While not a uniformly stronger picture, broad data for initial public offerings across the world will put a smile on the face of wealth managers hunting for fresh clients.

Initial public offering activity by firms surged this year, making it the busiest in a decade, with total amounts raised rising 40 per cent year-on-year – positive news for wealth managers looking for new assets and clients.

Total IPO fund-raising stands at $188.8 billion for this year. In terms of deal numbers, IPOs rose 49 per cent from a year earlier. But while the capital raised is the largest since 2007, figures still don’t match levels for that pre-crisis year ( (1,974 IPOs, raising $338.4 billion), according to EY, the professional services and accountancy firm.

EY said investors foresee a “very active” 2018 as markets return to their pre-crisis levels. 

“The outlook appears bright, driven by lower volatility across regions, high valuation levels and a renewed appetite for cross-border IPOs, particularly in the US, Hong Kong and London. A healthy global pipeline across a broad range of sectors and markets suggests IPO activity levels will be up with more megadeals, thereby increasing the global proceeds in 2018," Dr Martin Steinbach, EY Global and EY EMEIA IPO Leader, said.

Mixed in Asia
Asia-Pacific exchanges saw a surge of 44 per cent by deal numbers to 935 IPOs in 2017 after an strong first half of the year. However, the pace of listings slowed in Q4 2017, which saw only 240 deals – a 4 per cent drop on Q4 2016. Proceeds in 2017, at $73.2 billion, were only 0.2 per cent higher than in 2016, reflecting the marked downward shift in average deal sizes. Exchanges based in Asia-Pacific took the top three rankings globally by deal number in 2017. Greater China exchanges saw 582 new listings in 2017 – a 68 per cent increase on 2016.

Europe, Middle East, India and Africa
EMEIA saw 469 deals raise $64.0 billion in 2017, making the region second only to Asia-Pacific in terms of deal numbers and proceeds. Deal numbers increased by 50 per cent in 2017 compared with 2016, while proceeds rose by 67 per cent. Seventeen mega deals (with proceeds above $1 billion) have raised $28.7b, increasing the average deal size on the main markets by 45 per cent to $102.0 million in 2017. 

Emerging markets contributed strongly to overall IPO performance, with India's Bombay and National exchanges recording a 74 per cent increase in deal numbers in 2017. The Middle East saw a 256 per cent increase in proceeds and a 179 per cent increase in deal numbers over 2016, with Saudi Arabia continuing to lead the way.

Happy days are here again
There were 174 IPOs in the US in 2017, raising $39.5 billion, an increase of 84 per cent in terms of proceeds and 55 per cent by volume compared with 2016. The Americas accounted for 13 per cent of global deals and 27 per cent of global IPO proceeds in 2017.

In 2017, the proportion of cross-border IPOs was the highest since 2010, accounting for 24 per cent of US IPOs by number of deals and 25 per cent by proceeds. Five of the top 10 deals on US exchanges in Q4 2017 were cross-border, making up 61 per cent by proceeds. Overall, three US deals featured in the global top 10 deals of the year.