StepStone Group Inc (STEP) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to StepStone's Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this conference is being recorded.

問候。歡迎參加行健資本 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。

I will now turn the conference over to your host, Seth Weiss. You may begin.

現在我將會議交給主持人塞斯·韋斯 (Seth Weiss)。你可以開始了。

Thank you. Joining me on today's call are Scott Hart, Chief Executive Officer; Jason Ment, President and Co-Chief Operating Officer; Mike McCabe, Head of Strategy; and Johnny Randel, Chief Financial Officer. During our prepared remarks, we will be referring to a presentation which is available on our Investor Relations website at shareholders.stepstonegroup.com.

謝謝。與我一起參加今天電話會議的是執行長 Scott Hart； Jason Ment，總裁兼聯合營運長；麥克‧麥凱布，策略主管；約翰尼·蘭德爾，財務長。在我們準備好的演講中，我們將參考我們的投資者關係網站股東.stepstonegroup.com 上提供的簡報。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that this conference call as well as this presentation contains certain forward-looking statements regarding the company's expected operating and financial performance for future periods and our plans for future dividends. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current plans, estimates and expectations and are inherently uncertain and subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results for future periods and actual dividends declared may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to changes in circumstances or a number of risks or other factors that are described in the Risk Factors section of StepStone's most recent 10-K and which will be updated in our upcoming 10-K.

在開始之前，我想提醒大家，本次電話會議以及本簡報包含一些有關公司未來時期的預期營運和財務業績以及我們未來股利計畫的前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述反映了管理層目前的計劃、估計和預期，本質上具有不確定性，並受到各種風險、不確定性和假設的影響。由於情況變化或行健資本最近 10 項風險因素部分中描述的一系列風險或其他因素，未來期間的實際結果和宣布的實際股息可能與這些前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異。K並將在我們即將推出的10-K 中更新。

These forward-looking statements are made only as of today and, except as required, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of them. In addition, today's presentation contains references to non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release, our presentation and our filings with the SEC.

這些前瞻性陳述僅在今天作出，除非有要求，我們不承擔更新或修改其中任何陳述的義務。此外，今天的簡報還引用了非公認會計準則財務指標。我們的收益報告、簡報以及向 SEC 提交的文件中均包含與最直接可比較的 GAAP 財務指標的調整。

Turning to our financial results for the fourth quarter of our fiscal 2023. We reported GAAP net income of $56.8 million. GAAP net income attributable to StepStone Group Inc. was $28.8 million. We generated fee-related earnings of $37.8 million, adjusted net income of $27.1 million and adjusted net income per share of $0.24. The quarter reflected retroactive fees resulting from an interim closing of StepStone's multi-strategy global venture capital fund that contributed $0.5 million to revenue, fee-related earnings and pretax adjusted net income. This compares to retroactive fees in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 that contributed $3.4 million to revenue and $3.0 million to fee-related earnings and pretax adjusted net income.

轉向我們 2023 財年第四季的財務業績。我們報告的 GAAP 淨利潤為 5,680 萬美元。歸屬於行健資本集團 (StepStone Group Inc.) 的 GAAP 淨利為 2,880 萬美元。我們的費用相關收益為 3,780 萬美元，調整後淨利為 2,710 萬美元，調整後每股淨利為 0.24 美元。本季反映了行健資本多策略全球創投基金暫時關閉產生的追溯費用，該基金為收入、費用相關收益和稅前調整後淨利貢獻了 50 萬美元。相較之下，2022 財年第四季的追溯費用為收入貢獻了 340 萬美元，為費用相關收益和稅前調整後淨利潤貢獻了 300 萬美元。

Before turning to Scott, I would like to remind everyone that we are holding an Investor Day on Tuesday, June 6 in New York. Registration and additional details are available at investorday.stepstonegroup.com. In-person capacity is limited, so please register as soon as possible to request on-site attendance. A live webcast will also be available on that same Investor Day website or through our shareholders' site.

在向 Scott 提問之前，我想提醒大家，我們將於 6 月 6 日星期二在紐約舉辦投資者日。註冊和其他詳細資訊請訪問investorday.stepstonegroup.com。現場名額有限，請盡快報名並要求現場出席。現場網路廣播也將在同一投資者日網站或透過我們的股東網站提供。

I'll now hand the call over to StepStone's Chief Executive Officer, Scott Hart.

現在我將把電話轉給行健資本 (StepStone) 的執行長 Scott Hart。

Thank you, Seth, and good afternoon, everyone. Turning to Slide 5. We delivered strong results in our fiscal 2023 amid a difficult operating environment as we grew fee-related assets under management by 14% and full year fee-related earnings per share by 19%. Focusing on our most recent quarter, we generated gross AUM additions of over $5 billion. This strong fundraising reflects balanced growth across asset class, commercial structure and geography. We have deliberately built a diversified platform that is designed to thrive across market cycles, and this quarter's result exemplifies StepStone's ability to prosper even in difficult environments.

謝謝你，賽斯，大家下午好。轉向投影片 5。在困難的經營環境中，我們在 2023 財年取得了強勁的業績，管理的費用相關資產增長了 14%，全年費用相關每股收益增長了 19%。重點關注最近一個季度，我們的資產管理規模總額增加了超過 50 億美元。這項強勁的融資反映了資產類別、商業結構和地理的平衡成長。我們特意打造了一個多元化的平台，旨在跨市場週期蓬勃發展，本季的業績證明了行健資本即使在困難的環境下也能蓬勃發展的能力。

Turning to our financial performance. We generated fee-related earnings of $38 million for the quarter, up 5% from the prior year. Excluding the impact of retro fees in both this quarter and the prior year's period, we would have grown fee-related earnings by 13%. We produced an FRE margin of 28% for the quarter and 31% for the full fiscal 2023, which is in line with the expectations we set heading into the year. We believe a full year view of margins is most appropriate given the seasonality of expenses and the timing of revenue as growth can be uneven and dependent on timing of deployment and activations.

