China’s Ant expected to double on debut amid pent-up retail demand, fund managers say

China’s Ant Group is expected to double its market value on debut, as unmet demand from mom-and-pop investors and an impending inclusion in major global indexes could offset worries about tighter regulations, fund managers said.

The fintech giant will be listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market on Thursday following its record $37 billion IPO, which attracted from retail investors alone a bid value equivalent to Britain’s GDP.

The IPO values Ant, a spinoff from Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group, at about $315 billion. The combined market cap of JPMorgan , Morgan Stanley , Citigroup and Goldman Sachs is $548 billion.

“Ant will be the market’s icon,” said fund manager Zhang Yingbiao from Shenzhen Longteng Huijin Fund Management Co, which bought Ant’s IPO shares via a bidding process.