We are Better Together! When nearly 50 individuals from 7 different countries representing over US$7.5 Trillion in assets across 25 global beneficial owner institutions come together to learn, good things happen. This week GPFA held our Annual Meeting for our global beneficial owner members. Thank you to all that joined! The growth of this actively engaged beneficial owner community has been amazing and we look forward to strengthening the connections made this week.

We have been waiting for this! Thank you to the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA), Farrah Mahmood and the rest of the ISLA team, and Thomas Aubrey for making the effort to explain the unintended consequences and impacts the Basel III Endgame implementations will have on the buyside community. The Global Peer Financing Association (GPFA) has spent a lot of time recently partnering with industry experts to better understand the implications of these rules and our buyside members appreciate ISLA providing this overview of the framework.

The Performance Measurement guidelines developed by the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) aim to support increased transparency and data accuracy across the industry. Beneficial owners want their agents to comply with these industry standards in both their submission of data and the usage of data tools in order to improve the quality and accuracy of peer comparisons on securities lending revenue and performance. The Global Peer Financing Association (GPFA) of beneficial owner members has reviewed the ISLA performance measurement guidelines and seeks the active support of these standards by all market participants. Thank you ISLA for leading this important industry initiative.

Our team keeps growing and we are better for it! We are thrilled announce that Bethel Loh from AustralianSuper will be volunteering his time to lead the Global Peer Financing Association (GPFA) in Australia. Beneficial owner membership in Australia currently accounts for over 10% of GPFA’s global member base and we are excited to further expand our institutional investor membership in the region under Bethel’s leadership. Bethel will work closely with the GPFA Board of Directors and with the Association’s Head of International (outside of North America), Amy Borgquist (Armour), to ensure GPFA activities are well coordinated globally to best serve the interests of beneficial owners in this Association. 

GPFA is a volunteer-led, non-profit association for beneficial owners, by beneficial owners. The Association has rapidly grown to include many of the largest global institutional investors engaged in securities financing. The group focuses on member education, networking, best practices across securities finance, balance sheet management, treasury and liquidity management and other related investment disciplines. GPFA plans to continue to add more regional leads to the group over time. On behalf of the GPFA Board of Directors and all GPFA Members, especially those in Australia, thank you Bethel and the team at AustralianSuper for volunteering your time and expertise to support our buyside community!

As we grow, we are excited to announce Cherie Jeffries, Director of Fixed Income Trading and Short Duration/Passive Senior Portfolio Manager for the State Board of Administration of Florida will be the U.S. Regional Lead for the Global Peer Financing Association (GPFA). Cherie has worked closely with our Board of Directors over the past few years to expand GPFA’s reach at industry conferences, and we are thrilled to have her in this important leadership position as we continue to evolve to meet the needs of our members. 

GPFA is a volunteer-led, non-profit association for beneficial owners, by beneficial owners. The U.S. beneficial owner segment currently makes up over 30% of GPFA’s membership base, with the rest of our beneficial owner community spread across Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. GPFA was originally founded by four North American pension funds and has rapidly grown to include many of the largest global institutional investors engaged in securities financing. On behalf of the GPFA Board of Directors and all GPFA Members, thank you Cherie and the team at SBA Florida for volunteering your time and expertise to support our buyside community!

See you in Lisbon! GPFA is pleased to support the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA)'s 30th annual conference by kicking off day 2 with a Closed-Door Beneficial Owner meeting co-led by two of our Global Peer Financing Association (GPFA) members Matthew Brunette from Norges Bank Investment Management and Roelof Struik, van der from PGGM. Beneficial owners, please reach out to Matt and Roelof ahead of time if you have topics you would like to discuss with your peers. Some topics on the agenda thus far are: ESG Best Practices for Securities Lending, The ‘Direct’ Lending Model, Punitive Implications of Basel IV Implementation for Unrated Counterparts and much more . . .

It was a big week for Global Peer Financing Association (GPFA) members in Canada! GPFA closed out the week by partnering with the Canadian Securities Lending Association to jointly present a Buy & Sell Side Open Forum. GPFA members Marco Drumond, CFA from HOOPP (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan) and Francois Bellavance-Lecompte from PSP Investments joined sell side speakers Dexter Gall from RBC Investor & Treasury Services and John Loynd from BMO Capital Markets to discuss current market themes. A special thanks to CASLA President and Vice President Mary Jane Schuessler and Roanna Kim, CSP for inviting GPFA to partner with CASLA for this great event.

We have said it before . . . when major asset owners stand together to share best practices and learn from one another about market trends, the entire securities finance industry moves forward. Thank you to our Global Peer Financing Association (GPFA) members from Canada and other global regions that joined for our closed-door beneficial owner meeting in Toronto yesterday. We look forward to continuing the conversations today at the Canadian Securities Lending Association conference and meeting again at our next in person session at the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) in Lisbon in June. Onwards!

Many of our Global Peer Financing Association (GPFA) members joined Steve Everett and the TMX Group yesterday to close the Toronto market as they celebrated the launch of their new Canadian Collateral Management Service in partnership with Clearstream. Thank you for including our buyside GPFA members in this important market launch. We look forward to watching Canada's first domestic triparty repo capability grow. Thank you!

