TacticScaleWhat StepStone Does & How It Makes Money (STEP)
Updated October 2026 · reflects StepStone's latest reported financials
Global private equity and venture capital investment firm. As an asset manager, it puts capital to work in private markets through funds, co-investments and direct deals.
How StepStone makes money
As an asset manager, it puts capital to work in private markets through funds, co-investments and direct deals. It earns money from managing and investing that capital.
What StepStone does
StepStone Group Inc., founded in 2007 and headquartered in New York, invests across private markets. It makes primary commitments to funds, runs fund-of-funds programs, buys secondary interests in funds and companies, and invests directly in companies from seed and venture stages through growth, recapitalizations and buyouts of middle-market and mature businesses. It also invests in private debt, mezzanine, distressed and turnaround situations. The firm invests across many sectors, including technology, healthcare, consumer, industrials, energy and clean energy, financials, real estate, infrastructure and natural capital. It invests globally, with offices across North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and puts between 5% and 40% of its investments in emerging markets. It takes both minority and majority stakes and also makes co-investments and follow-on investments.
Products & services
- Primary fund investments
- Secondary fund investments
- Fund-of-funds programs
- Direct and co-investments
- Private debt and mezzanine investments
- Real estate and infrastructure investments
What is StepStone worth?
On an owner-earnings DCF, StepStone's most-likely value is about $24 versus a recent price near $44 (45% above fair value). But TacticScale only calls a stock undervalued when the price sits below its conservative no-growth floor (~$8) with a margin of safety — so the honest verdict here is “Fairly priced — no edge.” Fair value earns its keep only at the extremes, not in the wide middle.
Price sits in the normal range — fair value isn't actionable here; it earns its keep only when price drops below the no-growth floor, or runs to roughly double the optimistic case.
⚠ High leverage — net debt is 9.8× annual cash flow. Net debt is subtracted from this fair value, but refinancing at higher rates, principal timing, and share dilution aren’t modeled — the equity can be worth far less if cash flow weakens.
Analysis, not advice. Fair value is a margin-of-safety estimate from a deterministic owner-earnings DCF, not a price target or recommendation. See the full breakdown →
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