7/15/2037				1,471,000				1,315,322				1,500,420
Life Time, Inc.^			8.00				4/15/2026				861,000				834,254				869,166
Marcolin S.p.A+			6.13				11/15/2026				475,000				578,239				500,302
Nordstrom Inc.#			5.00				1/15/2044				2,000,000				1,200,488				1,426,882
PetSmart LLC^#			4.75				2/15/2028				616,000				565,776				581,159
PetSmart LLC^			7.75				2/15/2029				1,108,000				1,092,328				1,077,639
Tapestry, INC			7.05				11/27/2025				988,000				988,989				1,010,604
Total Retail Store											7,781,000				6,813,790				7,231,494
Telecommunications — 5.17%:
Altice France Holding S.A.+#			4.00				7/15/2029				643,000				508,331				550,977
Altice France Holding S.A.+^#			5.13				7/15/2029				957,000				681,257				743,201
Altice France Holding S.A.+^			10.50				5/15/2027				2,240,000				2,081,820				1,450,667
BMC Software^			7.13				10/2/2025				103,000				100,891				103,552
British Telecom+#			8.38				12/20/2083				600,000				732,312				806,348
C&W Senior Financing Designated Activity Co+^#			6.88				9/15/2027				1,572,000				1,437,342				1,464,632
Commscope Inc.^			8.25				3/1/2027				1,173,000				1,142,045				619,344
Digicel Limited ¤+^>			8.25				9/30/2025				2,500,000				2,491,364				0
Frontier Communications Corporation^			8.75				5/15/2030				774,000				774,000				796,220
Frontier Communications Hldgs Sr Sec Glbl^#			6.00				1/15/2030				3,976,000				3,369,219				3,393,689
Level III^#			4.25				7/1/2028				550,000				326,696				272,250
Telecom Italia+#			7.88				7/31/2028				600,000				651,878				734,567
Telefonica SA+#			7.13				11/23/2172				1,400,000				1,524,573				1,666,866
Uniti Group LP / Uniti Group Finance Inc.^			6.50				2/15/2029				330,000				330,000				238,015
Viasat^#			6.50				7/15/2028				2,239,000				1,825,089				1,838,779
Vodafone Group PLC+#			8.00				8/30/2086				400,000				538,600				543,765
Vodafone Group PLC+			6.25				10/3/2078				550,000				542,025				546,623
Total Telecommunications											20,607,000				19,057,442				15,769,495
Utilities — 2.43%:
Electricite de France SA+			9.13				12/15/2172				350,000				350,000				390,740
Electricite de France SA+#			4.00				10/4/2172				700,000				715,783				766,156
Enbridge Inc.+			8.25				1/15/2084				1,624,000				1,624,000				1,675,687
Talen Energy Supply, LLC^			8.63				6/1/2030				3,837,000				3,880,495				4,093,807

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		EFFECTIVE INTEREST RATE ‡				DUE DATE				PRINCIPAL				COST				FAIR VALUE
Corporate Bonds (Continued)
Utilities — (Continued)
Techem+#			6.00	%			7/30/2026			$	439,599			$	451,084			$	482,868
Total Utilities											6,950,599				7,021,362				7,409,258
Total Corporate Bonds											329,711,244				324,108,544				307,738,791
Total Fixed Income											441,755,044				433,366,841				400,186,359
Total Investments															$434,470,378				$402,010,748
Other assets and liabilities — (31.81%)																			(97,027,492	)
Net Assets — 100.00%																			$304,983,256

Percentages are calculated as a percent of net assets applicable to common shareholders.

 

EURIBOR

– Euro Interbank Offered Rate

SOFR

– Secured Overnight Financing Rate

 

*	Securities are non-income producing.

‡	The effective interest rates are based on settled commitment amount.

¤	Value determined using significant unobservable inputs, security is categorized as Level 3.

+	Foreign security.

^	Security exempt from registration under Rule 144a of the Securities Act of 1933. These securities may only be resold in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified institutional buyers.

~	Variable rate security. The interest rate shown is the rate in effect at December 31, 2023.

#	All or a portion of the security is segregated as collateral for the credit facility.

§

Bank loans are exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, but contain certain restrictions on resale and cannot be sold publicly. These loans pay interest at rates which adjust periodically. The interest rates shown for bank loans are the current interest rates at December 31, 2023. Bank loans are also subject to mandatory and/or optional prepayment which cannot be predicted. As a result, the remaining maturity may be substantially less than the stated maturity shown.

>	Defaulted security.

 

PIK

– Payment-in-kind

Distributions of investments by country of risk. Percentage of assets are expressed by market value excluding cash and accrued income as of December 31, 2023.

 

		United States of America			80.1%
		United Kingdom			6.6%
		Zambia			2.7%
		Germany			1.4%
		Australia			1.3%
		France			1.2%
		Sweden			1.2%
		Italy			1.1%
		Hong Kong			1.0%
		(Individually less than 1%)			3.4%
					100.0%

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

A summary of outstanding derivatives at December 31, 2023 is as follows:

Schedule of Open Forward Foreign Exchange Contracts

December 31, 2023

 

CURRENCY TO BE RECEIVED						CURRENCY TO BE DELIVERED(1)								COUNTERPARTY OF CONTRACT		FORWARD SETTLEMENT DATE				UNREALIZED APPRECIATION / (DEPRECIATION)
	33,690,790			USD			34,507,851				EUR			Morgan Stanley			1/18/2024			$	(817,061	)
	14,711,862			USD			14,937,871				GBP			Morgan Stanley			1/18/2024				(226,009	)
																				$	(1,043,070	)

⁽¹⁾ Values are listed in U.S. dollars.

 

See accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

24

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

25

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

DESCRIPTION		LEVEL 1				LEVEL 2				LEVEL 3				TOTAL INVESTMENTS
Assets:
Equities:
Common Stocks		$	—			$	1,711,302			$	—			$	1,711,302
Warrants			—				113,087				—				113,087
Total Equities:			—				1,824,389				—				1,824,389
Fixed Income:
Asset-Backed Securities			—				44,387,187				—				44,387,187
Bank Loans			—				44,677,845				3,382,536				48,060,381
Corporate Bonds			—				302,849,869				4,888,922				307,738,791
Total Fixed Income			—				391,914,901				8,271,458				400,186,359
Forward Foreign Exchange Contracts			—				—				—				—
Total Assets:		$	—			$	393,739,290			$	8,271,458			$	402,010,748
Liabilities:
Forward Foreign Exchange Contracts:		$	—			$	1,043,070			$	—			$	1,043,070
Total Liabilities:		$	—			$	1,043,070			$	—			$	1,043,070

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

As of December 31, 2023, the Fund held no Level 3 financial instruments with values based on significant unobservable valuation inputs and Level 3 financial instruments in the amount of $8,271,458 had values based on unadjusted third-party pricing information.

Although the Fund believes the valuation method described above is appropriate, the use of different methodologies or assumptions to determine fair value could result in different estimates of fair value at the reporting date. The Fund discloses transfers between levels based on valuations at the end of the reporting period. The following is a reconciliation of Level 3 investments based upon the inputs used to determine fair value:

 

