Greenwich, CT – Thursday, February 13, 2014 – Renaissance Capital will be ringing the opening bell at the NYSE at 9:30 am on Thursday February 20, 2014 to celebrate the launch of the Renaissance IPO ETF which began trading last quarter on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol “IPO.” With 837,443 shares traded on its first day, the Renaissance IPO ETF was one of the top ten launches by a first-time sponsor in ETF history. Renaissance Capital, a global IPO investment advisor, is well-known for its pre-IPO research and analytics. The ETF tracks a rules-based Index designed by Renaissance Capital’s research team to hold the largest most liquid newly listed U.S. IPOs.
The IPO market has seen a strong recovery since the 2008 financial crisis, breaking ten year records in 2013 when 222 IPOs raised $55 billion. Record issuance has continued in 2014. On Renaissance Capital’s calendar of upcoming IPOs are GM’s auto lender Ally Financial, major Chinese e-commerce site and Alibaba rival JD.com and party goods retailer Party City. On Renaissance Capital’s shadow IPO calendar are wearable camera maker GoPro, cloud-based storage provider Box and GE’s credit card arm GE Consumer Lending.
“The launch of the Renaissance IPO ETF, is a direct response to increased investor demand for systematic exposure to newly listed IPOs in a low-cost tax-efficient structure,” said Kathleen Smith, Chair of Renaissance Capital. New companies are included in the ETF on a fast-entry basis on the fifth day of trading, or upon quarterly review, and are removed after two years when the IPOs become seasoned stocks. As of February 11, 2014, top holdings in the ETF include an 11.3% position in leading social network Facebook (FB), a 5.6% position in cloud-based HR platform Workday (WDAY), and a 2.9% position in microblogging service Twitter (TWTR). The ETF portfolio is published daily on Renaissance Capital’s web site.
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