Top Questions: BattleFin Discovery Day London

BattleFin hosts its Discovery Day in London on 20-21 November. Check out my questions for the speakers inside.

Nov 19, 2024

The last few data conferences of 2024 are almost here, with BattleFin hosting its Discovery Day in London on November 20th and 21st. https://www.battlefin.com/events/london-2024-alt-data

To help attendees and speakers prepare for the conference, I offer my top questions for each panel below.

Three themes from my questions for BattleFin Discovery Day London

Data Integration and Accessibility
Emerging Technologies and AI
Strategic Decision-Making in Data Sourcing

Welcome to the Data Score newsletter, composed by DataChorus LLC. The newsletter is your go-to source for insights into the world of data-driven decision-making. Whether you're an insight seeker, a unique data company, a software-as-a-service provider, or an investor, this newsletter is for you. I'm Jason DeRise, a seasoned expert in the field of data-driven insights. As one of the first 10 members of UBS Evidence Lab, I was at the forefront of pioneering new ways to generate actionable insights from alternative data. Before that, I successfully built a sell-side equity research franchise based on proprietary data and non-consensus insights. After moving on from UBS Evidence Lab, I’ve remained active in the intersection of data, technology, and financial insights. Through my extensive experience as a purchaser and creator of data, I have gained a unique perspective, which I am sharing through the newsletter.

Day 1 Agenda:

9:00am Data Mosaic: Understanding Consumer / Retail Trends that will drive 2025 returns
How clickstream, footfall, and transaction data can lead to better idea generation and stronger signal
Leveraging data platforms for KPI analysis
SPEAKERS
Tim Harrington, CEO & Co-Founder, BattleFin
Alyssa Lewis Matabeek, Global Revenue Leader, SimilarWeb
Andreas Aglen, CEO, Exabel
Frederica Atkinson, Investor Intelligence, MyTraffic
Sarah Megginson, Head of Commercial - Alternative Data, ExactOne

Question: How can data from each provider be wrangled to allow for easier combinations to create new analytics?

9:40am Using data to understand what Geopolitical risks will affect Europe in 2025
Understanding Russian and Ukrainian Economic Dynamics Through the Data
Middle East tension
China
SPEAKERS
Tim Harrington, CEO & Co-Founder, BattleFin
Kevin Loane, Head of Product Development, Fathom Financial Consulting

Question: What are the latest trends covered by supply chain data, and have there been any recent changes in the last few weeks?

10:10am Generative AI Tools for Alpha Generation
In Earnings Calls, firms whose executives directly address analysts’ questions and remain on-topic outperform their off-topic peers, as focused communication enhances clarity and investor confidence.
Firms where analysts stick to the script in the executives' pre-prepared remarks on the earnings call outperform those where the analyst goes off-script. Off-script questions indicate the analyst is seeking additional information, leading to potential gaps in communication and transparency.
Firms where both executives remain on topic to the question asked and analysts remain on script outperform their off topic and off script peers.
SPEAKERS
Liam Hynes, Global Head of New Product Development, S&P Global Market Intelligence
Henry Chiang, Quantitative Analysis Associate, S&P Global Market Intelligence

Question: Do the analytics described in the talk suggest that Investor Relations teams can get ahead of earnings call sentiment data by optimizing their scripts based on NLP models? Should investors simply ignore the prepared marks sentiment and only look at sentiment in the Q&A section?

(I would note that there are times when investor relations want to make sure the market understands “negative” news properly too. It’s important for the IR team to set expectations properly instead of setting up a consensus expectation that’s not possible to achieve, so we should consider that “sentiment gaming” doesn’t automatically mean “positive spin.” This could be an area for more research to parse the intentions of the communications from the tone of the communication.)

11:00AM Energy Data Mosaic - Decline or Endurance
The future of Oil and Gas predictions
How will electricity growth of 4% in 2025 affect the Energy markets
Using data to track global oil and gas supply and demand
SPEAKERS
Tim Harrington, CEO & Co-Founder, BattleFin
Wayne Bryan, Research Principal, European Gas Research, LSEG
Timothy Crump, Research Lead, Supply Chain & Commodities Research LSEG

Question: Does the data show any surprising imbalances between supply and demand at the geography level, where an incremental change on either side of the equation could lead to unexpected price moves?

11:30AM Data Solution Spotlight - PostSig
Analyzing the post-signature pain points of alternative data
Mitigating Risks and maximizing contract value
SPEAKERS
Hendrik Bartel, CEO, PostSig

Question: What are the most common revisions to alternative data contracts that data sourcing professionals should be aware of?

11:45AM Data Strategy Panel - Sourcing for Quantitative vs Fundamental Strategies
Understanding the pain points that come with data sourcing
Sourcing data for Quantitative vs Fundamental Strategies
SPEAKERS
Sam Livingstone, Head of Quantitative Strategies, Ambienta
Stewart Stimson, Head of Data Strategy, Jump Trading
Amy Dafnis, Data Scout, Rokos Capital Management

Question: How do systematic funds focused on European markets differ (if at all) from those based in the US in the types of data ingested, and how is it factored into the models?

Day 2 Agenda:

9:00AM Understanding the Total Cost of Data Ownership (TCO)
Planning and budgeting for 2025
Data keeps growing but teams are the same size. How to scale, compete and survive
SPEAKERS
Tim Harrington, CEO & Co-Founder, BattleFin
Stuart Brown, Group Head of Data & Feeds, LSEG
Stewart Stimson, Head of Data Strategy, Jump Trading

Question: Is the cost of data wrangling shifting more to providers to enable buyers to ingest larger datasets? If so, how are the economics of that effort split (e.g., higher prices charged or the same price allowing data buyers to benefit)?

9:30AM Trends around LLM's and AI that will affect Hedge Funds and PE firms in 2025
Leveraging an NLP engine to increase accuracy
How will API's allow increased scale
SPEAKERS
Richard Goldman, Global Head of Sales Strategy & Execution for Quantitative Analytics, LSEG
Richard Peterson, Director, MarketPsych

Question: Will productionalized large language models leveraged across the asset management industry result in a more level playing field between large and small data teams on the buyside?

10:00AM Using data to predict and track Company KPIs
How can analysts and funds get an increased level of transparency into company fundamentals?
SPEAKERS
Tim Harrington, CEO & Co-Founder, BattleFin
Andreas Aglen, CEO, Exabel
Mark Thompson, Primary Research, Norges Bank Investment Management

Question: Many investors use alternative data to predict company revenues as a KPI that can move the share price. But which company KPIs move share prices, and alternative data exists as a proxy, but many investors are not aware of the data and use case?

10:45AM Maximizing the value of Cloud to gain better insight into the markets
Big Data Problems
Customer Challenges
Is Cloud the Solution?
SPEAKERS
Rob Lane, Global Head of Business Execution, Low Latency, LS
Bilal Karaduman, Principal Solutions Architect, Financial Services, Amazon Web Services

Question: Under what conditions would a cloud solution not be appropriate?

11:15AM New Data Provider Showcase
Have a new dataset that you want to sell to Finance or the Corporate world?
SPEAKERS
Mark Fleming-Williams, Head of Data Sourcing, Capital Fund Management

Question: Do the data providers that impress get a guest spot on Mark’s Alternative Data Podcast? Just kidding!

What questions would you ask? Leave a comment below.

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