[4] The growing role of non-banks offers the benefit of diversifying sources of finance and can thereby help to ensure a smooth provision of funding to the real economy. [5] Evidence also suggests that a higher share of non-bank finance can help economies to recover faster from recessions,[6] when banks’ ability to lend may be impaired. [7] Crucially, however, the benefits of this diversification rely on making sure that the non-bank financial sector provides a stable source of funding, ensuring robust financing for companies in both normal and stressed market conditions. Liquidity and leverage – lessons from recent market events As the market footprint of non-bank financial institutions increases, new risks and vulnerabilities can arise. Let me discuss three in particular. First, the strong growth of the non-bank financial sector – especially the asset management industry – over the past 15 years has been accompanied by an increase in liquidity mismatches. A key contributing factor is that investors in open-ended funds – which account for the largest part of the investment fund sector – can typically redeem their shares on a daily basis without prior notice. This creates a liquidity mismatch especially in funds that invest in relatively illiquid assets, such as high-yield corporate bonds. Liquidity demand has become more procyclical as a result, especially during periods of financial market stress. During the pandemic, we saw how liquidity mismatches in open-ended funds increased demand for market liquidity, which amplified stress in financial markets.

And in response, the Bank of England had to intervene on financial stability grounds through temporary purchases of long-dated UK government bonds. While these new risks and vulnerabilities are evident, the non-bank financial sector has remained largely stable in recent months, despite the stress in the banking sector that emerged in March. Fund investors shifted their exposure from higher to lower risk assets, especially from high-yield corporate to government bond funds. Portfolio de-risking has also been evident in insurance corporations and pension funds, as higher interest rates have reduced incentives for the non-bank financial sector to search for yield. But there are no grounds for complacency here. Structural vulnerabilities from liquidity mismatches and leverage remain elevated despite recent de-risking. Moreover, bank and non-bank financial institutions can be closely interconnected through funding channels, ownership linkages and common risk exposures. The non-bank financial sector remains particularly exposed to asset price corrections and credit risk should corporate sector fundamentals deteriorate substantially. In addition, non-banks’ exposure to property markets has increased markedly in recent years, rendering institutions vulnerable to ongoing price corrections in real estate markets. Fragile risk sentiment and elevated vulnerabilities in parts of the non-bank financial sector could amplify negative shocks. Strengthening the resilience of non-bank financial intermediation Given the vulnerabilities in the non-bank financial sector, it is vital to further enhance its resilience, also from a systemic perspective. To date, the macroprudential policy framework has mainly focused on the banking sector, while the policy framework for non-bank financial institutions still needs to be enhanced.