In September, securities lending revenues hit $1,412 million, marking an impressive 46% year-on-year increase. All asset classes performed remarkedly well with positive year-on-year revenue growth being seen across the board. Revenues remained strong, following on from an impressive summer period. A continuation in the strong performance in both Asia equities and Exchange Traded Products continued as the two asset classes remained the standout performers.
All equity markets performed well during the month with Americas equities average fees growing by 27% year-on-year, leading to a 61% increase in revenues. Balances continued to reach new highs as valuations grew throughout the period with lendable surpassing $26T. Asia equities experienced a similar trend with demand in Hong Kong and South Korea continuing to push regional returns higher. Growth in revenues continued to stall across Taiwan as average fees declined by 13% year-on-year to 2.41%. In Europe Sweden, Germany and the UK all topped the revenue table with double digit year-on-year revenue growth, three stand out European markets included Denmark, Turkey and Italy which showed year-on-year revenues growth of 205%, 1496% and 84% respectively. Substantial increases in balances were also seen across all three of these countries.
Exchange Traded Products continued their impressive run as revenues continued to show strong year-on-year growth and average fees increased by 24%. This revenue growth was seen across all three regions with Asia ETFs posting 121% growth. Average fees also increased as did balances and lendable. Utilization topped 10%, increasing in relation to August.
Across the fixed income asset classes year-on-year revenue growth was strong across Asian government bonds (+39%) and European government bonds (+9%). Americas government bonds posted a 5% year-on-year decline in revenues as average fees fell 8% to 18bps. This was despite a 3% increase in balances.
Corporate bond revenues remained steady during the month, posting a more modest 1% year-on-year increase. Average fees continued to decline but balances grew which offset any financial impact.