A Comprehensive Data and Analysis Platform for a Global Hedge Fund

Philip Zecher

EQA Partners, LP

Abstract

The life blood of a financial asset management business is the continuous flow of complex data. Yet many firms still rely on a hodgepodge of disjointed systems, with an often impenetrable array of interconnections to support their business. EQA Partners, LP, a Connecticut-based hedge fund manager, has taken a comprehensive view of the data flow, from market data to portfolio modeling, trading, reporting and analysis, and ultimately communicating back to investors, integrating the processes into a single Mathematica package that supports all functions of the company.  Using a combination of webMathematica, Mathematica Player, and Mathematica's front end, in conjunction with a PostgreSQL data warehouse, the package provides a consistent framework and easily accessible data/business objects.  This reduces errors associated with having to merge data sources and different analysis platforms with a single point of entry for all external data, improving both timeliness and reporting accuracy. The nature of working in Mathematica's front end also greatly improves the documentation of all processes and analysis compared to ordinary complied code applications. The different functions within a hedge fund are outlined below, along with a discussion and examples of how the Mathematica package is utilized, including the benefits of using Mathematica over more traditional technologies.