爲亞洲大亨融資投資迅速飆升的股市

融資投資What can a bank offer the successful chief executive who has just listed his company and become a multimillionaire or billionaire? For financiers in Asia chasing closer ties to the region’s wealthiest people, the answer is proving simple enough: cash to bet on China’s soaring markets.

對於一位公司剛剛上市、已經成爲百萬富翁或億萬富翁的成功首席執行官來說，銀行能爲其提供什麼？就追求與亞洲地區最富有人羣建立更緊密關係的金融家而言，答案相當簡單：爲大亨提供現金，令其可以投資中國迅速飆升的股市。

Financing tycoons is a lucrative and growing business in Asia that is tempting investment banks including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to muscle in. They join a crowded field of existing players such as UBS, Credit Suisse and Citigroup, which all have big private banks.

在亞洲，爲大亨融資是一個利潤豐厚並迅速增長的業務，吸引着包括高盛(Goldman Sachs)和摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)在內摩拳擦掌的投行擠入。它們加入了這塊原本已有瑞銀(UBS)、瑞信(Credit Suisse)及花旗集團(Citigroup)等選手在內的擁擠競技場，上述選手均擁有大型私人銀行。

Lending on margin to retail investors is the rocket fuel powering the soaring markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Financing tycoons works on the same principle — banks make loans using shares as collateral and borrowers can be asked to top up if values fall — but the sums involved can be more than $1bn a pop. One senior investment banker calls it “one of the last juicy products out there”.

面向散戶投資者的保證金貸款，是推動上海和深圳股市飆漲的“火箭燃料”。爲大亨融資的原理相同——銀行接受股票爲抵押品發放貸款，如果股價下跌銀行可以要求借貸者補足抵押品——但是每筆涉及金額可以達到10億美元以上。一名資深投資銀行家稱之爲“僅存的利潤豐厚的產品之一”。

Banks everywhere lend on margin to hedge funds and private equity but in Asia, the rise of first and second-generation wealth makes tycoon financing a particularly attractive regional business because company founders can be worth billions on paper yet be short of cash.

世界各地的銀行都向對衝基金和私募股權基金髮放保證金貸款。但是，在亞洲，第一和第二代富人的崛起使得爲大亨提供融資成爲一個特別具有吸引力的地區性業務，這是因爲企業創始人雖然賬面財富可能達到數十億但卻仍然缺少資金。

“These companies are their babies but there’s a real need for these entrepreneurs to raise liquidity — and that’s what causes all these other banks to want to get into the business,” says one long-time specialist.

“這些企業都是他們的寶貝，但是這些創業家確實需要提高流動性——這也是爲什麼其他這些銀行也都希望進入這個行業，”一名長期研究這方面的專家表示。

Li Hejun, China’s richest man by some counts until the shares in his group Hanergy Thin Film collapsed last week, is a case in point. Filings unearthed by the Financial Times show he pledged shares worth HK$5.8bn (US$747m) for a $200m loan just before the 47 per cent price fall.

李河君正是這樣一個例子。按照某種統計，他曾是中國內地首富，直到上週其旗下集團漢能薄膜發電(Hanergy Thin Film Power)股價暴跌。英國《金融時報》掌握的文件顯示，就在漢能薄膜發電股價暴跌47%前不久，李河君曾以價值58億港元（合7.47億美元）的股票作爲抵押獲得一筆2億美元的貸款。

The latest tycoon-financing twist is lending for new investments, often generated by the bank doing the lending. “In Hong Kong, where we are seeing a lot of private placements, block trades and [floats], there is a real demand for this type of quick and opportunistic financing” says Sue Lee, Citi’s head of strategic equity solutions business for Asia Pacific.

