10 Key Findings from SIFMA’s 2026 Capital Markets Fact Book

What does SIFMA’s 2026 Capital Markets Fact Book show?

U.S. capital markets remained the largest in the world in 2025, accounting for 43.7% of global equity market capitalization and 38.1% of global fixed income securities outstanding. The year also brought higher fixed income issuance, stronger IPO activity, record U.S. equity trading volumes, and continued growth in household and retirement assets.

The 2026 Capital Markets Fact Book by SIFMA Research provides a comprehensive look at U.S. and global capital markets. The annual report covers equity and fixed income markets, issuance and trading activity, investment banking, investor participation, savings and retirement assets, and the U.S. securities industry.

Capital markets are a critical source of financing for the U.S. economy. In 2025, equity and debt securities accounted for 81.2% of financing for U.S. non-financial corporations. Within debt financing, debt securities represented 77.5% of U.S. non-financial corporate debt outstanding, while bank lending is the dominant source of debt financing in the other major regions shown, accounting for 85.0% on average.

2025 Capital Markets at a Glance

• $157.8 trillion in global equity market capitalization
• $160.7 trillion in global fixed income securities outstanding
• $11.5 trillion in U.S. long-term fixed income issuance
• $232.6 billion in U.S. equity issuance, excluding SPACs
• $80.4 trillion in U.S. household liquid financial assets
• $53.6 trillion in U.S. retirement assets

Together, these figures show the scale of global capital markets and the central role U.S. markets continue to play in financing, investing, and retirement savings.

10 Key Findings

1. Global Fixed Income Markets Reached $160.7 Trillion

Global fixed income debt outstanding increased 10.6% year-over-year to $160.7 trillion in 2025. Global long-term fixed income issuance also increased, rising 6.3% to $29.9 trillion.

The U.S. remained the largest fixed income market in the world, representing 38.1% of global securities outstanding, or $61.2 trillion. That was approximately twice the size of the European Union, the next-largest market.

2. U.S. Long-Term Fixed Income Issuance Rose to $11.5 Trillion

U.S. long-term fixed income issuance increased 9.7% year-over-year to $11.5 trillion in 2025.

Growth was broad-based across several major asset classes:

• U.S. Treasury issuance: $4.8 trillion, +3.2%
• Mortgage-backed securities issuance: $1.9 trillion, +18.8%
• Corporate bond issuance: $2.2 trillion, +12.5%
• Federal agency securities issuance: $1.4 trillion, +9.1%
• Municipal bond issuance: $587.3 billion, +14.3%
• Asset-backed securities issuance: $517.4 billion, +33.3%

3. Global Equity Market Capitalization Climbed to $157.8 Trillion

Global equity market capitalization increased 18.9% year-over-year to $157.8 trillion in 2025. Global equity issuance also increased 13.5% to $573.8 billion.

The U.S. remained the world’s largest equity market, representing 43.7% of global equity market capitalization, or $68.9 trillion. U.S. equity markets were 4.4 times larger than China, the next-largest market.

4. U.S. IPO Deal Value Increased 50% in 2025

Total U.S. equity issuance, excluding SPACs, reached $232.6 billion in 2025, up 4.3% year-over-year.

The strongest growth came from initial public offerings. U.S. IPO deal value increased 50.0% to $47.0 billion. Secondary offerings, or follow-ons, totaled $154.6 billion, down 8.9% from 2024.

5. U.S. Stock Markets Rose and Trading Volume Hit a Record

Major U.S. stock indexes continued to rise in 2025:

• S&P 500: 6,845.50, up 16.4%
• Nasdaq Composite: 23,241.99, up 20.4%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 48,063.29, up 13.0%
• Russell 2000: 2,481.91, up 11.3%

At the same time, average daily U.S. equity trading volume reached a record 17.6 billion shares, up 44.6% year-over-year.

6. What Percentage of U.S. Households Own Stocks? 58%

According to the latest Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, 58.0% of U.S. households own stocks either directly or indirectly, up 5.3 percentage points from the prior survey.

The latest available data are from 2022. The Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances is scheduled for publication in October 2026.

7. U.S. Household Liquid Financial Assets Reached $80.4 Trillion

The value of U.S. households’ liquid financial assets increased 12.1% year-over-year to $80.4 trillion in 2025.

Equities represented the largest share:

• Equities: 57.2%
• Mutual funds: 17.0%
• Deposits and CDs: 11.4%
• Bonds: 7.7%
• Money market funds: 6.6%

8. U.S. Retirement Assets Increased to $53.6 Trillion

Total U.S. retirement assets increased 8.4% year-over-year to $53.6 trillion in 2025.

Private pension assets totaled $15.0 trillion, up 8.5%, while individual retirement account (IRA) assets increased 13.3% to $18.7 trillion.

The composition of U.S. retirement assets was:

• IRAs: 35.0%
• Government pensions: 28.2%
• Private pensions: 27.9%
• Annuities: 9.0%

9. Broker-Dealer Pre-Tax Net Income Increased 33.8%

The number of FINRA-registered broker-dealers declined 2.0% to 3,184 in 2025.

At the same time, gross revenues for FINRA-registered broker-dealers increased 7.5% to $776.8 billion, while total expenses increased 4.0% to $661.8 billion. Pre-tax net income reached $115.0 billion, up 33.8% year-over-year.

10. U.S. Securities Industry Employment Reached 1.17 Million

National securities industry employment reached 1,166,400 jobs in 2025, an increase of 3.0% year-over-year.

The U.S. Capital Markets Remain the World’s Largest

The data in SIFMA’s 2026 Capital Markets Fact Book underscore the continued scale, depth and importance of U.S. capital markets.

The U.S. represented 43.7% of global equity market capitalization and 38.1% of global fixed income securities outstanding in 2025.

Together, these markets connect investors with businesses and governments seeking capital, support investment and economic growth, and provide Americans with opportunities to save and invest for the future.

Explore the full SIFMA 2026 Capital Markets Fact Book for additional data on U.S. and global equity markets, fixed income, issuance, trading activity, investor participation, retirement savings and the securities industry.