Company History
Sabrient Systems was founded in December 2000 in Santa Barbara, California, by David Brown and four associates.
David, a former NASA scientist and CEO of Telescan, Inc., formed a research team to develop algorithms to quantify various fundamental data on public companies. The algorithms were used to rank a universe of about 5,000 stocks from best to worst in a number of categories. In both backtests and forward tests, the 50 top-ranked stocks in each category significantly outperformed relative benchmarks. The rankings were used by hedge funds and other asset managers to enhance alpha in their portfolios.
This led in 2004 to the selection of Sabrient as an independent research provider by seven of the twelve investment brokerage firms that were named in the SEC's 2003 Global Research Settlement. The firms included some of the giants of Wall Street (at that time)--Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros., Deutsche Bank, to name a few.
As part of the research provided to these firms, we created a proprietary interface to translate the Sabrient rankings into text for the Sabrient Ratings Reports. Over the next five years, our R&D team, led by Dr. Joshua R. Anderson with strong support from Chief Market Strategist David Brown, developed a powerful proprietary engine that serves as our internal strategy testing and production platform. This engine, which we call FSYS, greatly advanced our ability to create, build, test, and execute powerful investment strategies.
In 2009, BNY ConvergEx presented Sabrient with their Director’s Choice Award for Sabrient's forward-looking ability to adapt to the evolving needs of the institutional investment community.
Licensing of the First Sabrient Indices
In 2006 Sabrient was invited by Claymore Advisors (now Guggenheim Investments) to build stock indices to be tracked by Claymore ETFs. This resulted in the first Sabrient index in September 2006, the Sabrient Insider Sentiment Index (SBRIN). Following in December 2006 was the Sabrient Defensive Equity Index (SBRDE).
In November 2007, the Global Balanced Indices were licensed to BlackRock’s iShares. These two indices are tracked by iShares Balanced Income CorePortfolio™ Funds (CBD) and iShares Balanced Growth CorePortfolio™ Funds (CBN).
In December 2011, the Sabrient Insider/Analyst Quant Index (SBRQAM) was licensed to Direxion Funds and is tracked by Direxion All Cap Insider Sentiment Shares (KNOW), which is rated 5 STARS by Morningstar.
Acquisition of Gradient Analytics
Gradient Analytics was founded in October 1996 by Dr. Donn Vickrey and two associates. The company's original name, Camelback Research Alliance, was changed to Gradient Analytics in 2002 when it began offering analyst-written research reports under the direction of Dr. Vickrey.
In August 2011 Sabrient Systems acquired the Gradient business unit responsible for all analyst-driven reports and services. The acquisition included the Gradient brand, which is synonymous with the highest quality and most in-depth independent research reports, along with all analysts, sales and client relationship management personnel. The acquisition of Gradient added breadth and depth to Sabrient’s already outstanding research team.
Strategic Alliance with First Trust Portfolios
In January 2013 Sabrient created the first of its unit investment trust (UITs) sponsored by First Trust Portfolios, L.P: the Sabrient Baker’s Dozen 2013 Portfolio. This UIT was based on our original, highly successful Baker’s Dozen Model Portfolios, first launched in 2009. In August 2015 we launched our first mid-year portfolio; in April 2017 we began launching monthly portfolios. You can view the current and historical model portfolios at the Baker's Dozen website.
In April 2013, we launched the first portfolio in the Sabrient Dividend series
Six more series following in close succession:
Forward Looking Value - June 2013 -
Weak Treasury - September 2013
Small Cap Growth - February 2014
Defensive Equity - October 2014
Rising Rate - June 2015 -- this series replaced the Weak Treasury series
Two new series were launched in 2018:
Dividend Opportunity - April 2018
International Opportunity - June 2018
Here is a current recap of open and closed UITs,
In September 2014, Sabrient licensed an ETF strategy using its Earnings Quality Rank (EQR) to First Trust for the First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF (FTLS). FTLS has a 4 Star rating from Morningstar (as of 3/31/18).
Indices, UITs, and ETFs are high-growth areas for the company.
EQR, the First Joint Sabrient/Gradient Product