StepStone

Recent trends in corporate direct lending 1H26

Despite a narrower premium, direct lending continues to offer an attractive value proposition as public markets remain firmly risk-on despite the uncertain macroeconomic environment.

Venture’s Shifting Landscape: Liquidity, Selectivity, and Secondaries

StepStone’s Stephen West and Anthony Giambrone discuss why selectivity defines success in venture today and how secondaries can offer access to category-defining companies. The episode explores liquidity challenges, market concentration and the evolving opportunity set in venture capital.

Infrastructure Performance Spotlights - Episode 2

Introduction to Specialty Credit

Specialty credit can give investors exposure to asset-backed lending opportunities beyond traditional direct lending. Readers will learn how collateral, contractual cash flows, bank retrenchment, manager selection and diversified access channels may support stronger private credit portfolios.

Venture Capital In the Age of AI: Standing On the Shoulders of Giants (and GPUs)

AI is changing venture capital by helping companies grow faster, increasing the gap between winners and losers, and concentrating more value in a small number of leading companies. Investors will need steady venture exposure and strong manager selection to find companies with real AI advantages, strong data, and lasting growth potential.

RPM Ep. 59 | Finding an Edge in UK Private Equity: Scarcity, Specialism, and Succession

UK private equity has quietly outperformed despite a noisy macro backdrop. Listeners will learn how scarcity, specialism, succession, and the Mansion House Accord may shape the next phase of opportunity and competition in the UK market.

Not All Private Equity GP-leds Are Created Equal: Why the Next Phase Will Be Defined by Access and Discipline

Power Play: Data Centers and the AI-Energy Nexus

The AI Gold Rush may be less chaotic than its 1848 forerunner, but there are similarities: opportunities are being unearthed and swiftly seized, and value is being created and captured. Companies are racing to adopt AI-driven business models, investors are injecting billions into AI startups, and almost everyone has an opinion on where this technology is headed.

StepStone Real Estate House Views: Spring 2026 Report

Discover how real estate pricing, income, macro uncertainty and capital market conditions are shaping the opportunity set. The report highlights the importance of asset selection, durable income, regional diversification and strategies such as core+, value-add, debt and recapitalization opportunities.

Infrastructure Performance Spotlights

Join us for the first session in our new series, Infrastructure Performance Spotlights. In this episode, we explore how the fiber subsector has evolved amid rapid market expansion, recent performance challenges, and a return to fundamentals, highlighting the key lessons shaping our disciplined approach to infrastructure investment today.

Implementing AI for Limited Partners

Artificial intelligence (AI) has transitioned from hype to defining strategic capability across private markets. Private markets are entering the “reality phase” of AI adoption.

StepStone Private Equity 2026 House Views

The private equity market is navigating ongoing macro uncertainty, evolving trade dynamics and a gradual reopening of deal and exit markets. Our annual 2026 Private Equity House Views discusses the latest trends and themes for 2026.

Recent Trends in Corporate Direct Lending 2H25

Private debt fundraising remained healthy in 2025, with Europe rebounding as investors diversified away from the US, where fundraising weakened. Evergreen vehicles (e.g., BDCs) continued to grow rapidly, broadening the investor base but reinforcing deployment pressure.

Cutting Through the Noise in Direct Lending Headlines

Given the extensive media attention on direct lending in recent months, we believe it is important to clarify several of the most frequently highlighted issues.

Magnificent 7 Across Markets: Comparing Private and Public Company Performance

Even though the public Magnificent 7 have performed strongly and generated a 41% cumulative return between September ’24 and the beginning of January 2026, the private Magnificent 7 have generated an even stronger cumulative return of 219%.

LP Roundtable: Deal Flow and Multi-Manager Approach

Partner Mike Elio explains how investors are approaching a selective deal environment and using multi-manager strategies to build flexibility and liquidity into portfolios.

Quick Takes: State of the Market: What the Data Really Tells Us

Partners Tom Keck and Lisa Larsson offer valuable insights on how investors are navigating tight liquidity and low distributions. They also highlight growing optimism, driven in part by innovation in AI and its impact across private markets.

PE Secondaries: Continuation Vehicles

Principal Ted Black discusses the continuation vehicle market and its growth in private equity exits, including perspectives from sponsors and LPs.

