Latham & Watkins LLP-advised StepStone Real Estate announced today the successful closing of its fifth flagship fund, StepStone Real Estate Partners V, with a total of $3.77 billion raised. This marks the largest real estate secondaries fund ever raised to date, underscoring StepStone’s continued leadership in the market.
The $3.77B Fifth Fund brings StepStone’s total investment program to over $4.5 billion when including co-investments and discretionary vehicles raised to invest alongside the fund. This new fund will primarily focus on general partner-led secondaries transactions and the recapitalization of real estate vehicles.
Despite challenging market conditions and a slowdown in fundraising across the real estate sector, StepStone’s latest fund was significantly oversubscribed, reflecting strong investor confidence. “The current market landscape, marked by value declines, low transaction volume, higher borrowing costs, and slow fundraising, has created unparalleled illiquidity across real estate markets,” said Jeff Giller, Partner and Head of StepStone Real Estate. “Our strategy of providing liquidity solutions in such an environment has proven resilient and highly effective across all market cycles, making it even more compelling today.”
The StepStone $3.77B Fifth Fund has already deployed $1.7 billion across eight investments, with a robust pipeline of deals nearing completion.
The fund’s investor base includes a diverse mix of institutional investors, such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurance companies, and wealth management platforms. North American institutions, in particular, showed notably higher participation compared to previous funds, while the fund also attracted increased commitments from investors in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Since its inception in 2009, StepStone Real Estate has focused on providing liquidity to real estate funds during times of market dislocation, helping investors navigate periods of uncertainty.
The Latham & Watkins LLP team advising StepStone on this successful fundraising was led by partners Amy Rigdon and Clare Scott, with partner Gregory Hannibal also contributing.