轉向我們的財務表現。本季我們產生了 3,800 萬美元的費用相關收入，比上年增長 5%。排除本季和去年同期的追溯費用的影響，我們的費用相關收入將成長 13%。我們本季的 FRE 利潤率為 28%，2023 財年全年的 FRE 利潤率為 31%，符合我們今年設定的預期。我們認為，考慮到支出的季節性和收入的時間，對利潤率的全年看法是最合適的，因為成長可能不均勻，並且取決於部署和啟動的時間。

We earned $27 million in adjusted net income for the quarter or $0.24 per share. This is down from $44 million or $0.38 per share in the fourth quarter of last year driven primarily by lower performance fees and lower contribution from retroactive fees. Looking forward, we believe there are structural tailwinds for the private markets that will present growth opportunities well into the future. In addition, there are StepStone's specific growth drivers given the continued runway within each of our asset classes in our private wealth business. While there are clearly near-term macro headwinds, StepStone is built to grow through all cycles. It is during volatile markets when our clients need the most assistance and our offerings are especially valued. We look forward to articulating our strategy and outlook in more detail at our Investor Day on June 6.

本季調整後淨利為 2,700 萬美元，即每股收益 0.24 美元。這比去年第四季的 4,400 萬美元或每股 0.38 美元有所下降，主要是由於績效費用和追溯費用貢獻減少。展望未來，我們認為私募市場存在結構性順風，將在未來帶來成長機會。此外，鑑於我們私人財富業務中每個資產類別的持續發展，行健資本還有特定的成長動力。雖然近期明顯存在宏觀阻力，但行健資本的目標是在所有周期中實現成長。在市場波動期間，我們的客戶最需要幫助，我們的產品尤其受到重視。我們期待在 6 月 6 日的投資者日上更詳細地闡明我們的策略和前景。

For today, I'd like to reemphasize a number of key messages for our stakeholders as they try to better understand how StepStone is navigating recent events in the banking industry and across the broader macro backdrop. First, the failure of Silicon Valley Bank was a loss for the entire industry, but has had limited impact on our venture capital activities, which make up 15% of our fee-earning AUM. Like others, we had to make some operational adjustments, but beyond that, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has not materially or directly affected the performance of our business or our portfolio. Venture and growth equity are an important part of our platform, and we remain bullish on the long-term prospects of these sectors.

今天，我想向我們的利害關係人再次強調一些關鍵訊息，因為他們試圖更好地了解行健資本如何應對銀行業和更廣泛的宏觀背景下的近期事件。首先，矽谷銀行的倒閉是整個產業的損失，但對我們創投活動的影響有限，創投活動占我們收費資產管理規模的15%。與其他公司一樣，我們必須做出一些營運調整，但除此之外，矽谷銀行的倒閉並沒有對我們的業務或投資組合的表現產生重大或直接影響。創投和成長股權是我們平台的重要組成部分，我們仍然看好這些產業的長期前景。

Great companies are created across all market cycles. Technology and software are more pervasive than ever and there are many exciting innovations in different stages of development. Themes such as cloud computing, energy transition and generative AI are just a few examples of transformative technologies that are propelling the global economy and are areas that we believe are going to drive superior returns. The keys to reaping those returns are consistent investment, an experienced team and a platform with differentiated assets and insights.

偉大的公司是在所有市場週期中誕生的。技術和軟體比以往任何時候都更加普遍，並且在不同的發展階段有許多令人興奮的創新。雲端運算、能源轉型和生成人工智慧等主題只是推動全球經濟發展的變革性技術的幾個例子，我們相信這些領域將帶來豐厚的回報。獲得這些回報的關鍵是持續的投資、經驗豐富的團隊以及擁有差異化資產和洞察力的平台。

We acknowledge there are challenges in the venture capital market with valuations and fundraising down across the market in 2022. But with these challenges come opportunities. And given our market-leading platform and diversified offering across strategy and company lifecycle, StepStone is well positioned to capitalize on these opportunities. Two of our approaches that are particularly well suited for today's market are venture secondaries and growth equity.

我們承認創投市場將面臨挑戰，2022 年整個市場的估值和融資都會下降。但挑戰也伴隨著機會。鑑於我們市場領先的平台以及跨策略和公司生命週期的多元化產品，行健資本已做好充分利用這些機會的準備。我們特別適合當今市場的兩種方法是風險二級市場和成長股權。

First, on secondaries. There is a growing demand for liquidity within the venture ecosystem. From GPs looking to support their portfolio companies and LPs who have more than $1 trillion of net asset value looking for liquidity. The regional banking turmoil magnified the risk-off mentality, which is catalyzing an increase in secondary sales and an acceptance of a new valuation reality. As many of you are aware, shortly after the closing of the Greenspring acquisition, StepStone closed on the largest venture secondary fund in the market. We believe the current backdrop offers a unique opportunity in which to deploy this strategy. Demand for a future VC secondaries fund offering is already strong, and we anticipate this strategy will be a source of growth as we raise successive vintages.

首先，關於次級。風險生態系內對流動性的需求不斷增長。來自尋求支持其投資組合公司的普通合夥人和尋求流動性的資產淨值超過 1 兆美元的有限合夥人。地區銀行業的動盪加劇了避險心態，從而促進了二級銷售的增加和對新估值現實的接受。正如你們許多人所知，在 Greenspring 收購完成後不久，行健資本 (StepStone) 就收購了市場上最大的風險二級基金。我們相信目前的背景為部署這項策略提供了獨特的機會。對未來創投二級基金發行的需求已經很強勁，我們預計隨著我們連續年份的增加，這項策略將成為成長的來源。

Shifting to gross equity. This is a unique corner of the private equity market that is well positioned in the current environment. Growth equity strategies are distinct from venture and buyout, having characteristics that mitigate many of the risks facing cash-burning VC companies or highly leveraged buyout companies. Growth equity companies are typically cash flow positive. They tend to have limited leverage that are not greatly impacted by rising interest rates in terms of financing costs, and they are attractive from an acquisition standpoint, providing for exit optionality that is not reliant on the IPO markets.

