Hi
@Giobria - Good question and there is lot of misinformation out there on this subject so just a word of caution as to who we should listen to
Here are a few things that may help to frame this
i) Australian Super uses JPMorgan as their Master Custodian. Australian Super is the beneficial owner of these shares - its just that their name will not appear on the share holder register. That hopefully answers your first question.
ii) Securities lending is a sensitive subject. In General , Australian Super
"DO" participate in securities lending program through an agency agreement that they have with JP Morgan. They had circa $28Billion assets loaned out as at 30th June 2023.
iii) The borrower of securities are not all short sellers , there are other market participants as well e.g in derivatives products etc
iv) The more Aus super increases its holdings - the less shares are available for borrowers to buy back. So this is a double whammy for shorters.
So,
in general one can form a view that Australian Super
may have loaned out some of its PLS holdings to short sellers but just by looking at the form 604 no one can say that for sure. And if someone can - Please demonstrate that to me!
My view (which is subjective) is that Australian Super is a long term investor in PLS - It has always been. They may participate in lending PLS shares but that may be with a specific objective of earning an additional income and perhaps also to acquire more shares later on at cheaper price. This is exactly what has happened here. They have increased their position in PLS materially below $4. If there are short sellers who are willing and able to borrow these additional shares from Australian super and take the risk of shorting them- be my guest as I donot care being a long term investor. It does not prejudice Australian Super in the longer run as the shorters will have to buy them back at market and return to Australian Super. Note also that there are less shares available now for shorters to buy from as Aus super will not sell. Also in events there is a capital raise (I am not saying that there will be one) Australian super will just get more cheap shares in a company that they like longer term.
This is why in my comment i said
this is good in the longer run as I did anticipate a possibility of some additional shares making its way to JPMs lending book. Which is fine by me as I know it will just delay and potentially worsen the inevitable pain that is awaiting Shorters.
I have been invested in PLS since it was 90c and Australian super has been in here since the Altura acquisition even before me. They are ok!!
(20min delay)