We discuss the key regulatory issues concerning the collection, processing and usage of geolocation data. Starting with the definition of geolocation data as ‘personal data’, we draw attention to several cautionary tales of data misappropriation or privacy leakage, before discussing best practices according to GDPR, as well as the logistical and legal challenges associated with data anonymization. We also draw attention to several future policy developments that should be on the radar of any informed user of geolocation data.

In this report we argue why paying attention to company diversity can yield value to investors. In short, we provide evidence that suggests 1) board and managerial diversity has a positive correlation to financial performance, 2) increasing regulatory requirements on diversity disclosures is set to drive the growth of diversity-based financial products, and 3) this will likely impact company valuations, as well as the ability for certain companies to raise capital.

Our roundup of some of the most interesting alternative data provider updates over the past month. Examples include: EU-US Privacy Shield issues, lawsuits between power data providers and a case study showing huge disparities between three ESG vendors.

We explore the idea that companies with higher levels of customer satisfaction generate superior returns at lower systematic risk based on two research studies, one of which analyses the relationship between customer satisfaction and stock market returns over a 15-year period. We highlight key findings, illustrating the stock-specific use cases for customer satisfaction data. We also highlight a number of alternative data providers who offer measures of customer satisfaction.

We discuss the Skyscraper Index - the principle that the world’s tallest buildings are often completed on or around the precipice of economic downturns, making it a useful leading macroeconomic indicator. We also examine whether there is any merit to construction activity data, in general, being an indicator of economic growth, whilst highlighting a few relevant alternative data sources for readers interested in incorporating such data into their decision-making processes.

In the first part of this series, we introduced the ways in which location information (ideally coordinate-based) is generated and subsequently made available to third parties. In the second part, we provide an overview of the technologies and challenges associated with contextualizing raw location data.

We discuss whether art auction prices (and in particular Sotheby’s stock price) is indicative of global overconfidence, or whether such data points add little, if any, value to macro investors. We also identify four relevant alternative data sources that can be leveraged by readers interested in incorporating such data into their decision-making processes.

Our roundup of some of the most interesting alternative data provider updates over the past month. Examples include: a US debit & credit card data provider losing distribution rights, a software analysis provider gaining client traction and a permanency risk warning flag in the world of broadcast data.