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Theme that emerged in this week’s email is … data discovery remains a challenge.
QUOTES
“The generative AI era does not call for a fundamental shift in data strategy. It calls for an acceleration of the trend toward breaking down silos and opening access to data sources wherever they might be in the organization.” - Jennifer Belissent, Principal Data Strategist, Snowflake
News Articles
Podcasts
Cool Charts
Final Thoughts (xxx)
#1 – SnowFlake’s Michael Rhodes published Part 2: How Alternative Data providers are breaking down friction points and becoming mainstream. February 2024.
My Take: First Part 1 here. The article highlights challenges and opportunities of alternative data. Discoverability & engineering (ingestion, organization, infrastructure) remains a challenge for most users of data. The industry is in the process of moving from alpha generation from your ability to manage data, to alpha generation from asking the best questions of the data.
See related SnowFlake story Are You Doing Your Data Sourcing Right? You Better! (From March 2023).
#2 – Alex Izydorczyk’s Why Credit Card Data still makes money. February 2024.
My Take: The subtitle of Alex’s article is “And, why commoditization of alternative data is a lazy argument”. There is so much value from alt data that has yet to be unlocked due to lack of infrastructure and talent (see above article). The big investment firms have an advantage simply due to scale. Tools are getting better and more affordable, which is starting to level the playing field, and judging by the growth in undergrad and grad investment classes focusing on data, the talent in coming our way. The firms that understand the data and ask the best questions of the data will win.
#3 – Three Data Point Thursday published 3 Actionable Tactics To Create A Good Data Strategy. February 1, 2024.
My Take: This one gets bookmarked. In my experience data quickly gets overwhelming. Strong processes and models help remove the noise and focus you only on the important. Most interesting is the idea of a pipeline analysis and figuring out where you can find the most leverage.
BONUS: Matthew Bernath’s How to Monetise Data in 2024. January 2024. “Data collaboration between companies using data ecosystems in 2024 promises to revolutionize how data is shared, managed, and utilized, leading to substantial advancements in various industries.”
What else I am reading:
It’s Pronounced Data’s Degenerative AI. February 2024.
Bloomberg Law published FTC Moves to Ban Location Data Sales Raise New Broker Duties. February 2024.
Nomad Data’s AI Data Concierges to the Rescue. February 2024.
Nomad Data’s AI’s hunger games - A lucrative data market is exploding to feed insatiable LLMs. February 2024.
IFR’s OPINION – Jane Street is beating banks at their own game. February 2024.
Vin Vashishta’s Who’s Hiring And Paying The Best For Data Roles?. February 2024.
April 4th - QuantVision 2024: Fordham’s Quantitative Conference
Source: Masters in Business podcast interviewed Linda Gibson, CEO of PGIM. November 2023.
My Take: This was an interesting conversation about someone who has had an interesting career. There was a good mix of personal background & professional insights. OF most interesting to me was the discussion around the fusion of the art & science of quant investing. Linda likes people who are the following: Be bright. Be brief. Be gone. There was an interesting conversation around how PGIM is organized. They can customize for each client. Risk mgmt is a big deal. They (and quants generally) looking for series of small wins vs big swings … but at the end of the day, it depends on the product and what clients are looking for.
For WFH thoughts … tough to build relationships over zoom (I agree). She does short videos to tell employees what she is thinking and what she is doing, but stressed the importance of being in the office and balancing flexibility. Her mentor was militant about balancing business life and personal life.
Personally, she started at MFS … before she went to law school, comes from long line of attorney’s, didn’t want to practice law after law school. In-house for signature financial group (same group she worked for at MFS that had since left MFS). Moved to “UAM”. Mutual fund general counsel where she managed smart people and introverts. 17 years at insurance owned boutique prepped her to be CEO at PGIM Quant Solutions
Highlights (60-minute run time):
Minute 03:30 - Linda’s background
Minute 12:30 - learning the art of negotiating
Minute 14:00 - how did experience prep Linda for current role at PGIM; managing smart people & introverts
Minute 16:00 - building distribution team to raise AUM
Minute 19:00 - discussion of her role at PGIM
Minute 24:00 - typical background for leaders in quant investing firms
Minute 25:00 - differences between managing attorneys vs quant investors
Minute 27:00 - being positive, especially with distribution people (sales)
Minute 28:00 - how is PGIM organized?
Minute 31:30 - impact of diversification; lack of emotional bias with quant investing
Minute 35:00 - customizable solutions
Minute 37:00 - client make up (1/2 large institutions)
Minute 42:30 - importance of softer skills
Minute 46:00 - hybrid vs in office; building culture
Minute 48:00 - leading as a woman in traditionally male-dominated field
Minute 50:00 - what is Linda streaming right now
Minute 53:00 - importance of mentors
Minute 55:00 - list of books reading (longevity)
Minute 57:00 - advice for recent grads (network, network, network; depends on interest)
BONUS: Babel Street’s own Brian O’Keefe was interviewed by KGK & Company. Building The World’s Best Data Drilling Operation with Brian O’Keefe. January 2024.
Source: Seattle Data Guy’s Navigating the Pitfalls of Data Projects. February 2024.
I thought this was an interesting article. Of most interest to me was the idea that you need to tell people about your projects. This is often easier said than done. It is tough to tell the world about your idea, that is putting yourself ‘out there’ and risk looking dumb. This is risk worth taking. You’ll gain the respect of peers and learn a ton to refine your idea.
“If you’re working on a project that no one knows exists, it’s not worth working on.”
Big Picture vs Little Picture
I recently came across this very rosy alternative data market research report1. I’ll see these types of reports occasionally … there are so many assumptions that it is tough to draw high confidence conclusions beyond the belief that there is a market tailwind behind those selling alterative data to decision-makers.
I’ve determined time is better spent focusing on the Little Picture … which I define as my personal goals & Babel Street’s goals … things I can impact.
When I get caught up in the rosy big picture, I either get frustrated if not keeping up with optimistic market growth forecasts … or … risk losing focus on those things I can do to get better.
Stay focused.
Source: ResearchAndMarkets.com