StepStone

StepStone Infrastructure and Real Assets 1H25 House Views

1,000 words or less: Private debt co-investments

The Fundamentals of Infrastructure Secondaries

Private debt in an evergreen format

Private Debt Made Accessible

Outperformance in the European Small to Middle Market

StepStone Private Equity 2025 Market Outlook

Dual-use technology: Rewriting the rules of engagement

Diversifying your Asia exposure: India private equity

Implications of Trump 2.0 on the private markets

Trends in corporate direct lending 2H24

StepStone Real Estate Fall 2024 House Views

Private debt misconceptions

StepStone Real Estate Liquidity Insights

Did infrastructure weather the inflation storm?

Doubling down on private equity co-investments

Infratech: staying on the leading edge

CHANGE NEVER FELT SO FAMILIAR: Infrastructure in the energy transition

DO NO HARM - How GPs and LPs can use Responsible AI to build trust

RPM—Ep. 43 | The emergence of Responsible AI with Suzanne Tavill

Direct lending market update

Fight the urge (to invest in the familiar)

2023 Responsible Investment Report

Deployment and sourcing channels in direct lending

Pound the table for small buyouts

Real estate primer

Corporate private debt primer

Current opportunities in the primary and secondary direct lending markets

Recovery rates as a mitigator against default rates

SIRA House Views

European Growth: Overlooked and under-allocated

European private equity: Is small better?

European healthcare: Private equity's outperformance and strategic pathways

The Nordic model: Outperformance in private equity

Equity as a shock absorber for lenders

The link between interest rates and FCCR

StepStone Real Estate Spring 2024 House Views

Direct lending's attractive risk adjusted returns

RPM—Ep.39 | Unlocking infrastructure's Middle Market with Todd Lapenna and Sean Ebsary

SPI by StepStone – Digitizing Private Markets 

We are pleased to invite you to our latest webinar, SPI by StepStone - Digitizing Private Markets on Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at 12 pm EST.

RPM—Ep.35 | Inflation Reduction Act: Where are we really? with Bhavika Vyas and Julio Friedmann

In this episode of RPM, we’re continuing our conversation about the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). More than a year out from the Act’s passing, details of the tax laws and mechanisms for deployment are being finalized. Joining co-host Maribel Yoo to revisit this topic is Bhavika Vyas, managing director and member of the responsible investment team at StepStone and special guest Julio Friedmann, Chief Scientist at Carbon Direct.

A systematic approach to private debt allocation in institutional portfolios

Building robust portfolios has always been a core objective for investors. In recent decades, the traditional 60/40 portfolio has been able to broadly achieve this, supported by falling rates and stable inflation. However, the outlook going forward could be less ideal.

Relative Attractiveness of Direct Lending: Liquidity, Volatility and Drawdowns

The sharp increase in yields since the beginning of 2022 has put fixed-income securities back into the spotlight, but we think that direct lending has managed to maintain its edge against public markets.

Private Debt Secondaries–Moving beyond GP/ LP transactions and into the world of liquidity management

As one of the fastest-growing areas of the private markets, the attractiveness of private debt is well recognized.

Are Private Equity Valuations Too High?

Some investors are concerned that private equity valuations are too high. The Dow fell 8.8% in 2022, while the S&P 500 and the MSCI World each fell around 18%. Using our Daily Valuation Engine, we estimate that when GPs issue their 4Q23 reports, private equity will be down 6.9% on the year.

StepStone Whitepapers | Fight the Urge (To Cut Back on Small Buyouts)

When the economy shrinks, consumers respond by paying down debt, saving more, and spending less on nonessential goods. Institutional investors, on the other hand, adjust the “tilts” of their portfolios. They allocate more to defensive assets like private debt and real assets and seek reassurance from larger, more familiar private equity fund managers.

We Don’t Value Nature

In just four years, more than 1,000 financial institutions representing $200 trillion in assets have signed on with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. In our view, this is a strong indication that support for nature will rise rapidly.

Growth Equity - Feeling the L-O-V-E

Growth equity is no longer underappreciated. Over the last decade, the strategy has matured and attracted significant amounts of capital. Although the private market investment space has become more competitive, we believe the outlook for growth equity remains bright. To borrow from Nat King Cole, “growth” is feeling the L-O-V-E from GPs and LPs alike.

