In this episode I speak to Jason Hills, former Chief Revenue Officer of Facteus, an alternative data provider that sells synthetic data. In our conversation Jason and I explore his journey into synthetic data, and his next plans. In other news, join me and other guests on Wednesday 8th December at the delayed Leading Point event where we will be discussing “Is Alternative Data Still Alternative?”. London in-person and virtual tickets are available here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-data-k...
Nov 29, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 61
In this episode I speak to Fabiana Clemente, Founder and Chief Data Officer of YData https://ydata.ai/ - the first data platform with synthetic data generation. In our conversation, Fabiana and I talk through a full introduction to synthetic data. In other news, join me and other guests on Wednesday 8th December at the delayed Leading Point event where we will be discussing “Is Alternative Data Still Alternative?”. London in-person and virtual tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.c...
Nov 22, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 60
In this episode I speak to Seth Leonard, winner of the hackathon at the most recent Eagle Alpha conference. In our conversation Seth and I talk through exactly how he won, combining multiple alternative datasets to forecast the next inflation figure. As a mild warning, this is more technical than other episodes. In other news, I will be speaking at the HFM European Quant Summit on Wednesday 17th November alongside Rani Piputri of NNIP, where we’ll be discussing ‘Acquiring and Combining Alternati...
Nov 15, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 59
In this episode I speak to Bradley Saacks, Hedge Fund Reporter at Business Insider. In our conversation, Bradley and I talk about the effect the GameStop story had on the hedge fund industry, the past present and future of alternative data, and how it feels to be a buyer at an alt data conference. Separately, I will be speaking at the HFM European Quant Summit on Wednesday 17th November alongside Rani Piputri of NNIP, where we’ll be discussing ‘Acquiring and Combining Alternative Datasets’: http...
Nov 08, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 58
In this episode I speak to Vinesh Jha, CEO and Founder of ExtractAlpha, a provider of curated alpha signals and alternative datasets to investors. In other news, I will be speaking at the HFM European Quant Summit on Wednesday 17th November alongside Rani Piputri of NNIP, where we’ll be discussing ‘Acquiring and Combining Alternative Datasets’ - https://www.hfmeuquantsummit.com/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 04, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 57
In this episode I spoke to Michael Watson, founder of Chained Metrics ( https://chainedmetrics.com , discord channel: https://discord.gg/pXs9bJpE ) and former Managing Director in Equities Engineering at Citadel. In our conversation, Michael and I talk about the engineering challenges faced by a major hedge fund trying to remain competitive with alternative data, before then going on to explore his new project which sees him moving company KPIs onto the blockchain. Separately, I will be speaking...
Nov 01, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 56
In this episode I speak to Cameron Brandt, Director of Research at EPFR. EPFR is a longstanding provider of fund flows data, and in our conversation Cameron and I track its development from Post-Soviet Eastern Europe in the 1990s onto the global stage today. Thank you to those who attended our event in London last week, it was great to see representatives of various hedge funds, major investment management firms and alt data providers in the audience, including EPFR in fact! As another date for ...
Oct 25, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 55
In this episode I speak to Jeffrey Allan of Echo Ridge, a provider of US legislation alternative data. Echo Ridge’s unique dataset uses Jeffrey’s past experience as a lobbyist to predict the passage of the 250,000 pieces of legislation in the various US governments, and their likely effects on stocks. In other news join us this Thursday at Fora Brick Lane for presentations and networking, with Saeed Amen and Alexander Denev showcasing their Book of Alternative Data. Free tickets can be found her...
Oct 18, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 54
In this episode I speak to Hinesh Kalian, Director of Data Science at Man Group, the London-based hedge fund that runs $127 billion of client capital. In our conversation we discuss Man’s relationship with alternative data, including how many datasets the firm can review in a year and how the task of uncovering alpha is changing. In other news, two dates for Londoners’ diaries – Thursday October 21st will be an Alternative Data Live! event in Brick Lane in association with The Alternative Data P...
