Doubtful of China’s economic numbers? Alternative data can help

Quartz

The Chinese government is notorious for doctoring its official statistics. As a result, China’s data releases are often greeted with skepticism by economists. Quartz unveils several datasets — including Quandl’s own iron ore data feed — that provide a clearer picture. Read More

Amazon wins patent for data feed marketplace that could include bitcoin transactions

CNBC

Amazon’s filing for a patent that can correlate different data streams and sell the combined feed as a subscription was approved this week. The filing referenced bitcoin transactions twice as possible applications. Read More

How are the tectonic plates of active management shifting in 2018?

Hedgeweek

The alternative funds industry continues to move in response to market trends, technology innovation, continuing regulation and the ever-shifting whims and desires of institutional investors. Read More

Race is on to grab most alpha from machine learning

Pensions & Investments

But only a handful of money managers are using machine learning meaningfully in portfolio construction. This article provides insight and use cases on how to leverage the power of AI. Read More

BlackRock is hiring — and paying better too

eFinancialCareers

Employee compensation at BlackRock increased by roughly $100 million during the first quarter of 2018. The fund manager paid out more than $1.12 billion to employees during Q1, buoyed by a 16% uptick in year-over-year revenue. Read More

Two Sigma hires Google scientist for AI expansion

Bloomberg Markets

In the talent war between financial firms and Silicon Valley, Two Sigma has hired a hard-to-find AI expert with years of experience. The $52 billion quantitative hedge fund hired Mike Schuster, who worked on the Google Brain team, to expand their AI capabilities. Read More

Point72 Ventures backs new trading site that combats high-speed traders

CNBC

The private equity arm of Steven Cohen’s firm invested an undisclosed amount of money in Imperative Execution, which is building a so-called dark pool where orders to buy and sell stocks are protected from traders hunting down bids and offers. Read More

Broad adoption of AI and alternative data will mean better beta for all investors

Pensions & Investments

AI and alternative data will soon no longer provide an edge for the investment community — with widespread adoption, they will quickly become table stakes. Read More