Sandalwood Investments

What Sandalwood Investments does

Sandalwood Securities, Inc. is a private, family office-led investment firm founded in 1990 by Martin J. Gross and headquartered in Roseland, New Jersey. The firm manages approximately $1 billion in assets across an alternative investment platform serving high-net-worth individuals, family offices, multi-family offices, registered investment advisors, endowments, and foundations. An 11-person team averaging more than 10 years of internal tenure delivers portfolio construction, manager research, operational due diligence, and investor relations, with the firm's own family office capital invested alongside clients.

The product architecture comprises a co-mingled hedge fund-of-funds vehicle providing diversified exposure to 12 core hedge fund managers with annual liquidity, and an opportunistic alternative investment platform enabling customized allocations. Underlying strategies include hedge funds (30% of the family office portfolio), venture capital (20%), private equity (14%), long equities (10%), real estate funds (7%), cash and bonds (5%), and lending funds (4%). The firm has added co-investment special purpose vehicles across private equity, real estate, venture capital, and direct lending, as well as managed accounts for tailored hedge fund exposure. Underlying technology is described only as an internal investment platform for portfolio construction and due diligence; no AI/ML capabilities are disclosed.

Sandalwood generates revenue through management fees and performance fees on managed alternative investment portfolios. Distribution is relationship-driven, executed through dedicated investor relations professionals, with no public pricing and US-only operations. The firm is founder-controlled with no disclosed parent company, institutional capital, funding rounds, or partnerships, and has not pursued any disclosed acquisitions or geographic expansion.

Name

Sandalwood Investments

Legal name

Sandalwood Securities, Inc.

Website

https://sandalwoodsecurities.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sandalwood Securities is a private, family office-led investment firm founded in 1990 managing approximately $1 billion in alternative assets for high-net-worth individuals, family offices, RIAs, endowments, and foundations. It offers hedge fund-of-funds, private equity, venture capital, real estate, lending, and co-investment vehicles with family office co-investment alignment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Roseland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Alternative Investment Management: Sandalwood generates revenue through managing alternative investment portfolios for external clients, including hedge fund-of-fund investments, co-mingled funds, and special purpose vehicles focusing on private equity, real estate, venture capital and direct lending strategies. Revenue is derived from management fees and potentially performance fees associated with fund returns.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Sandalwood Securities is a family office-led private investment firm that has evolved from a fund-of-hedge-funds business founded in 1990 into a diversified alternative investment platform managing approximately $1 billion in assets. The firm offers co-mingled hedge fund-of-funds investments, an opportunistic alternative investment platform, co-investment special purpose vehicles, and managed accounts spanning hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, real estate, lending, long equities, and cash/bond strategies.

Product overview

Sandalwood Securities operates as a family office-led investment firm that has evolved from its original fund-of-hedge-funds business (founded 1990) into a diversified alternative investment platform. The company offers two primary product structures: (1) Co-Mingled Hedge Fund-of-Funds investments providing diversified hedge fund exposure with institutional due diligence and annual liquidity, and (2) an Opportunistic Alternative Investment Platform enabling customized portfolio construction. The platform encompasses multiple investment strategies including Hedge Funds (12 managers, 30% allocation), Private Equity (20 funds, 14%), Venture Capital (20%), Real Estate via funds and direct co-investments (12%), Lending Funds (8 funds, 4%), Long Equities (3 managers, 10%), and Cash/Bonds (5%). The company also offers Co-Investment Special Purpose Vehicles enabling deal-by-deal participation with other family offices, and Managed Accounts for tailored hedge fund portfolio construction. All offerings extend the opportunity for clients to invest alongside the Sandalwood family office.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Real estate lending strategies have generated 13% net returns
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Grosvenor Capital Management: Grosvenor is one of the largest and most established fund-of-funds and multi-manager alternatives platforms globally, offering customized multi-strategy portfolios to institutional and family office clients — closely matching Sandalwood's fund-of-funds and co-investment model at materially larger scale.
• Commonfund: Commonfund is a nonprofit asset manager serving endowments, foundations, and family offices with multi-strategy alternative investment programs including hedge funds, private equity, and real assets. Comparable target client base and multi-alternative platform structure to Sandalwood.
• Cambridge Associates: Cambridge Associates provides investment advisory and manager research services to endowments, foundations, pensions, and private clients. Comparable in offering multi-alternative manager research, portfolio construction, and access to capacity-constrained managers — though significantly larger.
• Fund Evaluation Group (FEG): FEG is an investment adviser offering fund-of-funds, manager research, and consulting services to institutional and private clients. Directly comparable in building diversified alternative investment portfolios and providing access to underlying managers for endowments, foundations, and family offices.
• NEPC: NEPC is an independent investment consulting firm offering manager research and alternative investment solutions to public and corporate pensions, endowments, and foundations. Comparable in providing institutional due diligence and access to alternative managers, though serving primarily institutional segments.
• Hatteras Funds: Hatteras Funds provides alternative investment solutions including hedge fund and private equity fund-of-funds to financial advisors and their high-net-worth clients. Directly comparable distribution model to Sandalwood's RIA-focused channel and alternative strategy focus.
• ICONIQ Capital: ICONIQ Capital is a multi-family office and investment platform serving ultra-high-net-worth families and foundations with direct investments, co-investments, and fund-of-funds capabilities. Comparable in serving wealthy families with curated alternatives access and co-investment opportunities.
• HighVista Strategies: HighVista Strategies is a multi-family office-focused alternatives platform offering customized portfolios and co-investments to wealthy families. Directly comparable in family office-led model, multi-strategy alternatives focus, and emphasis on co-investment alongside the firm's principal capital.

Broad incumbents

• K2 Advisors (Franklin Templeton): K2 Advisors, now part of Franklin Templeton, is a long-established hedge fund-of-funds manager offering diversified alternative solutions to institutional and high-net-worth investors. Directly comparable to Sandalwood's core hedge fund FOF product, with broader distribution and balance sheet from the Franklin Templeton parent.
• Mesirow Financial: Mesirow is a diversified financial services firm with an alternatives platform offering fund-of-funds and multi-manager solutions to institutional and private clients. Comparable in multi-strategy alternatives offerings, with a broader suite of services beyond alternatives.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sandalwood-securities-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 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 Sandalwood Investments