Steve leads the development of our private credit strategy within the firm’s broader Alternatives business. As the Head of Private Credit, he is responsible for building out the private credit team, developing an array of private credit solutions and institutionalizing our private credit investment process. He also serves on the firm’s Management Committee.

Steve joined Lord Abbett as a Partner, Portfolio Manager and Head of Private Credit in August of 2023. In this role, he is responsible for the oversight and development of our private credit capabilities including developing investment strategies and building related investment teams and processes. Mr. Kuppenheimer also serves on the firm’s Management Committee. Prior to joining Lord Abbett, he was a Partner at Blackstone where he was a member of the investment committee for Blackstone Credit, served as a Portfolio Manager of the Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED), Global Head of Capital Formation for Blackstone Credit, and Chief Financial Officer of BCRED and the Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (NYSE: BXSL). Prior to Blackstone, Mr. Kuppenheimer was a Senior Managing Director at Stifel Financial, serving as Head of Principal Investments and Head of Debt Capital Markets. Earlier in his career, Mr. Kuppenheimer was founder and CEO of FSI Capital, an alternative asset management firm focused on U.S. credit products that served as an asset manager for US Treasury for certain TARP related programs. Prior to FSI, he was Head of CLOs and structured funds at Merrill Lynch.

Steve earned a BA with honors in philosophy from Colgate University and a JD with distinction from Emory University School of Law. He is a member of the board of directors of the George Jackson Academy.