Dan Loeb, founder of $17 billion AUM Third Point LLC, plans to employ quantamental strategies. His idea is to use “data to support our existing fundamental strategies.”
Numerai is a San Francisco-based hedge fund run by the 29-year old former quant trader Richard Craib. Its strategy, however, is quite different from what other asset managers employ:
Manoj Narang, ex-Tradeworx founder and CEO, has set up a new hedge fund called MANA Partners that is planning to employ quant and alternative data strategies.
Asset managers have been integrating alternative datasets in their processes but they should be highly attentive and avoid sources that contain personally identifiable information.
Since 2011, the Federal Reserve Board has published its survey on the usage of mobile phones and interactions of consumers with financial institutions.
Eagle Alpha has partnered with one of the world's largest transportation and logistics companies that launched a product that enables asset managers to obtain alpha from trade data.
Foursquare predicts the overall 2016 Black Friday foot traffic to be 3.5% down compared to 2015.
Quants have been using various statistical tools for years, but the next-generation algorithms will allow asset managers to combine and analyze different datasets at the same time (e.g. traditional financial, web-crawled and satellite data).
The Bank of England is one of the first major institutions actively using alternative data sources in its work. In 2011, the Bank published a paper titled “Using internet search data as economic indicators” where the benefits of using online search data were identified. These are:
TABB Group, an international research and consulting firm focused solely on capital markets, published a new report called “Capturing Alternative Alpha: The Rise of Alternative Data Sets”.
Eagle Alpha analysts have spent over two years finding the best way to use online search data to predict economic indicators. We have devised our own proprietary methodologies that leverage all relevant academic research, as well as accepted best practice in the field.
By a 3-to 2 vote, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that broadband providers like Comcast and AT&T will have to obtain permission in order to collect and distribute private data.
