As the first-ever Sandhill employee to be hired with no prior roots in Western New York, Aaron VandeGuchte made the move to Buffalo in 2017. But this Michigan native believed that with hard work, persistence, and a little bit of luck, anything was possible.
Since the very start of his time at Sandhill, Aaron has sown the seeds of his own success—and his dedication to our firm has been unmatched. He has quickly ascended the ladder, having recently been named Partner and a Senior Analyst on the Research team. In his day-to-day role, Aaron oversees our fixed income portfolio while actively studying and monitoring the U.S. equity markets in search of attractive investment opportunities.
It’s safe to say that Aaron has exceeded expectations during his Sandhill tenure. But don’t tell him that—in his mind, he is only getting started! Discover more about Aaron’s personal and professional life to learn about how he is committed to driving continued growth and innovation at our firm.
Growing up outside of Lansing, Michigan, I’m one of the few Sandhill employees that aren’t from the Buffalo/Niagara area. I graduated from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI with a dual degree in finance and international business. During my initial post-grad job search, I spent time applying to positions not only in the United States, but also exploring opportunities in various Spanish-speaking countries. My hope was to find an equity analyst role, and preferably one that allowed me to not have a narrow industry focus. These generalist analyst roles are few and far between, so I was excited when I stumbled across Sandhill and—along with several hundred others—submitted my resume for the Assistant Equity Analyst position.
I came to Western New York for the first time for a final round of interviews with Sandhill. I can vividly remember driving down Delaware Avenue and being impressed by the beautiful architecture—a style that was much different than what you’d find in Grand Rapids. The old, historical charm of the city appealed to me right away. I also remember being puzzled when my GPS tried to pronounce “Scajaquada.” After six years, I think I’ve finally got the pronunciation down: “the one-ninety-eight.”
Getting to work alongside Tim, Rick, and Mark has been an exciting kind of challenge for me. Our Research team is super collaborative—we meet multiple times every day to share opinions and bounce ideas off each other. Being tuned in to the markets every day can be tough, but putting the work in as a team to build the best portfolios we can for clients is incredibly rewarding.
From my very first days on the job, I’ve enjoyed my role as an Analyst because I’m always learning about how the world works through the lens of the companies I’m researching. I’ve gotten to take a deep dive into all different industries and sectors to understand the companies we study and comprehend what makes them special. Continually acquiring bits of knowledge in areas that were previously foreign to me keeps me excited and engaged in my work. As an analyst, I think I see the world a bit differently, where everything has the potential to be the next great theme or idea to invest in.
Over the past six years, my family and I have come to love our time in Buffalo—just like a lot of other out-of-towners that settle down in this area. It’s stereotypical to say, but the sense of camaraderie that the people in this place share is special. Western New Yorkers are a proud, resilient, and warm-hearted bunch. The people in this city—and especially our entire team at Sandhill—have certainly helped make our move a pretty seamless one. Our firm has a family-like feel to it. There’s no one that you wouldn’t feel comfortable hanging out with outside of the office—and I don’t think that is true of many workplaces.
Outside of the office, I try to spend as much time with my wife, Jess, and our three kids as I possibly can. As a big sports junkie, I like watching college and pro sports, but also love playing in recreational basketball leagues around town. On the weekend, if I’m not out taking the grand tour of every playground in the Southtowns with my kids, then I’m probably in the woods somewhere looking for my errant tee shot or struggling through an overly ambitious mountain bike trek.
To learn more about Aaron, check out his team bio on our website. You can also view his LinkedIn page.
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