		BALANCE AT DECEMBER 31, 2022				TRANSFERS INTO LEVEL 3				TRANSFERS OUT OF LEVEL 3				PURCHASES				SALES				ACCRETION OF DISCOUNT				REALIZED GAIN / (LOSS)				CHANGE IN UNREALIZED APPRECIATION / (DEPRECIATION) ON INVESTMENTS				BALANCE AT DECEMBER 31, 2023				CHANGE IN UNREALIZED APPRECIATION / (DEPRECIATION) FROM INVESTMENTS HELD AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2023
Equities
Flint Group Ordinary A Shares Stapled to 2L		$	—			$	—			$	—			$	149			$	—			$	—			$	—			$	(149	)		$	—			$	(149	)
ESC CB 144A High Ridge			41,748				—				—				—				—				—				—				(41,748	)			—				(41,748	)
Travelex Private Equity			—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Naviera Armas Class B2 Shares Stapled to 1.5L SSNS			—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Naviera Armas Class B3 Shares			—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Naviera Armas Class A3 Shares			—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Naviera Armas Class A2 Shares Stapled to 1.5L SSNS			—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Common Stocks			41,748				—				—				149				—				—				—				(41,897	)			—				(41,897	)
Travelex Topco Limited			120,666				—				(120,666	)			—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Warrants			120,666				—				(120,666	)			—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Total Equities			162,414				—				(120,666	)			149				—				—				—				(41,897	)			—				(41,897	)
Bank Loans
Anarafe SLU Facility F			—				—				—				97,569				(13,233	)			3,072				1,481				(3,830	)			85,059				(3,830	)
Anarafe SLU Facility A			—				—				—				19,656				—				240				—				253				20,149				253
Anarafe SLU Facility C			—				—				—				43,465				—				—				—				(1,499	)			41,966				(1,499	)
Evertec			—				—				—				2,170,799				(220,386	)			—				3,306				32,231				1,985,950				32,231
Flint Group			—				—				—				250,147				—				15,315				—				(111,050	)			154,412				(111,050	)
Dessert Holdings			900,000				—				(900,000	)			—				—				—				—				—				—				—
CP Iris Holdco I 2nd Lien T/L (IPS)			2,014,336				—				(2,014,336	)			—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Florida Food Products 2nd Lien T/L			1,350,000				—				—				—				—				3,762				—				(258,762	)			1,095,000				(368,333	)
Koppers T/L			—				—				—				1,251,613				(1,290,322	)			1,791				36,918				—				—				—
Valcour Packaging (MOLD-RITE) 2nd Lien T/L			3,750,000				—				(3,750,000	)			—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Bank Loans			8,014,336				—				(6,664,336	)			3,833,249				(1,523,941	)			24,180				41,705				(342,657	)			3,382,536				(452,228	)

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

		BALANCE AT DECEMBER 31, 2022				TRANSFERS INTO LEVEL 3				TRANSFERS OUT OF LEVEL 3				PURCHASES				SALES				ACCRETION OF DISCOUNT				REALIZED GAIN / (LOSS)				CHANGE IN UNREALIZED APPRECIATION / (DEPRECIATION) ON INVESTMENTS				BALANCE AT DECEMBER 31, 2023				CHANGE IN UNREALIZED APPRECIATION / (DEPRECIATION) FROM INVESTMENTS HELD AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2023
Corporate Bonds
Naviera Armas		$	357,193			$	—			$	—			$	91,189			$	—			$	(22,402	)		$	—			$	(48,365	)		$	377,615			$	(300,318	)
Digicel Limited			—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Travelex			—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—				—
Travelex			4,011,338				—				—				683,223				(95,519	)			53,387				15,466				(156,588	)			4,511,307				588,243
Corporate Bonds			4,368,531				—				—				774,412				(95,519	)			30,985				15,466				(204,953	)			4,888,922				287,925
Total		$	12,545,281			$	—			$	(6,785,002	)		$	4,607,810			$	(1,619,460	)		$	55,165			$	57,171			$	(589,507	)		$	8,271,458			$	(206,200	)

 

 

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

H.

Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities

The following is a summary by counterparty of the fair value of derivative investments subject to Master Netting Agreements and collateral pledged (received), if any, as of December 31, 2023.

 

														AMOUNTS NOT OFFSET IN THE STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
LIABILITIES:		GROSS AMOUNT OF RECOGNIZED LIABILITIES				GROSS AMOUNT OFFSET IN THE STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES				NET AMOUNTS PRESENTED IN THE STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES				FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS				COLLATERAL PLEDGED				NET AMOUNT*
Forward foreign exchange contracts
Morgan Stanley		$	1,043,070			$	–			$	1,043,070			$	-			$	–			$	1,043,070

 

*The

net amount represents the amount owed by the Fund to the counterparty as of December 31, 2023.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

 

December 31, 2023

 

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

 

To the Shareholders and the Board of Trustees of Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund:

Opinion on the Financial Statements and Financial Highlights

We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities of Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund (the “Fund”), including the schedule of investments, as of December 31, 2023, the related statements of operations and cash flows for the year then ended, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period then ended, the financial highlights for each of the five years in the period then ended, and the related notes. In our opinion, the financial statements and financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Fund as of December 31, 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year then ended, the changes in its net assets for each of the two years in the period then ended, and the financial highlights for each of the five years in the period then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements and financial highlights are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Fund’s financial statements and financial highlights based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Fund in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements and financial highlights are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Fund is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Fund’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements and financial highlights, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements and financial highlights. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements and financial highlights. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2023, by correspondence with the custodian, brokers, and agent banks; when replies were not received from brokers and agent banks, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

DELOITTE & TOUCHE LLP

New York, New York

February 29, 2024

We have served as the auditor of one or more Barings LLC investment companies since 2013.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

RESULTS OF SHAREHOLDER MEETING

 

 

The Annual Meeting of Shareholders (“Annual Meeting”) was held on Monday, August 8, 2023. The shareholders were asked to elect Thomas W. Okel as Trustee for a three-year term. The shareholders approved the proposal. The results of shareholder voting are set forth below:

 

SHARES FOR		WITHHELD				TOTAL VOTED				% OF SHARES VOTED FOR
Thomas W. Okel			992,477				16,874,700				94.12	%

The Fund’s other Trustees, David M. Mihalick, Mark F. Mulhern and Jill E. Olmstead continued to serve their respective terms following the Annual Meeting.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

INTERESTED TRUSTEE

 

 

NAME (AGE), ADDRESS		POSITION(S) WITH THE FUND		OFFICE TERM AND LENGTH OF TIME SERVED		PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS DURING PAST 5 YEARS		PORTFOLIOS OVERSEEN IN FUND COMPLEX		OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS HELD BY DIRECTOR
David M. Mihalick (50) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		Trustee		Trustee since 2020		Head of Private Assets (since 2021), Head of U.S. Public Fixed Income and Member of Global Investment Grade Allocation Committee (2019-2021), Head of U.S. High Yield and Member of Global High Yield Allocation Committee (2017-2021), and U.S. High Yield Research Analyst and Portfolio Manager (2008-2017), Barings LLC.		5		Director (since 2020), Barings BDC, Inc. (business development company advised by Barings); Director (since 2021), Barings Capital Investment Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); Trustee (since May 2022), Barings Corporate Investors and Barings Participation Investors (closed-end investment companies advised by Barings); and Trustee (2020-2021), Barings Funds Trust (open-end investment company advised by Barings).

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES

 

 

NAME (AGE), ADDRESS		POSITION(S) WITH THE FUND		OFFICE TERM AND LENGTH OF TIME SERVED		PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS DURING PAST 5 YEARS		PORTFOLIOS OVERSEEN IN FUND COMPLEX		OTHER DIRECTORSHIPS HELD BY DIRECTOR
Mark F. Mulhern (64) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		Trustee		Trustee since 2021		Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (2014-2021), Highwood Properties, Inc.		5		Director (since 2016 (Triangle Capital)), Barings BDC, Inc. (business development company advised by Barings); Director (since 2020), Barings Capital Investment Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); Director (since May 2021), Barings Private Credit Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); Trustee (since September 2022), Barings Private Equity Opportunities and Commitments Fund; Director (since 2020), Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE); Director (since 2020), ICE Mortgage Technology; Director (since 2015), McKim and Creed (engineering service firm); Director and Audit Committee member (2012-2014), Highwood Properties (real estate investment trust); and Director (2015-2017), Azure MLP (midstream oil and gas).
Thomas W. Okel (61) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		Trustee		Trustee since 2012		Executive Director (2011-2019), Catawba Lands Conservancy.		5		Director (since 2018), Barings BDC, Inc. (business development company advised by Barings); Director (since 2020), Barings Capital Investment Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); Director (since 2021), Barings Private Credit Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); Trustee (since September 2022), Barings Private Equity Opportunities and Commitments Fund; Trustee (since 2015), Horizon Funds (mutual fund complex); and Trustee (2013-2021), Barings Funds Trust (open-end investment company advised by Barings until 2021).
Jill Olmstead (60) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		Trustee		Trustee since 2021		Chief Human Resources Officer, (since 2018), LendingTree, Inc.; and Founding Partner (2010-2018), Spivey & Olmstead, LLC (talent and leadership consulting firm).		5		Director (since 2018), Barings BDC, Inc. (business development company advised by Barings); Director (since 2020), Barings Capital Investment Corporation (business development company advised by Barings; Director (since 2021), Barings Private Credit Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); and Trustee (since September 2022), Barings Private Equity Opportunities and Commitments Fund.

 

 

 

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OFFICERS OF THE FUND

 

 

NAME (AGE), ADDRESS		POSITION(S) WITH THE FUND		OFFICE TERM* AND LENGTH OF TIME SERVED		PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS(S) DURING PAST 5 YEARS
Sean Feeley (56) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		President		Since 2017		Vice President (2012-2017) of the Fund; Managing Director (since 2003), Barings; Vice President (since 2011), Barings Corporate Investors and Barings Participation Investors (closed-end investment companies advised by Barings); and Vice President (since 2011), CI Subsidiary Trust and PI Subsidiary Trust.
Christopher Hanscom (41) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		Chief Financial Officer		Since 2021		Treasurer (2021-2023) of the Fund; Senior Director (since 2023), Director (2018-2023), Associate Director (2015-2018), Analyst (2005-2015), Barings; Chief Financial Officer (since 2022), Treasurer (since 2017), Barings Corporate Investors and Barings Participation Investors (closed-end investment companies advised by Barings); and Trustee (since 2022), Chief Financial Officer (since December 2022), Assistant Controller (2020-2022), CI Subsidiary Trust and PI Subsidiary Trust.
Andrea Nitzan (56) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		Treasurer		Since January 2023		Managing Director and Chief Accounting Officer (since 2020), Barings; Principal Accounting Officer (since January 2023), Barings Corporate Investors and Barings Participation Investors (closed-end investment companies advised by Barings); and Principal Accounting Officer (since January 2023), CI Subsidiary Trust and PI Subsidiary Trust.
Gregory MacCordy (70) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		Chief Compliance Officer		Since February 2023		Chief Compliance Officer (since February 2023), Barings BDC, Inc. (business development company advised by Barings); Director (since 2021), ACA Group; Director (2018-2021), Alaric Compliance Services LLC.
Ashlee Steinnerd (42) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		Chief Legal Officer		Since February 2023		Secretary (2021-February 2023) of the Fund; Managing Director (since April 2022), Head of Regulatory (since 2021), Director (2019-2022), Barings; Chief Legal Officer (since February 2023), Secretary (2020-February 2023), Barings Corporate Investors and Barings Participation Investors (closed-end investment companies advised by Barings); Chief Legal Officer (since February 2023), Secretary (2020-February 2023), CI Subsidiary Trust and PI Subsidiary Trust; Chief Legal Officer (since February 2023), Secretary (2020-February 2023), Barings BDC, Inc. (business development company advised by Barings); Chief Legal Officer (since February 2023), Secretary (2020-February 2023), Barings Capital Investment Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); Chief Legal Officer (since February 2023), Secretary (2021-February 2023), Barings Private Credit Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); Chief Legal Officer (since February 2023), Secretary (2022-February 2023), Barings Private Equity Opportunities and Commitments Fund; and Senior Counsel (2011-2019), Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

OFFICERS OF THE FUND (CONTINUED)

 

 

NAME (AGE), ADDRESS		POSITION(S) WITH THE FUND		OFFICE TERM* AND LENGTH OF TIME SERVED		PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS(S) DURING PAST 5 YEARS
Alexandra Pacini (31) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		Secretary		Since February 2023		Assistant Secretary (2020-February 2023) of the Fund; Director (since April 2023), Associate Director (2021-April 2023), Analyst (2017-2021), Barings; Secretary (since February 2023), Assistant Secretary (2020-February 2023), Barings Corporate Investors and Barings Participation Investors (closed-end investment companies advised by Barings); Secretary (since February 2023), Assistant Secretary (2020-February 2023), CI Subsidiary Trust and PI Subsidiary Trust; Secretary (since February 2023), Assistant Secretary (2020-February 2023), Barings BDC, Inc. (business development company advised by Barings); Secretary (since February 2023), Assistant Secretary (2021-February 2023), Barings Capital Investment Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); Secretary (since February 2023), Assistant Secretary (2021-February 2023), Barings Private Credit Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); Secretary (since February 2023), Assistant Secretary (2022-February 2023), Barings Private Equity Opportunities and Commitments Fund; and Assistant Secretary (2020-2021), Barings Funds Trust (open-end investment company advised by Barings until 2021).
Matthew Curtis (52) 300 South Tryon Street Suite 2500 Charlotte, NC 28202		Tax Officer		Since 2022		Managing Director and Global Head of Tax (since 2017), Barings; Tax Officer (since 2022), Barings Corporate Investors and Barings Participation Investors (closed-end investment companies advised by Barings); Tax Officer (since 2022), CI Subsidiary Trust and PI Subsidiary Trust; Tax Officer (since 2022), Barings BDC, Inc. (business development company advised by Barings); Tax Officer (since 2022), Barings Capital Investment Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); Tax Officer (since 2022), Barings Private Credit Corporation (business development company advised by Barings); and Tax Officer (since 2022), Barings Private Equity Opportunities and Commitments Fund.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

APPROVAL OF INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT AND SUB-ADVISORY AGREEMENT

 

 

The Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) requires that both the full Board of Trustees and a majority of the Trustees who are not interested persons of Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund (the “Fund”), as defined under the 1940 Act (the “Independent Trustees”), voting separately, annually approve the continuation of the Investment Management Agreement (the “Management Agreement”) between the Fund and Barings LLC (“Barings”) and the Sub-Advisory Agreement between Barings and Baring International Investment Limited (“BIIL Sub-Advisory Agreement” and, together with the Management Agreement, the “Agreements”). The Trustees considered matters bearing on the Fund and the Agreements at their meetings throughout the year, including a review of the Fund’s performance at each regular meeting. In addition, the Trustees met at a meeting held on August 8, 2023 (the “Meeting”) for the specific purpose of considering whether to approve the Agreements for the Fund. The Trustees’ review process and considerations in approving the Agreements are summarized below.

Prior to the Meeting, the Trustees requested and received from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, independent legal counsel to the Independent Trustees, a memorandum describing the Trustees’ legal responsibilities in connection with their review and approval of the Agreements. The Independent Trustees met prior to the August Board meeting with independent legal counsel to discuss their duties, the memorandum and the Agreements. The Trustees also requested and received from Barings extensive written and oral information regarding various matters including, but not limited to: the principal terms of the Agreements; Barings and its personnel; the Fund’s investment performance, including comparative performance information; the nature and quality of the services provided by Barings to the Fund; the financial strength of Barings; the Fund’s fee and expense information, including comparative fee and expense information; the profitability of the advisory arrangement to Barings; and the “fallout” benefits to Barings resulting from the Agreements.

The Trustees’ conclusion as to the continuation of the Agreements was based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Board and not the result of any single issue. Some of the more significant factors that influenced the Trustees’ deliberations are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently from one another, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the Board’s review of the Agreements is the result of ongoing review and discussion, rather than a single discussion. The Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of these arrangements throughout the year and in prior years.

The Trustees considered the terms of the Agreements, including the scope of the advisory and non-advisory services provided under the Agreements or otherwise. In evaluating the nature, scope and quality of the services provided by Barings and BIIL, the Trustees considered the specific responsibilities of Barings and BIIL in the day-to-day management of the Fund, the qualifications, experience and responsibilities of the portfolio managers and other key personnel that are involved in the day-to-day management of the Fund, the ability of Barings and BIIL to attract and retain high-quality personnel, and the organizational depth and stability of Barings and BIIL. The Trustees also considered the trading capabilities of Barings and BIIL.

