IPO
IPO refers to an Initial Public Offering of corporation shares to the player market. Players can gain income from both the rise in value of shares and dividends issued by corporations.
As there is no legal system in EVE, there is no guarantee that a corporation will actually pay any dividends or even return the value of shares to shareholders.
IPOs to date have been used to raise capital for a diverse range of activites including:
- Outpost Construction
- BPO Funds
- Trading
- Character growth and sale
History
The first IPO was for sale of Outposts by the Interstellar Starbase Syndicate. Designed and sold by Serenity Steele, the IPO followed with a total of 5 individual Outpost IPOs and eventually an IPO for the entire Alliance activities.
The structure of placement of the ISS IPOs was designed to ensure neighbouring alliances and their leadership had a vested interest in not attacking the Outposts. In total the outpost lasted about 2 years before share dilution and change of neighbours.
The ISS IPOs launched a new trend in raising capital.
Risk Assessment
The level of risk in an IPO can best be judged by:
- The trustworthyness of the player or corporation making the IPO. (As they can always take the money and run). Reputable players will sometimes back an IPO or guarantee return of the funds
- The likelyhood of profitability of the business activity
- Assets
- Minimum guarantees
Remember that there is always risk associated with an IPO that any money you place into it will be lost.
There is no market trade mechanism for transferring shares. As such it is a high-risk 2 step activity also open to theft:
- Send Money
- Send Shares
There are a number of 3rd party individuals that act as a broker to buy and sell shares {need list}.
Alternatives
Banking, such as EBANK is an alternative form of money lending with effectively the same security. Banking works by depositing to a fixed character or corporation that keeps a record of your deposits.