SAR
SAR (Securities Analytics Research), founded in 2018 in Bethesda, MD, sells a court-approved event study analytics platform that quantifies securities litigation risk for U.S. public companies, serving D&O insurers, corporate executives, legal counsel, and investment professionals via subscription data licensing and API access.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersBethesda, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What SAR does
SAR (Securities Analytics Research) is a Bethesda, Maryland-based data analytics company founded in 2018 that builds specialized software for measuring securities litigation risk on U.S. public companies. The company's SAR Platform applies the court-approved event study methodology to stock price reactions on corporate disclosures from issuers trading on the NYSE and NASDAQ, quantifying the probability and magnitude of securities class action exposure for directors and officers. SAR's core technology stack includes the ACE Database covering 5,000+ U.S. equities with adverse corporate event tracking, the SCA Database containing 1,500+ securities class action filings with stock price reaction data, and the SAR Risk Score framework that ranks issuers on litigation risk. The company has published quarterly statistical back-testing results since 2018 and deliberately does not use AI or machine learning, anchoring its credibility on human accountability and judicial acceptance of its methodology.
SAR monetizes through subscription-based data licensing and bespoke enterprise arrangements delivered via direct field sales. Customers access the platform through cloud-based dashboards, Microsoft Excel exports, and API raw data feeds, with the newer ACE Alert Subscription providing near-real-time adverse event notifications. The company sells into four primary personas: D&O insurance underwriters and actuaries using settlement valuation data for reserves and mediated negotiations, corporate executives and directors quantifying exposure to event-driven perils, legal counsel using evidentiary support in motion-to-dismiss and class certification proceedings, and investment professionals using the data for portfolio-level risk assessment. Pricing is quote-based, annual, and not publicly disclosed, with the sales motion running on a "Request a Demo" enterprise engagement model supported by PR placements in Law360 and PR Newswire, joint webinars with ISS SCAS, and monthly thought-leadership reports distributed via Issuu.
The business is privately held (SAR, LLC), has 1-10 employees, and operates from a single headquarters location in Bethesda, MD. SAR's customer base is concentrated in the insurance and legal verticals, and its revenue is not publicly disclosed; the company has raised one disclosed $1,000,000 financing in 2019 plus an undisclosed growth-stage round led by Anthem Management in May 2023 that included a board seat for Anthem principal Daven R. Shastri.
SAR firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SAR
- Legal name
- SAR, LLC
- Website
- https://sarlit.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- SAR (Securities Analytics Research), founded in 2018 in Bethesda, MD, sells a court-approved event study analytics platform that quantifies securities litigation risk for U.S. public companies, serving D&O insurers, corporate executives, legal counsel, and investment professionals via subscription data licensing and API access.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SAR industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Securities Litigation Risk Analytics
- NAICS
- Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399), Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150)
- SIC
- Investors, Nec (6799)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Reference Data & Security Master / Corporate Actions Data Services (FSAFALAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Operational Risk & Controls (RCSA, KRIs, Incident/Loss) (FSACAJAJ), Market Surveillance & Trade Monitoring Platforms (FSAFAKAA)
Keywords
Where SAR is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bethesda
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
SAR business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Data Licensing - Subscription: Subscription-based data licensing solutions providing access to SAR's ACE Database and SCA Database. Pricing is predictable and stable based on documented, back-tested results. Customers include underwriting teams, insurance and reinsurance actuarial professionals, executive risk advisors, and specialized research professionals.
- Platform Access - SaaS: Cloud-based SAR Platform access delivered via dashboards, Microsoft Excel downloads, and API data feeds. Multi-modal data presentation supports efficient workflow integration across insurance and corporate functions.