Based on information provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”) and Barings, the Trustees reviewed the Fund’s net total return investment performance, as well as the performance of peer groups of funds, over various time periods. The net total return performance of the Fund ranked in the 2^nd quintile of its Broadridge performance universe for the one-year period, in the 1^st quintile for the three-year period, and in the 4^th quintile for the five-year period ended June 30, 2023 (the 1st quintile being the best performers and the 5^th quintile being the worst performers). The Trustees also reviewed the Fund’s performance in comparison to a custom peer group developed by Barings comprised of ten (including the Fund) high-yield closed-end funds that employ generally similar investment strategies and invest in the same asset classes as the Fund. Relative to the custom peer group, the net total return performance of the Fund ranked, respectively, 2^nd, 1^st, and 7^th out of ten funds for the one-year, three-year and five-year periods ended June 30, 2023. The Trustees felt that BGH’s ability to invest in senior secured loans, structured credit and non-U.S. securities required additional infrastructure and resources relative to peer funds using a pure high yield bond strategy. In the course of their deliberations, the Trustees also took into account information provided by Barings during investment review meetings conducted with portfolio management personnel during the course of the year. After reviewing these and related factors, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall conclusions regarding the Agreements, that they were satisfied with Barings’ and BIIL’s responses and efforts relating to investment performance.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

APPROVAL OF INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT AND SUB-ADVISORY AGREEMENT (CONTINUED)

 

 

The Trustees considered the investment management fee paid by the Fund to Barings pursuant to the Management Agreement. The Trustees noted that Barings (and not the Fund) pays BIIL its sub-advisory fee under the BIIL Sub-Advisory Agreement. In assessing the reasonableness of the fee paid by the Fund under the Management Agreement, the Trustees considered, among other information, the Fund’s management fee and the total expense ratio for the Fund’s shares as a percentage of net asset value and the advisory fee and total expense ratios of peer groups of funds based on information provided by Broadridge. The Trustees considered that, according to the Broadridge data, the Fund’s effective management fee (which includes Barings’ advisory fee and Fund administration fees) and total expense ratio were each higher than the Broadridge expense group median for common and leverage assets. The Trustees also reviewed the Fund’s advisory fee and total expense ratio in comparison to a custom peer group developed by Barings comprised of ten (including the Fund) high-yield closed-end funds that employ generally similar investment strategies and invest in the same asset classes as the Fund. The Trustees considered that, according to the custom peer group data, the contractual advisory fee of the Fund ranked 3rd out of 10 funds. The Trustees also reviewed materials provided by Barings describing fees paid by other similar accounts managed by Barings, noting that Barings typically charges higher fees on its global accounts than on accounts that are invested primarily in domestic securities.

The Board noted that, because the Fund is closed-end and does not continue to offer its securities, its size was relatively stable and it was unlikely that Barings would realize economies of scale from the Fund’s growth other than through capital gains and income. The Trustees reviewed information prepared by Barings regarding Barings’ costs of managing the Fund, and the profitability of the Management Agreement to Barings. In considering the profitability to Barings, the Board noted that BIIL is an affiliate of Barings and is paid by Barings, and, therefore, did not consider its profitability separately.

The Trustees also considered the character and amount of other incidental benefits received by Barings and BIIL. Additionally, the Trustees considered so-called “fall-out benefits” to Barings and BIIL, such as reputational value derived from serving as investment manager to the Fund. The Trustees also considered costs incurred by Barings in connection with the organization and initial offering of the Fund.

On the basis of the information provided, the Trustees concluded, within the context of their overall review of the Agreements, that the management fees charged to the Fund and the sub-advisory fee paid by Barings to BIIL represent reasonable compensation in light of the services being provided by Barings and BIIL to the Fund. Based on their evaluation of factors that they deemed material, including those factors described above, the Board of Trustees, including the Independent Trustees, concluded that the Fund’s Management Agreement with Barings and the BIIL Sub-Advisory Agreement should be continued for an additional one-year period through August 2024.

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

FUND DIVIDEND REINVESTMENT PLAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund 2023 Annual Report

 

 

JOINT PRIVACY NOTICE OF BABSON CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC AND

 

BARINGS GLOBAL SHORT DURATION HIGH YIELD FUND

 

This privacy notice is being provided on behalf of Barings LLC and its affiliates: Barings Securities LLC; Barings Australia Pty Ltd; Barings Advisers (Japan) KK; Barings Investment Advisers (Hong Kong) Limited; Barings Funds Trust; Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund; Barings Corporate Investors and Barings Participation Investors (together, for purposes of this privacy notice, “Barings”).

When you use Barings you entrust us not only with your hard-earned assets but also with your personal and financial data. We consider your data to be private and confidential, and protecting its confidentiality is important to us. Our policies and procedures regarding your personal information are summarized below.

We may collect non-public personal information about you from:

 

∎

Applications or other forms, interviews, or by other means;

 

∎

Consumer or other reporting agencies, government agencies, employers or others;

 

∎

Your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others; and

 

∎

Our Internet website.

We may share the financial information we collect with our financial service affiliates, such as insurance companies, investment companies and securities broker-dealers. Additionally, so that we may continue to offer you products and services that best meet your investment needs and to effect transactions that you request or authorize, we may disclose the information we collect, as described above, to companies that perform administrative or marketing services on our behalf, such as transfer agents, custodian banks, service providers or printers and mailers that assist us in the distribution of investor materials or that provide operational support to Barings. These companies are required to protect this information and will use this information only for the services for which we hire them, and are not permitted to use or share this information for any other purpose. Some of these companies may perform such services in jurisdictions other than the United States. We may share some or all of the information we collect with other financial institutions with whom we jointly market products. This may be done only if it is permitted by the state in which you live. Some disclosures may be limited to your name, contact and transaction information with us or our affiliates.

Any disclosures will be only to the extent permitted by federal and state law. Certain disclosures may require us to get an “opt-in” or “opt-out” from you. If this is required, we will do so before information is shared. Otherwise, we do not share any personal information about our customers or former customers unless authorized by the customer or as permitted by law.

We restrict access to personal information about you to those employees who need to know that information to provide products and services to you. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with legal standards to guard your personal information. As an added measure, we do not include personal or account information in non-secure e-mails that we send you via the Internet without your prior consent. We advise you not to send such information to us in non-secure e-mails.

This joint notice describes the privacy policies of Barings, the Funds and Barings Securities LLC. It applies to all Barings and the Funds accounts you presently have, or may open in the future, using your social security number or federal taxpayer identification number – whether or not you remain a shareholder of our Funds or as an advisory client of Barings. As mandated by rules issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, we will be sending you this notice annually, as long as you own shares in the Funds or have an account with Barings.

Barings Securities LLC is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Investors may obtain information about SIPC including the SIPC brochure by contacting SIPC online at www.sipc.org or calling (202)-371-8300. Investors may obtain information about FINRA including the FINRA Investor Brochure by contacting FINRA online at www.finra.org or by calling (800) 289-9999.

December 2023

 

 

 

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(b)

Not applicable for this Registrant.

Item 2. Code of Ethics.

The Registrant adopted a Code of Ethics for senior financial officers (the “Code”) on October 17, 2012, which is available on the Registrant’s website at www.barings.com/bgh. During the period covered by this Form N-CSR, there were no material amendments to, or waivers from, the code.

Item 3. Audit Committee Financial Expert.

The Registrant’s Board of Trustees has determined that Mr. Mark F. Mulhern, a Trustee of the Registrant and a member of its Audit Committee, is an audit committee financial expert. Mr. Mulhern is “independent” for purposes of this Item 3 as required by applicable regulation.

Item 4. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.

The Registrant has engaged Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte”) as its principal accountant to perform audit services, audit-related services, tax services and other services during the past two fiscal years. The following table details the aggregate fees billed or expected to be billed for each of the last two fiscal years by Deloitte.

