Hong Kong is on course for its strongest IPO year on record, a trend tracked by private banks and wealth managers, for whom listings are major liquidity events for founders and investors.

Hong Kong's initial public offering market raised more than HK$388 billion ($49.9 billion) from 116 listings in the first nine months of 2026, according to KPMG China. Funds raised more than doubled year-on-year and exceeded every previous nine-month total in the market's history.

The data chimes with figures issued a few days earlier from EY, another of the major professionals services firms.

KPMG China's Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong IPO Markets 2026 Q3 Review says that full-year proceeds could reach HK$500 billion. That would break the annual record of HK$427 billion set in 2010. More than 600 applicants are in the active pipeline.

For private banks, the numbers matter beyond capital markets. Listings turn paper wealth into liquid assets for founders, early shareholders and pre-IPO investors, and these are the moments when new money is most often won or lost.

Hong Kong continues to flex its muscles as the main listings hub for Asia. On 21 September, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing published a consultation on the second phase of its listing competitiveness review, covering post-listing rules on notifiable, connected and spinoff transactions. The 2026 Policy Address also set out proposals to attract overseas issuers to Hong Kong.

Listings details
A+H listings, by companies already listed in mainland China raising further capital in Hong Kong, drove most of the growth. The 37 completed in the period contributed nearly 70 per cent of Hong Kong's IPO proceeds. Deal numbers more than tripled and funds raised rose by more than 180 per cent year-on-year.

Technology issuers accounted for more than half of total proceeds, with artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics being prominent. Companies listing under Chapter 18C, Hong Kong's regime for specialist technology companies, raised HK$36.2 billion across 19 listings. Only eight such listings were completed in the previous three years combined.

“If market conditions remain supportive and the current pipeline converts as expected, Hong Kong could deliver a record year, with full-year IPO proceeds potentially approaching HK$500 billion,” Louis Lau, partner and head of the Hong Kong capital markets group at KPMG China, said.

Mainland markets also accelerated. A-share exchanges completed 134 listings raising RMB254.4 billion ($37.9 billion), up 41 per cent by volume and 125 per cent by value. The Shanghai STAR Market raised RMB105.5 billion, more than 13 times its total a year earlier. CXMT Corp, a DRAM manufacturer, accounted for RMB66.6 billion of that. The Beijing Stock Exchange recorded 62 listings, the most of any A-share venue.

Globally, 944 listings raised $289.9 billion, up 160 per cent on similar deal volumes. SpaceX and SK Hynix, both listed on Nasdaq, together raised $112.8 billion, nearly 40 per cent of the total. Nasdaq ranked first by funds raised, followed by Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York and Shenzhen. KPMG expects artificial intelligence companies to lead the next wave of large offerings. It said Anthropic's anticipated listing could become the largest IPO in history.