Who will benefit the most from the hot IPO market? The domestic market has been sizzling this year, as nine deals that raised $4.4 billion have already hit the market, according to DealLogic. That's perhaps the best January ever.

This rising market will certainly lift a lot of ships. One of the biggest beneficiaries may be smaller investment banks, the likes of Piper Jaffray and Jefferies Group, which have been busy, notes CNNMoney. Cowen Group, FRB Capital Markets, and JMP may also gain on the trend.

Jefferies was "the lead underwriter on last week's $150 million IPO of Velti, a mobile ad technology company. And Piper Jaffray is underwriting the IPOs of healthcare companies Epocrates, which raised $86 million on Tuesday, and Pacira Pharmaceuticals, which is expected to price this week." Investors have giddily bid up the stock of Jefferies, up 25 percent this year.

These banks appeal to smaller companies in general, which seem poised to benefit from the resurgence in institutional IPO demand, especially in technology and healthcare.

To some veterans of the industry, this may sound a bit like the Robertson Stephens, Hambrecht & Quist, Alex Brown and Montgomery Securities that fared so well in the dotcom boom, before they fizzled out. My sense is the building wave of IPOs will not likely reach mania status anytime soon.

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