The end of the year is a time for scorecards. Investment bankers are busily comparing league tables, for pride and money. I am going to do one, too - not for the bankers but the investors.
I tried to figure out how the year's initial public offerings fared for investors, instead of comparing the money they raised.
After all, 2007 has been a bumper year for initial public offerings. The number of offerings reached records and betting on listings has probably drawn more interest than Mark Six.
Goldman Sachs should be the most loved of the banks by punters. Of the eight listings it sponsored, all bettered the offering prices on their first day of trading - most notably Alibaba.com, which gave the first-day punter a 192.6 per cent return.
While Alibaba was by far the best performer, Gold Bond, a boutique firm run by a former Peregrine banker, also put in an impressive performance. But the offering's size was insignificant.
However, for long-term investors, it is a different story. By yesterday, only 50 per cent of Goldman's deals were still above their offering prices. Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch scored better under both the short-term and long-term measurements. About 66 per cent of their deals continue to give initial public offering investors a positive return.
Well, let's be fair. Goldman's long-term performance is no better or worse than the industrial average. Of the year's 83 initial public offerings, only 65 managed to trade up or at par on the first day - about 78.3 per cent. The number drops dramatically to 48.9 per cent on an up-to-date basis.