轉向總股本。這是私募股權市場的一個獨特角落，在當前環境中處於有利地位。成長型股權策略與創投和收購不同，其特點是可以減輕燒錢的創投公司或高槓桿收購公司面臨的許多風險。成長型股權公司通常現金流為正。它們的槓桿率往往有限，在融資成本方面不會受到利率上升的太大影響，而且從收購的角度來看，它們很有吸引力，提供了不依賴 IPO 市場的退出選擇。

Another important message we would like to reinforce is our approach towards real estate. Commercial real estate office, in particular, has come under recent pressure. However, our global office exposure makes up only 10% of our total real estate assets under management and under 1% of our total firm AUM. Driven by our top-down house views, the office exposure in our flagship real estate fund is even lower, as instead weighted towards the living sector, industrial, logistics and data centers. While there is likely to be continued pressure on private real estate valuations driven by the rise in rates, our real estate exposure is high quality and well underwritten and the gross exposure is modest.

我們想強調的另一個重要訊息是我們對房地產的態度。商業不動產辦公室近期尤其面臨壓力。然而，我們的全球辦公室業務僅占我們管理的房地產總資產的 10%，占公司總資產管理規模的 1% 以下。在我們自上而下的房屋觀點的推動下，我們旗艦房地產基金的辦公大樓風險敞口甚至更低，而是偏重於生活領域、工業、物流和資料中心。儘管由於利率上升，私人房地產估值可能會持續面臨壓力，但我們的房地產風險敞口質量高，承保良好，而且總風險敞口不大。

Importantly, corrections in the real estate market create opportunities for our flagship manager-led real estate secondaries fund. This strategy was developed coming out of the financial crisis and specializes in providing capital to liquidity-constrained investment vehicles and investors through recapitalizations and secondaries, for which there is typically high demand in periods of market dislocation. This real estate comingled fund is currently in market and off to a very strong start to fundraising. The fund had its first closing in our fiscal fourth quarter, it has now closed on over $900 million.

重要的是，房地產市場的調整為我們旗艦管理人主導的房地產二級基金創造了機會。該策略是在金融危機後製定的，專門透過資本重組和二級市場向流動性受限的投資工具和投資者提供資金，在市場混亂時期通常會有很高的需求。該房地產混合基金目前已上市，並且融資開局非常強勁。該基金在第四財季首次募集資金，目前已募集資金超過 9 億美元。

And lastly, the recent instability of certain regional banks is accelerating a general retrenchment in bank lending and opening the door for private debt to further capture market share. We have a versatile private debt platform that sources deals across asset class and can invest in array of debt classifications from senior secured to more opportunistic nonperforming assets. Private debt has proven to be a very valuable asset class for StepStone's clients, and we believe we are poised to benefit further from tailwinds in the market.

最後，近期某些地區銀行的不穩定性正在加速銀行貸款的普遍緊縮，並為私人債務進一步佔領市場份額打開了大門。我們擁有一個多功能的私人債務平台，可以提供跨資產類別的交易，並可以投資從優先擔保資產到更具機會主義不良資產的一系列債務類別。事實證明，私人債務對於行健資本的客戶來說是非常有價值的資產類別，我們相信我們將進一步從市場的順風車中受益。

Before turning the call over to Mike, I'm thrilled to announce the hiring of Joe Linhares as our Global Head of Business Development. Joe has 30 years of experience leading sales and distribution for several large financial service providers. Joe's addition is reflective of the growth and maturation of StepStone's platform and is representative of the investments we continue to make to further scale our business. I'm excited to partner with Joe as we continue to expand.

在將電話轉給 Mike 之前，我很高興地宣布聘請 Joe Linhares 擔任我們的全球業務開發主管。 Joe 擁有 30 年領導多家大型金融服務供應商銷售和分銷的經驗。 Joe 的加入反映了行健資本平台的成長和成熟，也代表了我們為進一步擴大業務而持續進行的投資。我很高興能與 Joe 合作，讓我們不斷擴張。

I'd now like to turn the call over to Mike McCabe to speak about the fundraising and fee-earning asset development in more detail.

我現在想將電話轉給麥克麥凱布 (Mike McCabe)，更詳細地談論籌款和收費資產開發。

Thanks, Scott. Turning to Slide 7. We generated $16 billion of gross AUM inflows during the last 12 months, with $6 billion coming from our commingled funds and $10 billion coming from our managed accounts.

謝謝，斯科特。轉向投影片 7。在過去 12 個月中，我們的資產管理規模總流入額為 160 億美元，其中 60 億美元來自我們的混合基金，100 億美元來自我們的管理帳戶。

Slide 8 shows our fee-earning AUM by structure and asset class. For the quarter, we grew fee-earning assets by roughly $2.5 billion, driven by contributions from managed accounts across asset classes and additional closes of our debut commingled infrastructure co-investment fund and our multistrategy global venture capital fund. We also generated notable growth in our undeployed fee-earning capital, which increased from $14 billion to nearly $16 billion, driven by several new client wins, managed account re-ups and closings related to our commingled real estate fund that Scott just mentioned. We anticipate activating fees on the fund near the end of this calendar year.