Fees Billed to the Registrant:

 

		Deloitte Year Ended December 31, 2023				Deloitte Year Ended December 31, 2022
Audit Fees		$	122,000			$	120,000
Audit-Related Fees			0				0
Tax Fees			14,245				14,000
All Other Fees			0				0
Total Fees		$	136,245			$	134,000

Non-Audit Fees Billed to Barings and MassMutual:

 

		Deloitte Year Ended December 31, 2023				Deloitte Year Ended December 31, 2022
Audit-Related Fees		$	6,421,489			$	4,868,947
Tax Fees			3,813,040				2,904,186
All Other Fees			337,269				2,273,325
Total Fees		$	10,571,798			$	10,046,458

The category “Audit Fees” refers to fees incurred for an audit of the Registrant’s annual financial statements or for services that are normally provided by the principal accountant in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements for those fiscal years. The category “Audit-Related Fees” reflects fees billed by Deloitte for various non-audit and non-tax services rendered to the Registrant and Barings and

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MassMutual, such as a SOC–1 review, consulting and agreed upon procedures reports. Preparation of federal, state and local income tax and tax compliance work are representative of the fees reported in the “Tax Fees” category. The category “All Other Fees” represents fees billed by Deloitte for consulting rendered to the Registrant, Barings and MassMutual.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and its implementing regulations allow the Registrant’s Audit Committee to establish a pre-approval policy for certain services rendered by the Registrant’s principal accountant. During 2023, the Registrant’s Audit Committee approved all of the services rendered to the Registrant by Deloitte and did not rely on such a pre-approval policy for any such services.

The Audit Committee has also reviewed the aggregate fees billed for professional services rendered by Deloitte for 2023 and 2022 for the Registrant and for the non-audit services provided to Barings, and Barings’ parent, MassMutual. As part of this review, the Audit Committee considered whether the provision of such non-audit services was compatible with maintaining the principal accountant’s independence.

The 2022 fees billed represent final 2022 amounts, which may differ from the preliminary figures available as of the filing date of the Registrant’s 2023 Annual Form N-CSR and include, among other things, fees for services that may not have been billed as of the filing date of the Registrant’s 2023 Annual Form N-CSR but are now properly included in the 2022 fees billed to the Registrant, Barings and MassMutual.

The registrant has not been identified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as having filed an annual report issued by a registered public accounting firm branch or office that is located in a foreign jurisdiction where the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is unable to inspect or completely investigate because of a position taken by an authority in that jurisdiction.

The registrant is not a foreign issuer.

Item 5. Audit Committee of Listed Registrants.

The Registrant maintains an Audit Committee composed exclusively of Trustees of the Registrant who qualify as “independent” Trustees under the current listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange and the rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Audit Committee operates pursuant to a written Audit Committee Charter, which is available (1) on the Registrant’s website, www.barings.com/bgh, and (2) without charge, upon request, by calling, toll-free 1-866-399-1516. The current members of the Audit Committee are Mr. Mark F. Mulhern, Mr. Thomas W. Okel and Ms. Jill E. Olmstead.

Item 6. Investments.

 

(a)	Schedule of Investments is included as part of the report to shareholders filed under Item 1 of this Form.

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Item 7. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures for Closed-End Management Investment Companies.

The Registrant’s Board of Trustees has delegated proxy voting responsibilities relating to the voting securities held by the Registrant to its investment adviser, Barings. A summary of Barings’ proxy voting policies and procedures are set forth below.

Summary of Barings’ Global Proxy Voting Policy:

Barings understands that the voting of proxies is an integral part of its investment management responsibilities and believes, as a general principle, that proxies should be acted upon (voted or abstained) solely in the best interest of its clients (i.e. in a manner believed by Barings to best pursue a client’s investment objectives). To implement this general principle, Barings engages a proxy service provider (“Service Provider”) that is responsible for processing and maintaining records of proxy votes. In addition, the Service Provider, a recognized authority on proxy voting and corporate governance, provides research and recommendations (including environmental, social and governance topics) on proxies to Barings as its research provider (the “Research Provider”). It is Barings’ Global Proxy Voting Policy to generally vote all client proxies for which it has proxy voting discretion in accordance with the recommendations of the Research Provider or with the Research Provider’s proxy voting guidelines (“Guidelines”), in absence of a recommendation. In circumstances where the Research Provider has not provided a recommendation or has not contemplated an issue within its Guidelines, the proxy will be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.

Barings recognizes that there are times when it is in the best interest of clients to vote proxies (i) against the Research Provider’s recommendations or (ii) in instances where the Research Provider has not provided a recommendation vote against the Guidelines. Barings can vote, in whole or in part, against the Research Provider’s recommendations or Guidelines, as it deems appropriate. The procedures set forth in the Global Proxy Voting Policy are designed to ensure that votes against the Research Provider’s recommendations or Guidelines are made in the best interests of clients and are not the result of any material conflict of interest (“Material Conflict”). For purposes of the Global Proxy Voting Policy, a Material Conflict is defined as any position, relationship or interest, financial or otherwise, of Barings or a Barings associate that could reasonably be expected to affect the independence or judgment concerning proxy voting.

Summary of Barings’ Proxy Voting Procedures:

Typically, Barings will vote all client proxies for which it has proxy voting discretion, where no Material Conflict exists, in accordance with the Research Provider’s recommendations or Guidelines, unless (i) Barings is unable or determines not to vote a proxy in accordance with the Global Proxy Voting Policy or (ii) an authorized investment person or designee (a “Proxy Analyst”) determines that it is in the client’s best interests to vote against the Research Provider’s recommendations or Guidelines. In such cases where a Proxy Analyst believes a proxy should be voted against the Research Provider’s recommendations or Guidelines, the Proxy Team will vote the proxy in accordance with the Proxy Analyst’s recommendation as long as (i) no other Proxy Analyst disagrees with such recommendation; and (ii) no known Material Conflict is identified by the Proxy Analyst(s) or the Proxy Team. If a Material Conflict is identified by a Proxy Analyst or the Proxy Team, the proxy will be submitted to the Governance and Conflicts Committee to determine how the proxy is to be voted in order to achieve that client’s best interests.

No associate, officer, director or board of managers/directors of Barings or its affiliates (other than those assigned such responsibilities under the Global Proxy Voting Policy) can influence how Barings votes client proxies, unless such person has been requested to provide assistance by a Proxy Analyst or Governance and Conflicts Committee member and has disclosed any known Material Conflict. Pre-vote communications with proxy solicitors are prohibited. In the event that pre-vote communications occur, it

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should be reported to the Governance and Conflicts Committee, the relevant Head of Compliance and/or General Counsel prior to voting. Any questions or concerns regarding proxy-solicitor arrangements should be addressed to relevant Head of Compliance and/or General Counsel, or the respective designees.

Investment management agreements generally delegate the authority to vote proxies to Barings in accordance with Barings’ Global Proxy Voting Policy. In the event an investment management agreement is silent on proxy voting, Barings should obtain written instructions from the client as to their voting preference. However, except for those jurisdictions where written explicit delegation is required such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, when the client does not provide written instructions as to their voting preferences, Barings will assume proxy voting responsibilities. In the event that a client makes a written request regarding voting, Barings will vote as instructed.

Obtaining a Copy of the Proxy Voting Policy

Clients can obtain a copy of Barings’ Proxy Voting Policy and information about how Barings voted proxies related to their securities, free of charge, on the Barings website: https://www.barings.com/globalassets/2-assets/content/global-investment-policies/barings-global-proxy-voting-policy.pdf, by contacting the Chief Compliance Officer, Barings LLC, 300 South Tryon, Charlotte, NC 28202, or calling toll-free, 1-877-766-0014.

Item 8. Portfolio Managers of Closed-End Management Investment Companies.

The following disclosure item is made as of the date of this Form N-CSR unless otherwise indicated.

PORTFOLIO MANAGER. Sean Feeley serves as President of the Registrant (since 2017) and was formerly a Vice President (from 2012-2017). Mr. Feeley is a portfolio manager for Barings’ U.S. High Yield Investments Group. He is also a member of the firm’s U.S. High Yield Investment Committee and the Global High Yield Allocation Committee. Mr. Feeley is responsible for the portfolio management of various high yield bond total return strategies. He also currently serves as a Vice President of Barings Corporate Investors and Barings Participation Investors, both closed-end investment companies managed by Barings. Mr. Feeley has worked in the industry since 1996 and his experience has encompassed the credit market across a variety of industries. Prior to joining Barings in 2003, he worked at Cigna Investment Management in project finance and at Credit Suisse, where he worked in the leveraged finance group. Mr. Feeley holds a B.S. from Canisius College (magna cum laude) and an M.B.A. from Cornell University. He is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) and member of the CFA Institute.

