As a stockbroker in the City of London in the 1980s, one of my hobbies was “stagging” hot new issues. Applying for shares in a company going public for the first time was hugely exciting: I remember frantically reading prospectuses, trying to work out if a stock might trade at a premium, witnessing roadshows and nervously sending off cheques. Then, in the 1990s, I was involved as a principal in taking a number of companies, including PizzaExpress and Topps Tiles, public.
It was the stock exchange at its most dramatic – meeting investors, watching first dealings. Most significantly from an economic perspective, it raised new funds for industry.
Tragically, this phenomenon has almost died out – because the initial public offering market itself has almost disappeared – in the west at any rate. For the past 10 years, in centres such as London and New York, the new issue market has been moribund, and so institutional investors almost exclusively trade second-hand shares, rather than providing fresh capital for growing businesses.