#alternative-data

#alternative-data

NANC bets that political insiders with proximity to regulation, defense contracts, and committee hearings own quality compounders. The portfolio looks like a tech-heavy S&P 500. The top five positions are NVIDIA at 10.44%, Microsoft at 7.88%, Alphabet at 4.88%, Amazon at 4.84%, and Apple at 3.98%, with names like American Express, Salesforce, Philip Morris, and Netflix filling the top ten. The fund holds roughly $255 million and charges 0.74%.

The lawsuits, which centered on claims that two employees stole trade secrets from one rival and passed them on to another, rocked the alternative data world. These firms have grown in scale and revenue as hedge funds and asset managers use their datasets to find differentiated intel to inform bets. Yet, it remains a relatively small industry where everyone knows everyone.

"When we started out, the problem we were trying to solve was, 'How can we make underwriting smarter, faster, so that these entrepreneurs get access to capital?'" Gammage, CEO, said. "We wanted a world where money moved freely like it did in other verticals. We came in with a borrower-centric experience, whereas a lot of companies were focused on 'how do we make this work for lenders.'"

Experian said this week it will make VantageScore 4.0 available at no cost indefinitely, pledging that if it ever begins charging, its pricing will remain at least 50% lower than FICO's. A week earlier, Equifax said it will offer VantageScore 4.0 at $4.50 per score through 2027, while also providing it for free through 2026 to customers who purchase FICO scores during that period.

The credit industry is shifting how it evaluates borrowers. Traditional credit scoring has left over a billion people without access to financial services, but lenders are increasingly turning to alternative data-bank transactions, spending patterns, real-time financial behavior-to make more informed decisions about creditworthiness.