Quick Takes: Liquidity Issues & Solutions in the Current Environment

StepStone Partner and CEO Scott Hart shares how secondaries are being used more proactively to unlock liquidity and rebalance portfolios amid reduced realizations across private markets.

Asia: PE Strategies in a Complex Global Landscape

StepStone’s Hansong Qu and Zhiyao Ma share perspectives on Asia’s evolving private equity landscape, touching on shifting investor priorities and opportunities emerging across the region.

Is Fund Size Growth a Red Flag?

As LPs increasingly concentrate capital with top-performing GPs, fund size growth remains one of the most common—and most debated—factors in private equity underwriting.

StepStone Infrastructure and Real Assets 2H25 House Views

Our House Views are developed using a combination of top-down macroeconomic analysis and bottom-up insights drawn from the expertise of our 80+ infrastructure professionals, who collectively manage $121 billion in capital.

StepStone Real Estate Fall 2025 House Views

Momentum is building across real estate markets, with US transaction volume back at long term norms and capital calls running 21% above normal for non-core funds for the third quarter of 2025. This was driven by lower rates, healthy lending markets, and mounting pressures from buyers and sellers to deploy capital commitments and return capital to investors.

FTSE Russell and Stepstone Group Launch Global Fund-level Daily Private Market Indices

FTSE Russell, the global index provider, and StepStone Group, a global private market investment firm, today announced the launch of the FTSE StepStone Global Private Market Indices. This series of innovative fund-level indices represents the first true market barometer for global private markets performance, utilizing daily data from StepStone.

Waiting With Conviction: Private Equity Discipline in Uncertain Conditions

Over the last three years, slower exits and persistent questions around valuations have tested private equity. In 2025, the world has seen a surge in geopolitical, macroeconomic, and trade uncertainty. Because of the current market backdrop, this paper turns to the data to find evidence behind how private equity creates and sustains value. This paper offers quantification on exits, valuations and the drivers that may influence private equity’s future outcomes.

1,000 words or less: Introduction to infrastructure

Meeting global infrastructure needs over the coming decades will require significant investment. Projections estimate a $64 trillion funding gap over the next 25 years, underscoring the limitations of public financing and the need for complementary sources of capital.1

The New Kids on the Block: European Software Investing

Smaller European software deals are becoming harder for institutional investors to ignore. Despite strong risk-adjusted returns and favorable secular tailwinds, this segment of the market remains underexplored. Valuations are attractive, and exit opportunities are robust owing to significant dry powder upmarket.

1,000 words or less: Secondaries to the rescue

A closer look at the private equity secondary market’s growth and role in delivering liquidity.

Trends in corporate direct lending 1H25

Quarterly returns for US direct lending have decreased to a still-attractive 2.1%. This decline is primarily due to lower base rates and spread tightening since early 2024, which compressed income generation—the main driver of direct lending returns. Nonetheless, if the Fed maintains its policy rates through the summer (as many expect it to), direct lenders could see income stabilize through 2H25.

Stop Asking About Discounts: Why Asset Quality Drives Venture Secondary Returns

Returns in the secondary market are typically driven by two factors: asset appreciation and discounts. Let’s face it, everyone likes a discount. Purchasing a big-ticket item at 25% off is appealing!

StepStone Real Estate Spring 2025 House Views

Real estate markets are shifting from a risk-on approach at a perceived market bottom to caution, as participants evaluate the impact of tariffs and other US policy changes.

Crypto's Turning Point: From Speculation to Real World Adoption

Beyond the headlines and market volatility, blockchain technology’s long-term vision remains intact: to build a more decentralized and transparent internet, where ownership and control shift from centralized intermediaries to users. Prominent venture capitalist Chris Dixon at a16z popularized the term “web3,” envisioning an internet where users can not only “read” and “write” to the web but “own” and participate in its economic upside.

StepStone Infrastructure and Real Assets 1H25 House Views

Our House Views are developed using a combination of top-down macroeconomic analysis and bottom-up insights drawn from the expertise of our 75+ infrastructure professionals, who collectively manage $103 billion in capital.

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

Historically, primary investments have been the predominant route for building exposure to private debt. At the same time, secondary transactions have provided attractive opportunities for capital deployment, often with the potential for enhanced returns. Co-investments, however, offer a compelling alternative, distinguished from the primary channel by unique characteristics.