投影片 8 按結構和資產類別顯示了我們的收費資產管理規模。本季度，我們的收費資產成長了約 25 億美元，這得益於跨資產類別的管理帳戶的貢獻以及我們首次推出的混合基礎設施聯合投資基金和多策略全球創投基金的額外關閉。我們的未部署收費資本也顯著增長，從 140 億美元增加到近 160 億美元，這得益於斯科特剛才提到的與我們的混合房地產基金相關的管理賬戶重新設立和關閉。我們預計基金將於今年底收取啟動費。

We continue to generate steady growth in our private wealth platform, which brought our aggregate fee-earning AUM to over $1.5 billion at the end of the quarter. Our investment performance continues to be very strong, with SPRIM, our Evergreen private markets fund for accredited investors, generating a 29% annualized return since inception, and SPRING, our Evergreen venture and growth equity fund off to a very strong 21% return since its launch in November of 2022. We continue to generate steady monthly subscriptions of over $60 million in our private wealth platform, with contributions spread across distribution channels and products.

我們的私人財富平台繼續穩定成長，這使我們的收費管理資產總額在本季末超過 15 億美元。我們的投資表現仍然非常強勁，我們的Evergreen 私募市場基金SPRIM 自成立以來實現了29% 的年化回報率，而我們的Evergreen 風險投資和成長型股權基金SPRING 自成立以來實現了21% 的強勁回報率。於 2022 年 11 月推出。我們的私人財富平台每月繼續產生超過 6000 萬美元的穩定訂閱，捐款遍布各個分銷渠道和產品。

Slide 9 shows the evolution of our management and advisory fees. We generated a blended management fee rate of 54 basis points, which is higher than prior years due to a mix shift toward commingled funds from the contribution of our expanded venture capital platform. We produced over $4.30 per share in management and advisory fees over the last 12 months, representing an annual growth rate of 25% since 2018.

投影片 9 顯示了我們的管理費和諮詢費的演變。我們的混合管理費率為 54 個基點，高於往年，因為我們擴大的創投平台的貢獻轉向了混合基金。過去 12 個月，我們每股產生超過 4.30 美元的管理和諮詢費，自 2018 年以來年增長率為 25%。

Before turning the call over to Johnny, I am pleased to announce the declaration of our first supplemental dividend of $0.25 per share, which will be distributed in addition to the $0.20 per share normal quarterly dividend. This approach enables us to take advantage of our capital-efficient business model by maximizing distribution to our shareholders in a transparent manner. As a reminder, we plan to generally grow our base dividend in line with fee-related earnings, while our supplemental dividend will be driven by net realized performance-related earnings subject to any discretionary capital uses. Future dividends are, of course, subject to Board approval. We are thrilled to be able to deploy a healthy total payout even during periods when the realization environment is soft. And we expect our approach will allow shareholders to tangibly reap the benefits of more substantial carrier monetization when the realization environment is stronger. Importantly, our net accrued performance fees currently stand at nearly $600 million, which serves as a backlog for future distributions.

在將電話轉交給約翰尼之前，我很高興地宣布我們宣布派發每股 0.25 美元的首次補充股息，該股息將在每股 0.20 美元的正常季度股息之外進行分配。這種方法使我們能夠以透明的方式最大限度地分配給股東，從而利用我們資本效率高的商業模式。提醒一下，我們計劃總體上根據與費用相關的收益來增加基本股息，而我們的補充股息將由已實現的績效相關淨收益（取決於任何可自由支配的資本用途）驅動。當然，未來的股利須經董事會批准。我們很高興能夠在實現環境疲軟的時期部署健康的總支出。我們預計，當實現環境更加強勁時，我們的方法將使股東能夠實際獲得更實質的營運商貨幣化收益。重要的是，我們的淨應計績效費用目前接近 6 億美元，這是未來分配的積壓。

With that, I'll turn the call over to our CFO, Johnny Randel.

接下來，我會將電話轉給我們的財務長約翰尼·蘭德爾 (Johnny Randel)。

Thank you, Mike. I'd like to turn your attention to Slide 11 to speak to our financial highlights. For the quarter, we earned management and advisory fees of $133 million, up 18% from the prior year. The revenue increase was driven by growth in fee-earning AUM from commingled funds that were activated earlier in the year as well as continued deployment and fundraising. We generated an FRE margin of 28% for the quarter, below last quarter's 33% margin and below the fiscal 2022 fourth quarter margin of 32%. As a reminder, the prior year quarter's margin benefited from retroactive fees. The March 31 period tends to be our seasonally weakest margin quarter driven primarily by annual salary adjustments and the associated payroll tax resets for U.S. staff, which go into effect on January 1 of each year.

謝謝你，麥克。我想讓您注意幻燈片 11，了解我們的財務亮點。本季度，我們賺了 1.33 億美元的管理和諮詢費，比上年增長 18%。收入成長的推動因素是今年稍早啟動的混合基金的收費資產管理規模的成長以及持續的部署和籌款。我們本季的 FRE 利潤率為 28%，低於上一季 33% 的利潤率，也低於 2022 財年第四季 32% 的利潤率。提醒一下，上一季的利潤率受益於追溯費用。 3 月 31 日期間往往是我們季節性利潤率最弱的季度，這主要是由於年度薪資調整和美國員工的相關工資稅重置（這些調整於每年 1 月 1 日生效）推動的。

For the full year, our FRE margin was 31%. This is a strong base upon which we anticipate we will expand over time. We continue to expect margins to migrate into the mid-30s over the long term as we balance profitability with sustainable growth. As we have commented in the past, the path may not be linear.