The Global Peer Financing Association (GPFA) is excited to partner with the Canadian Securities Lending Association to present a Buy & Sell Side Open Forum as a lunch session during the upcoming CASLA Annual Conference on Thursday, May 25th in Toronto. Seats are limited and available on a first come first serve basis, so register now!

Paul Larkin, CFA from CIBC Capital Markets will moderate a discussion with Francois Bellavance-Lecompte from PSP Investments, Marco Drumond, CFA from HOOPP (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan), Dexter Gall from RBC Investor & Treasury Services, and John Loynd from BMO Capital Markets.

This is a unique opportunity to join member representatives of both CASLA and GPFA to jointly discuss overlapping securities finance topics during the conference lunch break. Networking and lunch will be available.

You need to be a registered attendee at the CASLA conference to attend. To register for a limited space at this lunchtime session: https://lnkd.in/dktWK9mdMore information on CASLA conference here: https://lnkd.in/d4gznNp

Thank you to CASLA President and Vice President, Mary Jane Schuessler and Roanna Kim, CSP for welcoming GPFA to your event!

Calling all Canadian Beneficial Owners! In advance of Canadian Securities Lending Association's Conference in May, GPFA is hosting an in-person meeting in Toronto the afternoon prior on Wednesday, 24 May from 3pm - 5pm. The meeting will be held at one of our pension member offices in downtown Toronto. All GPFA members and beneficial owner friends are welcome for this beneficial owner only session. If you are interested to attend or would like to raise discussion topics in advance, please reach out to GPFA Chair Robert Goobie CPA CMA. See you in May in Toronto!

Last month GPFA was fortunate to have Laura Klimpel from The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) present to our membership on the potential impact to the repo market of the SEC's proposal to require broader central clearing of U.S. Treasury activity. DTCC is hosting a discussion with key industry leaders next Tuesday, 25 April. Advanced registration is required for this webinar and the deadline is this Friday, 21 April. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gmZgFgGnThank you Laura Klimpel for educating our community!

Congratulations to GPFA Board Member Dr. Jerry May on completing his Doctor of Business Administration in Finance at Liberty University where the focus of his research and studies was "Short-Term Financing Trades Amongst Institutional Investor Peers" - a topic of interest within the GPFA community. Congratulations Jerry - well done!!

GPFA is pleased to announce it will be leading the closed-door beneficial owner session at the upcoming Finadium Investors in Securities Lending conference in New York on May 18th. Chris Benish from State of Wisconsin Investment Board will moderate the meeting. Discussion topics have been announced and more information on the event can be found here: https://lnkd.in/e3DyYHrF

When major asset owners actively engage in securities financing discussions the entire market ecosystem benefits. Thank you to all our GPFA members and global beneficial friends that joined for our informal GPFA meeting during the 2023 PASLA/The Risk Management Association Conference on Asian Securities Lending. See you at the next industry conference!

GPFA members: Are you headed to PASLA / RMA Conference on Asian Securities Lending? GPFA members attending the conference will be meeting on Tuesday, 7 March for an informal peer meeting. Reach out to GPFA for meeting details and for more details on the PASLA RMA conference on 7-9 March, click here: https://lnkd.in/gmweJEgJ

New GPFA Member podcast alert!We are excited to share a new Peer Connections episode,

The Northwestern Mutual Model, which features some of the newest GPFA members. In this episode, Chris Benish speaks with, Brian Yeazel, CFA and Kris Breitzman of Northwestern Mutual, about their approach to securities lending, repo, and cash collateral reinvestment and finds out what drove them to join GPFA.https://lnkd.in/etY4P4e

When one conversation just doesn't seem like enough, you podcast again! If you haven't already listened to our GPFA peer connections podcast from December with Matthew Brunette and Mark Faulkner, go back and listen to that first. If you are in the know already, then tune in today to hear Chris Benish from the State of Wisconsin Investment Board continue the conversation with Matthew Brunette from Norges Bank Investment Management and Jerry May from OPERS comparing their views on how the cost of indemnification may impact the global beneficial owner community as well as the broader market. Listen here and tell us what your views are: https://lnkd.in/etY4P4e

Calling all beneficial owners! GPFA is excited to host the upcoming closed door beneficial owner meeting at Information Management Network (IMN)'s 28th Annual Beneficial Owners' International Securities Finance & Collateral Management Conference in New Orleans on January 24 & 25th. Cherie Jeffries from State Board of Administration of Florida and Sally Kan MBA, CFA from OMERS will be co-leading the 75 minute meeting. If you have topics you would like added to the discussion, please reach out Cherie or Sally. For more information on IMN's event: https://lnkd.in/dSj55CYh

Partnership of the Year! We are thrilled to share the news that the Global Peer Financing Association (GPFA), which was founded by CalPERS, HOOPP (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan), OPERS and State of Wisconsin Investment Board, was awarded Partnership of the Year at last night's Institutional Investor Allocators’ Choice Awards. We are amazed to have been recognized alongside such prestigious buyside organizations. Thank you!

Just over one year after GPFA was founded, the Association now has 20 global beneficial owner members representing nearly $9 trillion in combined assets. GPFA wouldn't be possible without our committed volunteer Board of Directors and engaged members. Thank you to all GPFA members for coming together to challenge and shape best practices in our industry. We look forward to continuing to learn from one another