| Dear readers, Our hedge-fund reporter Bradley Saacks' profile of the hedge-fund data buyer, a little known but increasingly important job in the investing world, is a can't-miss story this week. Bradley trailed a guy named Roberto Jedreicich, the "chief data buyer" for Credit Suisse's internal hedge fund, for two days and sat in all his meetings. Basically, Jedreicich has a budget in the millions that he uses to buy "alternative data" like satellite images and credit-card information from various vendors that will hopefully give his fund some sort of trading edge. And with the number of data vendors doubling in the past five years, his role is to separate the gold from the snake oil. Data buying wasn't always the sexiest of role, but as hedge funds seek new ways to beat the market, they're increasingly looking to data sources that offer insight into companies not found in filings and earnings calls. It's the perfect example of a job that probably didn't even exist a few years ago but is becoming lucrative and important as it looks to be another tough year for hedge funds. The number of global fund liquidations outpaced launches for the third quarter in a row as investors pulled money. Still, there are bright spots, as we reported this week. Gabe Plotkin, who was once one of Steve Cohen's top money-makers at SAC Capital, has seen a 35% return through May for his fund Melvin Capital. And Greg Coffey's new fund is up at least 7% through the end of May. Separately, here's another call for nominations for our annual Rising Stars of Wall Street list that will run in the fall. We're looking for US-based people under age 35 killing it in their industry and making notable contributions or accomplishments ahead of their class within investment banking/dealmaking, investing, and sales and trading. The deadline for submissions is July 15. To nominate someone, fill out our form here or email me at ooran@businessinsider.com. I'll be off next week for the Fourth. Have a safe and wonderful holiday! Olivia JPMorgan's finance app for millennials was plagued with issues from the start. Here's the inside story of how Finn fell apart. A house divided against itself cannot stand, and neither, it appears, can two competing banking apps within a firm. And while the rise and fall of JPMorgan's digital-only bank, Finn, didn't quite lead to a civil war, it did illuminate the issues that can crop up when Wall Street firms with entrenched lines of business attempt to disrupt themselves. Finn was meant to be JPMorgan's introduction to digital-only banking and a way for Wall Street's biggest bank to attract millennials, a demographic it felt was at risk of losing to upstarts. Less than two years later, the banking app is on its way out thanks to a lack of coordination regarding how it was set up, skepticism around how it would operate, and uncertainty over its effect on the bank's traditional Main Street offering, three people briefed on its operations told Business Insider. READ MORE >> BlackRock's head of trading lays out how the $6.5 trillion firm is navigating the electronic transformation of fixed-income trading Supurna VedBrat, BlackRock's head of trading, said the $6.5 trillion firm is navigating how to "operate at scale" in the rapidly changing fixed-income markets. As more trades are completed electronically, BlackRock is looking to work with five or six firms directly, and then use aggregated platforms like TradeWeb and MarketAxess. READ MORE >> Citi's AI-powered tool for catching suspicious payments and thwarting cybercrime is opening up to customers around the world Citigroup is going global with an artificial-intelligence-backed tool that helps giant corporations and governments flag aberrant or suspicious payments. The bank started piloting its Citi Payment Outlier Detection tool in late 2017 to better protect the $4 trillion in payments the bank's thousands of corporate and public-sector customers send and receive every day. That fast-paced business is increasingly under threat from cybercrime. After a successful trial with 20 large clients, including Xerox and Swiss industrial conglomerate Tetra Laval International, Citi is launching the feature in 90 countries. READ MORE >> Leaked memo details the new power structure in Barclays' sales and trading division, capping a dizzying few months of an executive shakeup Barclays' new head of global markets, Stephen Dainton, is building out his team after a shakeup at the bank jolted employees earlier this year. In a memo to staff, global equities head Dainton outlined the new organization, signaling the bank is drawing a line under a shakeup triggered by the surprise departure of investment-banking boss Tim Throsby earlier this year. In the memo, seen by Business Insider, Dainton said the markets division would be divided into four asset classes: credit, equities, macro, and securitized products. He also named a 12-member executive committee, or "ExCo," comprising leaders including new head of equities Fater Belbachir. READ MORE >> Frugal investor Vanguard is reportedly eyeing a push into private equity. It could cause a 'cultural backlash' between haves and have-nots
Vanguard is reportedly eyeing private equity, a major change for an investment manager known for its low-fee offerings. The firm tried a similar approach, a fund of funds, where an external manager oversees investments, in 2001 that ultimately failed because of fundraising issues. Potential problems with this new push include creating a divide between individual and institutional investors, since most people can't invest in private equity, and a "cultural backlash" from proponents of low fees, a finance professor said. READ MORE >> In markets: Most people think real estate is a safe bet, but one key indicator makes it look as if we're in for another Great Recession Why the single biggest threat to Trump in 2020 may not be on the Democrats' debate stage Billionaire investor Howard Marks explains why the Fed's recent behavior is delaying an inevitable recession — and ensuring the next one will be even worse In tech news: WeWork's tech head explains why the office provider is buying a building access app used by top landlords Apple has a generational succession problem, and Jony Ive's departure is the tip of the iceberg Other good stories from around the newsroom: POWER BROKERS OF FINANCE: HR chiefs reveal how to get hired at Goldman Sachs, Citi, BlackRock, and other top companies Facebook is building a dedicated news tab that could include paying publishers to participate | 