Informed decisions

Sandvig got early exposure to policy by working with Brian Wesbury

Bryan Sandvig, a member of Center of American Experiment’s Young Leadership Council, thinks too many young people disregard the need to understand public policy—even people who show an interest in it.

“There are individuals who naturally are drawn to things like this. I think it’s important for us to develop our own thoughts (about issues and policy),” he said. “As my generation gets older, I think there’s a tendency to potentially care less, or potentially do less of our own work.”

Sandvig, 28, is an institutional investment manager at Cornerstone Capital Management, a company that manages large-cap growth equity portfolios from offices in Minneapolis and New York City.

In his view, the YLC presents an opportunity to focus on important issues. “We need to really understand the fundamentals of what drives our economy, what drives our lives, what drives our quality of life—and pursue whatever we think that might be best. The American Experiment gives people a platform to enter into the conversation and be able to make their own educated decisions.”

For his part, Sandvig got early exposure to issues. He went to Wheaton, Illinois to get his college education and stayed another four years to get some experience. Sandvig was home-schooled with three younger brothers in Bloomington before attending Southwest Christian High School in Chaska. He attended Wheaton College, his mother’s alma mater, where he studied business and was a three-year captain of the golf team.

He then stayed in Wheaton to work for First Trust Portfolios, where he sold exchange-traded funds to financial advisors in Tennessee, Alabama, and the panhandle of Florida.

While at First Trust he worked with renowned economist Brian Wesbury, who is also economics editor for The American Spectator and a frequent guest on cable news programs.

“Brian Wesbury is one of the great economists,” Sandvig. “He always says he wants to be the antidote to conventional wisdom. That, to me, was something that I really gravitated towards.” Wesbury is occasionally criticized for his optimistic outlook.

“Under all that scrutiny, he’s made some unbelievable calls,” Sandvig says. “The market has room to go. It’s not perfect, no, but there’s plenty of things happening.”

Sandvig, has been an early and active member of Center of the American Experiment’s Young Leadership Council. The YLC was established in 2015 as a way to engage Minnesota’s next generation of conservative leaders.

“This is something that we’re going to grow,” Sandvig says. “And I want to grow with it. I think there are plenty of individuals, especially some younger people in their early 30s, late 20s, who can add a lot of value to it.”