Jay Ritter & Steve Curley, CFA: "Mr. IPO" on SPACs, Direct Listings, & Public vs. Private

Our guest today is University of Florida Professor Jay Ritter, who is known as “Mr. IPO” for his work on initial public offerings. He received his BA, MA, and PhD degrees in economics and finance from the University of Chicago. 

In this episode, we discuss all things IPO. Professor Ritter gives an overview of the IPO process and why so many companies are being underpriced in 2020. He also explains why direct listings may be favorable to the traditional IPO process, and what has led to the popularity of SPACs in 2020. He finishes the episode with what he expects in the rest of 2020 and 2021 with companies like Airbnb, Stripe, and Robinhood all possibly going public.

Our local co-host today is Steve Curley, CFA, CIO of WaterOak Advisors and current President of the CFA Society of Orlando. Please enjoy the episode. 

For more information on topics covered into the episode, see below:

IPOs:

Presentation: Jay Ritter’s presentation titled Why Don’t Issuers Get Upset About Leaving Money on the Table in IPOs?

Podcast: Ben Thompson’s Exponent Podcast on the IPO process

Article: WSJ on IPO Market Parties Like It’s 1999

Direct Listings:

Podcast: Invest Like the Best with Bill Gurley on why he prefers direct listings to a traditional IPO

Podcast: a16z Podcast with Barry McCarthy, former CFO of Spotify (and former CFO of Netflix); and Stacey Cunningham, president of the NYSE, on the process and decision for Spotify to use direct listing.

Article: a16z on Direct Listings

SPACs:

Podcast: Odd Lots Podcast on Why Blank Check Companies Are The Hottest Thing This Year

Podcast: Village Global’s Venture Stories on Everything You Need To Know About SPACs with Anuj Abrol

Article: WSJ on Why Finance Executives Choose SPACs: A Guide to the IPO Rival

Follow the CFA Society of Orlando on Twitter at @CFAOrlandoFL

Past guest include Cliff Asness, Jason Zweig, Annie Duke, Morgan Housel, Raphael Bostic, and many more.