The Fundamentals of Infrastructure Secondaries

The secondary market has been a hot topic of conversation across private markets throughout the 2020s. Continued growth in deal volumes driven by overall private markets NAV growth and the ongoing evolution of the GP-led market, along with increased activity in the secondary GP universe—through new strategy launches and M&A activity—has brought secondaries to the forefront in LP conversations.

Private debt in an evergreen format

Institutional and individual investors are allocating more of their capital to private debt to capitalize on the asset class’s potential for attractive risk-adjusted returns and diversification benefits.

Private Debt Made Accessible

Private debt may offer attractive and stable risk-adjusted returns throughout market cycles and often outperforms public asset classes when markets are stressed.

Outperformance in the European Small to Middle Market

In our 2023 whitepaper “European private equity: Is small better?” we suggested that investors looking to broaden their exposure to European PE might find a solution in the Small and Middle Markets (SMBO). Lower competition, attractive entry valuations, and lower correlation with public markets are just a few reasons why. But where exactly should investors look for this outperformance?

StepStone Private Equity 2025 Market Outlook

The private equity market is evolving, with new opportunities emerging even amid macroeconomic uncertainties. Our 2025 private equity market outlook highlights key trends shaping the private equity landscape and offers insights on how investors can capitalize on these shifts.

Dual-use technology: Rewriting the rules of engagement

Speak to anyone in Defense, and they’ll tell you that the risk level globally has never been higher. The face of warfare is mutating—as powerfully evidenced by the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. Today’s new threat matrix has to be broadened to include cyber and space and broadened further still to incorporate economic and grid security.

Diversifying your Asia exposure: India private equity

According to most economic research, Asia is the world’s growth engine, accounting for 60% of global GDP growth in 2024. China’s rapid ascent has long dominated headlines about Asia and global growth. However, in recent years, the spotlight has shifted to India’s growth story as China’s economy reaches a more mature phase.

Implications of Trump 2.0 on the private markets

January 20th brought the US a new presidential administration. Bolstered by his party’s control of congress, President Trump and his team have promised sweeping changes. As we evaluate the impact on investment strategies, we have two initial conclusions.

Trends in corporate direct lending 2H24

Direct lending continues to provide attractive returns, supported by elevated base rates contributing to high, albeit decreasing, gross asset yields. Despite expectations for further moderation in base rates, yields should remain above long-term averages. Middle-market firms’ fundamentals proved resilient with relatively few defaults. This means that realized losses remained low and did not affect returns materially.

StepStone Real Estate Fall 2024 House Views

Conditions remain attractive for non-core investments, higher interest rates continue to drive an element of market dislocation. The jump in interest rates since 2022 pushed down property values, causing properties to become over-levered, creating the need to fund the gaps between loan payoff levels and refinancing proceeds. Though it’s been welcome and a boost to sentiment, central bank easing mainly affects short rates. It is likely that mid- and longer-term rates will remain higher, with more overall uncertainty amid greater than usual geopolitical risk.

Private debt misconceptions

Although private debt first emerged as an asset class in the 1990s, it did not gain momentum until after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) at which point it began capturing market share from traditional banks and public markets. Initially regarded as a return enhancer for fixed-income portfolios in low interest rate environments, private debt has since evolved into a core component of institutional portfolios.

StepStone Real Estate Liquidity Insights

This report analyzes StepStone data to identify liquidity trends among non-core real estate funds. These funds have been materially impacted by recent interest rate spikes, which have led to value declines and overleveraged balance sheets.

Did infrastructure weather the inflation storm?

Infrastructure investments are generally considered to have strong downside protection and inflation linkage, but since infrastructure became an investable asset class, inflation has remained relatively benign. In 2022 as the world came out of lockdown, the theory came face-to-face with reality.

Doubling down on private equity co-investments

Since we issued our last report on co-investments in 2014, economic conditions and co-investment deal dynamics have changed markedly. Leverage is more expensive. Fundraising is slower. GPs are even keener to invite LPs to invest alongside them. Pre-signing opportunities are becoming the norm.

Infratech: staying on the leading edge

In every industry, technology is a potentially disruptive or return-enhancing force, and infrastructure is no different.

