At the beginning of April, SpaceX submitted its IPO project, with a listing planned for June 2026. For millions of investors in ETF World or ETF Nasdaq 100, the question is legitimate: if SpaceX goes publictheir wallet could benefit from it? The answer is no. An index ETF only buys a new security once it is officially included in the index it tracks. And this integration never happens on the big day.
Maxime Kugler, head of the financial offering at Altaprofits, an online wealth management broker, explains it this way: “We need to redo the composition of the index to see that a company that recently entered the stock market has its place. Sometimes, IPOs don’t work and companies never include certain indices. And even if they work, it can take time. » The FDJ is a concrete example: listed on the stock market in November 2019, it waited until March 2020 to join the SBF 120. It is not part of the CAC 40… and may never be there.
A few days or several months: it all depends on the size
For mega-caps, deadlines tend to shorten. Nasdaq has just adopted a fast entry rule applicable since May 1, 2026: a newly listed company that is among the 40 largest eligible capitalizations can now join the Nasdaq 100 from the 15th day of listing, compared to a period which could reach one year previously. But this rule only concerns the largest values. A medium-sized company can wait a long time before being included in a major index.
This is precisely where an ETF holder can find themselves shortchanged. The first weeks of listing are often those when an IPO achieves its best performance, driven by the announcement effect and the pressure of initial demand. Yes but… We often see the great successes, forgetting the IPOs which do not work.
Failed IPO is not always a loss
This is why Maxime Kugler qualifies the picture. “It’s not a shame that ETFs don’t take this into account. The IPO is performance in the very short term. The index ETF is for the long term: if the value is good, it will enter the index anyway, and we will end up benefiting from its growth. » So, in the other direction, the ETF also smoothes the downward risk: if the IPO does not work, we do not take the loss.
Historical statistics confirm this caution. A large portion of IPOs underperform their benchmarks within twelve months of listing, once the first-day euphoria has worn off. Pre-IPO shareholders (venture capital funds, employees, founders) often seek to liquidate their positions quicklywhich weighs on the price in the weeks that follow. For an individual investor who buys at the introductory price, the window of outperformance is short and the timing difficult to control.
How to access IPOs, then?
For those who still want to participate in an introduction, several routes exist. The most direct: subscribe during the offer via its online brokerif the latter distributes the securities to individuals as part of a retail tranche. Access conditions vary depending on the method of listing. There are two scenarios: a price bracket fixed in advance (as was the case for the FDJ) or an auction. In both cases, you must have done his analytical work upstream.
For less seasoned investors, Maxime Kugler directs towards specialized active funds: “A space fund will be interested in the SpaceX IPO. As he is specialized, he has the ability to study it well. This is one of the benefits of active management. » He thus reminds us that an IPO is mainly aimed at an expert segment: “You have to master the sector of activity, the company, and listen to the notes of specialized analysts. If we are not sure, my recommendation is to entrust it to a manager or an active fund”.
