Private assets, public interest
私募资产，公共利益
The risks to global finance from private equity’s insurance binge
私募股权大举收购保险公司给全球金融带来风险
- binge 拓展指“无节制的狂热行动”以及作动词常用搭配 binge on sth 表示“狂吃狂喝、尽情享用”某物（参见：小词详解 | binge）
Funding pensions with private assets holds promise—but needs scrutiny
用私募资产为养老金融资前景良好——但需要严格审视
- scrutiny 指“仔细检查、认真彻底的审查”，作为正式用语使用，强调密切观察和关注细节（参见：小词详解 | scrutiny）
A DECADE OR so ago private equity was a niche corner of finance; today it is a vast enterprise in its own right. Having grabbed business and prestige from banks, private-equity firms manage $12trn of assets globally, are worth more than $500bn on America’s stockmarket and have their pick of Wall Street’s top talent. Whereas America’s listed banks are worth little more than they were before the pandemic, its listed private-equity firms are worth about twice as much. The biggest, Blackstone, is more valuable than either Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley—and has the confidence of a winner. “It’s the alternatives era,” proclaimed the company’s ebullient Taylor Swift-themed festive video in December. “We buy assets then we make ’em better.”
大约十年前，私募股权还是金融业的一个利基领域，如今它已自成一门庞大的生意。私募股权公司从银行手中抢走了业务和声誉，在全球管理着12万亿美元的资产，在美国股市的市值超过5000亿美元，并拥有华尔街最顶尖的人才。美国上市银行的市值与疫情暴发前相比仅略有增长，而美国上市私募股权公司的市值是疫情前的两倍。其中最大的黑石集团（Blackstone）的市值比高盛或摩根士丹利都要高，并且拥有赢家的自信。“这是另类投资的时代，”该公司在12月发布的一则热情洋溢的模仿泰勒·斯威夫特巡演的节日视频里宣称，“我们购买资产，然后把它们变得更好。”
- niche （产品的）商机；市场定位
- prestige 威信、声望、威望（参见：词源趣谈 | prestige）
- ebullient 喻指思想、感情等“奔放的、热情洋溢的、兴高采烈的”，常作正式用语使用，即如沸腾翻泡的开水那般充满自信、活力、兴致、热情以及愉快的心情（参见：小词详解 | ebullient）
This is not, though, the business that has recently boomed for them. Traditional private equity—using lots of debt to buy companies, improving them, and selling or listing them—has been lifeless. High interest rates have cast doubt on the value of privately held companies and reduced investors’ willingness to provide new funds. It does not seem to matter. Core private-equity activity is now just one part of the industry’s terrain, which includes infrastructure, property and loans made directly to companies, all under the broad label of “private assets”. Here the empire-building continues. Most recently, the industry is swallowing up life insurers.
然而，他们近期十分红火的业务并不是购买资产。用大量债务购买公司，再改善它们，然后将它们出售或上市的传统私募股权投资已经了无生气。高利率让人对私人公司的价值产生了怀疑，也降低了投资者提供新资金的意愿。这似乎并不要紧。核心私募股权投资活动如今只是该行业版图的一部分，其他业务还包括基础设施、房地产和直接向企业放贷，这些都被归在“私募资产”这个大标签之下。在这方面，帝国的建设仍在继续。最近，该行业正在大举收购人寿保险公司。
- terrain 地形、地势、地带
- 拓展学习：熟词僻义 | swallow 是一种怎样的接受？