全年，我們的 FRE 利潤率為 31%。這是一個堅實的基礎，我們預計我們將隨著時間的推移而不斷擴展。隨著我們平衡獲利能力和永續成長，我們繼續預期長期利潤率將達到 30 多歲。正如我們過去評論的那樣，路徑可能不是線性的。

Shifting to expenses. Compensation was up sequentially, driven primarily by annual salary raises and modest increases in headcount. G&A also increased sequentially, driven by occupancy and professional fees. Gross realized performance and incentive fees were $20 million for the quarter, generally consistent with last quarter and reflective of a continued lower transaction and realization environment. We anticipate realized performance fees to remain muted in the near term.

轉向支出。薪酬連續上漲，主要是因為年薪上漲和員工人數適度增加。在入住率和專業費用的推動下，一般行政費用也持續增加。本季實現的總績效和獎勵費用為 2,000 萬美元，與上季基本一致，反映出交易和變現環境持續走低。我們預計近期已實現的績效費用將保持低迷。

Income attributable to noncontrolling interest was $10 million, generally in line with the level of the last 2 quarters and is a fair baseline for your models moving forward. Number will move around slightly quarter-to-quarter, but we expect NCI to generally grow in line with fee-related earnings. Our tax rate reflected in ANI was 22.3% for the quarter and for the full fiscal year. We anticipate reflecting that same 22.3% tax rate in fiscal 2024 based on the blended statutory tax rate derived from our expected state apportionment of income.

非控制權益的收入為 1000 萬美元，總體上與過去兩個季度的水平一致，並且是您的模型前進的公平基準。數字將隨季度略有變化，但我們預計 NCI 的成長總體上與費用相關收益一致。 ANI 反映的本季和整個財年的稅率為 22.3%。我們預計，根據我們預期的國家收入分配得出的混合法定稅率，2024 財政年度將反映相同的 22.3% 稅率。

Moving to Slide 12. Adjusted revenue per share was up 1% relative to the prior fiscal year, which is the result of a 22% growth in management and advisory fees per share, offset by a 37% decrease in gross realized performance fees per share. Speaking to the long term, we have grown adjusted revenue per share by 26% compounded annual rate since fiscal 2018.

轉向投影片 12。調整後每股收入較上一財年增長 1%，這是由於每股管理和諮詢費用增長 22%，但被每股已實現總績效費用下降 37% 所抵消。從長遠來看，自 2018 財年以來，我們的調整後每股營收複合年增長率為 26%。

Shifting to our profitability on Slide 13. We grew full year fee-related earnings per share by 19%. The increase was driven by growth in management and advisory fees. Looking over the longer term, we have generated an annual growth rate and fee-related earnings per share of 41% in fiscal 2018. Our year-to-date ANI per share is down relative to last year, driven by lower performance and incentive fees, but has increased at an annual rate to 28% over the long-term period driven by robust growth in both fee-related earnings and realized net performance fees.

轉向幻燈片 13 上的獲利能力。我們全年與費用相關的每股收益成長了 19%。這一增長是由管理費和諮詢費的增長所推動的。從長遠來看，我們在 2018 財年實現了 41% 的年增長率和與費用相關的每股收益。由於業績和激勵費用下降，我們今年迄今的每股 ANI 相對於去年有所下降，但在在與費用相關的收益和已實現的淨績效費用強勁成長的推動下，長期年增長率達到28%。

Moving to the balance sheet on Slide 14. Gross accrued carry finished the quarter at approximately $1.2 billion, up 9% from the previous quarter, driven by underlying valuation increases for the period ended December 31. As a reminder, our accrued carry balance is reported on a one quarter lag. Our own investment portfolio ended the quarter at $147 million, unfunded commitment to our investment programs were $89 million as of quarter end.

轉到投影片14 上的資產負債表。本季應計利差總額約為12 億美元，比上一季成長9%，這是由截至12 月31 日的期間的基本估值增長推動的。提醒一下，我們報告了應計利差餘額四分之一的滯後。截至本季末，我們自己的投資組合為 1.47 億美元，截至季末，我們投資項目的無資金承諾為 8,900 萬美元。

Our pool of performance fee-eligible capital has grown to $63 billion, and this capital is widely diversified across multiple vintage years and 180 programs. 60% of our unrealized carriers tied to programs with vintages of 2017 or earlier, which means that these programs are largely out of their investment periods and are in harvest mode. 59% of this unrealized carry is sourced from vehicles with deal-by-deal waterfalls, meaning realized carry may be payable at the time of investment exit.

我們的符合績效費資格的資本池已成長至 630 億美元，且該資本在多個年份和 180 個項目中廣泛多元化。我們未實現的營運商中有 60% 與 2017 年或更早年份的專案相關，這意味著這些專案基本上已經過了投資期，正處於收穫模式。未實現利差的 59% 來自逐筆交易瀑布的工具，這意味著已實現利差可能在投資退出時支付。

This concludes our prepared remarks. I'll now turn it back over to the operator to open the line for any questions.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。現在我會將其轉回給接線員，以便解答任何問題。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Ken Worthington with JPMorgan.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自摩根大通的 Ken Worthington。

I'd say 2 for me. Maybe first, retail continues to build at a pretty consistent dollar level from quarter-to-quarter, $700 million, went to $1 billion to $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion. Can you talk about the build-out of distribution, including the more recent additions of Europe and Australia? And while things probably appear to be quite stable on the surface, I'm sure there's puts and takes beneath the surface. So how is distribution sort of seasoning and growing inside the U.S. versus these newer platforms internationally?

我想說2對我來說。也許首先，零售業繼續以相當穩定的美元水準成長，從每季的 7 億美元，到 10 億美元到 13 億美元到 16 億美元。您能談談分銷的擴展，包括最近增加的歐洲和澳洲嗎？雖然事情表面上看起來相當穩定，但我確信在表面之下存在著變化。那麼，與這些國際上的新平台相比，美國境內的通路如何成熟與發展？

Thanks, Ken. Jason here. So totally fair characterization, there are puts and takes. Remember now, we've got not only SPRIM, but also SPRING, and it's actually 4 different funds, U.S. and Lux for each of those. The flows have been broadly consistent quarter-to-quarter in aggregate. The distribution syndicate continues to grow. We're approved on over 150 platforms now globally.

