StepStone Group

Qi Liu, Managing Director and Head of AI at StepStone, will speak at the Private Equity Wire US Summit in New York on November 12 in a fireside chat, “Compounding Conviction: AI and the Deal Pipeline.” The session will address how private markets firms are using AI across sourcing, diligence, underwriting and portfolio management. Qi will share her perspective on AI as a tool for investment intelligence, including the potential to turn unstructured information into actionable insights and bring proprietary data and institutional knowledge into investment workflows. At the center of the discussion is an important balance: using AI to accelerate decision-making while keeping human judgment and thoughtful governance at the core.

StepStone recently partnered with CFA Society Netherlands in Amsterdam for a conversation exploring the opportunities shaping European venture capital and growth equity, from capital formation to the role of secondaries and co-investments. Thank you to CFA Society Netherlands for their partnership in making the event a success, to Tom Fitzherbert-Brockholes for representing StepStone, and to everyone who came out to join us.

Qi Liu, Managing Director & Head of AI at StepStone, will be speaking at Mergermarket Private Equity Forum US 2026 in Austin on Tuesday, October 20. Qi will join the panel, “Operational value creation: an evolving landscape,” examining how private equity managers are approaching value creation in a higher-cost, lower-growth environment, including the role of AI in portfolios and how operating capabilities are evolving as holding periods extend.

StepStone Real Estate has published its 2026 Real Estate Liquidity Insights report, an analysis of fund-level cash flows in the non-core real estate market. While market transaction volumes have broadly recovered, fund sales and distributions remain well below historical norms, as carrying values continue to exceed prevailing trading prices. The report draws on SPI by StepStone, our proprietary database of more than 3,820 managers and 8,300 funds. Read the full report:

StepStone Real Estate has published its 2026 Real Estate Liquidity Insights report, an analysis of fund-level cash flows in the non-core real estate market. While market transaction volumes have broadly recovered, fund sales and distributions remain well below historical norms, as carrying values continue to exceed prevailing trading prices. The report draws on SPI by StepStone, our proprietary database of more than 3,820 managers and 8,300 funds. Read the full report:

StepStone Partner Adair Newhall will be joining Andrew Fink of Kirkland & Ellis for a fireside chat at the NVCA Strategic Operations & Policy Summit on October 15 in Washington, DC. The summit offers a forum for senior venture leaders to exchange perspectives on policy, operations, and firm management. If you'll be at the summit, we invite you to join the session.

Gary Gipkhin, Managing Director at StepStone, will be speaking at LPGP Connect Private Debt Los Angeles on October 29 as part of the opening keynote panel, Private Debt in 2026 and Beyond: Navigating Rate Cycles, Capital Flows & Market Dislocations. The discussion will explore how LPs and GPs are recalibrating private credit allocations, where investors are finding the most compelling risk-adjusted opportunities, and how growing capital inflows are reshaping competition, underwriting standards, and portfolio construction across the asset class.

StepStone will take the stage at SuperReturn Europe in Amsterdam, 3-6 November, with four team members joining discussions on the conditions shaping European private markets and the opportunities ahead. If you'll be attending, here's where you can find them: - Srdjan Vlaski will join the panel Collateral catalysts: the growth of asset-backed lending in Europe on Tuesday, 3 November at 13:55, discussing the role of asset-backed lending in today's market environment and how emerging asset classes are shaping the opportunity set. - Fabian Körzendörfer will speak on The evergreen era: assessing the impact of flexible fund models on Tuesday, 3 November at 15:45, exploring investor sentiment, liquidity management and the evolving design of evergreen fund structures. - Philippe Ferneini will be a panelist on Secondaries in the spotlight: Europe's continuation vehicle revolution on Wednesday, 4 November at 15:45, examining how continuation vehicles and secondaries solutions are evolving to meet investors' liquidity needs. - Bernard de Backer will join Machine learning, human gains: the usage of AI in PE processes on Thursday, 5 November at 11:10, sharing views on how firms are applying AI across sourcing, due diligence, portfolio management and risk assessment.

Our Dublin interns have arrived! To kick things off, we asked our interns what they're hoping to learn, accomplish, and take away from their time at StepStone. Throughout the year, we'll be sharing more from the cohort, including their perspectives, milestones, and reflections as they progress through the programme. Welcome to StepStone, we're glad you're here!

Seyonne Kang, Partner at StepStone, will join RAISE GP Day on October 21 at the Presidio in San Francisco to discuss a question many emerging managers face: what does it take to build an enduring firm, not just a successful fund? In "From Fund to Firm: The Decisions That Break (or Build) Your Platform," Seyonne will share the LP perspective on the infrastructure, governance, and platform decisions that can shape a firm's long-term trajectory. Drawing on her experience investing in venture funds and serving on LP advisory committees for many early-stage firms, she'll discuss the choices that help managers build resilient businesses as they grow.

