Key Takeaways
- Sector: Real Estate.
- Geography: United States.
Analysis
StepStone Real Estate has appointed Jennifer Jones as a Partner to launch S‑Core, a dedicated platform designed to scale the firm’s Core/Core+ real estate investing globally. The move repositions StepStone’s capabilities toward separate‑account mandates, secondaries and co‑investment strategies for institutional clients.
Ms. Jones will be based in San Francisco and take responsibility for a global investment mandate. She joins StepStone after nearly 20 years at UBS, where she oversaw more than $20 billion of transactions and served as Senior Portfolio Manager for UBS’s Global Core Plus vehicle and as Head of Real Estate Partnerships and Investments for its > $100 billion Real Estate and Private Markets division.
The new S‑Core initiative will amplify StepStone’s existing Core/Core+ exposure by pursuing four complementary channels: GP‑led and LP secondaries (including recapitalizations), co‑investments and programmatic JVs, tactical real‑estate operating company stakes, and selective primary commitments to high‑conviction funds on fee‑ and governance‑favorable terms. StepStone plans to deploy S‑Core initially via separate accounts to allow client customisation on geography, property type, leverage and structure while anchoring portfolios to the firm’s House Views.
Jeff Giller, Global Head of StepStone Real Estate, said the platform will draw on the firm’s market connectivity and scale to source off‑market opportunities and attractive fee structures. In 2025 StepStone allocated more than $17 billion to funds, secondaries and co‑investments and held in excess of 1,000 meetings with real‑estate GPs — activity the firm says underpins its sourcing advantage.
Jones emphasised investor demand as the strategic driver: after recent cycles many institutional investors are seeking lower‑volatility Core/Core+ exposure that delivers current cash flow and capital preservation. She cited NCREIF NFI‑ODCE analysis noting that roughly 72% of long‑run returns in Core/Core+ have been attributable to cash flow, and argued these characteristics make Core/Core+ appealing against more levered, appreciation‑driven strategies.
Market context supports the pivot. Institutional allocators in Europe and North America have been increasing allocations to stabilised real estate and tailored separate‑account solutions as a way to secure income and de‑risk portfolios in the face of inflation and interest‑rate variability. GP‑led secondaries and co‑investments remain key sourcing channels for scaled managers seeking discounted or off‑market exposure.
Operationally, S‑Core’s separate‑account structure will allow StepStone’s clients to calibrate exposure — from low‑leverage core to Core+ with modest value‑add levers — while benefiting from the firm’s advisory footprint and fund relationships. For StepStone, the launch deepens its real‑estate footprint alongside its wider private markets platform: the group reported responsibility for approximately $771 billion of total capital, including about $209 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2025.
For investors, S‑Core positions StepStone to convert its deal flow and GP relationships into customised, income‑oriented solutions. For the market, the initiative is another signal that major asset managers are formalising institutional pipelines to access Core/Core+ product demand at scale.