Ep. 26: Learning the Lessons of Each Cycle - Jeff Giller - Head of Real Estate at StepStone Group
Dec 5, 2023
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Jeff Giller, Head of StepStone Real Estate, discusses career lessons from downturns, co-mingling advisory and investment management, LP secondaries, forming investment theses, and anticipating changes in the real estate market in a conversation with Brandon Sedloff on The Distribution by Juniper Square.
Stepstone Real Estate anticipates increased activity in the LP secondary market due to liquidity constraints and maturing debt, creating opportunities for LPs to seek liquidity by divesting of fund positions.
Stepstone Real Estate sees GP-led secondaries as a promising avenue for investments, providing capital to address balance sheet issues and liquidity problems faced by GPs through thorough due diligence and potential control in these transactions.
Deep dives
Investment Firm Stepstone Real Estate Specializes in GP-led Secondaries and Balance Sheet Restructuring
Stepstone Real Estate, a global private markets firm, focuses on GP-led secondaries and recapitalization to address liquidity constraints and balance sheet issues faced by institutional investors. They work with funds, managers, and other real estate vehicles, offering tailored solutions across sectors such as multifamily, student housing, retail, living centers, data centers, and industrial. Stepstone's investment approach combines top-down analysis with bottom-up assessments of asset types and product segments to align with their house views and create portfolios that reflect their investment strategy.
Potential Growth in LP Secondary Market as LPs Face Liquidity Constraints
While the LP secondary market in real estate has not seen significant trading volume, Stepstone Real Estate anticipates a potential increase in activity due to liquidity constraints faced by LPs. A combination of reduced distributions and a large amount of debt maturing in the coming years creates opportunities for LPs to seek liquidity by divesting of fund positions. However, current pricing dynamics and perceived value declines have hindered trading so far. Stepstone continues to monitor the LP secondary market for potential investment opportunities.
GP-Led Secondaries Offer Opportunity for Stepstone Real Estate
Stepstone Real Estate identifies GP-led secondaries as a promising avenue for investments. By recapitalizing funds or other real estate vehicles, Stepstone provides capital to help address balance sheet issues, over-leveraging, and liquidity problems faced by GPs. Their approach involves thorough due diligence, information transparency, and potential control in these transactions. Stepstone focuses on various sectors, but has recently increased exposure to retail and continues to assess market dynamics, asset types, and geographical factors in their investment decisions.
Outlook for Office Sector Gives Rise to Challenges and Functional Obsolescence Concerns
Stepstone Real Estate acknowledges challenges in the office sector, particularly in the US market. Reduced demand due to hybrid work models and increased remote working could result in a significant decrease in office space requirements. Stepstone's outlook indicates that Class A properties may fare better than lower-tier assets. They expect a potential oversupply of functionally obsolete office buildings, while also highlighting ESG retrofitting costs as a concern. Stepstone evaluates these market dynamics when assessing investment opportunities in the office sector.
In this episode of The Distribution by Juniper Square, Brandon Sedloff sits down with Jeff Giller, Partner and Head of StepStone Real Estate, where he leads the global real estate investment and advisory activities and chairs the real estate investment committees.
During their conversation, the two discuss:
What real estate professionals learn if they start their career in a downturn
The co-mingling of advisory business and investment management