StepStone News

 

Stephen Moseley Joins StepStone Group as President

Moseley will establish an East Coast presence
and head co-investment activities for StepStone

February 21, 2008, La Jolla, CA – StepStone Group LLC announced today that Stephen J. Moseley has joined the firm as President. Mr. Moseley will be based in New York where he will be a member of StepStone’s fund investment team and oversee co-investments for the firm.

Mr. Moseley, 43, served most recently as Managing Director for Estes Management LLC, which managed a $775 million private equity fund targeting co-investments alongside leading sponsors of buyouts and growth financings.

Prior to Estes Management, Mr. Moseley was Managing Director and Co-President of PCG Capital Partners (the direct investment group of Pacific Corporate Group LLC), which managed a $500 million direct investment fund and a $150 million co-investment fund. During his time at Pacific Corporate Group, Mr. Moseley also served as the Head of Research and was a member of PCG’s Executive Committee.

"We are delighted to welcome Steve to StepStone Group. Steve has a long history of managing highly successful co-investment programs for leading private equity limited partners and has complementary knowledge and expertise in the area of fund investments," said Monte Brem, Chief Executive Officer of StepStone Group. "Steve’s appointment will allow us to offer an integrated approach to fund investing and co-investing that we think is superior to the stand-alone co-investment programs currently offered by others."

"I’m very excited to join the StepStone team," said Mr. Moseley. "StepStone has built a tremendous client base of leading global limited partners. I have worked extensively with the StepStone principals in the past and consider their approach to building private equity portfolios and the firm culture they have created a perfect fit for my investment and management philosophy."

Prior to his time at PCG, Mr. Moseley was a Managing Director with Rutledge Capital LLC (a middle market private equity fund) and a Vice President/Principal in CS First Boston’s private equity group, Windward Capital Partners. Before CS First Boston, Mr. Moseley was an investment banker with Dillon Read & Co. and Merrill Lynch.

Mr. Moseley received his MBA degree from Yale University and his BA degree from Wesleyan University.

About StepStone Group
StepStone Group LLC offers customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional clients using industry leading analytics and research capabilities, with a focus on providing highly responsive and collaborative client service. StepStone Group was founded on the principle that the primary asset of the firm is its diverse team of professionals. The firm takes extreme care to develop and safeguard this asset to ensure greater value creation for clients. For more information about the firm, its philosophy and services please visit www.StepStoneLLC.com.

Contact: Lisa Baker
Owen Blicksilver Public Relations
(516) 742-5949
lisa@blicksilverpr.com






 

StepStone Group Announces Appointment by State of Wisconsin Investment Board to Focus on Specialized Investments

September 25, 2007, La Jolla, CA – StepStone Group LLC today announced that it has been hired by the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (“SWIB”) to assist SWIB in making specialized private equity fund investments.

StepStone will identify funds that have specific geographic, industry or investment structure focus, among others. SWIB intends to utilize the targeted exposure generated by this program to improve the diversification and risk-adjusted returns of its private equity portfolio.

“We are very impressed with the research and analytical capabilities of the StepStone team,” said Scott Parrish, Private Equity Portfolio Manager for SWIB. “The investment approach that StepStone utilizes will allow SWIB to identify specialized areas of the private equity market that are expected to out-perform and the top managers with which to invest in these areas.”

“StepStone is honored to have the opportunity to work with SWIB,” said Monte Brem, Chief Executive Officer of StepStone. “SWIB is a leading limited partner in the private equity sector and has a stellar reputation as a highly sophisticated and intelligent investor. We look forward to collaborating with SWIB to assist them in augmenting their portfolio with exposure to the areas of private equity that will lead the market.”

SWIB is the state agency that invests the assets of the Wisconsin Retirement System, Wisconsin State Investment Fund and other state of Wisconsin Trust Funds. Assets under management at SWIB are $93 billion. This includes the nearly $87 billion in trust funds of the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), which provides benefits to over 533,000 current or former employees of state agencies, the university system, school districts and most local governments. The WRS is the 9th largest US public pension fund and the 22nd largest public or private pension fund in the world.

About StepStone Group
StepStone Group LLC offers customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional clients using industry leading analytics and research capabilities, with a focus on providing highly responsive and collaborative client service. StepStone Group was founded on the principle that the primary asset of the firm is its diverse team of professionals. The firm takes extreme care to develop and safeguard this asset to ensure greater value creation for clients. For more information about the firm, its philosophy and services please visit www.StepStoneLLC.com.

