WHAT WE DO  –  Quant Visualization Is The Core

As Visual Quants we execute our passion, which is to create and offer Visual Finance Solutions to professionals, in order to help them optimally communicate and market their quant products. The core of which is Quant Visualization. We cannot better demonstrate visually what we do than by the animation above with the famous Rubik’s Cube!

BENEFITS  –  How Can You Benefit From Our Offerings?

What can our visual finance solutions do and mean for you? Below we sum up what it can do for you and some of the advantages.

• Impress with beautiful and sophisticated visualizations to your existing and/or potential clients and increase your business;

• Genuinely make (quant) finance fun and easier to understand for yourself, your existing clients and potential investors;

• Communicate complex matters in simple common sense, which enables you to be fully transparent and compliant;

• Exploit the full potential of existing and quantitative techniques by being able to communicate them in an accessible way;

• Monitor your investments efficiently and effectively in an engaging, enjoyable and entertaining way and effectively communicate your passion;

• Quickly exploit trading and investment opportunities and on top of that make conveniently motivated wise trading and investment decisions and improve your investment skills;

• Expedition of the investment decision making process.

PROCESS  –  Quant Visualization, How Does It Work?

In short the Quant Visualization process contains three steps, (1) analyze, (2) visualize and (3) utilize. It is important to give each step the attention it needs.

Step 1: Analyze

The process of quant visualization starts with rigorous analysis. This is an important first step, because when not executed the right way you get ‘garbage in, garbage’ out. Therefore, the quantitative techniques used to analyze should be robust, and make sense. It should be fact based (‘fact finding’: asking yourself the more or less philosophical question about what is the reality and continuously questioning assumptions) and as objective as possible.

Also one should take into account its shortcomings. When developing models often assumptions need to be made. Common sense is therefore crucial. One should be aware that conclusions from the analysis are made within that framework of assumptions and be cautious when interpreting the results. One way to execute analyses the way we mean to do it is to learn from nature and evolution.

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” – Albert Einstein.

Furthermore, starting with the raw data, in this step one can turn this data into basic information. The added value here is to add even more by executing the right analyses to even turn this information into enhanced information and so on. This significantly increases the value this information, hence its usefulness.

Step 2: Visualize

When the analyses are done with the highest quality possible, it’s time to communicate the results by using the right visualizations. Now that we have numbers to abstract and complex phenomena in the analysis step, we can convert these numbers into graphical representations of all kind of sorts. The possibilities are limitless and it’s an art (and a science) to choose the ones that best fit the needs of the user.

On top of the above mentioned graphical representations, integrated metaphorical visualizations can enhance the message as you bring it through something are already familiar to. Furthermore, using symbols, shapes and alike separately in a visual also enhances the ‘readiness’ and the observation of information. For the Visual Quant quant visualization captures more than (only) data visualization, which in our view makes a huge difference. For example this extra helps to understand easier, and to memorize.

“It’s about providing the highest possible levels of customer service but not necessarily in giving the customer what he thinks he wants. It’s our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse.’” People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.” – Steve Jobs

Step 3: Utilize

In the last step it’s a matter of using the information presented in the visualizations satisfying your needs. But be careful interpreting the results and drawing conclusions. Use it into the right perspective and don’t take it out of context.

The usefulness can be the clarification of a quant strategy or demonstrating the performance and characteristics of a certain quant fund. The application of the visualizations is limitless (and of course not only limited to the quant area).

FOR WHOM  –  We Are There For Anyone With Visualization Needs

VISUAL QUANT is there for anyone who has visualization needs. However, as we are Quants ourselves we focus on quant oriented businesses.

REPORTING SOLUTIONS  –  How We Can Help You Solve Your Challenges Part 1

How can we help you satisfying your reporting needs? We provide reporting visualizations solutions, which entail the creation of reporting documents, such as investment reports, dashboards, (fund) fact sheets, infographics, RFI’s, RFP’s and presentations. These documents are meant to help businesses explain, communicate their philosophies, strategies and funds but also to provide insight with respect to their competitive advantage and position with respect to their (fair) competitors in the market place in which they operate. Below we sum up the (current) product range.

• Investment Report: clear and clean overview of investments.

• Dashboard: efficiently and effectively monitoring.

• (Enhanced) Fund Fact Sheet: analyses answering fund selector/allocator’s key questions.

• Infographic: graphical representation of information of any kind.

• RFI: development and/or enhancement of your Request for Information by using visualizations.

• RFP: development and/or enhancement of your Request for Proposal by using visualizations.

• Presentation: development of state-of-the-art dynamic visual presentation.

• Market Analysis: analyses answering competitive edge key questions.

• Other: a combination of two or more of the above.

RESOURCES SOLUTIONS  –  How We Can Help You Solve Your Challenges Part 2

How can we help you satisfying your resources needs? On top of the reporting solutions, we can provide resources solutions that make those reporting visualizations dynamic. Resources solutions concern the development of investment software tools that help businesses and people to communicate their investment strategies and help for example Allocators and Fund Selectors to make efficient and effective investment decisions.

WHY US  –  What Makes Us Unique?

We are quants ourselves. Quant finance and visualization is our passion, hence quant visualization is our passion. As a logical consequence we want to be the best in what we do; we understand you and we speak the same language. We have extensive experience as a fund selector, allocator and in communicating complex matters successfully to clients and potential investors. We always did this in a simple and engaging way by using visualizations and common sense. Therefore, we are convinced we can help you to accomplish your commercial goals, and help to fully exploit the right communication of the huge potential innovative quant strategies often have.

“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Steve Jobs

Quantitative analysis and techniques have their shortcomings and we are aware of that. We are facts driven and always question assumption and ask ourselves frequently how things really are. We learn from nature and evolution, and see this as a great source of inspiration and education. For example, why do we have two eyes, two ears an so on – which might be seen as abundant –  although we can hear and see et cetera by only having one? This is because if we lose one, we can still function. What does this learn us about for example optimization, more concrete portfolio construction…?

“Nature builds things that are antifragile. In the case of evolution, nature uses disorder to grow stronger. Occasional starvation or going to the gym also makes you stronger, because you subject your body to stressors and gain from them.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” – Albert Einstein

We want to push that frontier and not just do visualization. We don’t stop by just doing that and want to go that extra mile by adding metaphors (narrative visualizations) among other things and by smarter conversion of data into information and ultimately the true insight you are looking for, keeping things clean and simple.

SUMMARY

• We are quants ourselves, quant visualization is our passion. We can make the most innovative techniques accessible and comprehensive exploiting its full potential;

• We have an extensive experience as fund selectors, allocators, researchers, which – combined with common sense –  enables us to look through their eyes and know what they need;

• We are aware of the shortcomings of quant analysis and are facts driven. Nature and evolution form a great source of inspiration and education;

• We don’t just do visualization. We know how to intelligently and creatively combine various visualization techniques, like data visualization, narrative visualization and metaphorical visualization.

• We are aware that making things simple is a complex and challenging task, but we will do whatever it takes to get there.