Focus Automated Equities

About Focus Automated Equities

Based in Metairie, Louisiana, Focus Automated Equities LLC operates as a financial software and investment management firm, developing a sophisticated automated trading platform for domestic equities. The company primarily serves institutional investors, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals, offering strategies aimed at generating alpha while preserving capital and managing volatility.

The firm was founded by Hugh Britton Sanderford Jr., a serial entrepreneur with a background in digital signal processing, Big Data, and communications systems. His prior ventures include AMDS, a utility automation company, and Axonn LLC, which pioneered spread spectrum communications. This deep experience in signal processing and large-scale data systems forms the bedrock of Focus Automated Equities' technological approach. The core team, many of whom have worked together for over two decades on critical global infrastructure projects, possesses deep expertise in machine learning and large computing systems.

The company's business model centers on its proprietary trading platform and associated investment funds, such as the Santa Rosa Investment Fund. This platform utilizes a combination of digital signal processing and advanced neural networks, inspired by the neuroscience of the human brain, to identify market patterns and predict price fluctuations. The system processes vast amounts of data—including fundamental financial statements, technical indicators, and alternative data—through a custom-built data pipeline supported by high-performance computing infrastructure. This includes GPU accelerators and low-latency servers co-located at the NASDAQ data center for sub-millisecond resolution, enabling the firm to execute sophisticated portfolio optimization and execution strategies.