CHANGE NEVER FELT SO FAMILIAR: Infrastructure in the energy transition

Energy is critical to the functioning of our society—it has fueled technological advancement and human progress over the past two centuries. According to the US Energy Information Administration, global energy consumption has increased by at least 1% every year since 1966. Between 1990 and 2020, it jumped 60%, and by 2050 global energy consumption could rise by an additional 50%.

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

The internet changed everything. Although few actually understood how it works, nearly everyone understood that it would revolutionize life. Fewer still contemplated the negative side effects it would one day pose. Without much in the way of restraint, the internet’s growth was swift and unbridled. As the modern world embraces another game-changing technology, armed with the benefit of hindsight and years of study on the internet’s harmful side effects, society by and large is much more cautious about the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI)—especially generative AI.

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

In this episode of RPM, Suzanne Tavill, Partner and Head of Responsible Investment joins co-host Michael Venne to discuss the potential of Responsible AI and how private markets may influence its development.

Direct lending market update

The second half of 2023 began rather muted for public markets, but the dynamic reversed significantly with a strong rally in the last two months across all asset classes, likely spurred by the anticipation of earlier-than-expected monetary easing. This shift in market dynamics suggested a growing optimism among investors about the potential for cheaper borrowing costs to stimulate growth. This enthusiasm has continued through the start of 2024 as most asset classes built further on their gains, especially in the equity markets.

Fight the urge (to invest in the familiar)

For investors, this means returns. However, various studies have pointed to outperformance or, at least, no sacrifice in performance, between diverse and nondiverse-owned managers. We believe that there are still many limitations to a conclusive study here, including average vintage and sample size. However, despite this, minority-owned firms undoubtedly raise far less capital than non-diverse firms and face a higher bar when raising subsequent funds. This is particularly true of new or emerging managers.

2023 Responsible Investment Report

This Responsible Investment (RI) report presents an overview of StepStone’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration and stewardship activities from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023. The information references the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, the Asset Management and Custody Activities Standard from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. We have included an overview of our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) activities within this RI report as well as our climate-related activities within our investments and our operations.

Deployment and sourcing channels in direct lending

During 2023, direct lending witnessed lower deployment levels relative to previous years. The high interest rate environment challenged valuations, which in turn limited private equity activity.

Pound the table for small buyouts

When we wrote our last paper on small-market buyouts (SBOs), we wanted to remind investors why they should not neglect small-cap managers in the current environment. Hence the title “Fight the urge (to cut back on small buyouts).”

Real estate primer

A disciplined framework is particularly useful given the vast size and diversity of the real estate markets. The investable universe of global real estate assets has an estimated value of $58 trillion. Within that vast total, MSCI estimated the professionally managed global real estate market to be $13 trillion in its July 2023 report. 

Corporate private debt primer

Private debt is a form of debt financing offered by non-bank lenders that is not issued or traded within the traditional public markets. Although private debt includes real estate and infrastructure debt, this paper focuses primarily on corporate private debt.

Current opportunities in the primary and secondary direct lending markets

Recent macroeconomic developments have created an attractive investment environment for direct lenders. Higher base rates combined with favorable lending terms are translating into higher risk-adjusted returns.

Recovery rates as a mitigator against default rates

An uncertain macroeconomic environment that may portend a recession usually entails greater default risk. However, direct lenders can take preemptive measures to limit that risk and improve the chances of recovery if one happens.

European Growth: Overlooked and under-allocated

Out of the struggles caused by the pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine, Europe has faced more scrutiny than other developed markets. But in our experience, private equity performance has not been predicated on macro conditions: Over the last 15 years, the gross returns generated by European fund managers have been in line with those generated by their North American counterparts.

SIRA House Views

We are pleased to present our 1H 2024 House Views on the state of the infrastructure market.

European private equity: Is small better?

While most of the world has struggled to navigate its way out of the dislocation caused by the pandemic, Europe has again found itself being more heavily scrutinized than other developed markets. Like the US, it is fighting inflation and attempting to manage the impact of tighter monetary policy. But these challenges have been compounded by the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine and the ensuing energy shock. More recently, Europe’s economic outlook has weakened as demand, both domestic and from key export markets such as China, has weakened.

European healthcare: Private equity's outperformance and strategic pathways

The European healthcare sector has undergone significant structural transformations and sustained tailwinds in the past decade and a half, fostering advantageous investment returns within the industry.