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT TEAM. Mr. Feeley has primary responsibility for overseeing the investments of the Registrant’s portfolio, with the day-to-day investment management responsibility of the Registrant’s portfolio being shared with the following Barings and Baring Investment Services Limited investment professionals (together with the Portfolio Manager, the “Portfolio Team”).

Scott Roth serves as a Vice President of the Registrant (since 2012). Mr. Roth serves as head of Global High Yield at Barings, and is responsible for the firm’s high yield bond, senior secured loans and multi-asset credit total return strategies. Mr. Roth is also the Chair of the Global High Yield Allocation Committee and U.S. High Yield Investment Committee, as well as a portfolio manager for various high yield bond and multi-asset credit portfolios. He has worked in the industry since 1993 and his experience has encompassed fund management, underwriting, leveraged loans and high yield. Prior to joining Barings in 2002, Mr. Roth was a vice president at Webster Bank and was a high yield analyst at Tower Square Capital Management. He also served as an underwriter at Chubb Insurance Company. Mr. Roth holds a B.B.A. from Western Michigan University, an M.B.A. from the Ross School of Business at University of Michigan and is a member of the CFA Institute.

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Craig Abouchar is a member of Barings’ European High Yield Investments Group and the European High Yield Investment Committee. He is a lead portfolio manager for the firm’s European High Yield Bond business, and he is responsible for the portfolio management of numerous strategies. Mr. Abouchar has worked in the industry since 1994 and his experience has encompassed a focus on below-investment-grade assets across all investment types and geographic markets. Prior to joining Barings in 2016, he was Co-CEO, Europe of Castle Hill Asset Management. Prior to Castle Hill, Mr. Abouchar was a portfolio manager at Ignis Investment Management. He was also previously the chairman of the board of directors for the European High Yield Association. Mr. Abouchar holds a B.B.A. in Finance from Emory University, an M.B.A. in Finance and International Business from Columbia University and is a member of the CFA Institute.

Chris Sawyer is Head of Barings’ European High Yield Investments Group, as well as Chair of the firm’s European High Yield Investment Committee and member of the Global High Yield Allocation Committee. Mr. Sawyer is responsible for the portfolio management of several loan, high yield bond and multi-credit strategies. He has worked in the industry since 2005. Prior to joining the trading team in 2008, he was a member of the portfolio monitoring team where he was responsible for the ongoing credit analysis of individual portfolio assets. Mr. Sawyer holds a B.Sc. in Economics and Business Finance from Brunel University.

Adam Schauer is a member of Barings’ U.S. High Yield Investments Group and is responsible for the portfolio management of various U.S., Global and ESG-focused strategies. Additionally, Mr. Schauer has an active role leading the development of ESG investment capabilities for the Global High Yield team. Previously, he was the Head of Client Portfolio Management for the Global High Yield Investments Group and was responsible for new product development, marketing and servicing existing high yield strategies. Mr. Schauer has worked in the industry since 2007. Prior to joining Barings in 2009, he served as an Investment Banking Analyst at Edgeview Partners focusing on merger and acquisition advisory services across a broad range of industries. Mr. Schauer holds a B.S.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a concentration in Finance.

OTHER ACCOUNTS MANAGED BY THE PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT TEAM.

 

PORTFOLIO ADVISORY TEAM (A) (B)		ACCOUNT CATEGORY		TOTAL NUMBER OF ACCOUNTS				APPROXIMATE TOTAL ASSET SIZE (A) (B)				NUMBER OF ACCOUNTS WITH PERFORMANCE- BASED ADVISORY FEE				APPROXIMATE ASSET SIZE OF PERFORMANCE- BASED FEE ACCOUNTS
Sean Feeley		Registered Investment Companies			10			$	1,414				0			N/A
		Other Pooled Investment Vehicles			5			$	986				0			N/A
		Other Accounts			22			$	4,228				0			N/A

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Craig Abouchar		Registered Investment Companies			0				N/A				0			N/A
		Other Pooled Investment Vehicles			9			$	5,498				0			N/A
		Other Accounts			12			$	2,949				0			N/A
Scott Roth		Registered Investment Companies			6			$	685				0			N/A
		Other Pooled Investment Vehicles			12			$	5,483				0			N/A
		Other Accounts			26			$	5,187				0			N/A
Chris Sawyer		Registered Investment Companies			6			$	289				0			N/A
		Other Pooled Investment Vehicles			12			$	11,534				0			N/A
		Other Accounts			10			$	1,778				0			N/A
Adam Schauer		Registered Investment Companies			2			$	103				0			N/A
		Other Pooled Investment Vehicles			0				N/A				0			N/A
		Other Accounts			2			$	640				0			N/A

 

(A)	Account asset size has been calculated as of December 31, 2023.

(B)	Asset size in millions.

MATERIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. The potential for material conflicts of interest may exist as the members of the Portfolio Management Team have responsibilities for the day-to-day management of multiple advisory accounts. These conflicts may be heightened to the extent the individual, Barings and/or an affiliate has an investment in one or more of such accounts. Barings has identified (and summarized below) areas where material conflicts of interest are most likely to arise and has adopted policies and procedures that it believes are reasonable to address such conflicts.

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Transactions with Affiliates: From time to time, Barings or its affiliates, including MassMutual and its affiliates acts as principal, buys securities or other investments for itself from or sells securities or other investments it owns to its advisory clients. Likewise, Barings can either directly or on behalf of MassMutual, purchase and/or hold securities or other investments that are subsequently sold or transferred to advisory clients. Barings has a conflict of interest in connection with a transaction where it or an affiliate is acting as principal since it has an incentive to favor itself or its affiliates over its advisory clients in connection with the transaction. To address the conflicts of interest, Barings has adopted a Global Principal Transactions, Cross Trades and Other Affiliated Transactions Policy, which ensures any such transaction is consistent with Barings’ fiduciary obligations to act in the best interests of its clients, including its ability to obtain best execution in connection with the transaction, and is in compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Cross Trades: For some of its advisory clients, Barings can affect cross-trades whereby one advisory client buys securities or other investments from or sells securities or other investments to another advisory client. Barings can also affect cross-trades involving advisory accounts or funds in which it or its affiliates, including MassMutual, and their respective employees, have an ownership interest or for which Barings is entitled to earn a performance fee. When Barings effects cross-trades there is an inherent conflict of interest since Barings has an incentive to favor the advisory client or fund in which it or its affiliate has an ownership or economic interest and/or is entitled to a performance fee. In order to address this conflict of interest, cross trades involving advisory client accounts are required to comply with Barings Global Principal Transactions, Cross Trades and Other Affiliated Transactions Policy, which ensures any affiliated transactions is consistent with all applicable regulatory requirements governing such transactions and with Barings’ fiduciary obligations to the clients involved in any such transactions.

Loan Origination Transactions: While Barings or its affiliates generally do not act as an underwriter or member of a syndicate in connection with a securities offering, Barings or its affiliates (or an unaffiliated entity in which Barings or its affiliates have an ownership interest) can act as an underwriter, originator, agent, or member of a syndicate in connection with the origination of senior secured loans or other lending arrangements with borrowers, where such loans are purchased by Barings advisory clients during or after the original syndication. Barings advisory clients purchase such loans directly from Barings or its affiliates (or an unaffiliated entity in which Barings or its affiliates have an ownership interest) or from other members of the lending syndicate. In connection with such loan originations, Barings or its affiliates, either directly or indirectly, receive underwriting, origination, or agent fees. As a result, Barings has a conflict of interest in connection with such loan origination transactions since it has an incentive to base its investment recommendation to its advisory clients on the amount of compensation, underwriting, origination or agent fees it would receive rather than on its advisory clients’ best interests. To address the conflict of interest, Barings has adopted a Global Principal Transactions, Cross Trades and Other Affiliated Transactions Policy, which ensures any such transaction is consistent with Barings’ fiduciary obligations to act in the best interests of its clients, including its ability to obtain best execution in connection with the transaction, and is in compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Investments by Advisory Clients: Barings has the ability to invest client assets in securities or other investments that are also held by (i) Barings or its affiliates, including MassMutual, (ii) other Barings advisory accounts, (iii) funds or accounts in which Barings or its affiliates or their respective employees have an ownership or economic interest or (iv) employees of Barings or its affiliates. Barings also has the ability, on behalf of its advisory clients, to invest in the same or different securities or instruments of issuers in which (a) Barings or its affiliates, including MassMutual, (b) other Barings advisory accounts, (c) funds or accounts in which Barings, its affiliates, or their respective employees have an ownership or economic interest or (d) employees of Barings or its affiliates, have an ownership interest as a holder of the debt, equity or other instruments of the issuer. Barings has a conflict of interest in connection with any such transaction since investments by its advisory clients can directly or indirectly benefit Barings and/or

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its affiliates and employees by potentially increasing the value of the securities or instruments it holds in the issuer. Any investment by Barings on behalf of its advisory clients will be consistent with its fiduciary obligations to act in the best interests of its advisory clients, and otherwise be consistent with such clients’ investment objectives and restrictions.

