StepStone Real Estate Adds Veteran Investor Jennifer Jones as Partner; Announces Launch of S-Core to Expand its Core/Core+ Real Estate Investment Offerings

Rhea-AI Summary

StepStone Real Estate (NYSE:STEP) hired Jennifer Jones as a Partner to launch S-Core, a global Core/Core+ real estate platform. Jones will be based in San Francisco and oversee a global investment mandate after nearly two decades at UBS, where she led over $20 billion in transactions and served on a $100+ billion real estate team. StepStone says S-Core will expand its Core/Core+ activities across secondaries, co-investments, tactical operating-company investments and primary fund commitments, initially using customized separate accounts. In 2025, StepStone allocated over $17 billion to funds, secondaries and co-investments and held 1,000+ GP meetings to support S-Core deal sourcing.

Positive

• $17 billion allocated to funds, secondaries and co-investments in 2025
• Jennifer Jones led > $20 billion in transactions at UBS
• S-Core structured as customizable separate accounts for investor-specific mandates
• Platform targets multiple deal types: secondaries, co-investments, operating company investments and primaries

Negative

• None.

News Market Reaction

+0.15%

1 alert

+0.15% News Effect

On the day this news was published, STEP gained 0.15%, reflecting a mild positive market reaction.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

Transactions led at UBS: over $20 billion UBS real estate platform size: $100+ billion SRE 2025 capital allocated: over $17 billion +3 more

6 metrics

Transactions led at UBS over $20 billion Core/Core+ transactions overseen by Jennifer Jones at UBS

UBS real estate platform size $100+ billion UBS Real Estate and Private Markets team assets

SRE 2025 capital allocated over $17 billion Allocated in 2025 to funds, secondaries and co-investments

GP meetings in 2025 over 1,000 Meetings with real estate GPs in 2025

Historical period referenced 30 years Core/Core+ vs non-core real estate returns comparison horizon

Return share from cash flow approximately 72% Portion of Core/Core+ returns from cash flow per NCREIF NFI-ODCE

Market Reality Check

Price: $59.17 Vol: Volume 558,929 vs 20-day ...

normal vol

$59.17 Last Close

Volume Volume 558,929 vs 20-day average 648,219 suggests activity near recent norms. normal

Technical Trading above 200-day MA with price 73.15 vs 200-day MA at 60.72.

Peers on Argus

STEP shows a small gain of 0.11% while key peers HLNE, JHG, OBDC, AMG, and BXSL ...

STEP shows a small gain of 0.11% while key peers HLNE, JHG, OBDC, AMG, and BXSL each show negative moves, indicating this announcement is more stock-specific than sector-driven.

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Jan 22 (Neutral)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Jan 22	Earnings date notice	Neutral	+0.4%	Set date for Q3 FY2026 results and earnings call logistics.
Jan 21	Portfolio recapitalization	Positive	+1.4%	Completed $250M continuation vehicle for senior housing communities.
Dec 08	Workplace recognition	Positive	-0.8%	Third consecutive ‘Best Places to Work in Money Management’ award.
Dec 04	Distribution partnership	Positive	+0.6%	Evergreen funds from StepStone and peers added to Willow Wealth platform.
Dec 03	Leadership appointment	Positive	+2.0%	Appointed Lindsay Creedon as Head of Private Equity from Jan 1, 2026.

Pattern Detected

Recent corporate and business development news has generally coincided with modest positive price reactions, with one notable divergence on an employer-recognition headline.

Recent Company History

Over the last few months, StepStone’s news flow has centered on business development and leadership updates. On Dec 3, the firm named Lindsay Creedon Head of Private Equity, with a 1.99% next-day gain. A recapitalization of a senior housing portfolio on Jan 21 coincided with a 1.42% move. Platform distribution via evergreen funds and an earnings date announcement also saw modest positives, while a workplace award on Dec 8 drew a -0.8% reaction. Today’s real estate platform expansion fits this pattern of strategic growth news.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement highlights StepStone Real Estate’s plan to scale its Core/Core+ activities through...

Analysis

This announcement highlights StepStone Real Estate’s plan to scale its Core/Core+ activities through the S‑Core platform, led by an experienced investor with oversight of global mandates. With SRE having allocated over $17 billion in 2025 and conducting over 1,000 GP meetings, the move builds on an already active franchise. Investors may focus on how S‑Core’s separate-account structure, focus on secondaries and co-investments, and emphasis on cash-flow-driven Core/Core+ returns translate into future assets and fee growth.

