Sparrows Capital

Who we are

Sparrows Capital Limited is a private investment office providing discretionary portfolio management to families directly or the trustees of their personal assets or philanthropic assets.

Since 2008 we have overseen the liquid assets of our founding family in line with our core investment philosophy. Our process is distinctive, simple and intuitive and is based on long-term empirical evidence and backed by robust academic studies.

More recently we have created a range of pre-existing risk profiles mapped to the MPI Indices, with these portfolios incorporating the same investment approach.

Increasingly we are asked to provide sustainable strategies both for the private wealth of families and especially for charitable trusts and foundations. We have considerable experience incorporating ethical and socially responsible filters and are fortunate to be advised by Professor Elroy Dimson, a world-leading expert in the management of endowments and charitable foundations. 

What we do

 Our investment philosophy reflects the objective lessons of over a century of investment history, applied systematically and unemotionally.

Analysis of the data reveals six key findings: that return is primarily a function of risk; that certain risks attract a persistent premium; that stock picking and market timing seldom add value; that it is critical to remain invested across the full cycle; and that diversification and costs matter.

This results in a style that can be described as:

- Strategic

- Risk Based

- Factor Based

- Cost Efficient

Risk is the primary driver of returns. The trustee's risk appetite dictates portfolio construction, which in turn drives expected investment returns. Careful blending of risks can significantly improve portfolio performance across the cycle.

Academic research and empirical evidence show that tactical asset allocation (market timing) seldom adds value over the investment cycle and that active stock selection also tends to detract from long-term portfolio return. Both of these activities introduce investment process risk; however, trustees are rarely compensated for these risks through risk-adjusted portfolio performance in excess of generic market returns.

We harvest the market return across the full investment cycle. We achieve this by designing portfolios for our clients using selected highly efficient investment vehicles including ETFs and Index Funds. We do not attempt to pick individual bonds, equities or investment funds and we do not time markets.

Our approach produces consistent results across the investment cycle, as demonstrated by our historical performance relative to the MPI Indices.