Barings or its affiliates can recommend that clients invest in registered or unregistered investment companies, including private investment funds such as hedge funds, private equity funds or structured funds (i) advised by Barings or an affiliate, (ii) in which Barings, an affiliate or their respective employees has an ownership or economic interest or (iii) with respect to which Barings or an affiliate has an interest in the entity entitled to receive the fees paid by such funds. Barings has a conflict of interest in connection with any such recommendation since it has an incentive to base its recommendation to invest in such investment companies or private funds on the fees that Barings or its affiliates would earn as a result of the investment by its advisory clients in the investment companies or private funds. Any recommendation to invest in a Barings advised fund or other investment company will be consistent with Barings’ fiduciary obligations to act in the best interests of its advisory clients, consistent with such clients’ investment objectives and restrictions. In certain limited circumstances, Barings offers to clients that invest in private investment funds that it advises an equity interest in entities that receive advisory fees and carried profits interest from such funds.

Employee Co-Investment: Barings permits certain of its portfolio managers and other eligible employees to invest in certain private investment funds advised by Barings or its affiliates and/or share in the performance fees received by Barings from such funds. If the portfolio manager or other eligible employee was responsible for both the portfolio management of the private fund and other Barings advisory accounts, such person would have a conflict of interest in connection with investment decisions since the person has an incentive to direct the best investment ideas, or to allocate trades, in favor of the fund in which he or she is invested or otherwise entitled to share in the performance fees received from such fund. To address the conflicts of interest, Barings has adopted a Global Side by Side Management and Other Conflicts Policy which requires, among other things, that Barings treat each of its advisory clients in a manner consistent with its fiduciary obligations and prohibits Barings from favoring any particular advisory account as a result of the ownership or economic interests of Barings, its affiliates or employees, in such advisory account. Any investment by a Barings employee in one of its private funds is also governed by Barings’ Global Employee Co-Investment Policy, which ensures that any co-investment by a Barings employee is consistent with Barings’ Global Code of Ethics Policy.

Management of Multiple Accounts: As noted above, Barings’ portfolio managers are often responsible for the day-to-day management of multiple accounts, including, among others, separate accounts for institutional clients, closed-end and open-end registered investment companies, and/or private investment funds (such as hedge funds, private equity funds and structured funds), as well as for proprietary accounts of Barings and its affiliates, including MassMutual and its affiliates. The potential for material conflicts of interest exists whenever a portfolio manager has responsibility for the day-to-day management of multiple advisory accounts. These conflicts are heightened to the extent a portfolio manager is responsible for managing a proprietary account for Barings or its affiliates or where the portfolio manager, Barings and/or an affiliate has an investment in one or more of such accounts or an interest in the performance of one or more of such accounts (e.g., through the receipt of a performance fee).

Investment Allocation: Such potential conflicts include those relating to allocation of investment opportunities. For example, it is possible that an investment opportunity is suitable for more than one account managed by Barings but is not available in sufficient quantities for all accounts to participate fully. Similarly, there can be limited opportunity to sell an investment held by multiple accounts. A conflict arises where the portfolio manager has an incentive to treat an account preferentially because the account pays Barings or its affiliates a performance-based fee or the portfolio manager, Barings or an

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affiliate has an ownership or other economic interest in the account. As noted above, Barings also acts as an investment manager for certain of its affiliates, including MassMutual. These affiliate accounts sometimes co-invest jointly and concurrently with Barings’ other advisory clients and therefore share in the allocation of such investment opportunities. To address the conflicts of interest associated with the allocation of trading and investment opportunities, Barings has adopted a Global Investment Allocation Policy and trade allocation procedures that govern the allocation of portfolio transactions and investment opportunities across multiple advisory accounts, including affiliated accounts. In addition, as noted above, to address the conflicts, Barings has adopted a Global Side by Side Management and Other Conflicts Policy which requires, among other things, that Barings treat each of its advisory clients in a manner consistent with its fiduciary obligations and prohibits Barings from favoring any particular advisory account as a result of the ownership or economic interests of Barings, its affiliates or employees, in such advisory accounts. Any investment by a Barings employee in one of its private funds is also governed by Barings’ Global Employee Co-Investment Policy, which ensures that any co-investment by a Barings employee is consistent with Barings’ Global Code of Ethics Policy.

Personal Securities Transactions; Short Sales: Potential material conflicts of interest also arise related to the knowledge and timing of an account’s trades, investment opportunities and broker or dealer selection. Barings and its portfolio managers have information about the size, timing and possible market impact of the trades of each account they manage. It is possible that portfolio managers could use this information for their personal advantage and/or to the advantage or disadvantage of various accounts which they manage. For example, a portfolio manager could cause a favored account to “front run” an account’s trade or sell short a security for an account immediately prior to another account’s sale of that security. To address these conflicts, Barings has adopted policies and procedures, including a Global Short Sale Policy, which ensures that the use of short sales by Barings is consistent with Barings’ fiduciary obligations to its clients, a Global Side by Side Management and Other Conflicts Policy, which requires, among other things, that Barings treat each of its advisory clients in a manner consistent with its fiduciary obligations and prohibits Barings from favoring any particular account as a result of the ownership or economic interest of Barings, its affiliates or employees and a Global Code of Ethics Policy.

Trade Errors: Potential material conflicts of interest also arise if a trade error occurs in a client account. A trade error is deemed to occur if there is a deviation by Barings from the applicable standard of care in connection with the placement, execution or settlement of a trade for an advisory account that results in (1) Barings purchasing assets not permitted or authorized by a client’s investment advisory agreement or otherwise failing to follow a client’s specific investment directives; (2) Barings purchasing or selling the wrong security or the wrong amount of securities on behalf of a client’s account; or (3) Barings purchasing or selling assets for, or allocating assets to, the wrong client account. When correcting these errors, conflicts of interest between Barings and its advisory accounts arise as decisions are made on whether to cancel, reverse or reallocate the erroneous trades. In order to address the conflicts, Barings has adopted a Global Client Account Errors Policy governing the resolution of trading errors and will follow the Global Client Account Errors Policy in order to ensure that trade errors are handled promptly and appropriately and that any action taken to remedy an error places the interest of a client ahead of Barings’ interest.

Best Execution; Directed or Restricted Brokerage: With respect to securities and other transactions (including, but not limited to, derivatives transactions) for most of the accounts it manages, Barings determines which broker, dealer or other counterparty to use to execute each order, consistent with its fiduciary duty to seek best execution of the transaction. Barings manages certain accounts, however, for clients who limit its discretion with respect to the selection of counterparties or direct it to execute such client’s transactions through a particular counterparty. In these cases, trades for such an account in a particular security or other transaction can be placed separately from, rather than aggregated with, those

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in the same security or transaction for other accounts. Placing separate transaction orders for a security or transaction can temporarily affect the market price of the security or transaction or otherwise affect the execution of the transaction to the possible detriment of one or more of the other account(s) involved. Barings has adopted a Global Best Execution Policy and a Directed or Restricted Brokerage Policy.