謝謝，肯。傑森在這裡。所以完全公平的表徵，有放有放。現在請記住，我們不僅有 SPRIM，還有 SPRING，實際上有 4 個不同的基金，分別是 U.S. 和 Lux。整體而言，季度與季度的流量基本一致。分銷集團不斷壯大。目前，我們已在全球 150 多個平台上獲得批准。

The team build-out within the private wealth team has historically been almost entirely U.S. We are building out dedicated European coverage now with a few people on the ground. And outside of those 2 geographies, distribution has largely been driven by our institutional BD team that does have relationships in the local markets.

歷史上，私人財富團隊的團隊建立幾乎完全是美國的。我們現在正在建立專門的歐洲覆蓋範圍，只有少數人在當地。在這兩個地區之外，分銷很大程度上是由我們的機構 BD 團隊推動的，該團隊在當地市場上確實有關係。

In terms of the flows, I would say, the U.S. continues to be stronger than rest of world. And I think that, that's consistent across both SPRIM and SPRING, and that's really just driven by seasoning. The distribution effort on both of the Lux platforms is just much more nascent. And so therefore, we're continuing to build out that syndicate, and it just takes a bit once you're approved to start seeing flows.

我想說，就資金流動而言，美國仍然比世界其他地區更強大。我認為，SPRIM 和 SPRING 都是一致的，而且這實際上只是由調味推動的。這兩個 Lux 平台上的發行工作才剛起步。因此，我們正在繼續建立該集團，一旦您被批准開始看到流量，只需要一點時間。

The other thing to remember, outside the U.S. relative to the U.S. market is that the number of super-large players like you've got in the U.S., it's a bit more limited globally as a percentage of the platforms that are out there. So think of it more akin to the RIA and IBD-type flows rather than wire-type flows in the main.

另一件需要記住的事情是，相對於美國市場，在美國以外的地區，像美國這樣的超大型參與者的數量，在全球平台中所佔的比例有點有限。因此，可以認為它更類似於 RIA 和 IBD 類型的流程，而不是主要的線型流程。

Okay. Perfect. That was wonderful. And then just on the -- I guess, continuing on the flow side. I believe you had 7 or so funds in market this past quarter. Which of these funds actually did have closes in the March quarter? And what are the expectations in terms of closes for June?

好的。完美的。那太棒了。然後就——我想，繼續在流程方面。我相信上個季度您在市場上有 7 檔左右的基金。其中哪些基金實際上在三月季度關閉了？對 6 月份收盤的預期是什麼？

Sure. Thanks, Ken, for the question. This is Scott. We do continue to have a number of funds in market, and that will continue to be the case. The -- and maybe I'll just give you an update on all of those funds that are currently marketing, but starting with the ones that had interim closings. Our multi-strategy global venture capital fund held interim closings and currently stands around the $750 million mark today.

當然。謝謝肯提出這個問題。這是斯科特。我們確實繼續在市場上擁有大量基金，而且情況將繼續如此。也許我只會向您介紹目前正在行銷的所有基金的最新情況，但首先是那些臨時關閉的基金。我們的多策略全球創投基金進行了中期交割，目前規模約為 7.5 億美元。

We did mention during the prepared remarks that our real estate secondaries fund held a first close during the quarter, and currently stands at just over $900 million of commitments. We held interim closings on our inaugural infrastructure co-investment fund, which now stands a bit shy of $500 million today. There are others that continue to be in market, like our private equity secondaries fund, which stands at roughly $1.6 billion. And we also, subsequent to quarter end, had a closing on our multi-strategy growth equity fund as well.

我們在準備好的發言中確實提到，我們的房地產二級基金在本季進行了首次交割，目前的承諾金額剛超過 9 億美元。我們對首個基礎設施聯合投資基金進行了臨時交割，目前該基金的規模略低於 5 億美元。還有其他一些繼續留在市場上，例如我們的私募股權二級基金，規模約為 16 億美元。在季度末之後，我們也關閉了我們的多策略成長股票基金。

Our next question comes from the line of Ben Budish with Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Ben Budish。

You mentioned that the margin tends to be lumpy and doesn't necessarily go up immediately over time. I'm just curious any thoughts you can share on fiscal '24 and what your top investment priorities for the year, if you can kind of share in advance of your Investor Day coming up.

您提到利潤率往往不穩定，不一定會隨著時間的推移而立即上升。我只是好奇您對 24 財年的任何想法以及您今年的首要投資重點是什麼，如果您能在即將到來的投資者日之前分享一下的話。

Thanks, Ben. This is Mike here. Our 31% FRE margin for the year was a very strong result and largely in line with the guidance we have provided throughout the year. And when we look back at the trend, since we took the company public in 2020, we've expanded margins by nearly 500 basis points. Specifically for the quarter, as you mentioned, and as Scott and Johnny mentioned, we saw some fluctuations.

謝謝，本。這是麥克。我們今年 31% 的 FRE 利潤率是一個非常強勁的結果，基本上符合我們全年提供的指導。當我們回顧這一趨勢時，自 2020 年公司上市以來，我們的利潤率已擴大了近 500 個基點。特別是對於本季度，正如您所提到的，以及斯科特和約翰尼提到的，我們看到了一些波動。

We did see a step-up in compensation as we've seen in the fourth quarter of prior years. G&A expenses were also up, particularly travel, as our teams are out there supporting existing clients and developing new relationships. And lastly, Scott touched on this, the timing of fund closings, activations and capital deployment are a little bit tricky to predict. And so we describe our margins as nonlinear in the past and currently on today's conversation, which is why we don't really either look at or manage our business from a quarter-to-quarter basis. We look at margins really over the medium to long term. And in the past, our guidance for margins has been in the mid-30s over the medium to long term, and we don't see any reason to change that guidance.

