StepStone's CEO sells evergreen funds as a tax-form fix

Bob Long's argument for semi-liquid evergreen funds begins with a tax form.

On the Wealth Management Invest podcast, the StepStone Private Wealth CEO told host David Bodamer that capital calls and tax-reporting complexity are the barriers keeping many investors out of the drawdown model. The evergreen format removes those frictions. No capital calls. Simplified tax reporting. Lower minimums. StepStone runs the structure across infrastructure, private equity, and private credit, with advisors placing the funds in client portfolios.

Long has a three-decade private-markets résumé behind that argument. He has led investment teams on both the general partner and limited partner sides, and served as chief executive at two publicly traded companies built on widening high-net-worth access to private assets.

The case is about mechanics, not returns. Long's description offers no performance figures or track-record comparisons; the selling points are frictions removed. For a wealth channel that has historically struggled with drawdown mechanics, that framing has obvious appeal. The trade-off sits in the name: semi-liquid. Investors are buying ease of administration and accepting constraints on exit.