Where to begin with alternative data

Looking to get started with alternative data? Learn from Barney Bruce-Smythe, Senior Associate at Neudata, as he shares his insights:

Something we occasionally encounter with people just beginning to look at alternative data, is the concept that their data needs are very different to those who are more experienced. And in many respects this is completely valid. There’s likely to be significant differences in things like budget, sourcing, trialling and engineering capacity.

This is then combined with the substantial breadth of the alternative data landscape - understanding where to begin isn’t necessarily clean-cut.

However, despite these differences, and the variety offered by alternative data I don’t think this is reason enough to be perturbed.

Because, although differences in interest and requirements will remain - interestingly - irrespective of investment strategy, we see consistently high demand for 5-10 alternative datasets, that are used pretty universally, which also probably indicates a good ROI. Think things like credit/debt data, web traffic, human capital.

So, actually, regardless of your market position and experience, if you’re wondering whether there’s a handful of alternative datasets that are ‘must have’ - the answer is possibly ‘yes’.

To request a free trial with Neudata, visit: https://www.neudata.co/alternative-data/trial