Contact: Lisa Baker
Owen Blicksilver Public Relations
(516) 742-5949
lisa@blicksilverpr.com






 

StepStone Group Announces Jay Rose Has Joined as Managing Director

September 11, 2007, La Jolla, CA – StepStone Group LLC today announced that it has hired Jay Rose as Managing Director. Mr. Rose, 33, will head StepStone’s portfolio management function. StepStone Group provides customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional investors.

“We are delighted to have Jay join the StepStone team,” said Monte Brem, Chief Executive Officer of StepStone. “Jay has unique experience building top performing private equity portfolios for many of the leading global institutional investors. His quantitative approach to portfolio management is consistent with the emphasis StepStone has placed on developing industry leading analytics. Importantly, Jay’s team-oriented management style is an excellent match with the culture we have created at StepStone.”

“I am excited to be part of the uniquely talented investment team that StepStone has built,” said Mr. Rose. “StepStone’s investment platform is quickly emerging as a leader in the private equity industry. It is an honor to be able to work with the StepStone management team to continue to enhance the firm’s portfolio management capabilities.”

Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Rose was the Head of Research for PCG Asset Management, a subsidiary of Pacific Corporate Group Holdings LLC, where he oversaw the strategy and managed the day-to-day business of the research team, and the identification, analysis, due diligence and selection of private market investments. He also sat on the firm’s Investment and Management Committees. Prior to this, Mr. Rose was a quantitative research analyst with Laffer Investments. Before Laffer, Mr. Rose was with the fixed income group of Boston Partners Asset Management as a quantitative analyst. Mr. Rose received his BS in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire and is a CFA charterholder.

About StepStone Group
StepStone Group LLC offers customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional clients using industry leading analytics and research capabilities, with a focus on providing highly responsive and collaborative client service. StepStone Group was founded on the principle that the primary asset of the firm is its diverse team of professionals. The firm takes extreme care to develop and safeguard this asset to ensure greater value creation for clients. For more information about the firm, its philosophy and services please visit www.StepStoneLLC.com.

Contact: Owen Blicksilver
Owen Blicksilver Public Relations
(516) 742-5950
owen@blicksilverpr.com






 

StepStone Group Announces Five New Hires

July 17, 2007, La Jolla, CA – StepStone Group LLC today announced five additions to its investment team: Scott Hart as a Senior Associate, Erika Streck as an Associate, John Coelho as an Associate, John Kettnich as an Analyst, and Anthony Cusano as an Analyst. All five will be members of StepStone’s research and due diligence team. StepStone Group provides customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional investors.

Mr. Hart, Senior Associate, was previously an Associate with Texas Pacific Group (“TPG”), where he participated in all aspects of investment evaluation. While at TPG, Mr. Hart was involved in the analysis of some of the largest buy-out transactions in US history. Prior to TPG, Mr. Hart was an Analyst at Morgan Stanley in the firm’s Investment Banking, Retail and Consumer Group. Mr. Hart earned a BBA in Finance and Business Economics from the University of Notre Dame, summa cum laude. He is on the leadership board of the Joy of Sports Foundation, an organization that teaches critical life success skills to at-risk children through sports.

Ms. Streck, Associate, was previously an Associate at Allied Capital Corporation in Washington, D.C. where she focused on direct private equity investments. Prior to Allied, she was a financial Analyst at Edgeview Partners, a boutique investment bank. Ms. Streck holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Morehead Scholar. She is on the board of Breakthrough Collaborative, an after-school summer enrichment program in the District of Columbia.

Mr. Coelho, Associate, was previously an Assistant Vice President with ATEL Capital Group, a middle market lending institution. Prior to ATEL, Mr. Coelho was an Associate with Plantagenet Capital Management, where he focused on direct private equity investments. Before that, he was an Associate in the Investment Banking Group at Piper Jaffray & Company. Mr. Coelho received his MBA and BS in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley.

Mr. Kettnich, Analyst, was previously an Analyst with Pacific Corporate Group, where he focused on direct private equity investments and portfolio analytics. Mr. Kettnich received his BBA from the University of San Diego, summa cum laude, in Business Administration where he focused his studies on Private Equity and Venture Capital.

