Dr. Kelly P. O'Reilly of Northwest Passage Capital Advisors Presented 'Big Data Analytics' to the AIM Class on Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Dr. Kelly O'Reilly of Northwest Passage Capital Advisors

Kelly O’Reilly (PhD), an advisor to Northwest Passage Capital, a $1 billion emerging market debt fund located in Milwaukee presented in the AIM Room this week.

The firm is employing state-of-the-art data analytics - along with their traditional sovereign credit analysis - to evaluate the political and economic environment in emerging countries. This is the preamble to their ‘Boots in the Cloud’ strategy:

“Intelligence organizations have historically relied on agents in the field employing well-honed spycraft to collect and report vital information. The long-dated practice of recruiting and using spies is the cornerstone of what is referred to as human intelligence (HUMINT). But technological innovation resulting in the current big data revolution means intelligence gathering is increasingly driven by signal intelligence (SIGINT). Instead of relying on dead drops and written ciphers from secret agents, information is increasingly being gathered by data scientists in Langley or elsewhere, using computing power to apply algorithms and analytics. While human judgment is still required to assess potential threats, today’s collection methods are capable of tapping into vast (and growing) amounts of data and data that is potentially more reliable by eliminating the biases inherent in human cognition.”

Dr. David Krause, AIM program director said, "This was an intriguing presentation and was well attended by the AIM students - in addition to Dr. Thomas Kaczmarek, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Math/Stats/Computer Science at Marquette University. This glimpse into the fascinating would of geo-political big data analytics allows us to stay on top of what is happening in the world of FinTech!"

Tom Kaczmarek, Kelly O'Reilly and David Krause

Dr. Kelly O'Reilly

Before joining Northwest Passage Capital Advisors, Dr. K.P. O'Reilly was an assistant professor of political science and global studies at Carroll University. His expertise is in the areas of international security, foreign policy analysis, and political psychology. His research has been published in Political Psychology, Foreign Policy Analysis, and Contemporary Security Policy. He regularly teaches courses on contemporary global politics, international conflict and security, U.S. foreign policy, globalization and democracy, and international law. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of South Carolina and a JD from Emory University School of Law.

Areas of Expertise

U.S. Foreign Analysis
National Security Policy
International Affairs and Relations
International Security and Conflict
International Law
Political Psychology

Big data analytics presentation in the AIM Room

Dr. Krause said, “Kelly did a wonderful job. I know that Northwest Passage Capital Advisors is ahead of the crowd with their ‘boots in the cloud’ strategy. I’ve taught AIM students how to collect and analyze data from Twitter for consumer goods stocks, but this approach is very special. Their investment process, which assesses political and credit risks, allows them to create an internal rating system and is largely responsible for their superior performance. The use of hard and soft data as tools to evaluate sovereign emerging market debt is distinct. Who needs boots on the ground when the cloud is available?”