The amount of data spit out into the world each day is truly massive.
From Tweets and Google searches to Instagram posts and online shopping trips at Amazon, everyone is creating "digital exhaust" through their daily activities. This information, if harnessed correctly using technology, can be incredibly valuable.
It's creating a data gold rush, with companies globally expected to spend nearly $190 billion this year on software and services to analyze any sort of information that could give them an edge over their competitors.
The finance industry — from hedge funds and asset managers to large banks — is at the forefront of this trend.
There's a lot at stake: Cracking the code on big data could lead to larger profits, more market share, and a deeper understanding of customers.
This week, our finance team will bring you a new series focused on how data is reshaping Wall Street:
- Bradley Saacks reports on how hedge funds areso overwhelmed by data that they're turning to an unlikely source to help synthesize it: random people on the internet. He also weighs in on how the maturing hedge-fund industry has encouraged some of the biggest funds to expand their businesses beyond just investment strategies, including spinning off companies that sell data services and artificial intelligence to their competitors.
- Meghan Morris brings you the story of one software startup that's using data and analytics to help traders identify decisions that make money, and avoid those that don't. But, as she learned, it can be hard to persuade some veteran traders to look in the mirror.
- Dan DeFrancesco looks into how the opaque bond market could be the next frontier for the booming alternative-data business.
- And Dakin Campbell spotlights Rob Casper, a JPMorgan executive in charge of one of the largest data projects on Wall Street today.
We'd love to hear your thoughts on the series. Reach us at finance@jkmperu.com.
