StepStone Group Expands Asian Team

Private equity firm StepStone Group has added to its Asian team, naming Mu-Shin Kim managing director responsible for investment and business development in Korea and Japan.  Andy Tsai, also a managing director, joins with similar responsibilities for Taiwan and broader Asia.

PRESS RELEASE

StepStone Group LLC (“StepStone”) today announced the appointment of two senior executives to expand the Firm’s senior team in Asia.  Mu-Shin Kim has been named Managing Director with responsibilities for investment and business development in Korea and Japan.  Andy Tsai, also a Managing Director, will have similar responsibilities for Taiwan and broader Asia.  Both will be based in the Firm’s Beijing office.  StepStone works with institutional investors to build portfolios that include private equity fund investments, secondary investments and co-investments.

The new appointments follow StepStone’s rapid growth in China, where the Firm has had a presence since 2007.  “Global investors are increasingly seeking guidance in evaluating alternatives for deploying capital in Asia.  At the same time, Asian investors are expanding their focus on building global private equity exposure,” said Monte Brem, Chief Executive Officer of StepStone.  “Messrs. Kim and Tsai are experienced, talented and highly respected Asian local investors who are an ideal match for StepStone’s strategy of building local teams and expertise in the markets in which we operate.”

Prior to joining StepStone, Mr. Kim, 45, was Head of Private Equity at Asian Development Bank (“ADB”), responsible for the team managing a private equity fund portfolio across the Asian emerging market.  He also represented ADB on a number of LP advisory boards and investment committees.  He began his career in the early 1990s at Hanwha conglomerate in Korea, focused on its international energy business.  As Director of its Tbilisi, Georgia based operation, he managed a joint venture energy company for two years until the company was sold to a major Russian oil company.  In 2001, he joined El Paso Corporation, where he managed M&A deals valued at US$4.3 billion in the power and gas industries, primarily in Korea and Japan.  He holds a BA in Business Administration from Sogang University in Korea and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Mr. Tsai, 39, comes to StepStone from Cathay Life Insurance Company, where, as Head of Alternative Investments, he managed a US$2 billion global portfolio across private equity and hedge funds, and evaluated direct investment and venture capital funds in Taiwan.  During his tenure at Cathay, he managed a derivatives portfolio of futures and options, served as a Portfolio Manager responsible for a US$100 million portfolio in Asia equities, and was a senior electronics industry analyst.  In addition, he was Head of Proprietary Trading at Cathay Securities Company.  He holds a BA in Economics from National Taiwan University and an MS in Economics from National Taipei University.

About StepStone

StepStone is a leading private equity firm that oversees more than US$50 billion of private equity allocations, including over US$10 billion of assets under management, through its global offices in New York, London, Beijing, and San Diego. StepStone creates customized and targeted portfolios for the world’s most sophisticated investors using a highly disciplined research-focused approach that integrates fund, secondary, mezzanine and co-investments. StepStone leverages its unique global platform to optimize exposure to top performing investment strategies, geographies and managers.