As discussed above, Barings employees have the ability to trade in securities that are purchased, held and sold by or on behalf of Barings’ advisory clients, subject to a number of limitations. See above for a discussion of restrictions on employee personal securities transactions contained in Barings’ Global Code of Ethics.

Barings and its portfolio managers or employees have other actual or potential conflicts of interest in managing an advisory account, and the list above is not a complete description of every conflict of interest that could be deemed to exist.

COMPENSATION.

Barings (Investment Adviser):

Compensation packages at Barings are structured such that key professionals have a vested interest in the continuing success of the firm. Portfolio managers’ compensation is comprised of base salary and a discretionarily allocated incentive bonus, which includes a performance-driven annual bonus, and may include a deferred long-term incentive bonus and also may contain a performance fee award. As part of the firm’s continuing effort to monitor retention, Barings participates in annual compensation surveys of investment management firms to ensure that Barings’ compensation is competitive with industry norms.

Base Salary

The base salary component is generally positioned at mid-market. Increases are tied to market, individual performance evaluations and budget constraints.

Annual Bonus – Short Term Incentive (STI)

The annual bonus pool applies to all associates in the firm. Factors impacting the potential bonuses include but are not limited to: (i) investment performance of funds/accounts managed by a portfolio manager, (ii) financial performance of Barings, (iii) client satisfaction, and (iv) teamwork. STI is typically paid in February/March following the performance year for which the aware is based.

Long-Term Incentives (LTI)

Barings’ long-term incentives are designed to share the long-term success of the firm and take the form of deferred cash awards, which may include an award that resembles phantom restricted stock; linking the value of the award to a formula including Barings’ overall earnings. A voluntary separation of service will result in a forfeiture of unvested LTI awards.

BIIL (Sub-Adviser):

The Sub-Adviser’s remuneration structure is designed to support and further BIIL’s business strategy, objectives, values and long-term interests. Packages aim to facilitate the retention of existing employees and attract high calibre new employees in order to achieve the best results for BIIL and its clients. As a result, packages offered should be competitive with those available to professionals working in London in relevant areas (including banking, private equity, asset management, corporate finance advisory, law, and accounting).

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Remuneration Components:

Remuneration arrangements for employees currently comprise some or all of the following components:

(a) fixed salary;

(b) awards under the short-term incentive scheme (“STI”);

(c) awards under the long-term incentive scheme (“LTI”); and

(d) share of carried interest in certain funds (“Carried Interest”).

Fixed Salary:

All Employees receive a fixed salary, payable in monthly instalments. Fixed salaries are reviewed from time to time. Fixed salary for an earnings year is determined following the completion of the end-of-year appraisals for the previous year. Staff members are notified of any change to their fixed salary in February.

Short-Term Incentive Scheme:

All Employees are eligible to be considered for an STI award each year. While STI awards may be made in non-cash form, all awards have been made in cash to date. Similar to the US employees, awards to UK employees are determined following the completion of the end-of-year appraisals for the earnings year to which they correspond and are based on divisional and individual performance metrics, taking into account the profits generated by the firm.

Long-Term Incentive Scheme:

LTI awards are used to reward and retain employees that senior management consider are key to Barings’s business. All employees are eligible to be considered for an LTI award each year. Awards are based on performance measurement, taking into account the profits generated by the firm. LTI awards are entirely made in non-cash form.

BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP. As of December 31, 2023, members of the Portfolio Management Team beneficially owned the following dollar range of equity securities in the Registrant:

 

Portfolio Management Team:		Dollar Range of Beneficially Owned* Equity Securities of the Registrant:
Sean Feeley		$ 100,001-$500,000
Craig Abouchar		None
Scott Roth		$ 10,001-$50,000
Chris Sawyer		None
Adam Schauer		$ 50,001-$100,000

 

*	Beneficial ownership has been determined in accordance with Rule 16(a)-1(a)(2) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

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Item 9. Purchases of Equity Securities by Closed-End Management Investment Company and Affiliated Purchasers.

Not applicable for this filing.

Item 10. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.

Not applicable for this filing.

Item 11. Controls and Procedures.

 

(a)

The principal executive officer and the principal financial officer of the Registrant evaluated the effectiveness of the Registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Act”)) as of a date within 90 days of the filing of this report and based on that evaluation have concluded that such disclosure controls and procedures are effective to provide reasonable assurance that material information required to be disclosed by the Registrant on Form N-CSR is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms.

 

(b)

There were no changes to the Registrant’s internal controls over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Act) during the Registrant’s full year that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Registrant’s internal control over financial reporting period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

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Item 12. Disclosure of Securities Lending Activities for Closed-End Management Investment Companies

The registrant did not engage in securities lending activities during the fiscal year reported on this Form N-CSR.

Item 13. Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation.

Not applicable for this filing.

Item 14. Exhibits.

 

(a)

(1) ANY CODE OF ETHICS, OR AMENDMENT THERETO, THAT IS THE SUBJECT OF DISCLOSURE REQUIRED BY ITEM 2, TO THE EXTENT THAT THE REGISTRANT INTENDS TO SATISFY THE ITEM 2 REQUIREMENTS THROUGH THE FILING OF AN EXHIBIT.

The Registrant has posted its Code of Ethics on its website at www.barings.com/bgh.

 

(a)

(2) A SEPARATE CERTIFICATION FOR EACH PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER OF THE REGISTRANT AS REQUIRED BY RULE 30a-2 UNDER THE ACT.

Filed herewith.

 

(a)

(3) ANY WRITTEN SOLICITATION TO PURCHASE SECURITIES UNDER RULE 23c-1 UNDER THE ACT (17 CFR 270.23c-1) SENT OR GIVEN DURING THE PERIOD COVERED BY THE REPORT BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE REGISTRANT TO 10 OR MORE PERSONS.

Not applicable for this filing.

 

(a)

(4) CHANGES IN THE REGISTRANT’S INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT.

There was no change in the registrant’s independent public accountant for the fiscal year reported on this Form N-CSR.

 

(b)

CERTIFICATIONS PURSUANT TO RULE 30a-2(b) UNDER THE ACT.

Filed herewith.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

				(Registrant):		Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund
				By (Signature and Title):		/s/ Sean Feeley
						Sean Feeley, President
				Date:		March 11, 2024

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

				By (Signature and Title):		/s/ Sean Feeley
						Sean Feeley, President
				Date:		March 11, 2024
				By (Signature and Title):		/s/ Christopher Hanscom
						Christopher Hanscom, Chief Financial Officer
				Date:		March 11, 2024

 

14

EX.99.CERT

CERTIFICATIONS

I, Sean Feeley, certify that:

 

1.	I have reviewed this report on Form N-CSR of Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund;

 

2.	Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

 

3.

Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows (if the financial statements are required to include a statement of cash flows) of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

 

4.

The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) for the registrant and have:

 

(a)

Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

 

(b)

Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

 

(c)

Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of this report based on such evaluation; and

 

(d)

Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

 

5.	The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

 

(a)

All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial information; and

 

(b)

Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Date: March 11, 2024

 

15

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EX.99.CERT

CERTIFICATIONS

I, Christopher Hanscom, certify that:

 

1.	I have reviewed this report on Form N-CSR of Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund;

 

2.	Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

 

3.

Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows (if the financial statements are required to include a statement of cash flows) of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

 

4.

The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) for the registrant and have:

 

(a)

Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

 

(b)

Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

 

(c)

Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of this report based on such evaluation; and

 

(d)

Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

 

5.	The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

 

(a)

All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial information; and

 

(b)

Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Date: March 11, 2024

 

16

EX.99.906CERT

Certification Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, each of the undersigned officers of the Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund, does hereby certify, to such officer’s knowledge, that the report on Form N-CSR of the Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund for the year ended December 31, 2023, fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as applicable, and that the information contained in the Form N-CSR fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund for the stated period.

 

/s/ Sean Feeley				/s/ Christopher Hanscom
Sean Feeley President Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund				Christopher Hanscom Chief Financial Officer Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund
Dated: March 11, 2024

This statement accompanies this report on Form N-CSR pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and shall not be deemed as filed by Barings Global Short Duration High Yield Fund for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

17

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