The global securities lending industry generated $828 million in revenue for lenders in April 2022, according to DataLend, the market data service of fintech EquiLend.

The figure represents a 20% increase year over year from the $690 million generated in April 2021.

Global broker-to-broker activity, where broker-dealers lend and borrow securities from each other, totaled an additional $229 million in revenue in April, a 16% increase from 2021.

According to DataLend, the increase in lender-to-broker revenue over 2021 was driven primarily by equity lending, where the average fee increased by 18%.

“More specifically, North American equities saw a 39% increase in the average fee year over year,” said DataLend.

“Fixed income markets also experienced increases, with lending revenue from corporate debt up 78% and government debt up 6% relative to 2021.

“Similarly to equities, the rise in corporate debt revenue was driven by a 71% increase in the average fee.

“The top five earners in April 2022 were Rivian Automotive (RIVN), iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG), Sweetgreen (SG), Beyond Meat (BYND) and GameStop (GME).

“The five securities in total generated over $53 million in revenue in the month.”