After a massive 2014, the IPO market is off to a slow start this year

Alibaba IPO Jack Ma

(Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Last year was huge for IPOs.

There was Alibaba's record IPO, and we also saw GoPro and King Digital going public in the biggest year for public debuts since 2000.

But so far this year, the IPO market has cooled down.

According to FactSet, there's been a 44% decrease in the number of IPOs from January to mid-March, and the same period last year.

Here's FactSet's Michael Moreau:

"IPO activity this year is well below the unrealistic pace of 2014. Is that reason to be worried? Maybe not. Last year was the biggest year for IPOs since 2000. Companies are now raising more private capital from family, angel investors, and venture capitalists than ever before, which delays the timeline for companies to go public."

The strong dollar is also attracting some investors to lower overseas costs and away from US companies, Moreau wrote.

Here's the breakdown of the how many transactions the big banks have done this year. Between January and mid-March in 2014, there were 73 transactions, compared to just 37 this year.

Screen Shot 2015 03 23 at 9.50.50 AM

(Factset)

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