What Sandbar Asset Management does

Sandbar Asset Management LLP is a London-based investment advisory firm operating as a market neutral hedge fund. Founded by Michael Cowley and structured as a limited liability partnership under English law (company number OC415626), the firm is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (Firm Reference Number: 801828). It serves exclusively professional clients and eligible counterparties as defined by the FCA, with US access limited to qualified purchasers and accredited investors; the firm does not market to retail investors or within the EEA as an AIF under AIFMD. Operating from Citibase, Audley House, 13 Palace Street, London, with a registered office at 179 Great Portland, the firm maintains a headcount of 11-50 employees.

The firm implements a single investment strategy: a series of intra-sector pair trades derived from fundamental bottom-up analysis focused on the collection and assimilation of real-time, idiosyncratic company data to identify situations where the market is behind the curve. The portfolio typically holds 75-100 concurrent pair positions that are liquid and geographically unconstrained, with macro sensitivities considered to manage the risk/return profile. Returns are explicitly sourced from exposure to company-specific risk rather than market, sector, or thematic performance, yielding a return stream uncorrelated to broader equity markets. The firm supplements investment management with a monthly thought-leadership publication ('Investment Insights' / 'Alpha Insights') distributed via its website and operates a secure investor portal for existing limited partners.

Revenue is generated through management fees on assets under management, with performance fees implied by the hedge fund structure though not publicly itemised. Distribution is exclusively direct-to-professional-client via prospectus or offering memorandum, with no public fee schedule or AUM disclosure. The firm is a signatory to all Standards Board for Alternative Investments (SBAI) standards since July 2020 and is GDPR-compliant, with personal data hosted in Microsoft UK data centres. Sandbar is founder-owned, with no institutional investors, private equity backing, or parent company structure evident in available disclosures.

Name

Sandbar Asset Management

Legal name

Sandbar Asset Management LLP

Website

https://sandbaram.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sandbar Asset Management LLP is a London-based market neutral hedge fund founded by Michael Cowley, implementing intra-sector pair trades (75-100 concurrent pairs) exclusively for FCA-classified professional clients and eligible counterparties, with returns derived from company-specific risk.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Alternative Investment Management (Market Neutral Hedge Fund)

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Long/Short Equity & Market Neutral (Active) (FSAAAIAK)

Keywords

• Market neutral investing
• Intra-sector pair trading
• Long short equity
• Alternative asset management
• Institutional investment management

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Management Fees: As a hedge fund/alternative investment manager, Sandbar generates revenue through management fees charged on assets under management and potentially performance fees (carry) based on investment returns.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Sandbar Asset Management provides a market neutral investment strategy implemented through a series of intra-sector pair trades. Pairs are selected via fundamental bottom-up analysis of real-time, idiosyncratic company data to identify situations where the market is behind the curve, with macro sensitivities considered to improve the risk/return profile. The portfolio holds 75-100 liquid, geographically unconstrained pairs at any given time and targets returns uncorrelated to market, sector, or thematic performance, derived from company-specific risk exposure.

Product overview

Sandbar Asset Management is a hedge fund/asset management firm offering a single investment strategy—a market neutral strategy implemented through intra-sector pair trades. The company publishes periodic Investment Insights reports (monthly alpha insights from February 2025 through February 2026) as thought leadership content. There are no discrete software products, modules, or technology platforms offered as separate products or services; the firm's offering is its investment management service and associated research publications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Market Neutral Intra-Sector Pair Trading Strategy FCA-regulated market neutral investment strategy that uses intra-sector pair trades built from fundamental bottom-up analysis of real-time, idiosyncratic company data to generate returns uncorrelated to market, sector, or thematic performance. Available exclusively via prospectus or offering memorandum to professional clients, eligible counterparties, and qualified purchasers/accredited investors.

Quantifiable outcome

• Uncorrelated return stream
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Standards Board for Alternative Investments (SBAI)coreOthers · 1 July 2020Sandbar is a signatory to all standards set out by the SBAI, covering Disclosure, Valuation, Risk Management, Governance, and Shareholder Conduct. The SBAI is an industry-led exercise in market discipline with a comply-or-explain regime applicable to alternative investment fund managers. Sandbar became a signatory in July 2020.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Sloane Robinson: London-based equity long/short manager historically focused on market-neutral and intra-sector relative-value investing. Directly comparable on geography, equity market-neutral style, and process orientation toward bottom-up stock selection.
• Egerton Capital Partners: London-based equity long/short manager focused on fundamental bottom-up stock selection across global markets. Comparable as a UK-domiciled, fundamentals-driven equity alternatives manager targeting similar investor types.
• Hosking Partners: London-based global equity long/short manager pursuing a stock-selection-driven, market-neutral-leaning approach. Highly comparable on strategy style, location, and institutional-only distribution.

Broad incumbents

• Lansdowne Partners: Established London long/short equity alternatives manager with multiple equity strategies. Overlaps on the equity long/short market-neutral category but operates at materially larger scale with a broader product set.
• Polar Capital: London-listed asset manager with a long/short equity alternatives capability alongside long-only funds. Overlaps with Sandbar on the equity market-neutral value proposition but offers a much wider product range and distribution footprint.
• Jupiter Asset Management: Large London-listed asset manager with long/short equity capabilities in addition to long-only mandates. Shared end market (institutional professional clients) and equity alternatives overlap, though Jupiter operates at vastly greater scale.
• Man Group: London-listed, large alternative investment manager running multi-strategy equity and discretionary long/short franchises (e.g., Man Numeric, Man GLG). Represents the scaled incumbent tier of the same UK equity alternatives category.

Emerging players

• RWC Partners: London-based active asset manager running long/short equity strategies among other alternatives. Comparable as a UK-headquartered fundamental equity alternatives manager with overlapping investor base.
• Pelham Capital Management: London-based long/short equity manager pursuing bottom-up, fundamentals-driven stock selection. Comparable boutique size, geography, and equity long/short orientation, although with broader long-biased flexibility.
• Primestone Capital Partners: London-based long/short equity manager with a market-neutral relative-value orientation. Compares on the explicit market-neutral equity proposition and UK-domiciled institutional distribution model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sandbar Asset Management