Our Team
- Monte Brem, Chief Executive Officer
- Steve Moseley, President
- Tom Keck, Chief Investment Officer
- Jose Fernandez, Managing Director and General Counsel
- Jaime Guzman-Fournier, Managing Director
- Jay Rose, Managing Director
- Brey Jones, Vice President of Client Services and Business Development
- Scott Hart, Vice President
- John Coelho, Senior Associate
- Erika Streck, Associate
- Judy Kuan, Associate
- Ian Aaker, Associate
- John Kettnich, Analyst
- Anthony Cusano, Analyst
- Brad McCarter, Performance Analyst
Monte Brem, Chief Executive Officer
Prior to founding StepStone Group, Mr. Brem was the President of Pacific Corporate Group LLC (“PCG”) an Investment firm with over $15 billion of assets under management, committing to private equity funds on behalf of institutions through discretionary and advisory arrangements. Mr. Brem oversaw the investment activities and operations of PCG Asset Management, the operating division of PCG that manages all of its Partnership investment activities. Prior to his appointment as President of PCG, Mr. Brem was a member of PCG’s Direct Investment Group and Investment Committee that was responsible for managing PCG’s Corporate Partners and Co-Investment Funds.
Prior to 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.
Steve Moseley, President
Prior to founding StepStone, Mr. Moseley, was a Managing Director for Estes Management LLC, where he managed a $775 million private equity fund targeting co-investments alongside leading sponsors of buyouts and growth financings. Previously, Mr. Moseley was Managing Director and Co-President of PCG Capital Partners, the operating division of PCG that managed all of the firm’s direct investments including the $500 million Corporate Partners Fund and a $150 million co-investment fund. Mr. Moseley was a member of both PCG’s Direct Investment Committee and PCG’s Fund Investment Committee. Mr. Moseley was a member of PCG’s Executive Committee and during his time at PCG also served as the Head of Research.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Moseley served as Managing Director with Rutledge Capital LLC (a middle market private equity fund) and as 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 and Merrill Lynch in New York, Tokyo and London.
Mr. Moseley received his MBA from Yale University and his BA from Wesleyan University.
Tom Keck, Chief Investment Officer
Prior to founding StepStone, Mr. Keck was a Managing Director and Head of Research at PCG. Mr. Keck served on the Investment Committee and also had responsibility for working closely with PCG’s clients to ensure that their requirements were met. Mr. Keck led the restructuring of PCG’s investment process, organizing PCG’s 15 Research staff 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 came to PCG from Blue Capital, a middle market buyout firm founded by partners from McKinsey & Company. Mr. Keck 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 portal focused on 18-24 year olds. Mr. Keck was recruited into College Club 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, Managing Director and General Counsel
Prior to founding StepStone, Mr. Fernandez was a Managing Director of PCG and a member of PCG’s Management Committee and Investment Committee. Mr. Fernandez 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. Mr. Fernandez was also responsible for establishing entities and opening offices in Washington, D.C., New York City and Geneva, Switzerland.
Before joining PCG, Mr. Fernandez was an associate with the Corporate Department of the Los Angeles office of Latham and Watkins LLP. Mr. Fernandez 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. Mr. Fernandez is licensed to practice law in California and New York.
Jaime A. Guzmán-Fournier, Managing Director
Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Guzmán-Fournier was the Head of the Small Business Investment Company Program (“SBIC”) overseeing $20 billion of committed capital in over 375 small market funds for the United States Federal Government. In this role, he managed seventy five (75) employees and was the chair and voting member of the SBIC Investment Committee and a voting member of the SBIC Licensing Committee. Prior to this, Mr. Guzmán-Fournier was a Principal with Grupo Guayacán, a private equity fund-of-funds managing capital for public pension funds and private institutional investors in Puerto Rico. Prior to Grupo Guayacán, Mr. Guzmán-Fournier was an Associate in the Global Corporate and Investment Bank of Citigroup. Mr. Guzmán-Fournier also has served various roles supporting the Government of Puerto Rico, including working for the Governor’s office in Washington, D.C. and as an Analyst in the Venture Capital Division of the Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico.
Mr. Guzmán-Fournier received an MBA with a concentration in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in International Economics and Latin American Studies from The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of The Johns Hopkins University, and a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jay Rose, Managing Director
Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Rose was the Head of Research for PCG, 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. Mr. Rose managed institutional relationships with multi-billion dollar public pension systems, working with both private equity investment staff and Board of Trustees. He also sat on the firm’s Investment and Management Committees.
Prior to this, Mr. Rose was a quantitative research analyst with Laffer Investments where he conducted economic research, evaluated fiscal and monetary policies, and employed regression analysis as inputs into the portfolio decision-making process.
