Stick to core skills or risk data overload, says Goldman quant

Data-as-a-service chief says asset managers risk being swamped by new types of information

Asset managers must get picky about how they handle new types of data in their investment strategies or risk being overwhelmed by the workload, according to a quant tasked with selling Goldman Sachs’ internal data.

Explosive growth in the volume of so-called alternative data, coupled with cheaper computing power and advances in machine learning-powered analytics, promises to help quant investors in areas from risk management to building new strategies to generate alpha.

But firms need to stick