eSecLending, the Boston-based securities lending adviser and auction organiser to public, mutual and corporate funds and other institutional investors, announced today that it is to provide securities lending services to a family of mutual fund portfolios distributed by SEI Investments – namely, the Advisors’ Inner Circle Fund (AIC).
“We are pleased to begin working with SEI’s Advisors’ Inner Circle Fund,” says Susan Peters, Chief Executive Officer of eSecLending. “Our auction platform, eSecAuction, awards principal borrowers the exclusive rights to borrow from our clients’ portfolios, which can provide mutual fund portfolios with a larger share of the revenues associated with securities lending when compared to traditional custodial and third-party agency relationships. This new relationship represents a logical expansion of our strong position in the institutional segment of the securities lending market.”
In securing the business, it helped that eSecLending is majority-owned by Old Mutual plc, which has a relationship with SEI already. “Old Mutual and SEI Investments have a strong and long standing business relationship,” explains Scott Powers, Chairman of eSecLending and CEO of Old Mutual (US) Holdings, Inc. and Old Mutual Asset Managers (US). “We are pleased to broaden this relationship and look forward to continued growth for both firms.”
“eSecLending’s unique offering within the securities lending industry is well suited for our Advisors’ Inner Circle Fund,” adds Michael Dwyer, Mutual Funds Services of SEI Investments. “The open architecture of our platforms allows us to easily adapt to a variety of providers for our funds. We look forward to working with eSecLending and growing a mutually beneficial business relationship.”
eSecLending enables borrowers to bid, via an auction, for the exclusive right to borrow from lender portfolios. The firm says this not only provides lenders with a guaranteed revenue stream, but reassures them that they are lending more efficiently at market prices because it incorporates a competitive bidding process and offers borrowers securities in strategic combinations.
eSecLending also says that its system allows lenders to achieve “manager-of-manager” lending returns by establishing multiple principal borrower relationships.