Sandhill Investment Management

What Sandhill Investment Management does

Sandhill Investment Management, founded in 2004 by Edwin M. 'Tim' Johnston III and operating as Sandhill Capital Partners LLC, is a privately held, SEC-registered investment adviser based in Buffalo, New York. The firm offers five proprietary investment strategies — Concentrated Equity Alpha (all-cap fundamental equity), Large Cap Yield (dividend-focused large-cap equities), Corporate Bond (short-duration investment-grade corporates), Municipal Bond (NY tax-exempt municipals), and Preferred Equity (a tax-advantaged preferred-stock basket) — plus a Private REIT distribution. All strategies are delivered through Separately Managed Accounts that allow clients to retain custody at their preferred custodian, including Schwab and eMoney integrations.

The firm generates revenue through recurring investment advisory fees on assets under management and advisement, which reached over $2.1 billion as of March 31, 2026 and an all-time high of $2.48 billion at the end of Q2 2025. As of early 2025, Sandhill had 28 professionals organized across four teams — research/investment, sales and marketing, client service, and operations — with ten partners, all of whom have tenured at the firm for at least five years. Distribution is sales-led: direct advisor relationships for individuals, families, corporations, and foundations, supplemented by a National Sales function targeting RIAs and financial professionals, plus institutional performance reporting to Morningstar, PSN/InformaIS, eVestment, and Mercer.

Sandhill serves approximately 3,000 accounts across 44 U.S. states, spanning HNW individuals/families, institutional clients, and qualified retirement plans covering more than 3,000 employees. The firm has maintained 20 years of GIPS compliance — an industry performance-reporting standard — and was ranked on the Forbes/SHOOK 'America's Top RIA Firms' list in 2023. A multi-year leadership transition is underway, with founder Johnston handing portfolio leadership to Richard Ryskalczyk as Lead Portfolio Manager and Christopher Kicinski and Tina Hassler joining the Managing Partner group in 2026.

Name

Sandhill Investment Management

Legal name

Sandhill Capital Partners LLC

Website

https://sandhill-im.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sandhill Investment Management is a boutique, SEC-registered investment adviser offering five proprietary separately managed account strategies — equity, fixed income, and preferreds — to individuals, families, corporations, foundations, and retirement plans, managing over $2.1 billion in assets across 44 U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Buffalo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Investment Advisory Fees: Sandhill generates revenue through investment advisory fees, typically based on assets under management and advisement. As an SEC-registered investment adviser, they charge fees for managing client portfolios across their five proprietary investment strategies including Concentrated Equity Alpha, Large Cap Yield, Corporate Bond, Municipal Bond, and Preferred Equity.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sandhill Investment Management is a boutique, SEC-registered investment adviser offering five proprietary investment strategies (Concentrated Equity Alpha, Large Cap Yield, Corporate Bond, Municipal Bond, and Preferred Equity) delivered through Separately Managed Accounts. The firm serves individual investors, families, corporations, foundations, retirement plans, and financial professionals across 44 U.S. states, managing over $2.15 billion in assets under management and advisement.

Product overview

Sandhill Investment Management offers a suite of five proprietarily managed investment strategies: Concentrated Equity Alpha (all-cap growth equity), Large Cap Yield (dividend-focused large-cap equities), Corporate Bond (investment-grade corporate bonds with short duration), Municipal Bond (NY tax-exempt bonds), and Preferred Equity (tax-advantaged hybrid securities). Additionally, they distribute a Private REIT product. The firm also provides research content including quarterly newsletters, podcasts, Talking Shop research publications, and white papers. All strategies are offered within Separately Managed Account formats, allowing clients to choose their own custodian.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sandhill Architect: A platform or sub-brand of Sandhill Investment Management.

Products and services

• Concentrated Equity Alpha (CEA)

Quantifiable outcome

• Concentrated Equity Alpha returned +29.9% net of fees in 2023 vs Russell 3000 TR of +26.0%
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• MorningstarsupportingTechnology or IntegrationSandhill reports product performance to Morningstar institutional database, allowing institutional clients and prospects to access and evaluate Sandhill's investment strategies alongside other managers.
• PSN/InformaISsupportingTechnology or IntegrationPerformance reporting to PSN/InformaIS institutional database for manager research and due diligence purposes.
• eVestmentsupportingTechnology or IntegrationInstitutional investment data platform where Sandhill reports strategy performance for institutional client access.
• MercersupportingTechnology or IntegrationPerformance reported to Mercer institutional database for institutional client visibility and manager research.
• Charles SchwabcoreTechnology or IntegrationCompleted Schwab custodial transition with 100% reconciliation of client assets. Clients can access Schwab account login through Sandhill's client support portal.
• eMoneysupportingTechnology or IntegrationeMoney account login available through client portal for wealth management and financial planning services.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Cresset: Cresset is a larger multi-family office and private wealth firm combining direct investing, alternative assets, and traditional portfolio management. Comparable in serving HNW clients via holistic wealth advisory, but materially larger and more diversified across private investments.
• Brown Brothers Harriman (Wealth Management): Brown Brothers Harriman's wealth management division serves HNW families with multi-generational planning and direct portfolio management. Comparable in HNW/UHNW focus and quality-compounding equity philosophy, but with vastly larger AUM and broader service capabilities.
• William Blair Wealth Management: William Blair's wealth management group provides private banking, financial planning, and investment management to HNW clients. Overlapping in advisor-led model and equity-income orientation, but operates with substantially greater scale and institutional research infrastructure.

Direct peers

• Chevy Chase Trust: Chevy Chase Trust is a boutique wealth manager serving HNW individuals, families, and institutions with discretionary portfolio management. Comparable in scale, SMA format, and equity-plus-fixed-income product mix, with similar boutique operating model.
• Pitcairn: Pitcairn is a multi-family office and RIA serving ultra-high-net-worth families with proprietary investment strategies. Comparable HNW/UHNW client focus, customized SMA offerings, and boutique operational scale.
• Dana Investment Advisors: Dana Investment Advisors is a mid-size boutique RIA specializing in active equity and fixed-income SMA strategies for institutions and advisors. Comparable in size, product mix (active equities + short-duration fixed income), and SMA distribution model.
• FCI Advisors: FCI Advisors is a Buffalo, NY-based boutique RIA offering multi-asset class strategies to institutional and high-net-worth clients. Direct geographic and product overlap with Sandhill—both equity and fixed-income mandates, similar AUM scale, and similar institutional distribution via SMA format.
• Beacon Pointe Advisors: Beacon Pointe Advisors is a national RIA providing wealth management, retirement plan, and family office services. Direct competitor in the mid-size advisor-led RIA segment with comparable AUM scale and multi-strategy proprietary portfolios.
• Fairpointe Capital: Fairpointe Capital is a boutique equity manager running concentrated strategies for institutional and retail SMA channels. Comparable AUM scale, equity-centric product line, and SMA distribution via institutional databases.
• Condor Capital Wealth Management: Condor Capital is an independent RIA managing multi-asset class portfolios for HNW individuals and retirement plans. Comparable in size, advisor-led GIPS-compliant model, and emphasis on fundamental equity research plus fixed income.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sandhill-investment-management

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments2 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Sandhill Investment Management