From trends in transaction data to tracking the labour market, we recap the 10 most-read Intelligence reports of 2021. We also hear directly from Neudata's analysts to understand why these 10 were the breakout reports amongst our clients.

In a January 2022 intelligence piece, we highlighted 10 alternative data products that may not survive 2022. Whether their predicted demise was down to management issues, regulatory challenges or lack of commercial success, our hopes were not high for any of the companies. In this follow-up, we look at how they actually fared in 2022 and whether our future gazing got it right.

COP 15, the UN’s biodiversity summit, kicked off last week with a warning from its secretary-general: the degradation of our ecosystem would cost the world $3tn annually by 2030. We share some of our research highlights on the challenges investors face when considering biodiversity in the investment process. We also summarise the data sources that help quantify biodiversity impacts and assign accountability to specific organisations and financial securities.

China’s ambition to become an AI technology leader is widely known. But how far has the application of NLP evolved in the country’s alternative data space? In this intelligence report, we look at popular AI use cases in China, discuss how to assess NLP data vendors, and list three emerging NLP-related services.

Smaller panel sizes and the complexity of working with e-receipt data initially inhibited its adoption. However, recent changes in payments have created a need for the data. The increasing sophistication of e-receipt providers has also made the data more accessible to investors. This intelligence piece considers the advantages and disadvantages of e-receipt data, the current provider landscape and emerging use cases.

While China’s data security law may be hindering international buyers from accessing data sourced within the country, domestic users remain unaffected. Among them, Chinese mutual funds are increasingly using alternative data to guide their investment strategies. In this report, we use a sample of Chinese mutual funds to discover popular dataset types, how they’re being used and other trends in the space.

Among ruptured gas pipelines and persistent chip shortages, attention can be drawn away from other supply chain issues. This includes ESG risks such as forced labour and human rights abuses, emissions and pollution, and lacklustre transparency and oversight. In this report, we discuss the potential role of alternative ESG data when analysing supply chain issues.

The aftermath of Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine have resulted in shipping delays and a shortage of workers and materials – just a few of many factors impacting the automotive manufacturing industry. In this intelligence piece, we outline alternative datasets that can be used to monitor the health of the automotive supply chain and predict market changes.

In this report, we summarise the popular ESG datasets for high-frequency trading, based on client traction and clickstream activity on Neudata Scout. We also outline the common issues with integrating ESG data across quantitative strategies and highlight the alternative sources that can help overcome these challenges.

Transactional datasets remain the most popular category within the alternative data landscape. From major panel disruptions to strategic acquisitions and pricing updates, consumer credit and debit card transaction data has seen much activity throughout 2022. In this report, we provide an overview of the significant developments within the US and UK-EU consumer transaction space.