DataLend: August 2021 Securities Lending Revenue Up 51% YoY to $796 million

The global securities finance industry generated $796 million in revenue for lenders in August 2021, according to DataLend, the market data division of fintech EquiLend.

The figure represents a 5% increase from the $756 million generated for lenders in July 2021. There was a 51% increase year over year from the $527 million generated in August 2020. 

Global broker-to-broker activity, where broker-dealers lend and borrow securities from each other, totaled an additional $211 million in revenue in August, a 19% increase from 2020. 

According to DataLend, the increase in lender-to-broker revenue over 2020 was driven by an increase in fees and balances in global equities, with an exchange offer in EMEA and several high-profile 2021 IPOs and SPAC mergers still trading hot. The average fee for global equities increased by over 20 basis points (bps) to 74 bps, while the average on-loan value increased by 16% compared to the prior year.  

For fixed income securities, global revenue generated from government debt saw a 21% increase, while corporate debt increased 44%. Both increases in revenue were driven by rises in the average on-loan value of 21% and 40% respectively. 

The top five earners in August 2021 were Naspers N (NPN SJ), Lucid group (LCID), Coupang (CPNG), Robinhood Markets (HOOD) and iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG). The five securities in total generated over $148 million in revenue in the month.