2021 1H: Significant Progresss
- The second quarter saw the U.S. achieve significant milestones in the fight to control COVID-19, with the country reaching 50% of adults fully vaccinated in late May. Correspondingly, by mid-June both COVID cases and deaths had fallen to their lowest point since March of 2020, highlighting the impact of the country’s mass vaccination strategy.
- Private markets continued their surge during the second quarter, with transaction volume up meaningfully from both the pandemic impacted 2020 second quarter as well as 2019. Business owners concerned about potential capital gains tax increases, paired with private equity investors seeking to deploy record amounts of dry powder have worked in tandem to push activity to a frenzied pace. This activity in private markets has been paired with skyrocketing valuations in the venture capital world, most notably among late-stage start-ups.
- During the year to date, PMCF’s four Medical Technology indices have seen mixed results, though they finished the first half of 2021 tightly grouped, up between 6.4% and 8.2% on the year. This trails the benchmark S&P 500 Growth Index which climbed significantly in June and finished up 15.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed up 14.2%.
