Day to day discussions on S/P, page-57

Hi kchil

Funds that lend securities are open about it as they believe the practice is in their members interests. There are a few media articles on google about securities lending with comment from some of these funds. Australian Super, Cbus, Sunsuper, Rest and Unisuper come to mind.

In short, these funds are long term investors and usually net accumulators of shares (ie fund inflows exceed outflows). They believe securities lending allows them to accumulate more shares in the shorter term at a discount, and that fundamentals will drive the price back up in the longer term. They also collect a premium from the borrower which reduces fees charged to members.

If a fund uses a custodian on this list, there is a chance they have a securities lending program:

http://www.asla.com.au/alsa-members/

IMO, for lithium stocks like PLS with a quality hard rock resource and a mine coming online soon (read cashflow commencing), I am not bothered by the shorters - it is only a matter of time before they sizzle.