In the world of investing, money managers are searching high and low for new sources of information that may provide an untapped source for creating Alpha.  These data sources are called Alternative Data because they are beyond the typical company filings, earnings calls, or fundamental datasets. Investors are looking for new signals which may give them an edge over their competitors.

The most pervasive users are algorithmic traders, fundamental firms, or quants, who use the data to build computer models to trade various assets, but mainly equities. Over the last decade, the sources of alternative data have expanded dramatically. The most deployed alternative datasets are web scraped data, credit card data, and consumer sentiment data. 

ForwardKeys has broken into the Alternative Data scene, much to the delight of fund managers, with its Global Actual Air Reservation and Seat Capacity data services (licensed datasets).

“For traders or portfolio managers, we have two editions that may be of interest to them. One is the Airport Terminal, looking at airport traffic from the perspective of a duty-free operator or travel retail store using airline and GDS data. While the other edition examines the Visitors to key destinations with a high dependency on tourism,” explains Maria Rodrigues, Business Development Director of Finance and Media Agencies.

The Visitor Edition can help you understand the future booking trends to any destination, looking at the type of travellers and their travel preferences. If your portfolio includes holding groups, theme parks, and casinos, this data is guaranteed to impact your business decisions on behalf of your client.

A recent MarketWatch article pegged total Alternative Data spending for buy-side firms at $1.1 billion in 2019 and projected sales of $1.7 billion for 2020. With the prolonged pandemic shifting the way people travel and the cost of oil reserves, the investment in Alternative Data will only increase in 2021 and beyond.

Have you tapped into the data at ForwardKeys for your portfolio? Remember, it is not just hedge funds that profit from Alternative Data. All kinds of businesses can use Alternative Data to increase returns — and the most innovative companies have realized that Alternative Data holds the key to maximizing their competitive advantage. Data science analyses that leverage Alternative Data outperform benchmarks about 13% better than traditional approaches to analytics.

“Now, you can fill in the gaps in your analysis for a more granular, more real-time, and more accurate recommendation. Our data is delivered and updated weekly with historical data from 2008 and forward-looking data for 12 months,” adds Rodrigues.

Up your competitive edge and reach your Alpha this year, contact us.