Mr. Cusano, Analyst, was previously an Analyst with the Meridian Value Fund (where he advised the fund on its growth strategy) and Cornell Capital Partners (where he analyzed hedge fund investments in public and private securities). Mr. Cusano received his MBA in Entrepreneurial Finance from the University of California San Diego, and his BS, summa cum laude, in Business Administration with a concentration in Financial Management from California Polytechnic State University.

“We are delighted to welcome Scott, Erika, John C., John K. and Anthony to StepStone Group,” said Thomas Keck, Chief Investment Officer and head of StepStone’s Research Group. “These additions to the StepStone team have a complementary mix of analytical and transactional experience, with a concentration of backgrounds in direct private equity investing. This group provides a strong foundation for the industry leading research capabilities that we have built. StepStone was founded on the principle that our primary asset is our people, and we will continue to focus on attracting and developing top talent like these five professionals.”

About StepStone Group
StepStone Group LLC offers customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional clients using industry leading analytics and research capabilities, with a focus on providing highly responsive and collaborative client service. StepStone Group was founded on the principle that the primary asset of the firm is its diverse team of professionals. The firm takes extreme care to develop and safeguard this asset to ensure greater value creation for clients. For more information about the firm, its philosophy and services please visit www.StepStoneLLC.com.

Contact: Lisa Baker
Owen Blicksilver Public Relations
+1 914-725-5949
lisa@blicksilverpr.com






 

Jaime Guzman-Fournier Joins StepStone Group as Managing Director

Former Head of SBIC Program to focus on
emerging and small to mid-market funds

June 20, 2007, La Jolla, CA – StepStone Group LLC, formerly known as Leucadia Capital Partners, announced today that Jaime Guzman-Fournier has joined the firm as Managing Director. Mr. Guzman-Fournier will be based in La Jolla where he will be a senior member of the due diligence and research team, focusing on emerging and small to mid-size market funds. StepStone Group, launched earlier this year, provides customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional investors.

Mr. Guzman-Fournier, 36, served most recently as the Head of the United States Government’s Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program. In this capacity, Mr. Guzman-Fournier managed the SBIC investment activities and staff of over 75 professionals, oversaw the $20 billion (USD) SBIC investment portfolio and served as chair and voting member of the SBIC Investment Committee and voting member of the Agency SBIC Licensing Committee. The SBIC program provides venture capital funding for small businesses across the US and its territories.

“We are delighted to welcome Jaime to StepStone Group. He brings extensive relationships in the small and mid-market fund sector. There are many high quality funds that participate in the SBIC program and have now well developed track records. This provides Jaime with unique insight into the future fund leaders in the small end of the market. Jaime’s specialized experience is supplemented by a deep investment background in venture capital and corporate finance,” said Monte Brem, Chief Executive Officer of StepStone Group. “Jaime’s appointment will further StepStone Group’s senior-level expansion of our research and investment capabilities as we selectively grow our firm. StepStone was founded on the principle that our primary asset is our people, and we will continue to focus on attracting and developing top talent like Jaime.”

Mr. Guzman-Fournier will join Managing Director Jose Fernandez, former head of Pacific Corporate Group’s emerging manager team, to form an Emerging Managers team with unmatched experience and market knowledge.

“We are committed to building market leading portfolios in the small/mid-market fund sector. There is no one in the market that has more comprehensive knowledge of the small and emerging fund market than Jaime,” said Mr. Fernandez. “I am excited to work with Jaime to build a leading franchise in this area.”

Prior to his position with the SBA, Mr. Guzman-Fournier was a Principal with Grupo Guayacan, Inc. in San Juan, PR where he was responsible for the management and operations of the Puerto Rico Venture Forum, the firm’s entrepreneurial development affiliate. He was also involved in the management and operations of Grupo Guayacan’s private equity fund of funds with total committed capital resources of $117 million (USD) invested in 33 private equity partnerships. Before that, Mr. Guzman-Fournier worked as an Associate at Citigroup’s Global Corporate & Investment Bank in New York.

Mr. Guzman Fournier received a BA degree in Economics from the University of Michigan, an MA degree from The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

About StepStone Group
Founded in 2007 and located in La Jolla, California, StepStone Group LLC offers customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional clients using industry leading analytics and research capabilities, with a focus on providing highly responsive and collaborative client service. StepStone Group was founded on the principle that the primary asset of the firm is its diverse team of professionals. The firm takes extreme care to develop and safeguard this asset to ensure greater value creation for clients. For more information about the firm, its philosophy and services please visit www.StepStoneLLC.com.

