Alpha comes to those who prize it.

Sandbar Asset Management was founded by Michael Cowley. Its establishment is the culmination of a 14-year career dedicated to pure stock selection alpha inside a disciplined market neutral framework.

That same tenacity for alpha is carved into the DNA of the Sandbar investment process he now oversees; a team of united investment professionals, who share his vision, stand behind its rigorous implementation.

Our unusual level of focus on alpha translates into an uncorrelated return stream. It’s a proposition best suited to those who want to be ahead of the crowd, rather than part of it.

See what the market doesn’t.

Our market neutral strategy is implemented through a series of intra-sector pair trades. The ‘pairs’ are the result of fundamental bottom-up analysis that focuses on the collection and assimilation of real-time, idiosyncratic company data to identify situations where the market is behind the curve. To improve the risk/return profile, macro sensitivities are considered. It’s an approach that yields results uncorrelated to market, sector or thematic performance; our strategy returns come from exposure to company specific risk.

The positions we take are liquid, geographically unconstrained, and number between 75-100 pairs at any given time for diversification and risk management purposes.

Embrace the individual for the good of the group.

We believe a culture that celebrates individual diversity is key to delivering on our purpose of alpha generation, for two reasons:

First, the successful implementation of a global investment strategy requires a diversity of thinking, beliefs, and behaviour. And second, only when you understand and accept that people are different can you create an environment in which both personal excellence and powerful collaboration can thrive.

To further improve the well-being of our staff, we promote awareness around mental and physical health; learning opportunities for staff; and family-friendly policies for a better work-life balance.

We all have a part to play.

Sandbar supports the Paris Agreement, and we acknowledge our responsibility to invest our client’s capital in a socially and environmentally conscious manner. Several ESG considerations are fully embedded in our investment process on the belief that the constituents of our investment universe that best adapt to the tenets of ESG will hold an advantage over those that don’t. Inside our business, we have committed to becoming carbon neutral. We also support social mobility initiatives via the sponsoring of educational programs and paid internships.

Corporate Responsibility PolicyResponsible Investing Policy
UN PRI Public Transparency Report 2021

Sandbar Asset Management LLP is a 5* PRI Signatory in the Hedge Fund Category.
Sandbar is a signatory to the UN PRI, SBAI, and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures.