In its recent Global Equity Outlook, BlackRock outlined its position on the attractiveness of China’s equities: “Making money in Chinese stocks requires dropping one’s preconceptions, paying close attention to policy priorities and using new data sources to generate ideas.
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.
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”.
It depends on how many firms a given dataset has information on. Credit card transaction data has been known to provide a strong signal on revenues as many firms and many users are covered.
Eagle Alpha’s most recent events had 6 alternative data companies pitch to buyside firms in NYC (29 Sept 2016) and London (27 Sept 2016). Each provider gave an overview of their offerings, presented three case studies, and responded to Q&A. Summaries of presentations are presented below:
Most buyside firms typically start by nominating or recruiting an individual to champion their initial alternative data efforts. When a demonstrable return on investment is seen, firms then seek to expand the team.
Expert Networks were the last major change to the fundamental research process. There is mounting evidence that alternative data will be the next major change.
I've seen what appears to be an inflection in the last few weeks and months, so I'm not sure the question is apt. I think the biggest reason asset managers haven't taken advantage of alternative data has simply been the underperformance of the industry overall in the past 12-18 months.
