StepStone Real Estate Names Margaret McKnight Head of Portfolio Solutions and Hires Sara Rutledge as Head of Market Research to Address Increasing Importance of Portfolio Construction

Rhea-AI Summary

StepStone Real Estate has appointed Margaret McKnight as Head of Portfolio Solutions and Sara Rutledge as Managing Director and Head of Market Research. McKnight, who joined in 2020, will focus on portfolio design aiming to meet risk and return objectives for clients. Rutledge, bringing extensive market research experience, will assist in producing SRE's House Views, integrating insights from a large investment team. The changes come amid evolving real estate utilization post-pandemic, highlighting the importance of a dedicated portfolio solutions team.

Positive

• Appointment of experienced leaders, which may enhance strategic decision-making and portfolio optimization
• Creation of a dedicated Portfolio Solutions team to address changing market dynamics and improve returns

Negative

• Potential challenges in continuity or experience gaps due to leadership changes

NEW YORK, May 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StepStone Real Estate (SRE), the real estate arm of private markets investment firm StepStone Group (Nasdaq: STEP) announced today that it has named Margaret McKnight as Head of Portfolio Solutions and added Sara Rutledge as a Managing Director and Head of Market Research.

In her new role as SRE’s Head of Portfolio Solutions, Margaret McKnight, who joined SRE as a Partner in 2020, will focus on designing portfolios to meet the risk and return objectives of SRE’s discretionary funds, separate accounts and advisory clients. Sara Rutledge, a highly experienced market research professional, whose prior experience includes serving as Director of Market Research for the National Counsel of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF), joined SRE as Managing Director in April to help Ms. McKnight and the team further these objectives.

Among Ms. Rutledge’s responsibilities will be working with Ms. McKnight on producing SRE’s semiannual House Views, which integrates SRE’s research on geopolitical, economic, social and real estate market trends with on-the-ground input from SRE’s 50-plus-person investment team, to identify risks and opportunities across real estate asset types, geographies and capital structures.

To help optimize risk-adjusted returns in its portfolios, Ms. McKnight, Ms. Rutledge and the SRE team will use House Views in conjunction with StepStone’s broader suite of technology solutions, which includes Pacing, a portfolio forecasting tool, Omni, a portfolio management tool, and SPI, a proprietary research library that garners information on more than 7,500 real estate funds and 3,100 real estate general partners.

“Optimizing portfolio construction has become more important than ever with the profound changes in how real estate use has altered in wake of the pandemic and the rapidly changing geopolitical, economic and capital markets trends,” said Jeff Giller, Head of StepStone Real Estate. “This is why we decided to create a dedicated Portfolio Solutions team, asked Margaret to lead it, and sought a top market research professional like Sara,” he added.

About StepStone and StepStone Real Estate

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 December 31, 2021 StepStone oversaw approximately $548 billion of private markets allocations ($151 billion within SRE), including $127 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 real estate, private equity, infrastructure, and private debt asset classes.

Contacts

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

FAQ

Who has been appointed as Head of Portfolio Solutions at StepStone?

Margaret McKnight has been appointed as Head of Portfolio Solutions at StepStone Real Estate.

What is the role of Sara Rutledge at StepStone?

Sara Rutledge is appointed as Managing Director and Head of Market Research, assisting in portfolio research and insights.

Why was the Portfolio Solutions team created at StepStone?

The Portfolio Solutions team was established to optimize portfolio construction in response to changing real estate uses and market dynamics post-pandemic.

What are the responsibilities of the newly appointed leaders at StepStone?

Margaret McKnight will design portfolios for various clients, while Sara Rutledge will produce the semiannual House Views report on market trends.