Our Culture

What you believe and what you value as an organization matters. Discover the DNA of our firm.

Our People

Get to know our teams and the stories of select staff members who share why they choose to work at Sands Capital.

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Recognized as Greenwich Quality Leader

Sands Capital is one of just four investment managers recognized this year for the service it delivers to institutional clients.

Careers

At Sands Capital, we strive to hire exceptional talent who will live our values and support our efforts to deliver on our mission.
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From Beta to Alpha

U.S. markets have recovered following 2022’s historic selloff, leading some to question what comes next. In this environment, we believe certain active approaches are better positioned to benefit than others.

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Connecting Brands with Digital Content Creators

Bryan Gold and #paid are enabling companies and creators to form mutually beneficial partnerships

Fostering Long-term Thinking

Executive Managing Director and Sr. Portfolio Manager Brian Christiansen discusses the importance of candor and collaboration in a culture that promotes long-term thinking.

Transparent Work Cultures and Inclusive Opportunities

Recruit Holdings is transforming the world of work through wage transparency and providing life-changing opportunities for immigrants and refugees.

Philosophy & Approach

Our philosophy is rooted in the belief that, over time, stock prices will reflect the earnings power and growth of the underlying businesses.

Stewardship

Our second annual stewardship report reflects our commitment to provide clients and other key stakeholders with transparency into our initiatives, actions, and the progress we made in 2022.

Public Equity

Our newest strategy takes an unconstrained approach to seeking the best growth businesses outside of the U.S.

Venture & Growth Equity

Our life sciences strategy looks to invest in promising life sciences companies that we believe are at the heart of a technological and scientific revolution in healthcare.

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Ian Ratcliffe

Executive Managing Partner
Executive Managing Director

Joined Sands Capital

2016

Work Experience

Sands Capital (2016 - 2022)
Arlington, VA | Managing Partner

Enzymatics Inc. (2013 - 2015)
Beverly, MA | CEO

Stemgent Inc. (2008 - 2013)
Cambridge, MA | Founder, CEO

Upstate Inc. (2002 - 2004)
Charlottesville, VA | President

Education

University of Virginia
MBA | Darden School

University of Surrey
Chemical Engineering

Ian is a serial entrepreneur and has 20 years of experience starting and investing in life sciences technology businesses as an angel, venture and private equity investor. Ian has served in many roles as a founder, CEO, CFO, COO, chairman, director, and advisor to a number of privately-held Life Science product and service businesses. He has focused on the cell signaling, drug screening, genomics and sequencing, and cell culture and modification segments, at all stages of business development from initiation through profitability to trade sell. Prior to joining Sands Capital, Ian was the Chairman and CEO of Enzymatics Inc., founder and CEO of Stemgent, Inc., a stem and iPS cell life sciences tool, and President of Upstate Inc., a leading provider of cell signaling research products and services. Ian was also a founding investor in Firefly Bioworks and Genometry, both SCV investments. Ian has a degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Surrey and has a MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.

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