# Equity Capital Markets: Definition, Process, and Types of Investments

![Equity Capital Market: The arena where financial institutions help companies raise equity capital and where stocks are traded.](https://www.investopedia.com/thmb/vNzKiQ0g-ZJtplXtZt-D75etwws=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/equitycapitalmarket.asp-final-7d64f57c33a947f4ad2ff791f590c2c8.png)

*— Investopedia / Julie Bang*

> **Definition**
>
> The equity capital market (ECM) helps companies raise equity capital through activities such as initial public offerings (IPOs).

## What Is the Equity Capital Market (ECM)?

Equity capital markets (ECMs) refer to areas where companies raise money by selling shares. The [primary market](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/primarymarket.asp) handles new share issues like initial public offerings (IPOs) and private placements, while the [secondary market](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/secondarymarket.asp) deals with existing shares and derivatives trading. The key participants include investment banks, institutional investors, and retail investors. ECM helps the economy by directing funds efficiently from investors to companies that need capital for growth and projects.

### Key Takeaways

*   The equity capital market (ECM) supports companies in raising capital through both primary and secondary markets.  
    
*   Initial public offerings (IPOs) and private placements are integral parts of the ECM's primary market.  
    
*   Secondary markets facilitate the buying and selling of existing shares and include stock exchanges and OTC markets.  
    
*   Raising capital through ECM can lead to a lower debt-to-equity ratio, providing flexibility and diverse financing options.  
    
*   Despite advantages, public offerings in ECM can be costly and face rigorous investor scrutiny.

## Exploring the Dynamics of Equity Capital Markets

The equity capital market (ECM) is broader than just the stock market because it covers a wider range of financial instruments and activities. These include the marketing and distribution and allocation of issues, [initial public offerings (IPOs)](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/ipo.asp), private placements, derivatives trading, and [book building](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bookbuilding.asp). The main participants in the ECM are investment banks, broker-dealers, retail investors, venture capitalists, private equity firms, and angel investors.

Alongside the [bond market](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bondmarket.asp), ECM channels funds from savers and institutions to investors. As part of the [capital markets](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalmarkets.asp), ECM theoretically leads to efficient resource allocation in a market economy.  

### An In-Depth Look at the Primary Equity Market

The primary equity market, where companies issue new securities, is divided into a private placement market, and a primary public market. In the private placement market, companies raise private equity through unquoted shares that are sold to investors directly. In the primary public market, private companies can [go public](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/goingpublic.asp) through IPOs, and listed companies can issue new equity through [seasoned issues](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/seasonedissue.asp).

> **Tip**
>
> Private equity firms may use both cash and debt in their investment (such as in a leveraged buyout), whereas venture capital firms typically deal only with equity investments. 

### Navigating the Secondary Equity Market

The secondary market, where no new capital is created, is what most people typically think of as the "[stock market](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stockmarket.asp)”. It is where existing shares are bought and sold, and consists of stock exchanges and [over-the-counter (OTC)](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/otc.asp) markets, where a network of dealers trade stocks without an exchange acting as an intermediary.

## Pros and Cons of Raising Capital Through Equity Markets

Raising capital in equity markets has various benefits for companies.

The first one is a lower [debt to equity ratio](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/debtequityratio.asp). Companies will not need to access debt markets with expensive interest rates to finance future growth. Equity markets offer more flexibility and varied financing options than debt markets. In private placements, equity markets can help entrepreneurs gain experience and oversight from seasoned colleagues. This will help companies expand their business to new markets and products or provide needed counsel.

However, raising capital in equity markets also has challenges. For example, the route to a public offering can be an expensive and time-consuming one. Many participants increase the costs and time needed to take a company to market.

Added to this is the constant scrutiny. Equity investors tolerate more risk than debt investors but are still focused on returns. As such, investors impatient with a company that has consistently produced negative returns may abandon it, leading to a sharp drop in its valuation.

## Equity Capital FAQs

### What Is Equity Capital and Debt Capital?

Companies seek to raise capital in order to finance their operations and grow. Equity funding involves exchanging shares of a company's residual ownership in return for capital. Debt funding instead relies on borrowing, where lenders are repaid principal and interest without receiving any ownership claim. In general, equity capital is more expensive and has fewer tax benefits than debt capital, but also comes with a great deal of operational freedom and less liability in the case that business fails.

### How Is Equity Capital Calculated?

The equity of a company, or [shareholders' equity](https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/012115/what-are-components-shareholders-equity.asp), is the net difference between a company's [total assets](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/asset.asp) and its [total liabilities](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/total-liabilities.asp). When a company has publicly-traded stock, the value of its market capitalization can be calculated as the share price times the number of shares outstanding.

### What Are the Types of Equity Capital?

Equity can be categorized along several dimensions. Private equity differs from publicly-traded shares, where the former is placed via primary markets and the latter on secondary markets. Common stock is the most ubiquitous form of equity, but companies may also issue different share classes including allocations to [preferred stock](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/preferredstock.asp).

### What Is the Difference Between Capital and Equity?

Capital is any resource, including cash, that a company possesses and uses for productive purposes. Equity is but one form of capital.

## The Bottom Line

The ECM allows companies to raise money by issuing new shares. It also lets investors trade existing shares through the primary and secondary markets. ECM helps businesses fund their growth without relying only on debt, giving them a lower D/E ratio and more flexible financing options. Key participants include investment banks and venture capitalists, who help manage and facilitate capital flow. However, using ECM can be costly, time-consuming, and comes with scrutiny from investors, so companies need to weigh the pros and cons when planning to access these markets.  

> **Article Sources**
>
> 1.  Anthony W. Lynch. "[Foundations of Finance, Lecture 2](https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~alynch/courses/B01.231160/ff06S02.pdf)." Page 2. Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University.
>     
> 2.  Anthony W. Lynch. "[Foundations of Finance, Lecture 2](https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~alynch/courses/B01.231160/ff06S02.pdf)." Pages 5-6. Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University.
>     
> 3.  PitchBook. "[A Guide to Every Step in the IPO Process Explained](https://pitchbook.com/blog/ipo-process-explained)."