The Nordic model: Outperformance in private equity

The Nordic region, commonly defined as consisting of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, is home to just 3% of Europe’s population. Yet from a macroeconomic perspective it has long been seen as a region that has outperformed across several metrics. The “Nordic Model” of economic and social policies has contributed to globally leading rankings in terms of economic stability, transparent governance, a high degree of entrepreneurialism and innovation, gender equality and even happiness.

Equity as a shock absorber for lenders

In periods of macroeconomic uncertainty, it becomes even more essential to increase scrutiny of portfolio companies’ performance.

The link between interest rates and FCCR

Rising interest rates warrant greater scrutiny of companies’ debt burdens—especially their ability to service interest payments.

StepStone Real Estate Spring 2024 House Views

Real estate trades now seem to reflect higher interest rates and certain negative factors in general economies. Trading volume is still muted. We expect it to take several years to resolve the pervasive issue of overleverage caused by steep value declines. Similar to the post GFC era, lender forbearance, work-out and loan restructuring negotiations and foreclosures take time. Therefore, we don’t expect distressed investing opportunities to really start ramping up until later in 2024. Conditions are ripe for a potentially extraordinary vintage period for non-core investing via recapitalizations, GP-led secondaries and distress sales.

Direct lending's attractive risk adjusted returns

The surge in interest rates over the past two years has brought renewed attention to credit markets. Within private credit, interest in direct lending has increased significantly owing to its floating rate coupons, relatively low volatility, and track record for attractive risk-adjusted returns.

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

In this episode of RPM, Todd Lapenna and Sean Ebsary from our infrastructure team, join co-host Michael Venne to discuss infrastructure’s middle market following the release of our recent whitepaper, Infrastructure’s Middle Market: An emerging opportunity.

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

In the late 1960s, it became clear, especially to American endowments, that investing in low-risk portfolios that were tilted toward fixed-income securities was a suboptimal strategy. Though this approach made it easy to set a fixed spending rate, real returns were so low that some endowments saw their capital bases shrink. Since then, many endowments have perfected more sophisticated strategies that often rely upon private markets to outpace inflation and preserve capital.

Making an Impact - A Guide for Private Market Investors

Over the last decade, investors of all types have taken to thinking more critically about their fiduciary responsibility and their ability to help solve environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges. The rapid growth in the number of signatories to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is a testament to this evolution.

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

As private markets have gone from alternative to mainstream over the past several decades, an ecosystem of investors and advisers has developed that offer ready liquidity to limited partners (LPs) and general partners alike.

Agriculture - Ripe for Institutional Investment

Agriculture offers a range of investment options capable of fulfilling numerous portfolio objectives. In meeting one of society’s most fundamental needs, investments in “Ag“ can come in many forms. The sector’s diversity and resiliency have been on full display during various economic downturns, including those arising from the efforts to respond to Covid-19. In this way, Ag is not unlike infrastructure and real estate. The inexorable demand for food stands in stark contrast to other sectors, which have suffered since governments have put in place policies to stanch the pandemic’s deleterious effects.

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

The earth’s climate is always changing. In the last 650,000 years, there have been seven ice ages. When the last one ended about 11,700 years ago, the modern climate era began. It only took a temperature increase of 4–7°C to melt the ice sheets and create the conditions that would allow human civilization to flourish.

Understanding the Effects of Covid-19 on Direct Lending

The investors who have invested in Direct Lending (DL) have done so because of its potential to deliver higher returns and better diversification than can other credit instruments. Some investors, however, have been discouraged by what they perceive to be higher risks. The singular economic effects of efforts to control Covid-19 have challenged even the most creditworthy borrowers.

Venture Capital - Partying Like It's 1999

Low interest rates, pent-up demand for growth, and major advances in IT infrastructure have made it easier for software companies to start up and scale. As Marc Andreessen predicted, software has eaten the world, gobbling up a massive share of private and public markets alike, and generating strong performance for investors in the process. As a result, the last decade has been very good to the venture capital (VC) industry. Venture-backed software and internet companies now account for seven of the 10 largest companies in the world. Returns have improved markedly over the prior decade and are now largely outperforming buyouts. Investments and exits are at all-time highs. Can it last?

