The London Pension Fund Association (LPFA), a £3.6bn fund, has temporarily suspended securities lending - a ban which is expected to be reviewed in the next two to three months. This comes on the back of looking at our brand new product DESLI (The Data Explorers Stock Lending Index), which has shown a general fall off of inventory available to loan in the stock lending market. On the left hand side of this graph we can see the global inventory index down at approximately 88, so a 12% decrease in the amount of stock available to lend in the last 45 days. On the right hand side we can see the US equivalent; an 8 - 9% fall in inventory available, so not as dramatic as the UK. Interestingly, the blue line on the left hand side for the UK shows approximately 113 in terms of the global loan index (starting at 100), and a 13% increase since September 1st, and a build up of short interest in that index. On the right hand side index, the US is considerably higher at 136 starting at 100, so considerably more short interest in the UK than in the US.
Comments