- Bespoke Data Licensing: Custom data licensing solutions tailored to specific customer requirements, including SCA Database for Exchange Act and Securities Act claims, and ACE Database for all U.S. equities on NYSE and NASDAQ.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise Data Licensing - Custom |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
SAR product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SAR (Securities Analytics Research) operates the SAR Platform®, a cloud-based securities litigation risk analytics offering that identifies and monitors Adverse Corporate Events impacting U.S. public companies listed on NYSE and NASDAQ. The platform applies the court-approved event study methodology to quantify securities litigation risk exposures, drawing on the proprietary ACE Database (5,000+ equities) and SCA Database (1,500+ class action filings), and delivers outputs through risk dashboards, Microsoft Excel exports, and API raw data feeds to insurance, corporate, legal, and investment professionals.
Product overview
SAR offers a specialized securities litigation risk analytics platform centered on the SAR Platform®, which provides company-specific visual risk dashboards to identify and monitor Adverse Corporate Events. The platform is supported by two core databases: the SCA Database℠ (Securities Class Action database with over 1,500 filings) and the ACE Database℠ (Adverse Corporate Event database covering 5,000+ U.S. equities). Users can access data through on-demand Microsoft Excel exports or API raw data feeds. The SAR Risk Score® is assigned to issuers based on market capitalization loss magnitude. Data licensing is offered on a subscription basis with bespoke solutions for different functions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SAR Platform®: U.S. Public Company Securities Litigation Risk Management Data Analytics Platform that identifies and monitors Adverse Corporate Events based on corporate disclosures disseminated by issuers that trade on the NASDAQ or NYSE.
- SAR Risk Score®
- SAR ACE Database℠
- SAR SCA Database℠
- ACE Alert Subscription
Products and services
- SAR Platform® A cloud-based U.S. public-company securities litigation risk management data analytics platform that identifies and monitors Adverse Corporate Events using the court-approved event study methodology, delivering company-specific visual risk dashboards, Microsoft Excel downloads, and API raw data feeds. It is sold to insurance professionals, corporate executives, legal counsel, and investment professionals who need to assess securities litigation exposures from financially material corporate disclosures.
- SAR Risk Score® A proprietary risk score assigned to issuers trading on the NYSE or NASDAQ at the close of trading, measuring the probability and magnitude of securities litigation risk based on the magnitude of market capitalization losses on Adverse Corporate Events.
- SAR ACE Database™ Adverse Corporate Event database containing data on events impacting the risk profile of over 5,000 U.S. equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ, licensed for data analytics on corporate disclosures and stock price reaction accounting for market and industry performance.
- SAR SCA Database™ Securities Class Action database containing over 1,500 individual securities class action filings with stock price reaction data on thousands of corporate disclosures alleged to be fraud-related by investor plaintiffs, covering Exchange Act and Securities Act claims.
- Data Licensing Solutions Subscription-based data licensing service providing access to SAR's SCA and ACE databases with bespoke licensing solutions tailored to underwriting, actuarial support, and risk management analysis, serving insurance professionals, corporate executives, legal counsel, and investment professionals.
- ACE Alert Subscription Near-real-time alert subscription service that notifies subscribers of company- and event-specific risk exposures stemming from financially material corporate disclosures tied to Adverse Corporate Events.
Quantifiable outcome
- 10,631 High-Risk ACEs identified from 4,544 U.S. public companies in 2-year period ending June 2025
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use SAR
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
SAR technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature5 records
SAR partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- ISS SCASstrategicISS SCAS (Institutional Shareholder Services Securities Class Action Services) partnered with SAR for webinars on estimating settlement sizes in securities class action cases. SAR participates as a panelist in D&O insurance-focused webinars.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
SAR competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Epiq: Epiq provides legal and financial data services including class action settlement administration and securities monitoring. Its class action administration business overlaps with SAR's securities class action focus, especially for institutional investor recovery programs.
- MSCI: MSCI provides index, ESG, and risk analytics to asset managers and institutional investors. While its core focus is index and portfolio analytics, MSCI competes for risk-analytics budget within institutional and investment professional buyer segments adjacent to SAR's offering.
