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StepStone Group Inc.: Q4 FY2026 earnings call

What management said about Q4 FY2026, from the documents filed with the SEC on 20 May 2026: press release. Guidance figures: 1 new, 1 kept. The quarter’s numbers.

Key takeaways

  • Revenue rose with performance fees: Total revenues were $588.6 million in the quarter, up from $377.7 million a year earlier. Total performance fees were $328.7 million, against $164.3 million. Source
  • Quarter net income lower, full-year loss larger: Net income was $6.7 million in the quarter, against $13.2 million a year earlier. The fiscal year net loss was $743.3 million, against $172.8 million, with diluted EPS of $(6.78). Source
  • Fee-earning AUM rose 19% in year: Fee-earning AUM was $144.0 billion at March 31, 2026, up from $121.4 billion a year earlier and $138.6 billion at December 31, 2025. Separately managed accounts were $81.8 billion and focused commingled funds $62.2 billion. Source
  • Undeployed fee-earning capital up 63%: Undeployed fee-earning capital was $40.1 billion, up from $24.6 billion a year earlier and $32.7 billion at December 31, 2025. Source
  • Unrealized carry drove most performance fees: Unrealized carried interest allocations were $201.0 million in the quarter, against $21.2 million, and $539.7 million for the fiscal year. Realized carried interest allocations were $38.6 million, against $75.9 million. Source
  • Fee-related earnings rose 12%: Fee-related earnings were $105.3 million in the quarter, up from $94.1 million, and $354.4 million for the fiscal year, up 14%. Source
  • Equity-based compensation rose sharply: Equity-based compensation was $200.1 million in the quarter, against $126.2 million, and $1,742.1 million for the fiscal year, against $669.1 million. Total compensation and benefits were $560.5 million in the quarter. Source
  • Quarterly dividend held at $0.28: The board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.28 per Class A share, the same as the prior quarter, and a supplemental cash dividend of $0.55 per share, both payable June 30, 2026. Source

“We believe FRE margin is an important measure of profitability on revenues that are largely recurring by nature.”

StepStone Group Inc., press release

Guidance

AreaPeriodFigureAgainst last quarter
Quarterly dividend Sourcepayable June 30, 2026$0.28 per Class A shareKept
Supplemental dividend Sourcepayable June 30, 2026$0.55 per Class A shareNew

What changed from last quarter

  • New: A supplemental cash dividend of $0.55 per Class A share was declared. The prior-quarter release declared only the quarterly dividend. Source
  • New: The March 31, 2026 balance sheet shows debt obligations of $931.2 million within liabilities of Consolidated Funds, shown as a dash for March 31, 2025. Source

Fourth quarter and fiscal year results

  • Revenue rose with performance fees: Total revenues were $588.6 million in the quarter, up from $377.7 million a year earlier. Total performance fees were $328.7 million, against $164.3 million. Source
  • Quarter net income lower, full-year loss larger: Net income was $6.7 million in the quarter, against $13.2 million a year earlier. The fiscal year net loss was $743.3 million, against $172.8 million, with diluted EPS of $(6.78). Source
  • Fee revenues rose 21%: Fee revenues were $260.3 million in the quarter, up 21% from $214.7 million. For the fiscal year they were $931.6 million, against $770.5 million. Source
  • Adjusted revenues up 3% in quarter: Adjusted revenues were $305.8 million in the quarter, up 3% from $295.9 million. For the fiscal year they were $1,320.2 million, up 36% from $969.7 million. Source

Fee-earning AUM and asset mix

  • Fee-earning AUM rose 19% in year: Fee-earning AUM was $144.0 billion at March 31, 2026, up from $121.4 billion a year earlier and $138.6 billion at December 31, 2025. Separately managed accounts were $81.8 billion and focused commingled funds $62.2 billion. Source
  • Private equity largest fee-earning class: Private equity fee-earning AUM was $75.6 billion, up 16%. Infrastructure rose 29% to $30.7 billion, private debt rose 27% to $24.8 billion, and real estate fell 1% to $12.9 billion. Source
  • Total AUM reached $233.3 billion: Assets under management were $233.3 billion, up 23% from $189.4 billion. Focused commingled fund AUM was $80.8 billion, up 36%, and private equity AUM was $119.7 billion. Source

“We believe undeployed fee-earning capital is a useful metric for measuring the amount of capital that we can put to work in the future and thus earn management fee revenue thereon.”

StepStone Group Inc., press release

Undeployed capital and advisory assets

  • Undeployed fee-earning capital up 63%: Undeployed fee-earning capital was $40.1 billion, up from $24.6 billion a year earlier and $32.7 billion at December 31, 2025. Source
  • Assets under advisement up 25%: Assets under advisement were $651.8 billion, up 25% from $519.7 billion. Private equity AUA was $341.3 billion and real estate AUA was $189.9 billion. Source
  • Quarter contributions slightly lower, distributions higher: Contributions were $7.1 billion in the quarter, against $7.3 billion a year earlier. Distributions were $2.8 billion, against $1.5 billion. Fiscal year contributions were $24.1 billion, against $30.4 billion. Source

Performance fees and carried interest

  • Unrealized carry drove most performance fees: Unrealized carried interest allocations were $201.0 million in the quarter, against $21.2 million, and $539.7 million for the fiscal year. Realized carried interest allocations were $38.6 million, against $75.9 million. Source
  • Gross realized performance fees fell 44%: Gross realized performance fees were $45.6 million in the quarter, down from $81.2 million, and $388.5 million for the fiscal year, up 95%. Performance fee-related earnings were $17.9 million, against $41.5 million. Source
  • Accrued carried interest up 36%: Accrued carried interest allocations were $2,036.9 million at March 31, 2026, up from $1,495.7 million a year earlier and $1,835.9 million at December 31, 2025. Source

Margins and per-share earnings

  • Fee-related earnings rose 12%: Fee-related earnings were $105.3 million in the quarter, up from $94.1 million, and $354.4 million for the fiscal year, up 14%. Source
  • FRE margin 40% in quarter: FRE margin was 40% in the quarter, against 44% a year earlier, and 38% for the fiscal year, against 41%. Source
  • ANI per share lower in quarter: Adjusted net income was $69.5 million, down 14% from $80.6 million, and ANI per share was $0.57, against $0.68. For the year, ANI was $264.6 million, up 8%. Source

Compensation and equity-based expense

  • Equity-based compensation rose sharply: Equity-based compensation was $200.1 million in the quarter, against $126.2 million, and $1,742.1 million for the fiscal year, against $669.1 million. Total compensation and benefits were $560.5 million in the quarter. Source
  • Cash compensation and G&A increased: Cash-based compensation was $110.7 million, up from $85.5 million. General, administrative and other expenses were $48.4 million, up from $43.2 million. Total expenses were $608.9 million. Source
  • Performance fee-related compensation rose: Performance fee-related compensation was $167.8 million in the quarter, against $67.4 million. It included $140.1 million unrealized and $27.7 million realized. Source

Dividends and balance sheet

  • Quarterly dividend held at $0.28: The board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.28 per Class A share, the same as the prior quarter, and a supplemental cash dividend of $0.55 per share, both payable June 30, 2026. Source
  • Fiscal year dividends higher: Quarterly dividends per Class A share totaled $1.08 for the fiscal year, against $0.93. The supplemental dividend in the year table was $0.40, against $0.15. Source
  • Cash and total assets at year end: Cash and cash equivalents were $213.1 million at March 31, 2026, against $244.8 million. Total assets were $6,762.7 million, against $4,586.7 million a year earlier. Source
  • Stockholders’ equity lower than prior year: Total stockholders’ equity was $691.0 million at March 31, 2026, against $1,390.1 million a year earlier and $339.7 million at December 31, 2025. Source

Coming up, as management said on 20 May 2026

  • Dividend payment June 30, 2026: The quarterly and supplemental dividends are payable June 30, 2026, to holders of record at the close of business on June 15, 2026. Source
  • Form 10-K for fiscal 2026: The company refers to an annual report on Form 10-K to be filed for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026. Source

Figures management reported

FigureReported
Assets under management (AUM) Source$233.3 billion
Assets under advisement (AUA) Source$651.8 billion
Fee-earning AUM (FEAUM) Source$144.0 billion
Undeployed fee-earning capital (UFEC) Source$40.1 billion
Total capital responsibility Source$885.2 billion

Other quarters

Summarised with AI from the documents the company filed with the SEC. Every point is checked against the filing before it is shown: management’s own words word for word, figures against the line or table row they come from. A point that fails the check is left out. Source opens the filing at that line.