SPACs, or Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (also known as “blank check companies”), have surged over the past year, rising to 248 IPOs in 2020 for $83B in proceeds and 154 YTD with $47B in proceeds. Given the increase in SPAC activity, the complexity of the structure, and the impact it can have across the industry, we’ll discuss the drivers of the growth, the SPAC structures and how they work, some of the risks and benefits to SPACs, the major players in the SPAC market, as well as what it potentially means for the outlook for M&A activity. Overall, healthy capital markets activity, including SPACs, tends to bode well for the growth outlook for the financial services sector. However, given the surge in SPACs, some of the risks, different economics, and companies that lack track records, we think a bit of caution is warranted.

Speaker:

Devin Ekberg, CFA^®, CPWA^®, CIMA^®

Chief Learning Officer and Managing Director, Investments & Wealth Institute^® 

Premier Continuing Education (CE):

- 1 hour of CE credit for CIMA^®, CPWA^®, and RMA^® certifications

- Credit is automatically uploaded to your certification record(s) but can take up to 24 hours to be reflected