Oliver Brown: The post-pandemic fundraisers keeping us busy

2021 to be 'an even bigger year' for IPOs

Online retailers that have been expanding their balance sheets during the throes of the pandemic are likely to remain high-growth investment opportunities, according to co-manager of the MFM UK Primary Opportunities fund Oliver Brown, who expects 2021 to be "an even bigger year" for fund raising and IPOs than last year.

While the bulk of 2020 saw companies raising cash to repair their balance sheets due to the pandemic-induced recession, Brown said that towards the end of last year - and during the beginning of this year - an increasing number of companies entered the primary market to grow their businesses because they "had not suffered as much as they thought they would".  "There is a view that individuals' shopping habits have changed permanently, or at least, they will do much more of their shopping online than they ever used to," the manager explained. "Some people will think to themselves, 'why...