Satellite images, tanker tracking, and prediction markets: The data hedge funds are using to invest during a war

Hedge funds and institutional investors are hunting for on-the-ground intelligence as markets reel from strikes on Iran by the US and Israel that have disrupted interest rates, equities, and commodities.

“- Hedge funds are desperate for intel about the Middle East”

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Many big-name managers suffered losses in the month's first week, and Neudata compiled a report for its data-consuming clients outlining datasets that could help them understand the conflict's market impacts.

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Business Insider highlights 10 providers from that report, mostly smaller vendors that specialize in obscure data niches, alongside larger names such as S&P, FreightWaves, and Kpler.

Satellite imagery providers are central to the report because funds use images to assess physical damage and verify events on the ground.

Neudata flagged vendors such as Vantor, Planet, and Satellogic for images that can show strikes and damage to energy production sites and help combat disinformation.

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The report also highlights synthetic aperture radar providers ICEYE and Umbra Space, which can operate through clouds and darkness to track nighttime movement, including military vehicles leaving a base.

Transport and shipping trackers are vital for monitoring disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, where tens of millions of barrels of crude transit daily.

“- Hedge funds are desperate for intel about the Middle East”

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Neudata recommended tanker trackers such as VesselsValue and Linerlytica to follow shipping-route changes and trade patterns, noting that 33 hedge funds already use VesselsValue data.

FlightRadar24 is another suggested feed to give macro investors a sense of on-the-ground atmosphere by showing airport closures and departures in nearby countries like the UAE and Qatar.

Prediction markets and sentiment feeds are being monitored despite controversy over potential insider trading tied to platforms in the lead-up to the first Iran strikes and the extraction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Hedge funds are already tapping data feeds to track prediction-market activity, and Neudata highlights products such as Unusual Whales, which tracks atypical large bets and new accounts, and MarketPsych, which is building summaries of Polymarket trading events to support macro forecasting.

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These alternative signals supplement traditional datasets as managers try to anticipate geopolitical moves that affect markets.