Equities issuance plunges amid acute market uncertainty

Amid war, soaring inflation, and rising interest rates, global equities offering activity plunged in the first quarter, Refinitiv reports.

In terms of new issue activity, the global equities markets had their weakest first quarter since 2016 this year, with proceeds dropping 67% from the same quarter last year to US$120.7 billion. The volume of deals was down 45% from last year too.

The global initial public offering (IPO) market also dried up. Excluding SPACs, global IPOs raised US$39.7 billion in the first quarter, down by 62% from the first quarter of 2021.

Refinitiv noted that, for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis, the New York Stock Exchange saw no new listings in the quarter, as U.S. IPO proceeds plunged by 95% in the first quarter.

Global secondary offering activity also dropped by 67% from last year, with the volume of deals down by 49%. This marked the slowest first quarter since 2008.

Refinitiv reported that convertible offerings were also down 73% from year ago levels to US$19.4 billion.

With the plunge in overall market activity, the global underwriting league tables underwent a shakeup — several Asia-based firms climbed to the top of the charts, displacing a couple of Wall Street giants.

While Morgan Stanley retained the top spot in the overall rankings, China’s CITIC jumped from 11th place to second place in the global league tables, bumping Goldman Sachs down to third place.

China Securities Co. Ltd. ranked fourth, up from 27th place in 2021.

BofA Securities Inc. held onto fifth spot, and JP Morgan fell from third place last year to sixth in this year’s rankings.

RBC Capital Markets was the only Canadian firm to appear in the top 25, although it dropped from 13th place in 2021 to 21st this year.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.