Responsible Investing - Internalizing the Externality

In 2004, Kofi Annan, then secretary-general of the United Nations, invited 50 financial institutions to endorse a report titled, Who Cares Wins. In it, Mr. Annan concluded companies that are well managed with regard to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues should compete more successfully and increase shareholder value. Those that don’t might not be able to weather regulatory changes or stakeholder actions. In addition, such businesses tend to miss growth opportunities such as accessing new markets.

The Hunt for Yield

In 30 years, the world’s pension shortfall is projected to reach US$400 trillion—five times the size of the global economy today. This makes the responsibility of paying today’s retirees, while ensuring the financial security for future pensioners, all the more challenging, especially for cash-flow-negative schemes. Plans that are failing to generate enough investment income to pay member pensions face two choices: invest in income-yielding assets, or divest to boost liquidity. Because divesting is problematic during an economic downturn, most schemes have typically focused on optimizing their allocations to income-generating assets.

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

Once private equity investors sign a fund commitment, they begin a 10- to 15-year relationship with the GP. With time horizons this long, it’s no wonder the asset class attracts life insurers and pension funds; it’s also clear why many perceive private equity to be a waiting game. That shorter-term investors also invest in private equity, however, indicates the asset class is not as illiquid as the long fund life would suggest. To quantify the liquidity of these investments, we look at the duration of private equity cash flows and crunch the numbers from different angles using our proprietary data.

Private Equity in Latin America - Strong Opportunities Amidst Soft Economies

Private equity investors in Latin America (“Latam”) today stand to learn a valuable lesson from an old Mexican proverb that is well known to fishermen – there is good fishing in troubled waters.

Co-investments - Good For Your Portfolio's Health

Co-investing is the practice of making non-control direct equity investments in individual transactions alongside general partners who source, or sponsor, the deal (“GPs” or “Sponsors”). Co-investing became institutionalized in the mid- to late 1990s as the overall private equity industry began to mature and has become a more prevalent allocation in investors’ portfolios. According to StepStone’s analysis, coinvestment dollars represented 13% of total equity invested in 2012, up from 1% in 2000 and on par with 2007, as shown in Figure 1.

RPM Ep. 58 | Implementation Framework With Miguel Sosa and David Robbins

In this episode of RPM, Miguel Sosa and David Robbins join co-host Anna Marcus to unpack the implementation gap holding advisors back from private markets—exploring why shifting public market dynamics demand a rethink of the traditional 60/40 portfolio, and how evergreen structures and a practical allocation framework can help advisors bridge the divide.

RPM Ep. 57 | Power, planets and the abyss — How AI, space, and the deep sea are shaping private markets

Suzanne Tavill, Global Head of Responsible Investment, joins Michael Venne to unpack the game-changing themes explored in our two recent whitepapers: how AI-driven energy demand is sparking investment opportunities across the power ecosystem, and how falling exploration costs are reframing the deep sea and space as an extension of Earth’s industrial base.

RPM Ep. 56 | The case for emerging managers with Ted Panarese and Aditya Fontana-Raina

In this episode of RPM, Ted Panarese and Aditya Fontana-Raina, New York-based Partners on our private equity team, join co-host Anna Marcus to explore whether emerging managers truly represent a disproportionate source of risk, or if the opportunity has been mischaracterized.

RPM Ep. 55 | Fall 2025 Real Estate House Views with Jeff Giller and Margaret McKnight

In this episode of RPM, Jeff Giller, Partner and Head of Real Estate, and Margaret McKnight, Partner and Head of Portfolio Solutions for StepStone Real Estate, rejoin co-host Maribel Yoo to discuss our Fall 2025 House Views on the state of the real estate market.

AI Use Cases

StepStone’s Qi Liu provides an overview of how AI is being used within SPI by StepStone to streamline data organization and support investment analysis.

Rpm Ep. 54 | Private Equity Discipline in Uncertain Conditions With Lisa Larsson and Akash Chitrey

In this episode of RPM, Lisa Larsson, a New York-based Partner on StepStone’s Portfolio Management team, and Akash Chitrey, a La Jolla-based Senior Associate on the same team, join co-host Anna Marcus to discuss private equity liquidity and valuations, using data to show how private equity really creates and sustains value, even amid uncertain macro conditions.

