Big Data is the Big B

Data was, is and will always be the deciding factor in decision making

In the early days of marketing, surveys were carried out by marketing research companies, who gave away free samples in return. The details shared by the respondents would form valuable data for the research companies and their clients. If we go back to the early days of the internet, when we signed up for free accounts from email service providers, online dating and matchmaking websites against certain terms and conditions, what we were doing was giving our data to these providers. This data was eagerly lapped up by the industry, which would use it to create their digital marketing strategy, launch new products or get critical consumer insights.

I would like to put down a very recent  similar influence in the finance industry. The novice investors are influenced by the latest technologies and  are constantly looking for ways to enjoy the benefits of flourishing equity markets by investing in them.

A couple of new startups and Financial services companies are taking advantage of the very same technology and predicting the outcome of the markets and passing the details to those who are interested. The newbie investors receive this information in the form of stock tips or alerts. This information is based on deep calculations of the big data from the equity market by the financial companies.

At times even I have taken investment decisions based on these alerts. But I would like to warn that caution must be taken before investing and one must identify the authenticity of the sources and be aware of the level of risk involved before investing. In FY18 alone, close to 4 million new demat accounts are  opened as against the previous record of 3 million accounts in 2007-2008. This was seen as a huge business opportunity for brokerage firms, who have stepped up efforts to cash in with a push from technology. As a result it is observed that established brokerage firms are aggressively investing in technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data and analytics, social media to create these tools called  chatbots, virtual assistants and so on. And their target audience are specifically the tech-savvy millennials with large disposable incomes, who are looking at the stock market to create more value.

Through  these bots, one can directly  invest in mutual funds, check the portfolio, view recommendations and get real time prices and possibly even make stock investments via these chat bots.

This is just one random example from finance industry.  There are several such instances where the big data can be exploited to gather intelligence and up your game for the long run.