In the wake of a significant and somewhat scary downturn at the end of 2018, questions remain as to just how volatile financial markets will turn out to be for 2019.
In Canada, expectations are that softness in energy markets driven by a changing political atmosphere will continue to hover over the country's oil patch, once seen as a driver of initial public offerings on Canadian exchanges, is likely to continue its rather sluggish pace of new offerings.
In 2018, only 15 companies dipped into capital markets for financing, representing a fraction of historical volume. The energy sector has largely been blamed for the lack of equity issuances of late, with commodity prices remaining low relative to past investor expectations, and this headwind is likely to persist, according to many analysts.
For investors looking at the technology sector, new issuances in Canada may rise over time, though the expected valuations most technology firms are likely to seek are far below the $1 billion threshold which would cross the chasm of medium sized deals into "large" IPO territory.
For investors looking to buy into the next big trend in Canada, I would suggest sticking to companies that continue to innovate, but may have been around for a while.
Many of the upcoming monster IPOs will be coming south of the border, so keep an eye on U.S. exchanges as well for a smattering of new companies to invest in.
Invest wisely, my friends.