RPM Ep. 53 | Diversifying your Asia Exposure with Zhiyao Ma and Hansong Qu

In this episode of RPM, Zhiyao Ma and Hansong Qu, Vice Presidents on StepStone’s Asia Private Equity team, join co-host Anna Marcus to discuss the investment case for Japan and India and why these markets may be top of mind for investors looking at China +1 alternatives.

Rpm Ep. 52 | Why Private Debt is Well-suited for Evergreen Fund Structures

In this episode of RPM, Fabian Körzendörfer, a Zurich-based Partner on StepStone’s Private Debt team, joins co-host Michael Venne to discuss the benefits of private debt and why the asset class fits well with evergreen fund structures.

RPM Ep. 51 | Now is the Time for Infrastructure Secondaries With Tim Rees

In this episode of RPM, Tim Rees, a London-based Partner on StepStone’s Infrastructure and Real Assets team, joins co-host Michael Venne to discuss the rapid growth of infrastructure secondaries and why the market is gaining momentum.

RPM—Ep. 49 | The future of responsible investing with Suzanne Tavill and Brooke Latham

This episode of RPM features Suzanne Tavill, Partner and Head of Responsible Investment at StepStone, in conversation with Brooke Latham, Head of Sustainability at the NATO Innovation Fund. They explore what it means to invest responsibly in dual-use technologies, with a focus on the evolving concept of “responsible use.”

RPM—Ep. 48 | The Future of Responsible AI with Suzanne Tavill and Paul Fehlinger

In this episode of RPM, Suzanne Tavill, Partner and Head of Responsible Investment at StepStone, is joined by special guest Paul Fehlinger, Director of Policy Innovation and Impact at Project Liberty Institute to discuss Responsible AI, the opportunities and challenges that come with it, and why what we see right now is just the tip of the technology iceberg.

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

In this episode of RPM, Jeff Giller, Partner and Head of Real Estate, and Margaret McKnight, Partner and Head of Portfolio Solutions for StepStone Real Estate, join co-host Anna Marcus to discuss our recent Real Estate Liquidity Insights report, which analyzes fund-level cash flows and trends shaping liquidity in the real estate market.

StepStone Real Estate 2025 US Research Outlook

We are pleased to present StepStone Real Estate’s 2025 US Research Outlook webinar which provides a brief recap of 2024 and the outlook for 2025. While we focus on US property market fundamentals, we also cover capital market trends. In the coming weeks, we will be posting similar webinar modules on the European and Asian real estate markets.

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.

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.

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

In this episode of RPM, Geoffrey Dolan, a Partner on our Private Equity team in New York, joins co-host Anna Marcus to break down the competitive dynamics of the private equity co-investment market.

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

In this episode of RPM, Bhavika Vyas, Managing Director and member of StepStone’s Private Equity team, and special guest Julio Friedmann, Chief Scientist, Carbon Direct, join co-host Maribel Yoo to revisit the conversation on energy transition investing. They evaluate the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) two years post-enactment, highlighting advancements in climate solutions and global investment opportunities.

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

In this episode of RPM, Simon Beer, Partner, Infrastructure & Real Assets, joins co-host Michael Venne to discuss trends that are redefining the infrastructure landscape.

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

In this episode of RPM, Richard Schmidt, Senior Analyst, Private Debt, and Jovan Samardzic, Managing Director, Private Debt Research, join co-host Michael Venne to discuss the state of the private debt market.

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

In this episode of RPM, Jeff Giller, Partner and Head of Real Estate, and Margaret McKnight, Partner and Head of Portfolio Solutions for StepStone Real Estate, rejoin co-host Maribel Yoo to discuss our Spring 2024 House Views on the state of the real estate market.

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

In this episode of RPM, Akhilan Nesaratnam, Thomas Dupont and Carlos Sahuquillo from our private equity team in London join co-host Michael Venne to discuss Europe’s private equity landscape. The conversation surrounds common misconceptions about Europe’s investment opportunities, unpacking four key European sectors and the topics of our recent papers: European small and middle market buyouts, the Nordic region, European growth equity and European healthcare.

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

In this episode of RPM, co-host Maribel Yoo hands the mic to Margaret McKnight, Partner and Head of Portfolio Solutions for Real Estate, to interview Jeff Giller, Partner Head of StepStone Real Estate, about our recent whitepaper, Bull market for real estate secondaries. 

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.

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.