Episode summary
What's Your Edge?: StepStone Private Wealth's CEO Bob Long
Alt Goes Mainstream
· · Hosts: Michael Sidgmore · Guests: Bob Long
Summary
Bob Long argued that the core edge in evergreen private-markets products is not just access to alternatives, but investor convenience, transparency, and disciplined portfolio construction. He said his experience running public-market vehicles taught him that strong performance alone does not solve for structure: investors still want daily or periodic liquidity, clean tax reporting, and no large discounts to NAV. He contrasted public listings, which can trade at persistent discounts, with evergreen funds that aim to offer quarterly liquidity around 100% of NAV.
He said StepStone built its platform around using permanent capital to buy secondaries and continuation-style opportunities, because that helps keep portfolios on the upswing of the J curve and avoids the cash-flow drag of primaries. He also emphasized that StepStone’s data advantage comes from being a major allocator across roughly 500 transactions and about $70 billion a year of closed deals, which helps underwrite exit timing and pricing.
Long’s main message for advisors and investors was to focus on whether the evergreen fund is getting the same deals at the same price at the same time as institutions, then check fees, liquidity terms, and whether the structure matches the strategy. He said private infrastructure is the most interesting long-term opportunity he personally favors, and he linked the firm’s philosophy to “purposeful stewardship” in philanthropy and access.
Key takeaways
- Bob Long said investor convenience and structure matter as much as performance, because even strong public funds can trade at persistent discounts to NAV.
- He argued evergreen funds work best when they buy secondaries and continuation vehicles to stay on the upswing of the J curve.
- Long said StepStone’s edge comes from proprietary data, broad deal flow, and the ability to underwrite timing and price across about 500 closed transactions a year.
- He said advisors should verify that individual investors get the same deals at the same price at the same time as institutions.
- Long said private infrastructure is his preferred long-term alternative allocation because it is the least correlated major asset class in his view.
Notable quotes
“the key lesson is convenience of investors really matters”
“you will like the price. You'll get 100% of NAV”
“We are a very good buyer of secondaries because these evergreen funds, a critical element is they are designed to start and stay on the upswing of the J curve”
“the key takeaway is make sure as an investor you understand what is the allocation policy”
How the episode opens
Everybody gets a piece. We're going mainream. Everybody's going to eat.
We're going mainream. All my family see. See you on mainream.
We're going mainream. From Wall Street to Melrose Avenue. We're going mainream.
venture capitalists to athletes to creators to the person who's collecting trading cards main collision of culture and finance. Welcome to Alco's mainstreams. What's your edge?
Every fund and every company needs to have an edge. In every podcast I like to ask my guests, what's your edge? Every person, every company, every fund has something that makes them special, makes them stand out from the crowd, gives them an unfair advantage, tips the scales to the odds of success.
In this episode, I ask our special guest, Bob Long, what's your edge? Bob is the CEO of Stepstone Private Wealth. He has three decades of experience in the private markets and has led investment teams for global firms in both the general partner and the limited partner role.
He served as the CEO of two publicly traded companies focused on expanding private markets access for high netw worth investors. Prior to stepstone private wealth, Bob was the CEO of OA investment corporation, a publicly traded specialty finance company. Previously, he co-founded Converse Capital, the largest publicly traded fund of thirdparty private equity funds with three billion of AUM and served as its CEO.
He previously led Bank of America's $7 billion strategic capital division. And early in his career, Bob served as the lead in-house council for a large portion of Bank of America's investment banking division, and worked as a securities lawyer for a major law firm. A recognized industry leader, Bob was named one of the 50 game changers by Private Equity International, has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, and hosted CNBC Squawkbox Europe on numerous occasions.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- evergreen funds
- stepstone private wealth
- private markets
- private equity
- private wealth management
Companies and tickers mentioned
- STEP
- BAC
- StepStone Group
- StepStone Private Wealth
- OHA Investment Corporation
- Conversus Capital
- Bank of America
Watch the episode
Watch “What's Your Edge?: StepStone Private Wealth's CEO Bob Long” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from Alt Goes Mainstream
-
Stonepeak's Cyrus Gentry - bringing infrastructure investing to the wealth channel -
Blue Owl's Sean Connor - a growth company in a growth industry investing in megatrends -
Alts Pulse #18: The Global Boom in Alternative Investments w/ iCapital CEO, Lawrence Calcano -
Building a software investing powerhouse in the age of AI with Vista's David Breach -
ING - How to build a private markets platform within a European bank. -
Live! Armen Panossian, co-CEO of Oaktree at Brookfield Oaktree Wealth Solutions RIA Council Meeting
Alt Goes Mainstream, this episode and its artwork belong to Michael Sidgmore. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