Key Terms

core/core+, gp-led secondaries, lp secondaries, co-investments, +4 more

8 terms

core/core+ financial

"a platform that will increase SRE’s Core/Core+ real estate activities."

Core/core+ describe two tiers of real estate or asset strategies: “core” targets very stable, high-quality properties with low risk, steady income, and little need for change, like owning a fully rented, well-maintained apartment building. “Core+” accepts slightly more risk—small upgrades, modest rent growth or light management changes—to chase a bit higher return, like buying the same building and improving units to lift rents. Investors use these labels to choose the trade-off between safety and potential return, similar to choosing between a savings account and a conservative growth fund.

gp-led secondaries financial

"Secondaries, including GP-led secondaries, recapitalizations, and LP secondaries;"

GP-led secondaries are transactions where the fund manager (the general partner) organizes a sale or transfer of existing private investments—often into a new vehicle—to give current investors a way to cash out or extend holdings. For investors, this matters because it provides an opportunity for liquidity or a revised holding period, but can also change fees, valuations and incentives; think of it like a landlord offering tenants a buyout or a lease extension under new terms.

lp secondaries financial

"GP-led secondaries, recapitalizations, and LP secondaries;Co-investments"

LP secondaries are sales of an investor’s existing ownership in a private investment fund — for example a limited partner selling their share of a venture capital or private equity fund to another buyer. They matter because they provide liquidity in otherwise hard-to-sell investments and can reveal how the market values those private assets; think of it like selling your share of a jointly owned house, where the sale price and speed tell buyers and sellers how desirable the property is.

co-investments financial

"Co-investments alongside funds and programmatic joint ventures;"

Co-investments are situations where one or more investors put money directly into a specific deal alongside a lead investor, rather than only investing in a pooled fund. Think of it like joining a friend to buy a single rental property instead of contributing to a real estate club; co-investing can give investors bigger exposure to a particular opportunity, lower overall fees, and more control, but also concentrates risk in that single investment.

programmatic joint ventures financial

"Co-investments alongside funds and programmatic joint ventures;"

A programmatic joint venture is a repeatable, pre‑agreed partnership model that two or more companies use to create multiple project-specific ventures quickly and with consistent terms. Think of it like a franchise blueprint or assembly line for deals: instead of negotiating a new contract from scratch each time, partners apply the same structure to new products, markets or assets. For investors, this matters because it makes the economics, risks and growth potential of future collaborations easier to predict and quicker to scale.

separate accounts financial

"S-Core would be initially structured as a series of separate accounts."

Separate accounts are pools of investments that a financial firm keeps apart from its main assets to manage for a specific client, insurance product, or institutional mandate. They matter to investors because the account’s gains, losses and risks apply only to the clients linked to it rather than the firm overall, so returns and protections can differ from pooled or company‑backed assets—think of it like a private toolbox reserved for a single job instead of shared with everyone.

real estate operating company financial

"Tactical real estate operating company investments; andPrimary commitments"

A real estate operating company runs, manages and often develops physical properties such as apartments, office buildings, shopping centers or industrial sites. Think of it as a hands-on landlord or building manager that collects rent, maintains buildings and provides services to tenants. Investors care because its value and returns depend on day-to-day cash flow, property occupancy and management skill—so income, growth and risks track how well the company runs and markets its properties.

ncreif nfi-odce financial

"approximately 72% of the returns attributable to cash flow, according to NCREIF NFI-ODCE."

A widely used benchmark that tracks the performance of large, professionally managed U.S. real estate funds that invest across property types and hold assets for the long term. Think of it as a scorecard for diversified, institutional-quality commercial property investments — investors use it to compare a fund’s returns, volatility and income against a broad market standard, helping them judge whether a real estate manager is adding value or simply matching the market.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StepStone Real Estate (SRE) announced today that it has added Jennifer Jones to its team as a Partner to help launch S-Core, a platform that will increase SRE’s Core/Core+ real estate activities. Jones will be based in San Francisco and will oversee a global investment mandate.

Prior to joining StepStone, Ms. Jones spent nearly two decades at UBS where she led over $20 billion in transactions and most recently was the Senior Portfolio Manager for its Global Core Plus vehicle for US Investors and for various Core+ separate accounts. She also served as Head of Real Estate Partnerships and Investments for UBS’ $100+ billion Real Estate and Private Markets team. 

