Broker lending boom hands retail investors a surprise income stream

London, August 18, 2026: – Sharegain, the global leader in securities lending for retail-facing financial institutions, today released new market data showing how a rapid rollout of retail securities lending programmes is changing how everyday portfolios can generate income.

A wave of banks and online brokers have launched securities lending, handing retail investors direct access to a multi-million-dollar[1] new revenue stream once reserved for pension funds and asset managers.

This surge in access is already paying off. Many of the volatile growth stocks, small caps and AI infrastructure plays that drive the highest borrow demand can be found in retail portfolios, with some investors capturing annualised yields exceeding 50% as a result.

Retail holders enrolled in a securities lending programme generated attractive yields:

While highly liquid stocks generate modest lending fees, some sought-after names allow retail investors to capture much higher yields. In the period from 1 January 2026 to date, Sharegain has seen the following results with some of the names from its securities lending pool[2]:

2CRSI (France | AL2SI), AI server and cloud hardware:
Borrowers paid an additional 81% on top of share price performance to borrow 2CRSI over the period.

Avantium (Netherlands | AVTX), bio-based materials and renewable chemistry:
Borrowers paid an additional 14% on top of share price performance to borrow AVTX over the period.

Median Technologies (France | ALMDT), AI medical imaging software:
Borrowers paid an additional 168% on top of share price performance to borrow ALMDT over the period.

The widespread launch of retail securities lending programmes has corrected a decades-long market asymmetry. Retail investors are no longer just absorbing volatility; they are also monetising it. By opening access to securities lending, brokers have turned idle retail portfolios into growth engines that, given the demand, can outperform traditional dividend stocks in certain markets.

For more information on which brokers offer securities lending and where, how much online brokers have earned, and which stocks paid the most last month, visit Sharegain’s retail securities lending data hub: sharegain.com/data-hub

Ends

For further information, please contact: media@sharegain.com

[1] Sources: https://sharegain.com/data-hub/ Brokers’ own data, April 2025 – March 2026 (Robinhood, Charles Schwab, Interactive Brokers) 2025 & 2026 figures are based on interim results and may be subject to change.

[2] Source: Sharegain. Each of the names shown is one of Sharegain’s top five highest revenue-generating lending stocks year to date, and they represent the three highest revenue-generating stocks in Sharegain’s European lending pool between 1 January and 11 August 2026. Data assumes that investors enrolled their stocks in a securities lending programme on 1 January 2026 and the stocks were continuously on loan throughout the period. Lending yield is shown gross, before fee splits, and is subject to individual tax treatment. Lending rates vary with borrowing demand, and results will vary by client. Past performance is not indicative of future outcomes.