The new round of technological revolution and the financial reform are forming a historic intersection. The rapid development of AI, big data, blockchain and other technologies has profoundly driven the in-depth integration of technology and finance, and the application of alternative data has a wide and far-reaching impact on the economic and financial pattern. The Greater China Conference on Alternative Investments & Alternative Data was held in Beijing from July 30-31, 2019. Elites and experts from globally renowned financial institutions, research institutions, universities and fintech enterprises gather together to discuss the application of cutting-edge fintech, and explore the value of alternative data and the future of fintech industry.

Alternative data expands imagination space and financial quantification continues to deepen the development of financial industry at home and abroad is inseparable from the promotion of core technology. In the field of quantitative investment, quantitative strategies have been constantly enriched since 2016, and the size of global quantitative funds has reached USD 60 billion. Eric Yu, CEO of Global Tone Communication Technology Co., Ltd. (GTCOM), described fintech and alternative data from a frontier perspective in the section on financial companies and leadership perspectives.

▲ Eric Yu, CEO of GTCOM

Mr. Yu asserted that China's financial market is opening up and that the process of globalization is accelerating. In the new blue ocean of fintech, GTCOM--based on its vast data assets and industry-leading cross-language natural-language processing, the technological advantages of AI and big data--builds alternative data analysis models, creates opportunities for investors to discover investments from alternative data, and makes the best investment strategies in global perspective, so as to build trading strategies based on alternative data and the complete index development fintech ecosystem. In the field of financial regulation, GTCOM builds a fintech knowledge-graphing platform using global open data, in order to help investors predict and discover risks in the investment process, business objects, market environment and other aspects, and promote financial regulation based on technology.

International vision heralds reform of financial investment

With the globalization of China's capital market, fintech companies, asset management companies and business leaders actively respond to changes in the financial industry and deeply analyze innovative scenario-based applications from a reasoned, global purview.

▲ Stephen Davison, managing director, Head of China Strategy, JPMorgan

▲ Yang Delong, chief economist, First Seafront Fund Management Co., Ltd.

Special commentator at CCTV

Member of the Chief Economist Committee, SAC

▲ Clemens Thym, COO, China S&P Global 

Stephen Davison said the regulatory environment of the Chinese market must be actively integrated, and that a global financial company needs to actively adapt to the experience environment of customers to obtain more market opportunities. Yang Delong noted that, given the application of AI, the A-share market will meet the trend through quantitative means. Users can make short-term investment according to quantitative indicators and models. Currently, passive products are increasingly popular among institutions. Clemens Thym believed that changes in Chinese regulators have provided a basis for global capital to enter the nation's capital market. As China's capital market becomes more open, global enterprises need to change the way they operate in China, give full play to their strengths and adapt to the local market.

Explore the future trend in alternative data and improve competitive advantage

The value of alternative data has been noted and applied by global financial quantification giants in the emergent era of big-data investment management. In the future, alternative data will play an increasingly important role in financial services. How to effectively use the new ecosystem composed of alternative data to promote asset portfolio allocation, optimization risk management, and bring better investment results to customers has become a hot topic of public concern.

▲ Thomas Nigro, Sales Director, GTCOM US

▲ Dan Li, Deputy Director of DataLab, Harvest Fund Management

▲ Elaine Ng, Executive Director, MSCI 

Thomas Nigro said the use of alternative data is an opportunity for people working in the financial industry, and technologies such as machine learning and alternative data are driving the global exchange of fintech. Dan Li believed that investment research will shift from human-centered small sample process to man-machine interaction process based on big-data methodology. In the future, data will be stored, processed and analyzed through knowledge graphing. Elaine Ng noted that 45% of a company's assessments are based on alternative data. Big data is everywhere. Signals need to be judged, noise eliminated, and alternative data used to address risks and eliminate them from the portfolio.

Explore AI big-data technology and drive the development of fintech through innovation

In order to explore the application scenarios of new technologies such as big data, machine learning and AI in wealth management, more and more companies take technologies such as AI big data as the driving force and combine technology with financial application, so as to improve the efficiency and income of companies and embrace the digital revolution of fintech.

▲ Alvin Chua, Managing director

Global Head of Sales, Trading and Research, BOCI

▲ Jeff Li, CPO, Lufax Group

▲ Leo Wu, Sales Director, China, Fitch Solutions 

As to the matter of how to implement AI and big data in the financial sector, Alvin Chua said AI and big data are still imperfect, so it's necessary to filter noise data, use information rationally and conduct transactions with the help of technological progress. Jeff Li mentioned that product building can't be separated from big data. Traditional data and alternative data should be combined to jointly promote the reform of financial models and customize everyone's investment plan. Leo Wu noted that the world is developing faster, and the real economy is more based on data, so it's very critical to use a system to monitor all the information in real time and guide decisions at any time.

The development of new technologies has injected vitality into the financial sector. Alternative data applications are being extended to investment strategies, the development of AI, algorithms of financial analysis and other technologies, the in-depth application of big data in industries, and the constant innovation and evolution of business models of the financial sector. As a pioneer in fintech, GTCOM will conduct mining and analysis of huge amounts of alternative data worldwide through advanced natural-language processing and semantic computing technologies, explore the infinite possibilities brought by AI big data to the financial field, and continue to promote the innovative development of the financial sector with new technologies that capitalize on alternative data.