Our Experts
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Tim Smith
- executive vice president, Astec Analytics
- SunGard’s capital markets business
- tim.smith@sungard.com
A securities finance expert with more than 25 years of experience, Tim Smith joined SunGard as executive vice president of the Astec Analytics business unit in 2008. He was previously president of DataExplorers Inc., where he founded the company’s U.S. operation. Prior to that, he spent 11 years at AXA Group, first at Pershing/DLJ, where he established the international securities borrowing and lending business in London, New York and Hong Kong, and then at AXA Investment Managers, where he was head of inventory management, establishing the firm’s global securities lending product for $500 billion in assets under management in 13 different countries.
Mr. Smith also led securities lending operations for Security Pacific/BankAmerica and Kleinwort Benson Securities Ltd. He started his career in clearing banking at Williams and Glyn’s Bank, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, in London.
Commentary
Securities lending and borrowing brings vital financing and liquidity to the financial markets and assists in the efficient use of capital and resources across the securities industry. The recent global market turmoil and the concomitant increase in regulatory scrutiny has drawn attention to this hitherto fairly low key and arcane activity. To this end, the industry has had to re-evaluate the way it does business and become more transparent.
In the last century, one of the major stumbling blocks to achieving greater awareness was the lack of available data to share, analyze and benchmark. Transparency and the provision of data around securities lending transactions was not a priority. This has changed over the last few years as all participants have embraced the need to have up-to-date data in order to benchmark, explain, market, analyze and predict. As a result, lenders can maximize the income for their clients, borrowers can manage their borrows in the most efficient manner, and beneficial owners can determine whether their lenders are doing a good job or not. In addition, hedge funds can ensure that their prime brokers are borrowing for them properly as well as find signals for establishing new portfolio constructions.