At a glance
Stepstone Group Inc is worth $5.19B. Revenue grew 69.7% to $1.99B in fiscal 2026, at a loss; over 5 years it has grown 20.4% a year. It pays a 4.0% dividend yield, and returned $344.6M to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2022–FY2026. The stock returned −31.1% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +0.8% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 43.4% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 24 months after the low.
The business in plain English
StepStone Group, founded in 2007, is a private markets investment firm. It builds portfolios of private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate for large pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurers, plus endowments, family offices and wealthy individuals. It commits to outside managers' new funds ("primaries"), acquires stakes in existing funds ("secondaries") and invests directly in companies ("co-investments"). As of March 31, 2026, it oversaw about $885 billion: $233 billion of assets under management (AUM, where it makes investment decisions) and $652 billion of assets under advisement (AUA, where it advises and clients decide).
Its steadiest income is management and advisory fees, paid through focused commingled funds shared by many investors ($81 billion of AUM) and separately managed accounts (SMAs) built for one client ($136 billion). In fiscal 2026 (ended March 31), about 59% of these fees came from commingled funds, 32% from SMAs and 8% from advisory and data services, including access to its SPI Research database. StepStone also earns carried interest, a share of investment profits. Unrealized (paper) carried interest was 27.1% of that year's $1.99 billion revenue.
Private equity is the biggest asset class at $120 billion of AUM, ahead of infrastructure ($48 billion), private debt ($46 billion) and real estate ($20 billion). The United States supplied 53.8% of fiscal 2026 revenue, other countries 46.2%.
Price history
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STEP -31.1% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Focused commingled funds | $547.8M | 27.5% |
| Unrealized | $539.7M | 27.1% |
| SMAs | $293.6M | 14.7% |
| Focused commingled funds | $209.9M | 10.5% |
| Realized | $168.6M | 8.5% |
| Legacy Greenspring Carried Interest Allocations | $138.7M | 7% |
| Advisory and other services | $74.5M | 3.7% |
| Fund reimbursement revenues | $10.6M | 0.5% |
| SMAs | $10.3M | 0.5% |
By geography
| United States | $1.07B | 53.8% |
| Non-U.S. countries | $921.9M | 46.2% |
Latest results
- In Q1 FY2027 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $378.9M, up 4% from a year earlier, and net income was $-115.8M.
- For fiscal 2026, revenue was $1.99B (+69.7% year over year; +20.4% a year from FY2021 to FY2026) with a -26.9% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2021–FY2026) | +20.4% good |
|---|---|
| Free cash flow margin | 3.2% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2026) | -7.9% weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | $787.7M | $62.6M | $148.0M |
| FY2022 | $1.37B | $193.9M | $212.2M |
| FY2023 | $-67.6M | $-18.4M | $145.6M |
| FY2024 | $711.6M | $58.1M | $141.9M |
| FY2025 | $1.17B | $-179.6M | $59.8M |
| FY2026 | $1.99B | $-535.8M | $63.9M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $5.19B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | — |
| Dividend yield | 4% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEP price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -31.0% | -31.1% | +18.7% | +0.8% | — |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -31.0% |
| 2025 | +13.6% |
| 2024 | +86.0% |
| 2023 | +31.6% |
| 2022 | -37.8% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Before this security existed |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 38.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 43.4%, back to its old high 23.9 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 5 open-market purchases ($5.6M) and 22 sales ($38.1M), 19 of them under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans.
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 10, 2025 | Michael I McCabe Head of Strategy, Director | sell | $7.2M |
| Dec 10, 2025 | Michael I McCabe Head of Strategy, Director | sell | $4.9M |
| Nov 11, 2025 | Jose A Fernandez Co-Chief Operating Officer, Director | sell (plan) | $4.3M |
| Jun 11, 2026 | Michael I McCabe Head of Strategy, Director | buy | $4.0M |
| Jun 2, 2026 | Jose A Fernandez Co-Chief Operating Officer, Director | sell (plan) | $4.0M |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 12.9% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Wellington Management Group LLP | 7.3% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Integrated Core Strategies (US) LLC | 6.8% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.67% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | 5.6% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.1% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Millennium Management LLC | 5.1% | May 15, 2025 |
| FMR LLC | 3.2% | Jun 30, 2025 |
| Invesco Ltd. | 0.6% | Mar 31, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in STEP
| PSP Invesco Global Listed Private Equity ETF | 1.95% |
| CGMM Capital Group U.S. Small and Mid Cap ETF | 1.22% |
| PSCF Invesco S&P SmallCap Financials ETF | 0.99% |
| HAPS Harbor Human Capital Factor US Small Cap ETF | 0.93% |
| FNY First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund | 0.57% |
| DWAS Invesco Dorsey Wright SmallCap Momentum ETF | 0.33% |
| VIOG Vanguard S&P Small-Cap 600 Growth ETF | 0.32% |
| QVMS Invesco S&P SmallCap 600 QVM Multi-factor ETF | 0.31% |
What could go wrong
- Profit-share revenue can swing sharply. Much revenue is carried interest, a share of fund profits, often unrealized, that can reverse when values fall. Total revenue swung from negative $67.6 million in fiscal 2023 to $1.99 billion in fiscal 2026.
- Costly buyouts of partly owned units. StepStone has long-term agreements to acquire the rest of its asset class entities, plus an option to purchase profits interests (shares of future profits) in SPW. It warns that price may be substantial.
- Holding-company structure and tax agreements. StepStone Group Inc. relies on cash from its operating partnership to pay dividends and taxes. Tax receivable agreements share certain tax savings with pre-IPO owners; in some cases, payments could exceed the savings realized.
- Private asset values involve judgment. Many holdings have no market price, so values rely on subjective methods and may never be realized. If later results disappoint, StepStone may have to return carried interest already received (a "clawback").
- Clients push for lower fees. Large private markets clients press managers to cut fees, and competition is intense. If StepStone can't hold its fee structure, profit margins could shrink, since management fees are its steadiest income.
- Higher rates and tighter credit. Some funds and portfolio companies depend on borrowed money for their returns. Higher interest rates or scarcer credit can lower returns, which could cut performance fees and make new fundraising harder.
Recent events
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released
- Unregistered sale of shares; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
StepStone pays a dividend, yielding 4% as of October 28, 2026. Dividends per share rose from $0.44 in fiscal 2022 to $1.48 in fiscal 2026 (ended March 31, 2026), but held at $1.08 in fiscal 2024 and 2025, so the streak of increases is one year. In fiscal 2026 the company posted a net loss, and the $117.8 million it paid out equaled 184% of free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business), so neither earnings nor free cash flow covered it. Buybacks were small: $8.7 million in fiscal 2026, none in the two years before. The board sets the dividend at its discretion.
In the 2022 bear market, the shares fell 43.4% from their January 4, 2022 peak to a May 11, 2022 low and did not recover until May 7, 2024. Price history doesn't cover 2008 or the 2020 COVID crash. A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does StepStone Group make money?
StepStone earns fees for managing and advising on clients' private markets investments, plus a share of investment profits. In fiscal 2026 (ended March 31, 2026), about 59% of its management and advisory fees came from focused commingled funds, 32% from separately managed accounts and 8% from advisory and data services. Carried interest, its share of fund profits, is the more volatile part: the unrealized portion alone was 27.1% of the year's $1.99 billion revenue.
How much money does StepStone manage?
StepStone was responsible for about $885 billion of client capital as of March 31, 2026. Of that, $233 billion was assets under management (AUM), where StepStone makes the investment decisions, and $652 billion was assets under advisement, where it advises and clients decide. Private equity is the largest asset class, with $120 billion of AUM, followed by infrastructure at $48 billion, private debt at $46 billion and real estate at $20 billion.
Does StepStone raise its dividend every year?
No, not every year. Regular dividends per share rose from $0.44 in fiscal 2022 to $0.80 in fiscal 2023 and $1.08 in fiscal 2024, held at $1.08 in fiscal 2025, then rose to $1.48 in fiscal 2026 (ended March 31, 2026). Dividends paid in fiscal 2026 equaled 184% of free cash flow, so the business didn't generate enough spare cash to cover them. The yield was 4% as of October 28, 2026, and the 10-K says dividends are at the board's discretion.
Is StepStone Group profitable?
Not on a reported basis in fiscal 2026. Revenue rose 69.7% to $1.99 billion in the year ended March 31, 2026, but the company posted a net loss of $535.8 million, or $6.78 per diluted share, after a $179.6 million loss in fiscal 2025. Free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business) stayed positive at $63.9 million. In the quarter ended June 30, 2026, revenue rose 4% from a year earlier and the net loss was $115.8 million.
How volatile is StepStone stock?
Quite volatile. As of October 28, 2026, the shares were down 31% for the year to date and 31.1% over one year, with a peak-to-trough drop of 46.9% over that span. Calendar-year returns ranged from a 37.8% loss in 2022 to an 86% gain in 2024. The annualized return was 18.7% over three years but 0.8% over five. A one-year beta of 1.48 means the shares have moved more than the overall market.