IPO activity muted but outlook remains constructive

2018 North American IPO activity was off to a slower start relative to 2017. The sharp increase in market volatility experienced in early February due to the expectation of rising interest rates, caused a few issuers to adopt a "wait and see" approach to IPO timing. Nevertheless, there remains a meaningful backlog of Canadian companies that are getting in a state of readiness to access markets as early as Q2 of this year.

Expectations for continued global synchronous growth, positive economic data, and a strong corporate earnings outlook despite the impact of rising interest rates and the potential for trade wars should support a constructive capital market environment with issuers and financial sponsors remaining optimistic about 2018 being another active year for IPOs.

Read about the key themes and observations in our report.