DURHAM, N.H.—The University of New Hampshire’s franchising sector-focused RIFC 50 Index™ continued to recover strongly from the severe losses sustained in the first three quarters of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, gaining 7.3 % in the first quarter of 2021. Developed and published by UNH’s Rosenberg International Franchise Center (RIFC), it is the first stock index to track the financial market performance of the U.S. franchising sector.

“In the fourth quarter of 2020, 27 of the RIFC 50 Index’s 50 components ended the year with higher market values than at the beginning of 2020,” said E. Hachemi Aliouche, director of the RIFC and developer of the RIFC 50 Index. “This franchise sector trajectory continued in Q1 of 2021, with 38 of the index components gaining market value this quarter.”

The fast ramp-up of the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program and the prospect of an approaching reopening of the economy, particularly in travel and hospitality industries, fueled a surge in the values of most components of the index. Sixteen of them grew their market values by more than 20%, with Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Avis Budget Group and Joint Chiropractic gaining 108%, 95% and 85.5%, respectively. Index component Red Lion Hotels was acquired by Sonesta International Hotels in March 2021.

“This strong performance by the RIFC 50 Index, outperforming the S&P 500 Index’s 5.8 % quarterly return, signals a powerful upsurge for the franchising sector in the near future,” said Aliouche.

The RIFC 50 Index is up 57.8% over the last 12 months, up 40.8% over the last five years, up 97.1% over the last 10 years, and up 347.6% since its inception in 2000.

To learn more about RIFC and their franchise indices, visit https://www.unh.edu/rosenbergcenter/ and follow @RIFC_UNH on Twitter.

The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from all 50 states and 71 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. As one of the nation’s highest-performing research universities, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF and NIH, and receives more than $110 million in competitive external funding every year to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.

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