Before Laffer, Mr. Rose was with the fixed income group of Boston Partners Asset Management as a quantitative analyst. Mr. Rose assisted portfolio managers with the day-to-day management of $1.5 billion across Core and Core-Plus institutional fixed income strategies.
Mr. Rose received his BS in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire and is a CFA charterholder. Mr. Rose is a member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute and CFA Society of San Diego, Inc.
Brey Jones, Vice President of Client Services and Business Development
Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Jones was Vice President of Business Development at PCG. Mr. Jones was responsible for overseeing business development-related activities across all client types and sizes, including sourcing new opportunities and overseeing the relationship management efforts. Mr. Jones also developed the consultant relations outreach for the firm across all product types.
Prior to joining PCG, Mr. Jones was Vice President of Institutional Sales for Rochdale Securities, LLC. Mr. Jones worked with Staff and Trustees educating them about commission recapture and transition management services, seeking ways to minimize brokerage costs and maximize best execution.
Prior to joining Rochdale, Mr. Jones was a Marketing Associate with traditional investment manager First American Capital Management LLC.
Mr. Jones received his undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona, Tucson and has held a number of NASD licenses.
Scott Hart, Vice President
Prior to joining StepStone Scott was 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.
John Coelho, Senior Associate
John Coelho, Senior Associate, is a member of the StepStone research team.
Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Coelho was 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. Prior to Plantagenet, Mr. Coelho 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.
Erika Streck, Associate
Erika Streck, Associate, is a member of the StepStone research team.
Prior to joining StepStone, Ms. Streck was an Associate with Allied Capital where she focused on making direct private equity investments. Prior to Allied Capital, Ms. Streck was an Analyst with Edgeview Partners in their Investment Banking Group.
Ms. Streck received her BS in Business Administration, with a minor in Spanish, from the University of North Carolina. Ms. Streck is a Board Member and the Finance Chair for the charitable group Breakthrough Collaborative, focused on assisting the development of high potential middle school children.
Judy Kuan, Associate
Judy Kuan, Associate, is a member of the StepStone research team.
Prior to joining StepStone, Ms. Kuan was an Investment Analyst with Credit Suisse’s Customized Fund Investment Group (CFIG), where she conducted due diligence and market research on private equity funds as part of CFIG’s Small & Middle Market, Emerging Domestic Market, and Energy & Infrastructure sector teams. Prior to joining CFIG, Ms. Kuan was an Associate Editor at Private Equity International, where her responsibilities included managing the Private Equity Manager publication, as well as covering Emerging Markets Private Equity. She began her career as the Managing Editor of Venture Equity Latin America and Latin America Energy Report newsletters at WorldTrade Executive Inc.
Ms. Kuan received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, where she majored in Economics with Honors, as well as minored in Government and Chinese Language & Literature. She currently serves as an At-Large Representative of the Dartmouth Alumni Council.
Ian Aaker, Associate
Ian Aaker, Associate, is a member of the StepStone research team.
Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Aaker was a Vice President with Alternative Investment Capital ("AI Capital") in Tokyo, a private equity fund-of-funds and advisory services firm formed as a joint-venture between Mitsubishi Corporation and Daido Life. At AI Capital, Mr. Aaker focused on the identification, analysis, due diligence and selection of private market investments in both Western and Eastern markets. He also sat on the Management Committee for two US & European focused fund-of-funds.
Prior to AI Capital, Mr. Aaker was with PCG, where he focused on direct and partnership private equity investments and portfolio analytics.
Mr. Aaker received his BA in International Affairs from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
John Kettnich, Analyst
John Kettnich, Analyst, is a member of the StepStone research team.
Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Kettnich was a Corporate Development Analyst at Granite Construction, where he worked on evaluating strategic mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategic planning. Prior to joining Granite, Mr. Kettnich was an Analyst for PCG Capital Partners, the direct investment arm of Pacific Corporate Group, where he worked on sourcing and evaluating investments for the Corporate Partners Fund and Co-Investment Fund. In addition, Mr. Kettnich oversaw the monitoring and reporting for PCG Capital Partners. Mr. Kettnich began his career at PCG working as a Performance Analyst, where he managed the monitoring and reporting on over 70 Fund investments and 25 direct investments.
Mr. Kettnich received his undergraduate degree from University of San Diego, where he graduated summa cum laude.
Anthony Cusano, Analyst
Anthony Cusano is a member of the StepStone research team.
Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Cusano was a Consultant 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.
Brad McCarter, Performance Analyst
Brad McCarter is a member of the StepStone research team.
Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. McCarter was an intern in the Research Department at StepStone. As the lead intern, Mr. McCarter worked closely with the research team and assisted the team in its investment research and analysis, and monitoring and reporting efforts.
Mr. McCarter received his BA summa cum laude in Business Economics from the University of San Diego. He is also a member of Beta Gamma Sigma (International Business Honor Society) and Omicron Delta Epsilon (Economics Honor Society).
