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Surge in Alternative Data Budget Confidence

Introduction
The landscape for alternative data budgets appears highly promising as confidence levels soar to a three-year peak, according to the recent findings released in Neudata's 2026 industry report. A staggering 97% of data buyers anticipate that their expenditures on alternative data will either rise or remain constant over the next 12 months. This significant report, titled The Future of Alternative and Market Data 2026, offers a detailed examination of how investment firms are approaching budgeting for alternative and market data, the integration of AI technologies, and the dynamic vendor landscape.

Methodology and Sample
The report's insights are derived from a robust sample size of 191 responses collected from data buyers and providers worldwide—marking Neudata's most extensive survey sample to date. Participants included a diverse range of respondents from quantitative, multi-strategy, discretionary, and macro funds, along with AI research laboratories, showcasing a spectrum of perspectives in the alternative data market. Notably, about 60% of respondents are managing assets exceeding $1 billion.

Key Findings
1. Budget Optimism: The report highlights a remarkable surge in budget optimism, with 97% of data buyers serving as active proponents of increased spending or maintaining their expenditure. This represents a significant uptick from the 89% recorded the previous year, indicating strengthened confidence in the alternative data market's growth prospects.

2. Efficiency Over Performance: The integration of AI into investing approaches continues to develop, with 56% of buyers indicating they measured meaningful returns from their AI deployments over the past year. A majority, specifically 41%, cited efficiency improvements as the primary form of realization attributed to AI, while only 17% believed AI enhanced investment performance itself.

3. MCP Access and Pricing Varieties: The report suggests that while 44% of data providers have made Model Context Protocol (MCP) access prevalent, pricing among these providers remains inconsistent, with over half charging no additional fees for this service.

4. Diverging Perspectives on Data Quality: The quality of data sources remains a contentious issue, as 33% of buyers reported experiencing a decline in data quality over the last one to two years, indicating a split in opinions regarding AI-generated content's potential to compromise data integrity.

5. Deciding Factors for Purchases: When it comes to trial datasets, signal strength plays a pivotal role. Approximately 39% of buyers indicated that the absence of a discernible signal was the leading reason for not transitioning to purchase, surpassing price considerations, which accounted for 25% of the decisions.

Insights from Neudata
Rado Lipuš, CEO and founder of Neudata, reflected on the findings, stating, "Three years of this survey reveal a market that stands with unwavering confidence in the value of alternative and market data. However, what is evolving significantly is the role AI plays in reshaping that market. While efficiency gains from AI have become evident, the implications for data quality and pricing continue to unfold, warranting close observation in the near term."

Implications for the Future
The 2026 edition of The Future of Alternative and Market Data serves as an essential resource for hedge funds, asset managers, data providers, and financial institutions as they navigate this burgeoning landscape of spending decisions, AI integration, and vendor strategy for the forthcoming fiscal year. The comprehensive findings underscore a burgeoning confidence in alternative data, alongside the critical adjustments firms must make to integrate AI's transformative effects into their investment models.

For further reading, the full report can be downloaded directly from Neudata's platform.

About Neudata
For over a decade, Neudata has been a pioneer in providing alternative and market data intelligence, facilitating institutional investors' engagement with diverse datasets sourced from various third-party providers. Their platforms, Scout and Ranger, alongside an extensive consultancy program, continue to help hedge funds and asset managers with their data acquisition and analysis needs.