Tandem Investment Advisors

The three-person Investment Team — John B. Carew (President and CEO), William L. Little, Jr. (Co-CIO and CFO), and Benjamin G. Carew (Co-CIO) — collectively reviews the output of Tandem's proprietary quantitative ratio and implements action. Decisions follow a strict five-action discipline: Buy, Add, Hold, Trim, or Liquidate. The process is designed to exclude discretionary overrides.

Tandem screens over 3,000 US equities with a proprietary ratio that identifies deviations from a stock's historical mean — a mean-reversion signal that indicates attractive entry or exit points. The process has three sequential steps: a quantitative screen, a semi-quantitative review to verify data accuracy, and human implementation by the Investment Team (per the firm). When few buying opportunities exist, Tandem will hold cash rather than force deployment into overvalued names.

Tandem operates exclusively as a long-only US equity manager distributing its strategies through separately managed accounts (SMAs) to more than 1,000 financial advisor partners. The firm does not manage commingled vehicles or fund structures. Its investment discipline remains confined to public equities across Large Cap Core, Mid Cap Core, and a broader Equity Strategy.

Tandem is tightly held by three individuals: John B. Carew owns 59%, William L. Little, Jr. holds 27%, and Benjamin G. Carew — a family member of John Carew — holds 9%. Additional family members own the remaining 5% in minority stakes. This ownership concentration puts strategic control with the same three people who run the investment process day-to-day.

Tandem explicitly targets low volatility of returns and low downside capture versus the broad US equity market. The firm states it aims to deliver a more consistent, repeatable and less volatile experience than the market (per the firm). The willingness to hold cash when its quantitative ratio finds no attractively valued stocks is a core feature of this posture.

Tandem's principals support the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and the College of Charleston Foundation. John Carew serves as Vice Chair of the College of Charleston School of Business Investment Program, and Billy Little is a past president of the CFA Society South Carolina. The firm does not list a separate foundation vehicle, operating philanthropic activity through personal principal involvement.

Tandem was founded in 1990 at Tandem Farm in Charlottesville, Virginia, giving the firm its name (per the firm). The headquarters later moved to Charleston, South Carolina in 2007, where the firm remains based.