Research released by the New Brunswick Financial and Consumer Services Commission (FCNB) provides new insight into the province’s capital markets.

The 2014 Capital Markets Report provides details on New Brunswick’s capital markets activity for 2013, and identifies trends that have emerged over the past five years.

“Our research efforts continue to evolve. As this is our fifth year of reporting, we have been able to analyze the capital market activity not only for 2013, but also for the past five years,” said Jeff Harriman, capital markets specialist of the FCNB. “This has provided some clarity on trends within our capital markets. The report also includes a first-time look at what we call “New Brunswick Accelerators” that work with and support the startup community emerging in our province.”

FCNB was also able to segregate and present data that details funds that were provided to N.B. companies from residents of the province.

Highlights of the report include:

  • N.B. companies raise the majority of funds through debt financing and accredited investors.
  • Venture capital (VC) continues to play an important role in the province. With recent successes, N.B. companies have been able to attract more VC deals; however, the average size of the deals continues to decrease, indicating the majority of deals are generated by early stage companies.
  • Sectors attracting the most VC investment firms over the past five years, are information and communication technology (ICT) and energy.
  • Exempt markets have shown significant growth since 2009 with accredited investors providing the majority of the funds raised, and there has also been growth in the use of the offering memorandum exemption.
  • Debt financing remains a favourite among N.B. companies. There has been continuous growth in debt financing over the last five years with the caisses populaires and the Atlantic credit unions providing increased lending. Debt financing provided by these institutions has risen 34 per cent since 2010.