Contact: Lisa Baker
Owen Blicksilver Public Relations
+1 914-725-5949
lisa@blicksilverpr.com






Leucadia Capital Partners Changes Name to StepStone Group

June 15, 2007, La Jolla, CA – The newly formed Leucadia Capital Partners LLC, which provides customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional investors, announced today that the firm is changing its name to StepStone Group LLC.

The firm originally chose the Leucadia name because it was meaningful to the founders, Monte M. Brem, Chief Executive Officer, Thomas P. Keck, Chief Investment Officer and Jose A. Fernandez, Managing Director. Leucadia is a community located in Northern San Diego County where the founders live and work, and a place known for its creativity, progressive thinking, diversity and community values that mirror the values that are important to the firm. StepStone is a reference to a beach in Leucadia, allowing the firm to maintain its connection to the community that mirrors the firm’s values.

The company did an extensive review prior to selecting the name Leucadia Capital Partners and determined it had the right to use the Leucadia name. Nonetheless, another firm in a different line of business contested the use of this name. The company decided that the wisest course of action was simply to avoid involvement in a protracted dispute, particularly when the equally appropriate and meaningful StepStone name was available.

“We decided that it was best for us to not get distracted from serving our clients and expanding our research and investment capabilities,” said Monte Brem, Chief Executive Officer. “The name StepStone Group allows us to retain our connection to the Leucadia community and the values it represents. These are the values that StepStone Group will continue to hold as guiding principles as we build a market leading private equity investment management and advisory firm.”

The firm remains at its current location:

StepStone Group LLC
8910 University Center Lane
Suite 615
La Jolla, CA 92122

About StepStone Group
Founded in 2007 and located in La Jolla, California, StepStone Group LLC offers customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional clients using industry leading analytics and research capabilities, with a focus on providing highly responsive and collaborative client service. StepStone Group was founded on the principle that the primary asset of the firm is its diverse team of professionals. The firm takes extreme care to develop and safeguard this asset to ensure greater value creation for clients. For more information about the firm, its philosophy and services please visit www.StepStoneLLC.com.

Contact: Lisa Baker
Owen Blicksilver Public Relations
+1 914-725-5949
lisa@blicksilverpr.com





Leading Private Equity Execs Form StepStone Group

New firm will focus on customized private equity investment management and advisory services utilizing world-class research and analytical capabilities

May 7, 2007, La Jolla, CA – Three top private equity executives announced today they have formed a new firm, StepStone Group, to provide customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional investors.

The La Jolla-based firm is managed by Monte M. Brem, Chief Executive Officer; Thomas P. Keck, Chief Investment Officer; and Jose A. Fernandez, Managing Director. Together, the three founders have more than 30 years of experience as transaction advisors and principal investors. The customized portfolios they have built, primarily for public pension plans, have consistently generated market-leading returns. StepStone expects to have a team of 10 professionals in place by June.

Clients who have already retained StepStone are the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the Kuwait Investment Authority.

StepStone offers highly sophisticated research capabilities, a proven investment approach (including development of optimized portfolio allocations and identification of top performing managers) and a professional staff with sophisticated analytical training, as well as direct investment and transaction experience.

The firm is independent, 80% owned by its employees and founded on the principle that offering broad employee ownership and operational participation will allow StepStone to attract and retain a highly talented group of individuals who are committed to the long-term success of its clients and the firm.

“Prior to forming StepStone we spent extensive time with leading private equity general and limited partners who expressed a market need for additional advisor and investment management alternatives due to the departure of many market players to the fund-of-funds model. In addition, our prior experience demonstrated to us that a superior investment approach can be developed for fund investments and co-investments applying sophisticated analytical techniques to the extensive empirical private equity performance data that now exists,” said Mr. Brem. “StepStone offers a specialized separate account (single limited partner) structure that is customized from an allocation and investment process perspective based on each client’s unique needs. We build portfolios through a combination of fund commitments and co-investments that provide superior net (after fee) returns to our clients.”

“We look forward to working with StepStone Group,” said Ken Levit, Chief Investment Officer of the George Kaiser Family Foundation. “They have a very talented and experienced team and will serve an important role in helping us to identify inefficient and underappreciated investment opportunities in illiquid markets.”

