Alternative data
What is Aladdin Trader? BlackRock’s fixed-income tool still a mystery
Sources tell WatersTechnology that Aladdin Trader will expand on the platform’s ‘limited’ execution functionality.
Waters Wrap: Reading the fixed-income tea leaves
A lot gets made about how much fixed income has been electronified. Anthony says that “percentage” ignores the important technological evolutions and strategic shifts being made by the vendor community.
Waters Wrap: Market data spend and nice-to-have vs. need-to-have decisions
Cost is not the top factor driving the decision to switch data providers. Anthony looks at what’s behind the evolution of spending priorities.
Ignoring ESG data simply doesn’t make business sense
There’s a brewing controversy about “woke” ESG investments. But politics aside, ESG as a dataset brings more transparency to investment decisions.
Bloomberg rolls out integrated alt data for Terminal users
The initial launch includes consumer spend and foot traffic geolocation data—pre-integrated with all the other data on the Bloomberg Terminal.
Six banks team with Expand Research to create data vendor catalog
The initiative aims to help firms better manage the data they already use and to identify and compare alternatives available in the market.
Ex-LSEG execs partner to offer data strategy consulting
Dunlap and White have held senior roles on the buy side, sell side, and at vendors and exchanges, over careers spanning more than 30 years each.
As ESG investing faces headwinds, MSCI’s CEO says ESG ‘most popular’ topic for clients
For future analytics enhancements, the vendor will also lean into large language models and generative AI.
Bloomberg, Snowflake ally to accelerate cloud data adoption
Bloomberg has built an app in Snowflake’s cloud framework that will make it simpler and faster for Snowflake clients to populate their cloud-hosted tools with Bloomberg data.
Nasdaq–Adenza: A look at the tech
The exchange operator announced its intention to acquire the software firm, which combines AxiomSL and Calypso, in a deal that amounts to its largest acquisition to date.
Alt data’s growing pains: Integration and aggregation challenges stall wider adoption
Demand for alternative data continues to grow among investment firms. So why are some alt data providers taking products off the market?
S&P Global–IHS Markit post-merger: One giant leap for data analysis?
The combined entity will look to tap into AI tools provided by S&P’s Kensho outfit and AWS’ cloud to build new analytics platforms.
BloombergGPT: Terminal giant enters the LLM race
Bloomberg has developed a large language model with the aim of improving its Terminal’s ability to provide sentiment, charting and search.
Waters Wavelength Podcast: Episode 262 (Previewing Nafis)
Wei-Shen and Tony take a look at what’s to come at the North American Financial Information Summit (Nafis).
Waters Wrap: For data managers, the new problems are the same as the old
While much attention has been given to cloud, AI, blockchain and other buzzwords, without a proper data foundation, those tools will not deliver the results that have been promised.
Where does Pyth fit in?
A small number of exchanges have joined the Pyth Network. Nyela wonders whether the on-chain data distribution model fits in with the swift rise of data marketplaces.
Could cloud kill the data licensing debate and shake up pricing models?
Market participants say cloud has the potential to reimagine data licensing. But moving to the new operational model comes with a raft of unanswered questions.
Data brain drain may prompt move to managed services for market data management
A shortage of data professionals with suitable experience to run large financial firms’ data organizations could drive firms to completely outsource the management and administration of their third-largest expense.
Nasdaq gears up for 1st migration in a long journey to AWS
While Nasdaq is set to begin migrating its MRX exchange to AWS’s cloud infrastructure next month, the full migration program could take 10 to 15 years to complete.
Continuous evolution: Researchers work to specialize NLP for finance
From academics to data teams at investment banks, those in and adjacent to the capital markets are looking to specialize natural language processing models to understand and break down financial data.
Waters Wrap: Fintech funding—follow the money
As funding for startups and young companies dries up due to inflation and rising interest rates, Anthony looks at some of the vendors that have received monetary infusions this year to see if there are any patterns to be gleaned.
Difficult transitions: Asset managers struggle to map future ESG risks
Investment firms have a role to play in incentivizing the green transition, but they must have forward-looking data.
Messy MBSs? Startup uses deep learning to predict mortgage-backed securities markets
As interest rates rise and house prices fall after a steady period of the opposite dynamic, investors are looking for more accurate ways to price these factors into the value of mortgage-backed securities.
Putting location in its place: Geolocation data market contractions highlight importance of cost, context
All is not well for providers of geolocation data, with some slashing staff or shutting down entirely. Those still thriving are the ones who realize it’s no longer all about “location, location, location.”