Q2 and H1 Securities Lending Webinar Slides

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The AI investment boom continued to set the tone for global markets throughout Q2. Heavy, sustained spending on artificial intelligence, data centres, chips and the power and infrastructure needed to support them kept the large technology names firmly in focus, and their strength lifted the major indices to fresh highs. Enthusiasm gradually broadened out beyond the mega-cap leaders into the wider supply chain, and this appetite for AI-exposed stocks was one of the clearest drivers of momentum across equity markets during the quarter.

Alongside this, geopolitical tensions, energy prices and inflation concerns dominated much of the news flow. Ongoing conflict and diplomatic friction fed through into commodity and energy markets, which in turn kept inflation firmly on the agenda and complicated the outlook for growth. Each fresh headline tended to move sentiment quickly, so these themes kept volatility elevated and gave investors plenty to weigh up as they positioned their portfolios throughout the period.

Interest rate uncertainty was another key feature of the quarter, with investors continually adjusting to shifting expectations for future policy rates. With central banks taking divergent paths and leaning heavily on incoming data, every inflation print, jobs report and policy statement prompted a fresh reassessment of how far and how fast rates might move next. That constant repricing of expectations rippled through bond and equity markets alike and kept participants on their toes.

We also saw the resurgence of Asia as an engine of global growth, with the region attracting renewed investor attention and playing an increasingly central role in the market story over the first half of the year. Improving sentiment towards Asian economies and equities, together with stronger capital flows into the region, saw it reclaim a leadership role in driving returns, and this rotation towards Asia became one of the standout themes of the first half of the year.

Against that backdrop, securities lending markets went on to break records, with revenues rising 34% year on year in Q2 and 33% across the first half of 2026. That strength was broad based but driven in large part by strong demand to borrow ETFs and Asian equities, as the very same themes shaping the wider market, AI, geopolitics and the rotation towards Asia, translated directly into heightened lending activity and higher revenues.