Oct 11, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 53
In this episode I spoke to Adam Braff, formerly of McKinsey and Chief Data Acquisition Officer at Point 72. In our conversation Adam and I talked about some of the difficulties involved in extracting alpha from alternative data, including in how to set up your team most efficiently. In other news, I have written a blogpost about Alternative Data Discovery Mechanisms and specifically tracking the emergence of alternative data marketplaces. Please find it here: https://www.exabel.com/blog/the-alte...
Oct 07, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 52
In this episode I speak to Francesco Filia of Fasanara Capital, a fund that has been buying loans from the market for over a decade. Over that time Fasanara has developed a substantial amount of alternative data around borrowers, creating an ever more advanced selection process for future purchases. In other news, an apology: Last week I mistakenly suggested Bloomberg had bought alternative data provider Second Measure for $200m, the true figure is undisclosed but closer to $100m. A date for the...
Oct 04, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 51
We've reached Episode 50! In this episode I speak to Jeremy Baksht, former Head of Alternative Data at Bloomberg, angel investor and general alt data celebrity. In our conversation, Jeremy and I talk about his introduction to alternative data, his time at Bloomberg, his investment priorities, what he sees happening in the fast-moving technologies space and his vision for the future of alternative data. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 27, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 50
This is an Emergency episode prompted by the SEC’s recent judgement which resulted in a $10 million fine for alternative data provider App Annie. In this episode I first asked Jonathan Kay, CEO of App Annie rival Apptopia, to set the scene and explain what he thinks the judgement means for the market. I then spoke to alternative data lawyer Kelly Koscuiszka of law firm Schulte, Roth & Zabel as she talked me through the legal aspects. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...
Sep 23, 2021•32 min•Season 999Ep. 999
In this episode I speak to James Kardatzke of Quiver Quantitative, a company with an innovative vision to bring alternative data to the retail investor en masse. In other news, please join James, myself and also Peter Bakker of Unhedged on Wednesday at 10am EST for a conversation about Alternative Data and the Retail Investor. Alt data lawyer Kelly Koscuiszka will also talk us through the ramifications of the SEC’s recent App Annie judgement. Join the Linkedin group for more details: https://www...
Sep 20, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 49
In this episode I speak to Brad Schneider, founder of NoMad Data amongst many other things. Brad has had a long career with alternative data, going back to the early 2000s when he was doing pioneering work web-scraping data and using it to predict corporate earnings information. His latest project, NoMad Data sees Brad trying to solve the alternative data discovery problem, matching buyers with sellers using a sophisticated algorithm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 13, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 48
In this episode I speak to Loften Deprez of Viscacha. Viscacha offers real-time sales data from retailers at an extremely high frequency. In our conversation Loften and I talk about how he happened to name his company after a depressed-looking rabbit, as well as how the company came about and what makes it attractive to investors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 06, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 47
In this episode I speak to Sahar Attaripour and Francois Oustry of Suzugia Limited. Sahar and Francois have been building a novel company that generates alternative data, turns it into signals, and plans to become a hedge fund which invests into them as well Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 30, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 46
In this episode I speak to Rani Piputri of NNIP, the investment arm of a Netherlands-based insurance company which was acquired last week by Goldman Sachs for €1.6bn. In our conversation, Rani and I speak about her past in various Alternative Data-related positions in Europe, and what some of the ways in which she has been seeking alpha using alternative data at NNIP, her current employer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 23, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 45
In this episode I speak to Evan Schnidman, founder of Prattle and now an investor in data companies. In the first part of this conversation Evan and I discuss how his company Prattle rapidly predicted market reaction to new central bank announcements, before then going on to discuss his views on alternative data and how he chooses his investment targets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 16, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 44
In this episode I speak to Omer Har, co-founder and CTO of Explorium. Explorium is an automated data and feature discovery platform which in May closed a $75 million funding round. In our conversation, Omer and I discuss the differences between the corporate side and financial side of the alternative or external data world, and the innovative way in which Explorium matches customers with the data they need. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 09, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 43
In this episode I speak to Louisa Nolan, Chief Data Scientist at the Office of National Statistics, about how the UK government statistics office has increasingly been integrating alternative data into its normal processes. In our conversation, Louisa and I speak about how the ONS is able to bring to bear proprietary national datasets, such as traffic sensor data, on problems such as how to measure GDP growth. We also discuss the ONS’s very specific relationship with the alternative data ecosyst...
