2020 and 2021 were a record year for SPAC IPO filings, even though they had been steadily growing in popularity over the last decade. In 2021, SPACs had raised capital in *** IPOs in that year alone. A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a company with no business operations which is set up for the sole purpose of raising capital through an initial public offering with the goal of buying an existing company. The U.S. ranked second globally in terms of traditional IPO numbers, with the highest number of traditional IPOs occurring in mainland China. In comparison, there were ** SPAC IPOs in 2023, and ** in 2024. How have SPAC IPOs historically performed in the U.S.? From 2003 to 2019, the funds raised by SPAC IPOs remained somewhat consistent, with the value of funds never exceeding ** billion U.S. dollars except in 2003 and 2019. SPAC IPOs raised the largest amount of funds between January and December 2021, with the value of funds raised surpassing *** billion U.S. dollars. In the previous year, SPAC IPOs raised more funds than all preceding years combined. The U.S. vs Europe While SPAC IPOs in the U.S. have been slowly increasing over the past six years, numbers have remained significantly lower in Europe. Europe has still not seen annual SPAC IPO numbers exceed nine per year, while those in the U.S. have increased more each year, reaching a significant high-point in 2020 that is expected to be further surpassed by the end of 2021. During the first three months of 2021, less than **** percent of SPAC IPOs completed globally came from Europe.

Investment bankers and brokers are expected to perform well throughout 2024. The industry has grown at a CAGR of 3.9% to $379.9 billion over the past five years, including an anticipated decrease of 1.7% in 2024 alone, with profit falling to 31.7% of revenue in the current years. Revenue from the industry's debt and equity underwriting segments increased drastically over 2020 and 2021 as companies and governments needed to raise cash quickly. Also, the industry encountered greater demand from SPAC IPOs in 2020 and 2021 which significantly grew revenue in the same years. In addition, economic uncertainty spiked as a result of health policy measures implemented by governments leading to increased market volatility. As a result, investors repositioned their portfolios and industry operators' revenue benefitted from increased trade activity due to volatility in financial markets over the past five years. Large investment banks have focused on consolidating their systems to reduce trading costs, which has limited declines in overall industry profit. The regulatory environment has also constrained the potential for higher revenue growth and has primarily affected bulge bracket banks across developed countries. To remain competitive, smaller boutique banks have seized this opportunity by increasing the focus on advisory services since it is difficult to compete on the basis of scale with large banks. As a result, of significant competition from larger players, smaller players have been forced to exit the industry and market share concentration for larger banks has climbed at the global level. While revenue from trading and related services is expected to dissipate from its temporarily elevated levels, revenue from underwriting and advisory services is expected to limit overall revenue declines. In addition, advisory service revenue is expected to support revenue during the outlook period. Geopolitical tensions remain at elevated levels due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which could negatively affect demand for industry services. Lastly, developments regarding regulation have the potential to further hinder industry revenue. Overall, the industry is forecast to fall at a CAGR of 0.4% to $372.6 billion over the five years to 2029.