FTSE Russell, an LSEG business, and StepStone announced they have signed a proposed partnership to jointly develop private asset indices, data, and analytics products. 

The proposed partnership will combine FTSE Russell’s expertise in design, development, calculation and management of category defining indices across asset classes, with StepStone’s leading private markets solutions platform and deep data driven insights across multiple private market asset classes.  

 The partnership encompasses the development and delivery of market leading reference indices for a full spectrum of private asset allocations, allowing asset owners to better benchmark the performance of private markets portfolios within a total “real return” portfolio view and asset managers to develop products tracking these daily indices. 

FTSE Russell and StepStone expect the initial cohort of daily indices to be launched this year, with further indices and supporting analytical tools to follow.  

Fiona Bassett, CEO, FTSE Russell, said:  

“Our agreement with StepStone and its intended delivery of private asset indices and benchmarking tools further strengthens FTSE Russell’s position as a leading multi-asset class index and benchmark provider. With the continued growth in private asset allocation and growing client demand, it is essential for us not only to deliver leading indices in this asset class but to work with partners aligned to our commitment to transparency, rules-based methodologies, robust data provenance and investability. With StepStone’s broad, in-depth private markets dataset, we have chosen a great partner with which to build this offering.” 

Mike McCabe, Head of Strategy, StepStone, said: 

 “As private markets have become more meaningful components of investors’ portfolios, the need for integrating views of risk and return across the total portfolio has become critical for investment decision makers.  With a growing portion of the global economy remaining private not only for longer, but potentially indefinitely, we need to pave a pathway for further easing the access to differentiated sources of investment returns.  Partnering with FTSE Russell will unleash the power and scale of our private markets data – contained within our proprietary technology platform, SPI by StepStone – to drive these goals forward.  FTSE Russell’s leading index, benchmarking and technology platform underpinned by its client-centered approach gives us confidence that in partnering we can deliver a solution that is consistent with our mission to be the trusted partner of choice in private markets solutions globally.” 

Source: LSEG