Equity Capital Markets (ECM)

Equity capital markets (ECM) refers to the segment of the capital markets dedicated to equity raising by companies and institutional investors. ECM covers initial public offerings (IPOs), where companies sell shares publicly to investors for the first time and list on stock exchanges; primary offerings, where listed companies create new shares and sell them to investors through marketed equity offerings; secondary offerings, where institutional investors sell their shares through marketed placements to other institutional investors; block trades, where large blocks of stock are offered to the market; and convertible bonds.