About 70 percent of the issues in 2024 are trading below their listing price, and 45 percent are below the IPO price itself.

A key advantage, Saraf pointed out, is that many of these IPOs are structured as offer-for-sale (OFS) issues, meaning the businesses themselves are not in immediate need of capital. This allows issuers the flexibility to wait for better market conditions. “If the market is soft, which it is today, they have the luxury to defer by three to six months if needed,” he said.

That flexibility might prove crucial. While last year’s IPO rush looked promising at first, it has turned sour for investors. About 70 percent of the issues in 2024 are trading below their listing price, and 45 percent are below the IPO price itself.

At the Moneycontrol Global Wealth Summit in Mumbai on March 7, Saraf said “There’s about Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of IPOs in the pipeline—already mandated, soft mandated, or likely to be mandated in the next 12 months,” he said. But with the markets currently on shaky ground, the question, he admitted, is about timing.