正如我們在前幾年第四季所看到的那樣，我們確實看到了薪資的增加。一般管理費用也有所增加，尤其是差旅費用，因為我們的團隊需要為現有客戶提供支援並發展新的關係。最後，史考特談到了這一點，基金關閉、啟動和資本部署的時間有點難以預測。因此，我們將過去和現在的利潤率描述為非線性，這就是為什麼我們並沒有真正按季度審視或管理我們的業務。我們真正著眼於中長期的利潤率。過去，我們對中長期利潤率的指導一直在 30 多歲左右，我們認為沒有任何理由改變這項指導。

The priorities that we have as an organization really are to support the growth and profitability of the firm. And just to name a few, as Jason mentioned, we're continuing to expand our retail franchise. And so you can expect us to continue to invest there, developing products like SPRING as well as developing new products for our institutional investors like our infrastructure co-investment fund, providing seed capital for these new launches and continuing to build out the team globally are really the priorities we're focusing on this year.

作為一個組織，我們的首要任務實際上是支持公司的成長和獲利能力。僅舉幾例，正如傑森所提到的，我們正在繼續擴大我們的零售特許經營權。因此，您可以期待我們繼續在那裡投資，開發SPRING 等產品，並為我們的機構投資者開發新產品，例如我們的基礎設施聯合投資基金，為這些新產品的推出提供種子資金，並繼續在全球範圍內建立團隊。這確實是我們今年關注的優先事項。

Great. That was really helpful. And then just maybe following up on Ken's question before. Scott, you gave a great overview of all the commingled funds in the market. Just any color you can share on what you're seeing on the SMA side. It looks Like the last several quarters, you kind of had increasing levels of contributions. And maybe, what does that look like over the next, say, 12 months?

偉大的。這真的很有幫助。然後也許只是跟進肯之前的問題。斯科特，您對市場上所有混合基金進行了很好的概述。您可以分享您在 SMA 一側看到的任何顏色。看起來像過去幾個季度一樣，你們的貢獻水準有所增加。也許，接下來的 12 個月會是什麼樣子呢？

Sure. So look, on the SMA side, I think we're seeing similar trends to what we're seeing in the commingled space. And if I had to characterize it, I would say that the re-up conversations continue as planned, and those re-ups have continued to take place at a high rate. And I would say that new investor conversations, look, they're taking time. And even that -- if that is the period between initial approval and the ultimate signing of an account or getting to that initial approval, some of those new separate accounts are taking time, but they are happening. And we're pleased to say that in the current quarter did have a combination of both re-ups and sizable new separate accounts that help drive that $5 billion of inflows, AUM inflows during the quarter.

當然。所以看，在 SMA 方面，我認為我們看到了與混合領域類似的趨勢。如果我必須描述它的特徵，我會說重建對話按計劃繼續進行，並且這些重建繼續以很高的速度進行。我想說，新的投資人對話，看，他們需要時間。即便如此，如果這是初始批准和最終簽署帳戶或獲得初始批准之間的時期，那麼其中一些新的單獨帳戶需要時間，但它們正在發生。我們很高興地說，本季確實有重組和大量新的獨立帳戶相結合，有助於推動本季 50 億美元的資金流入和資產管理規模流入。

As we look ahead, we continue to have a number of potential re-up conversations and very active conversations with new clients as well. Some of these are multi-asset class in nature. Some are created by the combination with Greenspring, where we're finding that our new and strengthened venture capabilities, combined with our historic focus at StepStone on providing separate accounts, is proving to be quite valuable in this environment. So I think we'll see continued activity on the SMA front in the year ahead.

展望未來，我們將繼續進行許多潛在的重新對話，並與新客戶進行非常積極的對話。其中一些本質上是多資產類別。有些是透過與Greenspring 合併而創建的，我們發現我們新的和增強的風險投資能力，再加上我們在行健資本歷史上專注於提供獨立帳戶，在這種環境下被證明是非常有價值的。因此，我認為我們將在未來一年看到 SMA 方面的持續活動。

Our next question comes from the line of Mike Cyprys with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的邁克·賽普里斯 (Mike Cyprys)。

This is (inaudible) standing in for Mike. I just want to circle back to the discussion about venture. And when you talk to your LP, just curious what their attitude right now at this point in the cycle is towards DC. Is it something that they're looking to avoid? Or are they looking to stay invested? Any color you can share on that?

這是（聽不清楚）代表麥克。我只想回到關於創投的討論。當你與你的有限合夥人交談時，只是好奇他們現在對 DC 的態度是什麼。這是他們想要避免的事情嗎？還是他們希望繼續投資？有什麼顏色可以分享嗎？

Yes. So I mean I appreciate the question. It's one of the areas where it's probably a bit difficult to generalize because if you separate between the impact on existing portfolios, and then look at the go-forward investment opportunity, those are 2 very different questions. And so I think for those investors that were heavily allocated to the asset class the last several years, there clearly have been markdowns and challenges in the portfolio.

