Power Corporation of Canada's (POW.TO) WealthSimple unit will give Canadian retail investors early access to select initial public offerings (IPOs) at the offering price, something that is typically limited to institutional and high-net-worth investors, the company said on Thursday.
The new capability, called IPO Access, will allow Wealthsimple clients to request shares, with no minimum requirement, of select companies going public on Canadian and U.S. stock exchanges. There is no fee to participate.
Specific IPOs will be announced in the Wealthsimple app. If demand exceeds the shares Wealthsimple has available, participating clients are selected through a transparent process that is disclosed ahead of each IPO. Clients may end up with all the shares they requested, some, or none.
"Access to IPO shares is one of the starkest divides in public market investing," said Swapnil Parikh, Wealthsimple vice president of product. "Big institutions get to buy in at the offering price, while everyday investors are excluded. Wealthsimple is making it possible for Canadian investors to participate in IPOs on the same terms, at the same price."
Power Corp shares were last seen up $0.04 to $80.96 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Price: $81.02, Change: $+0.10, Percent Change: +0.12%