Waters Rankings 2023: Best alternative data provider—FactSet

Overview

FactSet delivers high-quality content, analytics, and flexible technology to help more than 180,000 users find signals and uncover risk, and is committed to helping clients navigate the challenges of working with structured and unstructured content in various ways. The firm has focused its innovation and investment on expanding its breadth of alternative data to support its clients’ various investment strategies.

The solution

FactSet’s alternative data helps users understand portfolio exposure and maintain performance by uncovering opportunities such as geographical revenue exposures and supply chain connections. Users can evaluate datasets and build investment applications in a hosted environment that offers connected content from FactSet and third-party providers alongside programming tools.  

Secret sauce

While alternative data can provide insights, it is also invariably voluminous, unstructured, and complex. With over 40 years of integration experience, FactSet connects financial data across listings, securities, entities, people, and funds. It offers connected content from FactSet and other third-party providers alongside programming tools, allowing clients to access all the data they need in one place.

Recent milestones

• FactSet’s Developer Portal, a library of APIs, is continuously enhanced to help clients enrich their proprietary applications and digital portals.  
• FactSet’s proprietary datasets are now available through Google Cloud’s Data Exchange Analytics Hub, providing users with secure and simultaneous access to FactSet data using standard SQL and business intelligence tools via the Crux data integration platform.
• FactSet recently added third-party data providers, including MSCI, Morningstar Sustainalytics, MicroAd, Macrobond, Techsalerator, Xponentix, and Cybeta. 

Future objectives

Current technology trends are leading to greater demand for a fully digital and integrated client experience. FactSet has focused its innovation and investment in cloud computing, APIs, and an analytics platform to provide real-time, predictive business intelligence. It continues to expand its financial content to provide support for its clients’ investment strategies, including enhanced data in private markets, industry-specific deep-sector metrics, ESG intelligence, and real-time exchange data.