A magnetoresistive sensor having a hard magnetic layer extending from the stripe height of the pinned layer to assist in pinning the pinned layer. The pinned layer extends beyond the stripe height of the free layer so that the back stripe height edge of the pinned layer is significantly beyond the stripe height edge of the free layer. The pinned layer is preferably constructed to have a net magnetic moment such that magnetostatic coupling between the hard magnetic layer and the pinned layer pins the moment of the layers. The hard magnetic layer can be used in addition to or in lieu of an AFM pinning layer.