Aug 02, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 42
In this episode I speak to Ed Lavery of Similarweb. Similarweb shocked the alternative data world in May with a $1.6bn IPO, which many observers took as a sign that more such flotations would soon follow in the space. In our conversation, Ed and I discuss Similarweb’s offering, the float, and wider implications for the alternative data space as a whole going forwards. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 26, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 41
In this episode I speak to Avi Rosenbluth, formerly a Portfolio Manager at AQR Capital Management, a systematic fund. In our conversation we run through Avi’s reservations around Alternative Data, and touch on what he thinks needs to happen before the sector can go truly stratospheric. Separately, join us on Wednesday at 10am EST for a discussion around whether ESG outperformance is set to end soon, led by CEO of RepRisk Philipp Aeby and Bitvore CEO Elizabeth Pritchard. Find more details here: h...
Jul 19, 2021•39 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Welcome to The Alternative Data Podcast, powered by Exabel. I’m Mark Fleming-Williams. In this episode I speak to Alexey Loganchuk of Sidera Labs. Alexey boasts a wealth of experience in and around the alternative data sector which makes him a fascinating conversation partner, particularly on the subject of alternative data in private markets, where he has focused much of his attention in recent years. Separately, join us on zoom on Wednesday at 10am EST for The Alternative Data Weekly Interacti...
Jul 12, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 39
In this episode I speak to Jonathan Regenstein of Truist Securities, the first sell-side guest to have appeared on the podcast. In our conversation we discuss the various ways Truist fits into the alternative data ecosystem, and the cultural challenges of integrating a technology team into the financial world, among other things. Jonathan will be leading the conversation this Wednesday the 7th at 10am EST on the Alternative Data Weekly Interactive, join the group on LinkedIn for more details -ht...
Jul 05, 2021•41 min•Season 1Ep. 38
In this episode I speak to Chris Petrescu, former Data Strategist at WorldQuant and now founder at CP Capital. Chris is a familiar face around the alternative data world, and in our conversation we talk about the old days of sourcing datasets, how the data scouting and strategy market has moved on, and big trends for this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 28, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In this episode I speak to George Mussalli of PanAgora Asset Management. In our conversation, George and I talk about how the use of alternative data has become increasingly sophisticated since the early 2000s, when George first began integrating it into his investment strategies. Separately, please join us on Wednesday at 10am EST for our weekly interactive conversations around Alternative Data. Join our LinkedIn group here to find out more: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9059921/ Hosted on Ac...
Jun 21, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 36
In this episode I speak to Sayali Saste of Grandview Research. Sayali oversaw the production and publishing in 2020 of a document that has been highly influential in the Alternative Data space. The Grand View Research note valued the alternative data market at $1.64bn in 2020 and projected a 40% CAGR that would take it to $17.35bn in 2027. In our conversation, Sayali and I dug into the way that forecast was created. Separately, please join us on Wednesday for The Alternative Data Weekly Interact...
Jun 14, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In this episode I speak to Jeffrey Ryan, former Citadel quantitative analyst and now Founder of Quant-at-large. In our conversation, Jeff tells me about how solving his own investing problems using R led him to writing new packages for the coding language. These ended up being used extensively by the wider R community and landed him a job in his home town of Chicago with the giant hedge fund, Citadel, where he spent seven years. Additionally, please join us on Zoom every Wednesday at 10am EST as...
Jun 07, 2021•52 min•Season 1Ep. 34
In this episode I speak to Abraham Thomas, co-founder of Quandl. In our conversation Abraham and I discuss his fascinating life, from being caught in the first Gulf War, to joining a hedge fund in Japan, to founding and building up Quandl, one of the key players in the alternative data space, to selling it to Nasdaq in 2018. In other news, I have written a blogpost around the past, present and future of alternative data, a link to which can be found in the Episode Web Page section or here: https...
May 31, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 33
