Written by Admin sentix | 22 June 2011
Posted in Database news

Sentiment and investor expectations play an important role in the financial markets. To know the true market sentiment is today more important than ever. Academic studies show, that only 20% of all market movements could be explained by changes of fundamental values. The other 80% come from changes of investor expectations and moods. With the sentix indices it is now getting easier to quantify these emotions. sentix runs the largest database of sentiment indicators, derived from a survey among 3.500 investors worldwide. This gives you an objective, comprehensive and up to date view of investor feelings and perceptions.

Read how useful sentix is for different types of investors.

Asset Allocation

Professionals are always on the look-out for new indicators to explain and forecast the markets. And to make good investment decisions. Traditionally, researchers focus on fundamental and technical research. But due to the recent developments in the markets, sentiment analysis and Behavioral Finance aspects have come into the forefront. Investors are becoming more and more aware that investor psychology plays an important role in the markets. It is valuable to know what other investors think and where the crowd is positioned. But where do you get the right data to use?

The sentix - behavioral indices are the perfect tool for your asset allocation process! Our data is based on the opinions of more than 3.100 investors, worldwide. The data is made available to you almost in realtime and you have a standardized indicator set for every aspect of your asset allocation process.

What sentix offers to Strategists and for Asset Allocation

• Know what other investors feel, think and do
• Compare investors sentiment and their actions directly
• See how a development in equities influences the bond markets
• Compare the sentiment between asset classes or markets - from one standardized source!
• Identify polarizations in sentiment and see if herding led to dangerous levels in equity or bond exposure
• Be ahead of the curve

Portfolio Manager

"If you do the same as every other investor, then you will get the same returns as every other", said Sir John Templeton.

Many portfolio managers do their best to analyse markets, to develop an investment strategy and to manage their investment risks. But more often than not, the achieved returns are mediocre. In hindsight, the strategy proved to be a "consensus trade". What happened? Why do so many investors end up as average? Well, the "Templeton way" seems logical, but is a demanding task in reality. How can you go a different path, if you don't know where the crowd is heading? This is the core of Behavioral Finance!

With the sentix - behavioral indices you found the right source for your job. Every week, we ask more than 3.100 investors worldwide about what they expect for different markets, where they invest and what styles they prefer. We let you know, what the market consensus is - that enables you to behave differently!

What sentix offers to Portfolio Managers

• Spot crowded trades
• Measure investor irritation, as this is a source of future volatility
• See where the consensus is and where your opportunities are located
• Get an idea why investor mood has changed
• Be a smart investor

Economists

Economics is a social science. No wonder that economists have an interest in the expectations of economic agents. But they also have an interest in high quality data and availability at an early stage. Indicators like the ZEW or ifo Index, the ISM, Tankan and others are, therefore, of particular interest. But none of the above have the "first mover advantage" ...

The sentix Economic indices are based on the weekly poll of more than 3.500 investors, among them over 750 institutionals (for more details on the survey). sentix polls for the economic indices on the 1st Friday of a month and publishes its results on the following Monday morning. There is no time wasted calculating the numbers and writing the reports.

If you compare our data with other well known indicators you see a high correlation. No wonder, the sentix participants are well informed investment professionals. But notice when the data is released. Here, the sentix indices have a "first mover advantage".

What sentix offers to Economists

• The sentix indices give you an edge over other economic leading indicators
• The data is available for different regions of the world and as a global aggregate
• The economic data is available in widely used databases
• Combine the data with other sentix series to gain a better insight into market dynamics
• Get a gauge of inflation fears that really comes from investors' minds
• See where the consensus is and where your views differ
• Be a "first mover"

Technical Analysts

Sentiment Analysis is for long an integral part of Technical Analysis. Technicians are used to follow the sentiment in the markets. But "there are better data on prices than on people" (quoted by Richard Thaler). It could be quite challenging to find sentiment data for a particular market. And even more challenging to compare the different indicators, because calculation methods are not standardized. Sometimes, they are not even known.

sentix offers a complete set of sentiment indicators for variety of markets. Equities, Bonds, FX and commodities - from one source. All data is standardized, the calculation is transparent. Indeed, you can participate in the surveys yourself! It is easy to make your own calculations. You can build ratio or spreads. That makes the sentix indices a perfect solution for intermarket analysis. You can compare sentiment, price action and investor positioning directly.

What sentix offers to Technical Analysts

• You receive market sentiment data for different markets in one place
• Download and import the data easily into your TA software
• Data is updated on a weekly basis and gives you realtime insights into market dynamics
• See what investors do by our positioning indicators
• Combine technical analysis, sentiment analysis and economic data for a comprehensive picture
• Extend your technical toolkit with our unique overconfidence indicators
• See if herding is the driving force of a trend and whether contrarian opportunities exist
• Save time and nevertheless be better informed

Academics

Behavioral Finance is coming more and more to the forefront in science. If there were any questions left whether investor psychology plays an important role in the markets - the financial crises since 2007 has answered these. But it is difficult for academics to get timely, well-documented data with an adequate history.

The sentix indices fill this void with over 400 indices, covering almost all aspects of relevance in the financial markets. As an scientist, you have the advantage of receiving standardized, comparable data to markets, economic expectations and even investor positioning. And the best part: we offer our data for academic work at very interesting conditions, considering the needs of academic institutions.

What sentix offers to Academics

• A great resource of investor expectations with over 400 indicators
• Easy download of all data in different formats
• Spot differences between investor groups
• Compare market sentiment with economic expectations
• A long history of 10 years of data
• Attractive pricing
• Be on the forefront in Behavioral Finance

When do you start to "feel the markets"? 

If you want to learn more about sentix, our data and how to access these, have a look on our website, read our database brochure or contact us directly.

If you want to include Behavioral Finance aspects into your investment process, the sentix indices are the perfect solution.