vBase Blog

ALTERNATIVE DATA DATA PROVENANCE POINT-IN-TIME QUANT DATA

Why alternative data trials fail

Most alt data evaluations stall on packaging, not signal quality. Here's why, and what providers can do about it.

Vintage-style US map showing six colored regions labeled with data assets: ERP/CRM, Text Archives, Document Workflows, Research Archives, Operational Exhaust, and Multimodal Data, with example contents for each (e.g., ERP/CRM—ERP, CRM, compliance databases; Text Archives—transcripts, notes; Document Workflows—contracts, filings; Research Archives—analyst notes; Operational Exhaust—logs, clickstreams; Multimodal Data—audio, video, images).

If data is oil, AI is the shale revolution

LLMs cut the cost of turning unstructured data into investor-ready signals by 5-100x. Data that was previously stranded may now be a valuable asset.

ALTERNATIVE DATA DATA MONETIZATION LLM

Bar chart showing annualized alpha decay for commercial LLMs versus point-in-time models in the Look-Ahead-Bench benchmark

Your LLM’s alpha might be mere memorization

Commercial LLMs can generate impressive backtest alpha — until the test window moves past their training cutoff. What looks like edge may just be memorization.

ALTERNATIVE DATA DATA SCIENCE FINANCIAL DATA CREDIBILITY

Non-PIT data leads to great in-sample results which often fail in live trading.

Why quants pay more for point-in-time data

Quant investors pay up for verified, point-in-time data, because only PIT can recreate the past faithfully and turn backtests into real trading edge.

ALTERNATIVE DATA DATA SCIENCE POINT-IN-TIME

Whose data is worth more?

Data with validated provenance is worth more. A lot more in some cases

DATA SCIENCE QUANT DATA

Stop using brokerage statements to show your track record

Many traders use brokerage statements to create a verifiable track record. Unfortunately they are not credible for this purpose. A better alternative exists.

DATA INTEGRITY DATA SCIENCE TOP