Q4 2024 StepStone Group Inc Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- StepStone Group Inc (STEP) reported GAAP net income of $82.5 million, with net income attributable to the company at $30.8 million or $0.48 per share.
- Fee-related earnings (FRE) increased by 35% from the prior year quarter, reaching $50.9 million, with an FRE margin of 33%.
- The company generated gross new commitments of $6 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, maintaining strong fundraising momentum.
- StepStone Group Inc (STEP) raised $18.6 billion in new AUM commitments for the full year, doubling the pace of fundraising in the second half of the year.
- The company declared a supplemental cash dividend of $0.15 per share, in addition to the regular $0.21 per share quarterly dividend, reflecting strong capital efficiency and shareholder returns.
- Despite strong results, the company acknowledged that the fundraising market remains bifurcated, with challenges for those lacking a strong strategy, track record, or supportive LP base.
- Gross realized performance fees were down from $33 million in the prior quarter to $24 million in the current quarter, indicating some volatility in performance fee generation.
- Equity-based compensation expenses increased to $1.7 million from $1.4 million in the prior quarter, with further increases expected in the first fiscal quarter of 2025.
- General and administrative expenses rose to $27.2 million, up $2.7 million from the previous year, indicating rising operational costs.
- The company's tax rate for adjusted net income remained high at 22.3% for both the quarter and the full fiscal year, with similar rates expected for fiscal 2025.
Thank you for standing by, and welcome to StepStone Group's fiscal fourth quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)
I would now like to hand the call over to Seth Weiss, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good afternoon. 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 David Park, 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. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that this conference call as well as the presentation contains certain forward-looking statements regarding the company's expected operating and financial performance for future periods. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current plans, estimates, and expectations, and are inherently uncertain and
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