StepStone is intensely focused on developing private equity portfolios that fit the unique needs of our clients and will out-perform the market on a risk-adjusted basis. We believe the following strengths uniquely enable us to meet this challenge:

• Proven investment philosophy and process
• Research driven investment approach
• Superior analytical and investment expertise
• Experience working with the most sophisticated private equity limited partners
• Collegial culture that encourages collaboration, professional development and initiative
• Owned by professionals making investment decisions

Proven Investment Process and Philosophy

StepStone’s investment professionals have managed investment teams and processes that have consistently out-performed the market. This out-performance is driven by a combination of optimizing sub-sector allocations based on future market trends and identifying the managers that will generate superior returns. StepStone will utilize the research intensive investment process that they have previously deployed successfully in the areas of fund investments, co-investments and direct investments.

Research Driven Investment Approach

StepStone believes that a research driven approach to the market (i) provides the analytical framework that drives superior investment returns and (ii) benefits StepStone clients by offering continuous insights into the evolution of market conditions. Not only does this approach allow StepStone to identify the managers that will out-perform, but also the sub-sectors that will provide superior returns. StepStone’s research begins with a consideration of the investment conditions that exist in each private equity sector and geography. This research allows StepStone to optimize sector and geographic allocations and to identify those funds that are most likely to benefit from the market conditions that will prevail in the coming fund cycle.

Superior Analytical and Investment Expertise

It is our experience that the private equity industry is now supported by sufficient empirical data to support highly analytical research and investment techniques. However, the incumbent firms in our industry often lack the expertise and mind‐set to evolve their investment approaches to take advantage of the analytical techniques these data support. StepStone’s investment team has a high concentration of direct investment and other related transactional backgrounds – supplemented by extensive analytical training and experience. In addition to direct and fund investment experience, the investment team consists of management consultants, hedge fund investors, investment bankers, accountants, and lawyers.

Experience Working with Leading Private Equity Limited Partners

StepStone’s professionals have extensive experience managing the private equity portfolios of the leading limited partners in the asset class. For example, StepStone professionals have assisted seven of the top ten largest pension funds in the United States and some of the largest non-US institutions in the management of their portfolios. Innovative activities that the StepStone professionals have managed for these leading institutions include emerging managers programs, co-investment programs, direct investment programs, analysis of portfolio structuring and cash flow pacing, evaluation of portfolio liquidity options, geographic exposure optimization, LP commitments as fund sponsors that include GP interests, GP investments and work outs of troubled funds.

Large Senior Team, Highly Selective Client Base

StepStone is led by a team of five highly experienced managing directors, all of whom are actively involved in working intimately on our investments and our clients. Our philosophy is to work with a highly selective group of leading institutional investors to ensure we maximize access to the private equity market for all of our clients, and maintain our ability to ensure senior level oversight and involvement in our investment activities and client interaction.

Collegial and Supportive Culture

StepStone views its primary assets as its people. We have developed an environment and culture that emphasizes collegiality, openness, entrepreneurship and professional development. Some of the management strategies that StepStone uses to reinforce these values include: (i) a comprehensive 360 degree performance review for all employees, (ii) a formal mentoring program to provide professional development direction, (iii) a decision-making process that empowers professionals and ensures that they feel they are an integral part of the organization, (iv) an organizational structure emphasizing specialization so that senior professionals can be entrepreneurial and build their practice area as if it were a business, (v) an emphasis on corporate values of integrity, fairness, respect for all employees (regardless of level) and community service and (vi) a compensation and promotion philosophy emphasizing performance (based on objective, non-political measures).

Owned by Professionals Making Investment Decisions

StepStone believes that in a people intensive business such as ours, a critical driver of long-term outperformance is ensuring that firm equity and economics are owned by the people responsible for investment activities. 80% of StepStone’s equity is owned by, and 90% of the firm’s profits are shared by, our professionals. In addition, StepStone has a governance structure that empowers a broad group of employees and makes them part of the decision-making process - both from a strategic and operational perspective. StepStone is confident that this combination will allow the firm to benefit from (i) a stable, motivated group of employees, (ii) superior decision-making, and (iii) the ability to attract and retain the top talent in the private equity industry.