In a special edition of Zacks Friday Finish Line, Content Writer Ryan McQueeney and Editor Maddy Johnson are joined by Kathleen Smith, a co-founder of Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and investment management.

Renaissance has been around for 25 years. It offers separately managed institutional accounts, as well as two ETFs—the Renaissance IPO ETF (IPO) and the Renaissance International IPO ETF (IPOS)—as well as a mutual fund, the Global IPO Fund (IPOSX).

Together, we discussed the sluggish IPO market in the first half of 2016. In addition to well-known issues influencing the market like the uncertainty about rate hikes in the U.S. and economic instability in China, Kathleen offered an interesting perspective on the current lackluster market.

She also gave insight on what private companies should watch out for to encourage an IPO, like looking at how the market values a private company’s industry peer.

Stay tuned for part two of the interview, where we discuss the IPO market in the second half of 2016 and into 2017.

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