Investing in Private Markets - A Road Map for Insurance Companies

Making an Impact - A Guide for Private Market Investors

From the Inn to the Institutional - The Growth of the Real Estate Secondaries Opportunity

Agriculture - Ripe for Institutional Investment

The Largest Investment Opportunity of Our Era - Decarbonizing the Global Economy

Understanding the Effects of Covid-19 on Direct Lending

Venture Capital - Partying Like It's 1999

Responsible Investing - Internalizing the Externality

The Hunt for Yield

Cracking the Illiquidity Code - Long-term Partnerships, Short-term Cash Flows

Private Equity in Latin America - Strong Opportunities Amidst Soft Economies

Co-investments - Good For Your Portfolio's Health

RPM—Ep. 47 | Real Estate Liquidity Insights with Jeff Giller and Margaret McKnight

StepStone Real Estate 2025 US Research Outlook

Episode 277: Breaking Down Evergreen Funds: Flexibility, Transparency, and Performance

Join host Stewart Foley on the InsuranceAUM.com Podcast as we explore evergreen funds and their role in private markets. Discover how these innovative structures offer liquidity, flexibility, and efficiency, making them an attractive option for insurance investors.

Episode 275: StepStone Insights: Demystifying Venture Capital for Insurance Portfolio Managers

Join host Stewart Foley on the InsuranceAUM.com Podcast as we explore the role of venture capital in insurance portfolios. Discover why insurers are increasingly considering VC exposure, how the asset class has evolved, and key strategies for navigating this space.

Episode 260: Behind the Numbers: Insights from Quant Experts at Principal Asset Management, StepStone Group, and Fidelity Investments

Discover how quantitative methods are reshaping portfolio construction, liquidity management, and private market strategies for insurance asset managers on the InsuranceAUM.com Podcast.

RPM—Ep. 46 | Inside the private equity co-investment market with Geoffrey Dolan

RPM—Ep. 45 | Investing in climate solutions with Bhavika Vyas and Julio Friedmann

RPM—Ep. 44 | New frontiers in infrastructure with Simon Beer

Episode 232: Beyond Bridges: How Infrastructure is Reshaping Cities and Investment Portfolios

Adam Reisler is a Partner in the StepStone Infrastructure and Real Assets team.

RPM—Ep. 42 | Private debt in the high-rate era with Richard Schmidt and Jovan Samardzic

RPM—Ep. 41 | Spring 2024 Real Estate House Views with Jeff Giller and Margaret McKnight

RPM—Ep.40 | Uncovering hidden value in European private equity with Akhilan, Thomas and Carlos

RPM—Ep.38 | Real estate secondaries with Jeff Giller and Margaret McKnight

Episode 190: Opportunities in private debt secondaries

John Bohill is a Partner of Private Debt at the StepStone Group.

RPM—Ep.33 | Private Debt Secondaries with John Bohill

In this episode of RPM, John Bohill, a partner on our private debt team, joins co-host Michael Venne to discuss the rapid growth and evolution of private debt’s secondary market.

RPM—Ep.32 | Fabian Körzendörfer: Relative Attractiveness of Direct Lending

As bond yields have risen, some investors have been questioning whether direct lending (DL) offers the same value proposition as it once did, but yields are only part of the equation.

Episode 135: Private Markets Today with Tom Keck of StepStone Group

Tom Keck is the partner and head of research and portfolio management at StepStone Group.

Jeff Giller and Margaret McKnight: Spring 2023 Real Estate House Views

In this episode of RPM, Jeff Giller, Partner and Head of Real Estate, and Margaret McKnight, Partner and Head of Portfolio Solutions for Real Estate join co-host Maribel Yoo to discuss our recently released Spring 2023 House Views.

Why Now’s the Time to Lean into Small Market Buyouts

When the economy shrinks, institutions tend to seek reassurance from larger, more established private equity fund managers. This comes at the expense of small, emerging and by extension, diverse managers, which some regard as riskier than their larger, “more proven” counterparts.

