Do or die – asset managers take up data science

Firms are scanning an ocean of text and images, as well as big number sets, to grab an edge

In the time it takes the Earth to rotate about its axis, internet users will generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of new data.

That number, a calculation by IBM, is mostly a slag heap of digital dross. But it is a mountain asset managers can no longer afford to ignore. Whether to spin alpha or just survive, asset managers need to separate the meaningful and profitable from the futile and worthless. And if humans can’t do it, a robot will.

“Data science, big data and machine learning are all becoming