First published by TabbFORUM, 17 September, 2025

By Dr Elliot Banks, Chief Product Officer, BMLL.

The Capital Markets run on information. From ticker tape to microwave networks, the faster and cleaner the data, the sharper the edge. Yet despite the exponential growth of numbers coursing through trading systems, the scarcity is not of data, but of high-quality data – usable, reliable and easily accessible.

For firms across the trading ecosystem, this distinction is not trivial. Substandard data imposes real costs. Quants and researchers spend hours, sometimes days, scrubbing datasets rather than searching for alpha. Execution desks misinterpret market signals. Inefficiencies multiply, trading decisions suffer, and profitability erodes. In an age drowning in numbers, quality remains the rarest commodity.

In an increasingly sophisticated trading environment – high quality historical market data is the foundation upon which sound strategies are built. Whether you’re backtesting alpha strategies, optimising execution algorithms, or performing Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA), the pursuit of high-quality market data is critical for success. Investing in superior data is an investment in operational efficiency, analytical accuracy, and ultimately optimal trading performance.

In this article, we explore what makes good quality, usable historical market data, and the key questions to ask when sourcing it.