是的。所以我的意思是我很欣賞這個問題。這是可能有點難以概括的領域之一，因為如果你區分對現有投資組合的影響，然後看看未來的投資機會，這是兩個截然不同的問題。因此，我認為對於那些過去幾年大量配置該資產類別的投資者來說，投資組合顯然出現了降價和挑戰。

Those markdowns look very different if you compare late stage versus -- which has been most heavily impacted with early stage or growth equity. But as you think about the go-forward investment opportunity, I'd say there is growing excitement, for example, about the secondaries opportunity. And obviously, we highlighted during the prepared remarks the growth equity opportunity as well. Now in some cases, those are different categories of investors that we're now seeing look at the venture space. In some cases, they historically had trouble accessing venture, but in this case, are not heavily exposed to the asset class today. And I think a lot of the conversations, I know we've said this on prior quarter calls as well, with investors, you hear the comment that, "Look, we've been thinking about starting an allocation or starting a venture program, and we're more excited about doing that today in this valuation environment than where we were a couple of years ago." And so again, I often find myself having to distinguish between the impact on the existing portfolio versus the excitement around the go-forward investment opportunity.

如果你將後期階段與受早期階段或成長股權影響最嚴重的階段進行比較，這些降價看起來非常不同。但當你想到未來的投資機會時，我想說的是，人們對二級投資機會越來越興奮。顯然，我們在準備好的發言中也強調了成長股權機會。現在，在某些情況下，我們現在看到的是不同類別的投資者正在關注創投領域。在某些情況下，他們過去在獲得風險投資方面遇到了困難，但在這種情況下，他們今天並沒有大量接觸該資產類別。我認為在許多對話中，我知道我們也在上一季的電話會議上與投資者說過這一點，你會聽到這樣的評論：「看，我們一直在考慮開始分配或啟動風險計劃，與幾年前相比，我們今天在這種估值環境下這樣做更加興奮。”同樣，我經常發現自己必須區分對現有投資組合的影響和對未來投資機會的興奮。

Great. And if I could just follow up quickly. In terms of the opportunities on the secondaries side, I wonder if you could help frame what that opportunity looks like. Any numbers you can put around that in terms of the, I guess, any step-up in deal flow that you're seeing or a step-up in completions? I think you talked about sort of rationalization of pricing where folks are starting to look at this and say, well, hey, in this environment, maybe it's not a bad -- this is not such a bad deal as maybe it looked maybe 6 months ago.

偉大的。如果我能快速跟進就好了。就二級市場的機會而言，我想知道您是否可以幫助建立這個機會。我想，您可以用任何數字來說明您所看到的交易流程的任何提升或完成情況的提升嗎？我想你談到了定價的合理化，人們開始關注這個問題並說，好吧，嘿，在這種環境下，也許這不是一個壞事——這並不是一個糟糕的交易，因為它看起來可能需要6個月前。

Sure. And I might expand -- I'm assuming the question is specific to venture. I might also expand and just talk about the secondaries opportunity more broadly. But in venture, look, what you have is over $1 trillion of unrealized net asset value across venture portfolios today. In a number of -- in many cases, there are embedded gains in those portfolios. And even if there is a need to sell at a discount, those investors can still lock in an overall gain on their original investment. I think that is one of the things that is leading to a greater willingness to sell today.

當然。我可能會擴展——我假設這個問題是針對風險投資的。我也可能會擴展並更廣泛地談論二次機會。但在創投領域，如今創投組合中的未實現淨資產價值已超過 1 兆美元。在許多情況下，這些投資組合都有內在利益。即使需要折價出售，這些投資者仍然可以鎖定其原始投資的整體收益。我認為這是導致今天更願意出售的原因之一。

Now that's largely in the LP secondary market. But you can imagine, much like the trends we've talked about in the broader secondaries market around GP-led secondaries, around strip sales, et cetera, there are a number of different factors and types of transactions driving deal flow. But I do want to make sure to highlight that -- and I know we have done on prior calls as well, our excitement around the secondaries opportunity not only in venture, but in the broader private equity space. But increasingly, in real estate, where you heard us mention the first closing on our real estate secondaries fund, which we think is really tailor-made for this type of environment with a strategy developed coming out of the financial crisis and led by a senior and experienced team that's getting great traction on that fund raise. And in other parts of the market, including private credit and increasingly infrastructure as well, where you saw a significant amount of primary fundraising coming out of the financial crisis. And now to 10, 15 years on, I think that is leading to an increase in potential secondaries sales there as well. So I think there's a number of factors driving the overall opportunity today.

現在主要是在有限合夥人二級市場。但你可以想像，就像我們在更廣泛的二級市場中圍繞 GP 主導的二級市場、圍繞帶狀銷售等討論的趨勢一樣，有許多不同的因素和交易類型推動交易流。但我確實想強調這一點——我知道我們在之前的電話會議上也做過，我們對二級機會的興奮不僅在創投領域，而且在更廣泛的私募股權領域。但越來越多地，在房地產領域，您聽到我們提到我們的房地產二級基金的首次關閉，我們認為該基金確實是為這種類型的環境量身定制的，其策略是在金融危機後來制定的，由一位資深人士領導經驗豐富的團隊在籌集資金方面獲得了巨大的吸引力。在市場的其他部分，包括私人信貸和日益增長的基礎設施，您可以看到金融危機帶來了大量的初級籌款。現在到 10 年、15 年過去，我認為這也會導致潛在的二級銷售增加。所以我認為有很多因素推動了今天的整體機會。

And we have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I'll now turn the call back over to Scott Hart for closing remarks.

我們的問答環節已經結束了。現在我將把電話轉回給斯科特·哈特（Scott Hart）做總結發言。

Well, great. Well, thanks, everyone, for joining the call today. Just as a reminder, we look forward to speaking with many of you during our Investor Day on June 6. And in the meantime, I appreciate your interest in the StepStone story. Thanks, everyone.

嗯，太棒了。好的，謝謝大家今天加入電話會議。謹此提醒您，我們期待在 6 月 6 日的投資者日期間與你們中的許多人交談。同時，我感謝你們對 StepStone 故事的興趣。感謝大家。

And this concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

今天的會議到此結束，大家可以掛斷電話了。感謝您的參與。