Sandaire

Sandaire is an independent multi-family office based in London, managing approximately $4 billion in assets for a select group of entrepreneurial families. Founded by Alex Scott in 1996, the firm was established to provide the investment quality and personal attention of a single family office to a small number of families with shared values and long-term objectives. Sandaire maintains a deliberately limited client base, prioritizing depth of relationship over breadth of assets under management.

Investment Strategy

Sandaire’s investment philosophy centers on the belief that wealthy families with long time horizons possess a structural advantage over institutional investors constrained by short-term performance benchmarks, liquidity requirements, and career risk. The firm constructs portfolios designed to exploit this advantage through meaningful allocations to illiquid assets, concentrated positions in high-conviction opportunities, and the patience to hold investments through multiple market cycles.

The firm’s asset allocation framework balances traditional public market investments (global equities and fixed income) with substantial allocations to alternative investments including private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and other real assets. The specific allocation for each family is customized based on liquidity needs, tax circumstances, risk tolerance, and multigenerational wealth objectives.

Sandaire’s public equity allocation favors active managers with concentrated, high-conviction portfolios over diversified, benchmark-hugging strategies. The firm’s research process identifies managers who demonstrate genuine skill, operational integrity, and alignment with long-term investment horizons. Fixed income is used primarily for capital preservation and liquidity management rather than return generation.

The firm’s approach to alternatives emphasizes manager selection quality over broad diversification across dozens of funds. Sandaire commits to a carefully curated group of private equity, hedge fund, and real estate managers, building deep relationships that provide preferential access to capacity-constrained strategies and co-investment opportunities.

Private Markets Approach

Private equity is a core allocation within Sandaire portfolios, reflecting the firm’s conviction that patient, long-term capital deployed in private companies generates superior risk-adjusted returns relative to public markets. The firm commits to buyout, growth equity, and venture capital funds, with a focus on European and global managers who demonstrate operational value creation rather than reliance on leverage or market timing.

The firm actively pursues co-investment opportunities alongside its fund managers, providing client families with direct exposure to specific companies at reduced fee levels. Sandaire’s long-standing relationships with leading private equity firms give it access to co-investment deal flow that is not available to smaller or newer investors.

Real estate investments span institutional funds and selective direct opportunities, with exposure to residential, commercial, and specialty property sectors across the UK and Europe. The firm evaluates real estate as a long-duration inflation hedge that complements the equity and fixed income components of client portfolios.

Sandaire’s family governance advisory capability distinguishes it from pure investment management firms. The firm advises on family constitution development, investment committee formation, next-generation engagement, and the organizational structures needed to sustain wealth and family cohesion over multiple generations. Alex Scott has been a thought leader in the family office community, contributing to industry discussions on the intersection of investment management, family dynamics, and intergenerational wealth transfer.

The firm’s deliberately small scale allows it to maintain the intimate, trust-based relationships that are essential to effective family office management. Sandaire views its limited size as a competitive advantage, enabling the depth of understanding and responsiveness that larger multi-family offices and private banks cannot consistently provide.