StepStone hires Young Gun to lead European secondaries – exclusive

The appointment comes as the firm seeks more than $1bn for its fourth flagship secondaries fund.

StepStone Group has hired a Secondaries Investor Young Gun to lead its European secondaries operations.

Philippe Ferneini
Ferneini: will lead European secondaries

Philippe Ferneini joins the global investment firm as a managing director in its London office, according to three sources familiar with the matter. He was most recently a vice-president at Glendower Capital.

It is understood that Ferneini starts in October.

Ferneini ranked 14th in Secondaries Investor‘s Young Guns of Secondaries Class of 2018 list. His deal sheet includes the GP-led process on BlueGem Capital Partners’ debut fund and the restructuring of Zurmont Madison Management’s sole fund while at Deutsche Bank – which Glendower spun out of in 2017.

He also worked on a €100 million directs deal involving Bridgepoint and Compass Partners last year, as Secondaries Investor reported.

StepStone is seeking more than $1 billion for StepStone Secondary Opportunities Fund IV, as Secondaries Investor reported in March, and had raised at least $310 million as of May. Investors including Cathay Life InsuranceFubon Life Insurance and Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System have committed to the vehicle, according to Secondaries Investor data.

Glendower declined to comment. StepStone did not return a request for comment by press time.