StepStone has been providing investment advisory services since 2007. As of March 31, 2023, StepStone
had regulatory assets under management of $75,405,865,130, $68,527,245,735 of which were managed
on a discretionary basis and $6,878,619,395 of which were managed on a non-discretionary basis.
On September 16, 2020, StepStone Group Inc. ("SSG Inc.") listed and began trading on the Nasdaq Global
Select Market under the trading symbol “STEP”. The IPO closed on September 18, 2020. SSG Inc. is the
sole managing member of StepStone Group Holdings LLC, which in turn is the general partner of
StepStone.
As a result of, and subsequent to, the IPO, SSG Inc. owns economic interests in StepStone Group Holdings
LLC and StepStone. All equity owners of StepStone in excess of 5% are identified on Schedule A of Form
ADV.
StepStone provides investment management and supervisory services, including, in certain instances, sub-
advisory services, primarily with respect to private markets to institutional investors and sponsors
worldwide (“Advisory Clients”) and advises private markets funds with a variety of investment focuses as
described below (each private market fund, including Direct Investment Funds, Secondary Funds, Bespoke
Funds, Feeder Funds and Fund of Private Market Funds, as each is defined below, collectively (“Fund
Clients”). StepStone is also the sub-adviser to registered investment companies, SPRIM and SPRING (each
defined herein) (“Sub-Advisory Clients”) sponsored by StepStone Group Private Wealth LLC (“StepStone
Private Wealth”), an affiliate of StepStone. The Advisory Clients, Fund Clients and Sub-Advisory Clients
will collectively be referred to herein as “Clients”. StepStone’s full range of private markets services also
includes private markets monitoring and reporting services.
StepStone specializes in managing private markets investments in the areas of primary fund investments,
secondaries, and co-investments, across all major geographies (North America, Western Europe, Eastern
Europe, Asia, Australia, Central and South America, Middle East and Africa).
StepStone will sponsor and advise private markets funds that typically acquire non-publicly traded
interests that expect to be held for extended periods of time. These securities often are acquired through
co-investments in various types of transactions, including, equity investments, restructurings, or through
investment in debt and preferred equity instruments (“Direct Investments”). These securities are
permitted to take the form of common equity, preferred equity, debt or other similar instruments. The
capital provided by the investments can be used in the early, intermediate or late stages of an investment.
These private markets vehicles are referred to as “Direct Investment Funds”.
StepStone will also sponsor and advise private markets funds that typically focus on recapitalizing or
acquiring interests in investment vehicles. These securities can be acquired through co-investments and
could take the form of common equity, preferred equity, debt or other similar instruments, and these
private markets funds are referred to as “Secondary Funds”.
Advisory Clients who wish to retain StepStone as investment manager to invest in private markets funds,
Direct Investment Funds or Secondary Funds are permitted to acquire a membership or limited
partnership interest in a limited liability company or limited partnership vehicle (a “Bespoke Fund”). An
affiliate of StepStone serves as the managing
member or general partner of such Bespoke Fund. The funds
(via secondary acquisitions or primary commitments) or Direct Investment opportunities, in which the
Bespoke Funds invest, will be selected by StepStone in light of the Advisory Clients’ objectives and
restrictions.
StepStone will also sponsor and advise private markets funds in which substantially all of the assets of the
fund are invested in a designated fund (“Feeder Funds”). Following the initial investment decision to
invest in the designated fund, StepStone’s role with respect to such Feeder Funds will essentially be
administrative and mechanical, rather than investment advisory in nature, as StepStone will be
responsible primarily for effecting the Feeder Fund’s investment in the designated fund as directed by the
Feeder Fund’s Governing Documents (as defined below).
StepStone will also sponsor and advise private markets funds, which can include co-investment vehicles,
that will in turn invest in various underlying private markets funds that it selects across all major
geographies (“Fund of Private Markets Funds”). StepStone will also provide discretionary or non-
discretionary advisory services and discretionary or non- discretionary sub-advisory services, as well as
non-discretionary private markets monitoring and reporting services, to Advisory Clients. Monitoring and
reporting services include, but are not limited to, portfolio tracking and monitoring, database development
and maintenance for document retention and performance data, portfolio analysis, review and reporting,
review of amendments to governing documents, general research and education.
StepStone and its affiliates, including those financial industry affiliates discussed in Item 10, maintain an
extensive and proprietary database called StepStone Private Markets Intelligence ("SPI™"). SPI™ filters
opportunities coming to market and tracks ongoing performance. SPI™ has over 16,400 general partners
across 43,900 funds and 86,800 portfolio companies. With its advanced search and query tools, SPI™ can
sort by geography, sector, sub-sector, industry, fund size (local currency and USD), GICS, and numerous
permutations of various classification criteria. The database includes funds as far back as vintage year 1969
and monitors 5,200 active general partner investors. The data is accumulated from several sources,
including information gathered during due diligence by StepStone’s research professionals for
approximately 500 funds a year. The information in SPI™ is available for purchase and is currently utilized
by third parties, clients and investors. StepStone may waive fees for SPI™ access at its discretion.
StepStone tailors its advisory services to the specific investment objectives and restrictions of each of the
Clients pursuant to the investment guidelines and restrictions set forth in their respective confidential
private placement memorandum, limited partnership or limited liability company agreement, investment
advisory contract and other governing documents (collectively, “Governing Documents”) as well as
information learned through ongoing discussions with each Client.
Investors and prospective investors of each Fund Client should refer to all Governing Documents of the
applicable Fund Client or contractual relationship for complete information regarding investment
objectives and restrictions. There is no assurance that these investment objectives will be achieved.