爲大亨融資的最新動向是爲新投資放貸，通常這些新投資機會由操作貸款的銀行帶來。“在香港，我們看到了許多定向增發、大宗交易和（股票發行），確實存在對這種快速投機性融資的需求，”花旗亞太地區戰略性股票解決方案業務主管Sue Lee稱。

Providing tycoon financing can also help investment bankers win particular deals. Morgan Stanley managed a coup in this respect when last year it snatched the mandate for a $4.7bn private placement of shares in Ping An, the insurer from Goldman and Credit Suisse at the very last minute. The victory came because it offered enough financing to a tycoon in the 10-strong syndicate to help raise the price the whole group paid for the deal.

爲大亨提供融資也可以幫助投資銀行家贏得特定交易。摩根士丹利在這方面成功施展了一記妙招——去年其在最後一刻從高盛和瑞信手中搶走了保險公司平安(Ping An) 47億美元定向股票增發的獨家承銷權。這次勝利的原因在於，摩根士丹利爲包含約10位投資者的財團中的一位大亨提供了足夠融資，從而幫助提高了整個財團爲這筆交易支付的價格。

Putting one over on your rivals is always nice (and rare, in a deal of that size) but tycoon financing hits another banking sweet spot, namely making money by bringing together private bankers and traditional dealmakers. In theory, investment bankers unselfishly introduce newly minted millionaires, post-float, to their private banking colleagues. They bring in the investment banking team to advise on dealmaking. Real relationships are rarely that smooth, but finding a way for the investment bank to satisfy a private client’s need for funds to bet on shares is a quick win for both sides.

戲弄你的對手總是件樂事（在這種規模的交易中也實屬罕見），但大亨融資還衝擊了銀行業的另一個獲利點，也就是把私人銀行家和傳統的交易撮合者聚集起來以從中謀利。理論上，投資銀行家無私地將公司上市後新出爐的百萬富翁介紹給私人銀行業的同行。後者也引入投資銀行業團隊爲促成交易提供建議。現實中的關係鮮有如此順利的，但找到一種辦法讓投資銀行滿足私人銀行客戶投資股票的資金需求，對雙方來說都是速效的雙贏局面。

Coalition, the data provider, estimates that in the past two years, revenue from corporate equity derivatives in Asia has totalled $1.2bn, up from $96m in 2012.

數據提供商Coalition估測，過去兩年中，投行在亞洲的企業股權衍生品業務收入總額從2012年的9600萬美元漲至12億美元。

The growth has been fuelled by the rise of private wealth, particularly in China, with the floating of companies such as Alibaba. “The whole market dynamic is shifting from state-owned to private enterprises so you have this massive conversion of wealth and these entrepreneurs, after they float, are looking for liquidity,” said Aaron Oh, head of corporate equity derivatives for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse. Typically banks will advance cash worth about 30 per cent of the borrower’s portfolio, but competition is reportedly spurring banks to lend up to double that.

隨着阿里巴巴(Alibaba)等企業的上市，私人財富的增長推動了這種收入的增長，尤其是在中國。“整個市場動態正從國有企業轉向私有企業，因此你看到了這種大規模的財富轉換，在企業上市後，這些企業家正在尋求流動性，”瑞信亞太區企業股權衍生品主管Aaron Oh表示。通常銀行會借出約爲借款者資產組合價值30%的現金，但據報競爭已經促使銀行最高借出兩倍於此的資金。

Backing tycoons in the bullish Chinese market is unlikely to keep bankers awake at night. Investors too are buying into the concept at a retail level: China’s brokerages have raised equity worth $14bn in Hong Kong this year and plan to use much of it to fund more margin financing.

在中國股市處於牛市的情況下，向大亨們出借資金不大可能讓銀行家們夜不能寐。散戶投資者也接受了這一概念：中國的券商今年在香港發行了價值140億美元的股票，計劃將大部分募得資金用於加大融資業務。

The real question is what will happen when markets suffer a correction. Retail investors may have trouble meeting the resulting margin calls. Tycoons should be better able to keep their cool, so long as their bankers do too.

真正的問題是當市場遭遇調整時會發生什麼。散戶投資者或許難以滿足由此而產生的保證金追加要求。大亨們應該比他們更能保持冷靜，只要他們的銀行家能夠保持冷靜。