The Alternative Data Podcast

Join Abraham Thomas, co-founder of Quandl and a pioneer in alternative data, as he shares his incredible journey from experiencing war in Kuwait to thriving in the hedge fund world in Japan. He discusses the resilience gained from overcoming adversity and its impact on hiring practices. Discover how Quandl was born from the frustration over data accessibility, leading to innovative models that transformed financial data provisioning. Abraham also reflects on the future of alternative data and its growing significance in modern investing.

In this episode I speak to Michael Recce. Michael has had a varied career in the alternative data space, with a background in artificial intelligence academia and advertising technology before moving into the hedge fund space with Point72. Michael has created data science teams for a hedge fund, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, and the traditional asset manager Neuberger Berman, giving him a unique insight into the challenges involved, as well as a multi-perspective view of the alternative data scene.Separately, I have written a blog post about "The Past, Present and Future of Alternative Data", which can be found in the episode links. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I speak to Kelly Koscuiszka of the law firm Schulte, Roth & Zabel. Kelly is a specialist in all the legal matters surrounding the alternative data sector, and in our conversation we embarked on a tour of the regulatory horizon.During our journey we touched on insider trading laws, the hiQ-LinkedIn web-scraping case, privacy issues, and the best ways that alternative data buyers and providers can protect themselves in a shifting legal environment.Separately, I have written a blog post about "The Past, Present and Future of Alternative Data", which can be found in the episode links. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I’m joined by Elizabeth Pritchard, who is topping all the alternative data ‘people moves’ lists following her announcement as the new CEO at Bitvore.Elizabeth is well-established in alternative data. Having first entered this world as Global Head of Market Data at Goldman Sachs, she went on to co-found Crux Informatics and then White Rock Data. In our conversation we talked about her experience at Goldman, as well as some big picture thinking about the future of alternative data. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I speak to Gene Ekster of Alt DG. Gene has been in alternative data pretty much since the beginning, and he even has a claim to having named the sector for a Wall Street Journal article.In our conversation, Gene and I discuss the past, present and future of alternative data, as well as his data cleaning company Alt DG and his experience teaching alternative data at NYU. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I speak to Spenser Marshall of M Science. M Science is one of the more established players in the alternative data world, having been first founded as Majestic Research back in 2002. In our conversation, Spenser and I explore the company’s historical development, current offering, client-base, and we touch on some use cases of M Science’s data. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I speak to Alexander Denev, co-author of The Book of Alternative Data and until recently a lecturer in the subject at Oxford University.Alexander’s alternative data experience is vast, and in our conversation we cover a range of topics and use cases: from how to differentiate causality from correlation, to the use of alternative data to make predictions about the oil price, to the use of survey data in a model, to Fair AI and the future of Alternative Data. As an aside I would like to congratulate previous guest JP Gravitt on gaining a new position with Neuravest.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I speak to Thani Shamsi of Datarade, a data marketplace based out of Berlin. In our conversation, Thani and I talk about the efficiencies needed to unleash alternative data even more, advantages and challenges of being based in Europe, and the GDPR and Europe’s regulatory approach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I speak to Hendrik Bartel, founder of TruValue Labs - an ESG data provider which has recently been acquired by Factset.In our conversation, Hendrik and I discuss the evolution and future of the ESG space, with reference to the area’s history, coverage and clientele.If you find this conversation interesting and are left with follow-up questions, please join Hendrik and I for an Ask Me Anything session on Clubhouse on Wednesday 7th April at 17.30 GMT. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this emergency two-part episode around the ongoing Suez Canal event I speak to two alternative data providers that are perfectly positioned to provide insight to investors.First up, I speak to Stellios Stratidakis of MarineTraffic, a company that maps the data provided via the transponders aboard all the ships afloat at any given time. Along with the historical data and additional intelligence it layers on top, MarineTraffic should be the first port of call for anyone seeking to understand the situation on the water.In the second part I speak to Philippe Pagnotta of Shipfix, a data provider more focused on the order and pricing data related to the shipping markets, with a particular focus on the dry sector. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.