These days I’m a data analyst, that does a lot of coding.
Sometimes, it’s just simple stuff – given a set of data, maybe get a summary, some insights, a visualisation or two.
And then, well… sometimes I go nuts and make big stuff.
So one of the things I love running past the group is visualisations and insights about portfolio data. No offence intended towards anyone, but I think all the players in the market struggle to accurate put this stuff out there.
Not a bad thing – there is such a thing as information overload, and also “but this process won’t make us money”.
Problem is… then you end up with users that want to know more, but are overwhelmed by the information available to them.
So… I made this. Grabbed the extracts from 16 different ETFs, pre-processed in R, did a further clean in Excel, created a dashboard and voila – the group has more insight to portfolios than ever before.
I think they’re pretty happy with it. I know I’m stoked.
But a funny thing happened on the way – I configured the pre-processing code to be usable across a broader range of contexts. Which I didn’t realise at the time, could be extended.
So a mate of mine wanted to look at some Vanguard ETFs specifically. After half an hour last night, had a dashboard done for him. Now I’m looking at going beyond the boundaries of conventional portfolio design – visualising some of the ideas that the group’s wanted to look at.
It’s going to be some interesting times ahead…