Facebook stock gained +5.51% to USD 75.22 in after-hours trading, a new post- IPO high.
An investment product set to benefit from Facebook’s surge is the USDm 487 First Trust U.S. IPO Fund (ticker: FPX), a five-star (3/5 years) fund. Linked to the IPOX U.S. 100 (IPXO) and launched in April 2006, the fund invests in the largest 100 U.S. domiciled IPOs and Spin-Offs using the IPOX Index technology, providing an asset allocation focused approach to the “going public” effect in respective companies.
Included on 9/21/2012 into FPX, Facebook’s +311.85% rise during the first 459 trading days in the ETF now closely matches the post-IPO performance of Google (GOOGL US), which had gained +343.43% during the same post-IPO time period.
FPX IS AN ETF WITHIN OUR PRIVATE EQUITY MODEL.
Where are we today?
- We have 2.4 billion Internet users, or 50x more than before.
- Online connections are 180x faster at 10.5 Mbps.
- 164 million US smartphone users gives us “always-on” mobile connectivity
- We’re all socially connected, so great businesses spread faster.
- We all have one-click purchase power through Apple, Google, Amazon and eBay.
- The VC market has right-sized, returning back to mid 90’s levels with less competition.
- The cost to start a business is 95% lower, meaning many more companies are created and funded by angel and seed investors.
- It still takes venture capital to scale a business, which means large amounts of capital go into industry winners like Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat.
It doesn’t take a huge leap to see how well the VC industry is positioned for the immediate future. LPs have taken notice as 2014 is by all accounts the busiest year for LPs since the Great Recession began as it is forecast that between $25-30 billion to be invested in some 200 venture funds. Where will these dollars go and how is the industry changing?
Read the slide deck below to get an excellent overview of the venture capital industry:
(Sources: Upfront Ventures, Fortune Term Sheet)
The Consumer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in June. Excluding the often-volatile categories of food and energy, prices rose 0.1% from May.
The year-over-year increase in all prices was 2.1% in June, and prices excluding food and energy slipped to a 1.9% annual gain in June from 2% in May.
A broad rise in prices during May took the annual inflation rate to 2.1%, its highest level since October 2012. But a 3.3% monthly spike in gasoline prices accounted for most of the June increase as motor-vehicle prices fell, prices for medical services were flat and shelter costs rose 0.2%.
Food prices ticked up just 0.1% in June from the prior month after rising 0.5% in May and 0.4% in each of the prior three months. Drought and livestock and crop disease have caused prices for beef, pork, citrus fruits and other groceries to spike this year, driving the annual increase in food prices from 1.1% in January to 2.5% in May. The annual rise in food prices slipped to 2.3% in June.
(Source: BLS and WSJ)