“We looked closely at the private equity advisor and investment manager marketplace and found that StepStone Group offers the customized and progressive approach to building a private equity portfolio that we were seeking,” said Osama Al-Ayoub, Director of Private Equity for the Kuwait Investment Authority. “Based on the pedigree and expertise of the team we expect StepStone to quickly become one of the preeminent investment managers and advisors in the private equity sector.”

About the Principals

Monte Brem, 38, Chief Executive Officer
Prior to founding StepStone, Mr. Brem was the President of Pacific Corporate Group (“PCG”), a private equity investment firm that oversaw over $15 billion of private equity allocations. Mr. Brem managed the investment activities and operations of PCG Asset Management, the operating division of PCG that was responsible for all of its partnership investment activities. Prior to his appointment as President, Mr. Brem was a member of PCG’s Direct Investment Group and Investment Committee that managed PCG’s Corporate Partners and Co-Investment Funds. Before joining PCG, Mr. Brem was a senior executive with joint venture companies formed by industry leading strategic investors that included Intel, Motorola, NBC, Qualcomm, Siemens, Sony, Texas Instruments, Time Warner and Universal. Mr. Brem was trained as an attorney and practiced corporate law with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP where he spent extensive time focused on corporate governance matters and complex corporate transactions. Mr. Brem also was a Vice President with merchant banking firm Cruttenden Roth. Mr. Brem received his JD/MBA from the University of San Diego, where he was Valedictorian of the Law School.

Tom Keck, 40, Chief Investment Officer
Prior to founding StepStone, Mr. Keck was a Managing Director and Head of Research at PCG, and chaired its Investment Committee. Mr. Keck led the restructuring of PCG’s investment process, organizing PCG’s 15 member research team into sub-sector specialties to ensure broad and deep market coverage. Under Mr. Keck’s leadership, PCG’s clients enjoyed sophisticated market analysis, thorough fund due diligence, and market-leading client service. Mr. Keck joined PCG from Blue Capital, a middle market buyout firm founded by partners from McKinsey & Company. He played an integral role in all aspects of Blue’s investment activities, including serving as the CFO of Stravina, a consumer products company. Before joining Blue Capital, Mr. Keck was Director of Corporate Development at CollegeClub, a venture-funded social networking internet business. Mr. Keck was recruited to CollegeClub from McKinsey & Company, where he worked in the Corporate Finance practice performing M&A advisory and due diligence support for strategic acquirers and financial sponsors. Mr. Keck is a graduate, with high honors, of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He served in the US Navy as a Naval Flight Officer, receiving numerous decorations flying EA-6Bs in USS Nimitz (CVN-68). He received his BA, cum laude, from The George Washington University.

Jose Fernandez, 35, Managing Director
Prior to founding StepStone, Mr. Fernandez was a Managing Director of PCG and a member of PCG’s Management Committee and Investment Committee. He served as Senior Vice President/General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of PCG before his promotion to Managing Director. During his years at PCG, Mr. Fernandez created separate account structures and specialized fund of funds for clean energy technology and international investments. He also drafted and helped manage direct investment funds and co-investment funds. Mr. Fernandez negotiated investments on behalf of PCG clients totaling more than $8 billion in capital commitments. Before joining PCG, Mr. Fernandez was an associate with the Corporate Department of the Los Angeles office of Latham and Watkins LLP. He was a member of Latham’s Private Equity/Investment Fund Group with a practice focused on joint ventures and the structuring, negotiation and operation of pooled investment vehicles such as private equity funds, hedge funds, funds of funds, buyout funds, real estate funds and ‘special situation’ funds. He also has experience advising such investment vehicles with respect to the acquisition and disposition of preferred stock and convertible debt securities. Before joining Latham he was an associate with the New York office of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, LLP. Mr. Fernandez is a graduate of Stanford Law School and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is licensed to practice law in California and New York.

About StepStone Group

Founded in 2007 and located in La Jolla, California, StepStone offers customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional clients using industry leading analytics and research capabilities, coupled with close attention to providing highly responsive and collaborative client service. StepStone was founded on the principle that the primary asset of the firm is its diverse team of professionals and the firm takes extreme care to develop and safeguard this asset to ensure greater value creation for clients. For more information about the firm, its philosophy and services please visit www.stepstonellc.com.

Address of StepStone Group
8910 University Center Lane
Suite 615
La Jolla, CA 92122

Contact:
Lisa Baker
Owen Blicksilver Public Relations
+1 914-725-5949
lisa@blicksilverpr.com