Our People, Their Stories
Discover why our professionals chose Sands Capital, and perhaps, you’ll find your own reasons to join our journey
Brian J, Crofton, CFA
Research Analyst
You’ve made a career transition from operations to investments while employed at Sands Capital. Can you briefly describe your previous and current roles?
The planning and analytics (P&A) team, where I worked in the beginning, sits at the center of the firm and is primarily responsible, among other things, for conducting research and analysis on internal and external drivers for Sands Capital to support strategic business decisions. In that role, we collaborate with every single team within the firm—including the investment team—and communicate key takeaways back to senior management.
In my current role on the investment team, I am one of the research analysts focusing on emerging markets businesses, with a specialization in financial services and industrials. We look to identify and recommend businesses for our portfolios that meet our six investment criteria.
What motivated you to make an internal career move?
Through my work in P&A, I was able to work closely with many members of the investment team. I learned about the work they were doing and realized that my passion and skill set were better aligned with that work over the long term. Sands Capital likes to talk about finding your “genius,” and that experience opened my eyes as to what my genius may be.
Separately, I always had a deep interest in history, politics, math, and philosophy. When I joined Sands Capital, I never imagined there was a job that combined all those interests. The research analyst role is a combination of all those things, which I enjoy very much.
What skills or experiences from your previous role have been most beneficial in your current position?
P&A requires a lot of modeling and quantitative analysis, which transferred very smoothly over to the investment team, where there is a high priority on analyzing businesses through both a quantitative and qualitative lens. P&A also requires a lot of collaboration with a variety of different teams across the firm. The investment team has a very collaborative structure, so I use those skills to work alongside my peers to source new opportunities, cover existing companies, or solve ongoing research questions we may have.
How did Sands Capital support your transition into this new role?
I felt supported all around. I am thankful to the P&A Team for allowing me to find opportunities for growth and upward mobility within the firm, even if it was not with P&A. I want to give a shout-out to my former manager especially, who gave me the space to connect with and work alongside members of the investment team outside of my daily responsibilities within P&A. I’d also like to credit various members of our investment team who took me under their wings and sourced side-projects for me to work on.
From a firm level, I was given the support to take the CFA exams, which helped update my skill set and created a proof case that I had both the interest and capacity to be successful on the investment team.
What aspect of your new role brings you the most job satisfaction?
Continuous learning is what makes any investor better and separates the good from the great. This immediately attracted me to investment management as a career path. You can never reach perfection, but there is always room for improvement and intellectual growth, which is a challenge that I find exciting.
What advice would you offer to someone looking to make a lateral career move?
Learn as much as you can about the role so you know if it’s truly the right fit for you. Invest in yourself to build both the skill set and relationships that will make you successful in that role. Once you find your “genius,” keep pushing until you reach your goals.