The IMD Wrap: Talk about ‘live’ data, NAFIS 2024 is here

It was a sunny fall day in London in 2002. I was working on a weekly newsletter called Dealing With Technology (previously known as Trading Technology Week), and I was headed to the first conference organized by our sibling newsletter Inside Market Data to listen to people talk about ticker plants, dumb terminals, real-time and delayed data, and reference data. At the time, these were all subjects I knew nothing about.

Little did I know then that within a year, I’d be working on IMD and editing it for more than a decade before it was ultimately rolled into WatersTechnology.

From that first conference, the event grew to add international events and incorporate awards. In 2007, it was expanded to encompass the subject matter of our then-newly launched sidekick publication Inside Reference Data and rebadged as a series of Financial Information Summits, with events in New York, London, Asia, and smaller events in Chicago and cities across Europe. This included ad hoc panel discussions and briefings, as well as a series of webcasts.

The subjects discussed reflected the changing times and issues that affected the data industry, from ever-present topics like firms struggling to reduce spend and find data that would deliver new sources of alpha, to the low-latency priorities created by the needs of algorithmic and high-frequency trading, and vendor management in an age of consolidation among data providers and exchanges.

That stopped in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and live events disappeared from people’s schedules. But the market and reference data community is a resilient bunch, and was soon clamoring for a return to in-person events, so we resurrected the North American Financial Information Summit (affectionately christened NAFIS, for short) in 2022. This year’s event will take place this week on Thursday, May 16.

This year’s agenda incorporates not only discussions related to traditional data, such as data quality, governance, analytics, the data implications of new regulations, and translating the ubiquitous buzzword of “data-driven culture” from corporate-speak into practical measures, but also topics such as cloud strategies, re-platforming front-office systems, post-trade automation and cybersecurity.

It also kicks off with four (yes, four!) sessions dealing with different aspects of artificial intelligence (AI)—which, a quick search of our archive reveals, has appeared in a whopping 260 stories on our website over the past 12 months—and how it impacts capital markets data and technology professionals. 

First, a keynote from Kristof Horompoly, former head of responsible AI at JP Morgan, on AI model vetting and lifecycle due diligence; then, a panel on the regulatory, compliance, privacy, and responsibility requirements of AI; followed by another keynote by Jay Krish, head of data governance for financial crimes compliance at State Street, on using graph data and generative AI to combat financial crime; and finally, a panel summing up the future of AI in capital markets.

Nope, this definitely ain’t your granddad’s market data conference. And speaking of granddads, it’s not just the topics that are changing, along with the industry’s priorities. 

The faces in the crowd are increasingly new—both new staffers moving into more senior positions as those colleagues who’ve participated for the past two decades move onwards and upwards, and people serving in other roles who now find that the elevated importance and value of data to their organization makes it a part of their remit. 

While I do enjoy catching up with the old “characters” still present—and miss those no longer attending—I’m always intrigued to meet the newcomers and find out how the onward march of data is impacting their roles and responsibilities. So, please, data people, don’t be shy—pull me aside and tell me about yourself and your role.

Aside from some emcee duties—including hosting the Inside Market Data and Inside Reference Data Awards following the conference—I’ll be chairing two discussions on the day. One is a panel and interactive discussion on the cost of data management (which I mentioned in an earlier column). 

The second is a “fireside chat”—unfortunately without the fireside and glass of aged Scotch that I’d prefer—discussing “augmented” data management roles of the future. In short, how the roles of data professionals are changing and evolving.

Note that I say “data professionals,” rather than just market data managers or reference data managers, or even chief data officers, because these roles now encompass not only the traditional tasks of selection, procurement, and implementation of incoming data, but also commercial considerations such as productizing and monetizing a firm’s internal data and analytics to better serve clients, aid decision-making, and ultimately make their other services more “sticky,” while also serving internal data science groups, and contributing to their firm’s regulatory reporting and compliance responsibilities.

Will this lead to individuals expanding their skillsets, or will it lead to an influx of staff with different skills, creating a new profile of data professionals and teams to handle these ever-increasing burdens? 

How will job descriptions and titles change to reflect these new—and no doubt, yet-to-come future—responsibilities? We’re already seeing chief analytics officers, chief data and analytics officers, and chief digital officers. What’s next? Who knows?

Fortunately, joining me in this discussion are three people who just might know the answer: David Woodhead, MD and global head of data product engineering for Aladdin Data at BlackRock, Jennifer Klimko Courant, chief data officer at DWS Asset Management, and Marc Alvarez, MD of Protego Trust. Together, these speakers alone have more than 90 years of experience in the capital markets and data and technology industries. 

For example, Klimko Courant’s previous roles include group CDO and Americas head of technology, data and innovation at Deutsche Bank, while Alvarez has worked on pretty much all sides of the industry at Reuters, TAP Solutions (acquired by Asset Control now named Alveo), Interactive Data, TMX Group and Mizuho Securities, and wrote a book on market data—literally.

Personally, I can’t wait to sit down with them (even without the whiskey!) to pick their brains—and you should, too. Come prepared, bring questions, and be open to sharing your experiences. Because the more you share, the more you’ll get out of the day in return.

Haven’t registered yet? Do it here—quickly! If you have questions you’d like me to ask our panelists or would like to schedule a time to meet on the day, contact me at max.bowie@infopro-digital.com.