Almost all investment managers expect to increase their use of alternative data over the next two years, as firms look to sharpen their edge in alpha generation, according to new research from analytics platform Exabel.
A survey of 100 fund managers and investment analysts across the US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore found that 98% expect alternative data usage to rise, with 19% predicting a dramatic increase. Respondents collectively oversee around $2.4trn in assets.
Nearly three quarters (73%) strongly agree that alternative data is becoming critical to generating new investment ideas, while the remaining 27% slightly agree, signalling broad buy-side consensus on its growing importance.
Employment data and app and web data are viewed as most likely to deliver an informational advantage in the near term. Some 57% of respondents identified employment data as offering an outsized edge, followed by app and web data (46%), social sentiment data (44%) and energy and materials data (40%).
Adoption has accelerated in recent years. While 11% of respondents began using alternative data more than five years ago, 72% started between one and five years ago and 17% only in the past 12 months.
Most firms currently use a limited number of datasets. Around 74% rely on between two and four alternative data sources, 23% use between five and 10, and just 3% use more than 10.
Looking ahead, logistics and shipping data is expected to see the strongest growth, with 47% anticipating dramatic increases in use over the next three years.
Social sentiment and app and web data also rank highly, with 46% expecting dramatic growth in each category. Healthcare, web-scraped, energy and employment data are also expected to see broader uptake.
Tim Harrington, chief executive of BattleFin and Exabel, said alternative data has “moved firmly into the investment mainstream”.
“Particularly strong growth is expected in logistics and shipping, app and web activity and social sentiment data, with employment data, app and web data and social sentiment seen as the categories most likely to deliver informational advantages,” he said.
The findings are based on research commissioned by Exabel in December 2025 and conducted by PureProfile.
