IPO Market Heats Up In Second Quarter

Investing.com - The initial public offering market picked up in the second quarter, even as the stock market remained volatile, posting its busiest quarter in three years. Sixty companies went public, raising a total of $13.1 billion, according to Renaissance Capital. That's the most since 2015. Many of the second-quarter IPOS were small health care companies, but there were several notable large ones.AXA Equitable Holdings, GreenSky and BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings were the top three in terms of money raised.None of those are anywhere near the size of the Spotify Technology IPO, which used the unconventional direct listing route. Its IPO in the first quarter valued the company at $25 billion.Another 72 companies have filed plans to go public in the second half of 2018, according to Renaissance.Its IPO exchange traded fund is up 4.0% this year, about twice as much as the S&P 500.