Private markets have faced no shortage of headwinds in recent years. At IPEM, StepStone Partner Mike Elio joined the panel, “We need to talk about that vintage,” to discuss liquidity, exit activity, manager selection, and more. A few key takeaways: • Exit activity is improving. The historical valuation uplift on exit has returned to ~11%, signalling a healthier environment for distributions. • Continuation vehicles are increasingly important, evolving from a liquidity solution into a core feature of the private markets ecosystem. • Specialism matters. While large-cap private equity continues to face IPO challenges, small and mid-market buyouts offer compelling return potential for those able to identify specialist managers with proven value creation and exit capabilities. • Private markets continue to deliver consistent returns, but are currently measured against exceptionally strong public markets. However, the long-term case for private markets remains compelling, offering consistent value creation and diversification benefits.

Private markets are entering a new phase as investors navigate longer holding periods, evolving liquidity dynamics and increased selectivity. In this profile, Mike Elio shares his perspective on where institutional investors are finding opportunity across today's private markets landscape. Key takeaways: - "DPI is the new IRR" as investors place greater emphasis on distributions and manager selection. - Secondaries continue to gain traction as a source of liquidity and access to high-quality assets. - The lower-to-middle market offers compelling opportunities, making manager selection increasingly critical. - Evergreen vehicles are seeing broader adoption, particularly among smaller institutional investors. Read the full piece here:

StepStone Group served as sole lead investor in a single-asset continuation vehicle alongside Amulet Capital Partners to support US Fertility, the largest independent fertility services network in the United States. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Amulet to support US Fertility in its next phase of growth.

John Avirett joined the Life After SpaceX panel at the UOB Private Bank Funds Summit in Singapore, discussing AI innovation, the infrastructure behind its growth, and how investors can find opportunities without chasing hype. Across the event's breakout sessions, JianHao Low shared perspectives on venture and growth markets, portfolio allocation, and key investment themes shaping today's landscape. Thank you to UOB Private Bank for hosting and facilitating these thoughtful discussions.

Colleagues from our Beijing, Singapore, and Zurich offices recently gathered in Bangkok for the StepStone Thailand Investor Forum 2026. The program covered developments across private equity, private debt, venture capital, and private wealth, with a discussion on China’s tech-driven growth examined the forces shaping investor interest and activity in one of the world's most dynamic innovation markets. As investor priorities continue to evolve, we appreciate the chance to foster conversations around the forces shaping today's market environment.

StepStone Group served as sole lead investor in a single-asset continuation vehicle alongside Gainline Capital Partners to support Core Health & Fitness, a global producer and distributor of commercial fitness equipment. We look forward to partnering with Gainline to support Core in its next phase of growth and global expansion. This transaction reflects our shared commitment to supporting long-term value creation for high-quality businesses.

StepStone has been ranked #3 in Private Equity International's 2026 Secondaries Investor 50. The ranking reflects StepStone’s continued market leadership and growth of our secondaries platform, with $35.9 billion raised over the last five years. That momentum comes as secondaries play an increasingly important role for investors and sponsors seeking liquidity and portfolio management solutions across private markets. This recognition is a testament to the strength of our global secondaries platform and the work of our teams across the firm. Thank you to our clients, partners, and colleagues whose trust and collaboration made this achievement possible.

Last week, StepStone kicked off our new personal and professional development series with a conversation about career confidence, work-life balance and the evolving definition of success. The panel explored challenges that many professionals encounter throughout their careers, reflecting on the experiences that shaped their own paths. Thank you to Rebecca Ajavananda, Nitin Malik, Jennifer Logue, and moderator Shannon Kenska for sharing their perspectives, and to everyone who dialed in and contributed thoughtful questions.

We are excited to announce the final close of our infrastructure secondaries fund, raising $1.7 billion across StepStone Secondaries Infrastructure Fund (SSIF) and related separate accounts. SSIF, our first closed-ended commingled fund dedicated to infrastructure secondaries, closed at its $1.5 billion hard cap, surpassing its target. The Fund focuses on acquiring LP interests and investing in GP-led secondary funds, targeting what StepStone believes are high-quality infrastructure funds and assets managed by experienced third-party infrastructure GPs. Special thanks to the investors who backed this fund, many of whom have partnered with us across our infrastructure platform for years. This milestone reflects our continued commitment to delivering differentiated solutions across the infrastructure secondaries market. Full press release here:

StepStone is now accepting applications for our 2027 Summer Analyst program. Work alongside teams across our global private markets platform and gain hands-on experience supporting real projects and initiatives. Check out our current internship opportunities here:

How is value being created in private equity today? Join Aiyu Nicholson, StepStone Partner and COO of Private Equity, at AAAIM Elevate 2026 on September 22 for "Perspectives on value creation in private equity," a discussion on the strategies, challenges, and opportunities shaping the market. StepStone is proud to support AAAIM Elevate 2026 and the conversations driving the future of private markets.