Many businesses are struggling. Millions of Americans are out of work. But the IPO market is the hottest it has been in years — and 2020 could be its biggest year ever.

With three months left on the calendar, US-listed initial public offerings had raised nearly $95bn, according to data provider Dealogic on 23 September. That already surpasses the totals of every year except 2014 since the tech bubble in 2000. It is nipping at the heels of 2014, when IPOs raised $96bn, more than a quarter of it by Alibaba.