- LSEG (Refinitiv): LSEG (formerly Refinitiv) offers market data, reference data, and risk analytics to financial institutions and corporates. It competes for compliance, risk, and analytics budget within insurance and corporate segments served by SAR.
- Cornerstone Research: Cornerstone Research is a large economic and financial consulting firm with a dedicated securities litigation practice that provides expert testimony and empirical analysis in class action and SEC matters. It competes with SAR in the same buyer workflows (class certification, settlement valuation) but operates as a consulting firm rather than a data platform.
- S&P Global Market Intelligence: S&P Global Market Intelligence provides fundamental and reference data on public companies, used by insurers, corporates, and investment professionals. SAR already leverages S&P as a raw data provider; S&P represents both a key supplier and a potential competitor with broader enterprise data distribution.
- Lex Machina (LexisNexis): Lex Machina provides legal analytics on litigation including federal securities cases, with data on judges, parties, and case timelines. It targets a similar legal counsel buyer persona as SAR but with a broader scope (all federal litigation) rather than SAR's narrow securities-ligation-risk focus.
- NERA Economic Consulting: NERA provides economic and financial expertise in securities litigation, including event study analyses and damages calculations. It overlaps with SAR's core methodology and D&O insurer buyer base but is structured as a consulting firm with academic affiliations rather than a subscription data platform.
- Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg provides extensive financial data, analytics, and terminal-based risk tools used by investment professionals and corporate executives. While not a focused securities-litigation-risk product, Bloomberg competes for similar analytics wallet share at large enterprise buyers.
- Wolters Kluwer: Wolters Kluwer offers regulatory, compliance, and risk data products (e.g., OneSumX, TeamMate) used by financial institutions and audit/insurance teams. While not narrowly focused on securities litigation risk, it competes for risk and compliance budget at the same enterprise customers SAR serves.
Direct peers
- ISS (Institutional Shareholder Services): ISS, and specifically ISS SCAS (Securities Class Action Services), is the closest direct peer: it offers securities class action monitoring, recovery, and settlement data to institutional investors and asset managers. SAR already partners with ISS SCAS on webinars, and both compete for budget related to U.S. securities class action analytics.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
SAR social profiles
Digital presenceSAR compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
SAR financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SAR leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
SAR funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SAR M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SAR
What does SAR do?
SAR (Securities Analytics Research) operates the SAR Platform®, a cloud-based securities litigation risk analytics offering that identifies and monitors Adverse Corporate Events impacting U.S. public companies listed on NYSE and NASDAQ. The platform applies the court-approved event study methodology to quantify securities litigation risk exposures, drawing on the proprietary ACE Database (5,000+ equities) and SCA Database (1,500+ class action filings), and delivers outputs through risk dashboards, Microsoft Excel exports, and API raw data feeds to insurance, corporate, legal, and investment professionals.
Is SAR a public or private company?
SAR is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was SAR founded?
SAR was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is SAR based?
SAR is headquartered in Bethesda, United States, in the North America region.
How does SAR make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Data Licensing - Subscription is the primary driver. The others are platform Access - SaaS and bespoke Data Licensing.
Who are SAR's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Epiq, MSCI, LSEG (Refinitiv), Cornerstone Research, S&P Global Market Intelligence, Lex Machina (LexisNexis), NERA Economic Consulting, Bloomberg L.P. and Wolters Kluwer. ISS (Institutional Shareholder Services) is listed as a direct peer.
Does SAR have an API?
Yes. SAR provides API raw data feeds to support bottom-up portfolio optimization and periodic actuarial modeling. The SAR Platform presents data via API for periodic and stable actuarial modeling.
What industry is SAR in?
SAR's product category is Securities Litigation Risk Analytics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAFALAH, Reference Data & Security Master / Corporate Actions Data Services, with a secondary code of FSACAJAJ, Operational Risk & Controls (RCSA, KRIs, Incident/Loss). Its NAICS code is 523 and its SIC code is 6799.