At SRE, Ms. Jones will be leveraging her experience to oversee the launch of S-Core, a global Core/Core+ platform. SRE has a long track record investing in Core/Core+ funds, secondaries and co-investments through separate accounts and its advisory practice and intends to significantly increase its activities through S-Core.

Consistent with StepStone’s approach across asset classes, S-Core will invest in Core and Core+ real estate through:

• Secondaries, including GP-led secondaries, recapitalizations, and LP secondaries;
• Co-investments alongside funds and programmatic joint ventures;
• Tactical real estate operating company investments; and
• Primary commitments to funds in which SRE has a high conviction, and to newly formed funds on a fee and governance-favored basis.

S-Core would be initially structured as a series of separate accounts. The foundation for portfolio construction will be SRE’s House Views, but the separate account approach will allow investors to customize their portfolios by factors including geography, property types, investment structures and leverage levels.

According to Jeff Giller, Global Head of StepStone Real Estate, “S-Core will follow StepStone’s investment approach whereby we believe the scale of our activities can provide investors with access to seasoned assets at discounts to their fair market value and access to funds at favorable fees. We intend to leverage our existing secondaries, co-investment and fund investment capabilities to source and manage S-Core investments. Our connectivity to the market through our solutions approach to investment management and advisory is expected to drive S-Core’s deal flow.”

In 2025, SRE allocated over $17 billion to funds, secondaries and co-investments globally and conducted over 1,000 meetings with real estate GPs. “We believe that this connection to the market has resulted in an information, market intelligence and transaction sourcing advantage for SRE where a disproportionate number of our investments aren’t brokered and come to us off market,” added Giller.

While SRE is currently an active Core/Core+ investor across funds, secondaries and co-investments, it intends to expand these activities under Ms. Jones.

Ms. Jones said, “Investors are increasingly seeking exposure to Core/Core+ investments after experiencing the volatility of levered non-core real estate through market cycles and more recent world events. Core/Core+ real estate has delivered returns similar to non-core over the past 30 years but with significantly less volatility and approximately 72% of the returns attributable to cash flow, according to NCREIF NFI-ODCE.

“While high-yield real estate investments can often compete with corporate private equity for capital appreciation-driven yields, we believe that Core/Core+ assets are more likely to deliver many of the key attributes that investors seek from their real estate exposure such as current cash flow, capital preservation and hedging inflation.

“I chose to join the SRE team because I believe that the strength of the platform, the quality of the team, and their approach to investments will benefit investors looking to gain more exposure to the Core/Core+ risk sector. I believe that SRE’s real estate expertise, its portfolio construction and management, its advisory expertise, its approach to investing in primaries secondaries and co-investments, and its size and scale should provide meaningful value to S-Core’s investors.”

About StepStone Group

StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP) is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory and data services to its clients. As of September 30, 2025, StepStone was responsible for approximately $771 billion of total capital, including $209 billion of assets under management. StepStone’s clients include some of the world’s largest public and private defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies, as well as prominent endowments, foundations, family offices and private wealth clients, which include high-net-worth and mass affluent individuals. StepStone partners with its clients to develop and build private markets portfolios designed to meet their specific objectives across the private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate asset classes.

Contacts

Shareholder Relations:
Seth Weiss
shareholders@stepstonegroup.com
1-212-351-6106

Media:
Brian Ruby / Chris Gillick / Matt Lettiero, ICR
StepStonePR@icrinc.com
1-203-682-8268

FAQ

What is S-Core from StepStone Real Estate (STEP) and when was it announced?

S-Core is a new global Core/Core+ real estate platform announced on Jan 27, 2026 to expand StepStone's Core/Core+ activities.

Who is Jennifer Jones and what role will she have at STEP?

Jennifer Jones joined STEP as a Partner based in San Francisco to oversee S-Core's global investment mandate.

How will S-Core invest and what structures will it use?

S-Core will invest via secondaries, co-investments, tactical operating-company investments and primary fund commitments, initially using separate accounts.

What relevant track record supports STEP's S-Core launch?

StepStone allocated over $17 billion to funds, secondaries and co-investments in 2025 and conducted 1,000+ GP meetings to source deals.

What experience does Jones bring from UBS relevant to STEP's strategy?

At UBS, Jones led over $20 billion in transactions and was senior portfolio manager for Global Core Plus vehicles and head of real estate partnerships.