Building to Zero: Inflation Reduction Act, a platform for growth

In this episode of RPM, Bhavika Vyas, managing director and member of the Responsible Investing Team, as well as special guest Julio Friedmann, chief scientist at Carbon Direct, join co-host Maribel Yoo to discuss the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA).

Nature-Based Investing: Suzanne Tavill

Nature provides the building blocks for civilization, arable soil, air and water filtration, ore and minerals for extraction, and economic and recreational opportunities. In almost any other context, you would expect to pay for these services. But with nature, we are wont to expect these things for nothing.

NAV Lending for Institutional Portfolios: Lisa Larsson

In this episode of RPM, Lisa Larsson, managing director on our portfolio management team, joins co-host Michael Venne to discuss the recently trending net asset value (NAV) lending.

Improving Access to Private Markets: Bob Long

Over the next five years, private capital assets under management are projected to grow from $10 trillion to $17 trillion. One of the leading reasons: the individual investor. In this episode of RPM, Bob Long, CEO of StepStone Private Wealth joins Michael Venne to discuss this trend.

The 2023 Private Equity Market Outlook: Aditya Raina and Laura White

In this episode of RPM, Aditya Raina and Laura White, two members of our Private Equity team, join co-host Maribel Yoo to discuss StepStone’s 2023 outlook for private equity.

The 2023 Private Debt Market Outlook: Ariel Goldblatt and Mark Tsang

In this episode of RPM, Ariel Goldblatt and Mark Tsang, senior members of our private debt team join co-host Maribel Yoo to discuss StepStone’s 2023 outlook for private debt.

VC Market Landscape ft. John Avirett

In this episode of RPM, we're talking about the venture capital ecosystem as we navigate this challenging economic environment. The bottom line: With the right market conditions, and venture capital’s ability to navigate volatile markets, perhaps now is the time to take a closer look at this strategy.

Data Valuation Engine: Qi Liu

In this episode of RPM, Qi Liu from our data, science and engineering team discusses one of our newest tools – the daily valuation engine (DVE). Typically, private market investors must wait anywhere from two to four months after quarter end to see how the value of their portfolios has changed; DVE, as the name implies, allows them to make this estimate well before general partners report.

Growth Equity ft. John Coelho

In this episode of RPM, we’re talking about growth equity with partner John Coelho. However you define “growth,” its champions regard it as a proverbial Goldilocks that offers VC upside with buyout-type risk (1:01). After analyzing 25,000+ private equity deals in SPI, we found that growth delivered a higher multiple than VC and lower loss rates than buyouts (11:05). This was especially true of investments in the software sector, which for several years has been the fastest growing and best performing sector in private equity. Since growth equity companies tend to be profitable and less reliant upon leverage, we find them to be particularly attractive during periods of market uncertainty (13:21).

Christian Frei: Geopolitical Uncertainty

In this episode of RPM, we’re talking about the direct and indirect effects of the war in Ukraine. While private markets may have relatively little direct exposure to Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Belarus (2:00), measuring the indirect effects is more difficult. In some instances, the higher prices and price inflation that the war may effect could provide a tailwind to some asset classes (10:40). Because private market valuations lag behind those of public markets, investors often wonder what the latter portends for the former. In short, private equity valuations fall half as much as their public equity counterparts; in private debt, market value declines have been 5x or greater than subsequent credit losses (12:56). All that is to say that an allocation to private markets can add stability to a portfolio.

Ryan Ramsey: Agriculture

In this episode of RPM, we’re talking about one of the oldest industries in the world—Agriculture. From inflation concerns (4:15) and the boom in venture-capital-backed technologies (12:46) to the rise of natural capital (15:40) and the democratization of private markets (21:30), “Ag” is having a moment. Joining us to discuss these topics and more is Ryan Ramsey, a principal on our infrastructure & real assets team based in Sydney.

A Road Map to Private Markets for Insurance Companies

In the 17th episode of RPM—Reflections on Private Markets, senior members of our private debt team, Marc-Andre Mittermayer and Marc Lickes join co-host Michael Venne to discuss insurance companies—namely, the reasons they are looking for alternatives to fixed-income investments; how private markets can help them meet their myriad investment-related goals; the affect regulatory policy has on an insurer’s investment options; and some of the traits insurers should look for in an investment manager or advisor.