Waters USA: Plenty of Alpha Left in Alt Data, if Firms Use AI, ML to Harness Value
At the recent Waters USA conference, panelists discussed the current wave of alternative datasets, and how getting the most out of them requires new tools and technologies.

To harness the next generation of market data—specifically, the breadth of typically non-financial datasets collectively dubbed “alternative data”—firms must embrace the next generation of tools for evaluating and implementing this data, according to panelists at the recent Waters USA conference.
Panelists agreed that the emergence and use of unstructured, alternative data alongside traditional investment data is blurring the lines between quantitative and fundamental investors, and is “a
Only users who have a paid subscription or are part of a corporate subscription are able to print or copy content.
To access these options, along with all other subscription benefits, please contact info@waterstechnology.com or view our subscription options here: https://subscriptions.waterstechnology.com/subscribe
You are currently unable to print this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
You are currently unable to copy this content. Please contact info@waterstechnology.com to find out more.
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (point 2.4), printing is limited to a single copy.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
Copyright Infopro Digital Limited. All rights reserved.
You may share this content using our article tools. As outlined in our terms and conditions, https://www.infopro-digital.com/terms-and-conditions/subscriptions/ (clause 2.4), an Authorised User may only make one copy of the materials for their own personal use. You must also comply with the restrictions in clause 2.5.
If you would like to purchase additional rights please email info@waterstechnology.com
More on Data Management
Texting trials, or ‘The case of the costly Cubans’
The IMD Wrap: This week, featuring my colleagues as guest stars, I put myself in the shoes of a communications compliance officer at an asset manager, and look at what happens when messages go awry.
Standard Chartered CDO on AI, CAT on life support, Paxos files for clearing status, and more
The Waters Cooler: FIX updates MMT, a Finnish datacenter hangs in the balance, and partnerships galore in this week’s news roundup.
Waters Wavelength Ep. 327: Standard Chartered’s Mo Rahim
He joins the podcast to discuss data and AI governance and guardrails for AI.
Messaging’s chameleon: The changing faces and use cases of ISO 20022
The standard is being enhanced beyond its core payments messaging function to be adopted for new business needs.
S&P Global details AI partnerships, LLM advancements
The data provider has partnered with Microsoft and Anthropic to use hyperscaler tech to boost its AI offerings.
The industry is not ready for what’s around the corner
Waters Wrap: As cloud usage and AI capabilities continue to evolve (and costs go up), Anthony believes the fintech industry may face a similar predicament to the one facing journalism today.
Overbond’s demise hints at cloud-cost complexities
The fixed-income analytics platform provider shuttered after failing to find new funding or a merger partner as costs for its serverless cloud infrastructure “ballooned.”
ViaNexus aims to bring data entitlement control to MCP, agentic AI
The startup believes that Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol marks a major step forward for agentic AI, but the market data industry has its own complexities that haven’t been addressed—yet.