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中国高翻团队倾力之作

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上期划线句答案

I am now convinced that this advicedoes not giveyou a better chance at getting the correct answer—but it does make people feel better than if they get it wrong and find out their original choice was correct.

但现在，我认为这样的建议并不能增加你选中正确答案的几率——不过，与其把答案改错并最后发现自己最初的选择其实是正确的，这种做法确实能让人心理上感到慰藉。

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本期内容

双语阅读

Para.1

All of the three kings of private equity—Apollo, Blackstone and KKR—have bought insurers or takenminority stakesin them in exchange for managing their assets. Smaller firms arefollowing suit. The insurers are not portfolio investments, destined to be sold for a profit. Instead they are prized for their vast balance-sheets, which are a new source of funding.

私募股权投资三巨头阿波罗、黑石和KKR都收购了保险公司或持有少数股权，以换取对其资产的管理。规模较小的公司也纷纷效仿。保险公司不是投资组合，注定会为了获利而被售出。它们备受青睐其实是因为有庞大的资产负债表，可以成为新的资金来源。

点击此处查看翻译

1.minority stake少数股权

2. follow stake效仿；学样子

点击此处查看词汇词组

Para.2

Judged by the fundamentals, the strategy makes sense. Insurance firms invest over long periods to fund payouts, includingannuitiessold to pensioners. They have traditionally bought lots of government and corporate bonds that are traded on public markets. Firms like Apollo can instead knowledgeably move theirportfoliosinto the higher-yielding private investments in which they specialise. A higher rate of return should mean a better deal for customers. And because insurers’ liabilities stretch years into the future, the finance they provide is patient. In banking, long-term loans are funded with lots of instantly accessible deposits; with private assets and insurance, the duration of the assets matches the duration of the liabilities.

从基本面来看，这一战略是合理的。保险公司进行的是长期投资，为各种赔付提供资金，包括向养老金领取者出售的年金。传统上，它们大量购买在公开市场交易的政府和公司债券。而像阿波罗这样的公司则可以游刃有余地将其投资组合转移到收益更高的私人投资领域——这是它们的专长。回报率更高，对客户来说应该也就越划得来。而且，由于保险公司的债务会延续到未来数年，它们提供的融资是有耐心的。在银行业，长期贷款的资金源自大量即时可用的存款，而在私募资产和保险业，资产的期限与债务的期限是相匹配的。

点击此处查看翻译

1.annuity

/əˈnjuːɪtɪ/

n. 年金，养老金；年金保险；年金享受权

2. portfolio

/pɔːtˈfəʊlɪəʊ/

adj. (职业类型)短期合同制的，兼职的

n. 公文包，画夹; (成册展示的)作品集，照片集; (个人或机构的)投资组合; (部长或大臣的)职责，职务; (公司或机构提供的)系列产品，成套物品

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Para.3

Yet the strategy brings risks—and not just to the firms. Pension promises matter to society.Implicitlyor explicitly, the taxpayerbackstopsinsurance to some degree, and regulators enforce minimum capital requirements so that insurers can withstand losses. Yet judging the safety-buffers of a firm stuffed with illiquid private assets is hard, because its losses are not apparent from movements in financial markets. And in a crisis insurance policyholders may sometimes flee as they seek to get out some of their money even if that entails a financial penalty. Last year an Italian insurer suffered just such a bank-run-likemeltdown.

但这种策略也带来了风险，而且不仅仅是对公司而言。养老金的承诺对社会很重要。翻译划线句，在文末留言打卡，答案下期公布~然而，要判断一家拥有大量低流动性私募资产的公司的安全缓冲能力如何是很难的，因为它的损失并不能从金融市场的变动中清楚地显现出来。而在危机中，投保人有时可能会闻风而逃，设法拿回一部分钱，即使这样做会造成财务损失。去年，一家意大利保险公司就发生了类似银行挤兑的爆雷事件。

点击此处查看翻译

1. implicitly

/ɪmˈplɪsɪtli/

adv. 含蓄地，暗中地; 绝对地

2. backstop

/ˈbækˌstɒp/

n. 挡球网；捕手；支撑物；后备方案

3.meltdown

/ˈmɛltˌdaʊn/

n. 核反应堆堆芯熔毁; (公司、机构或系统的)崩溃; 情绪突然失控

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Para.4

Making things harder is the complexity of the tie-ups, which involvelabyrinthineinterlinkages between different bits of firms’ balance-sheets. Much reinsurance activity takes place in Bermuda, an offshore hub where there is more than awhiffof regulatoryarbitrage. Yet compared with thezealotswho police the global banking system, insurance regulators aredocile.

这类并购的复杂性让事情更加麻烦，因为公司资产负债表的不同部分之间会生成错综复杂的相互关联。许多再保险活动都在百慕大进行，在这个离岸中心，监管套利并不少见。但与监管全球银行系统的积极分子们比起来，保险业的监管者显得低眉顺眼。

点击此处查看翻译

1. labyrinthine

/ˌlæbəˈrɪnθaɪn/

adj. 迷宫的；复杂的

2.whiff

/wɪf/

n. 一股气味；臭味；一点点，些许；轻微的迹象(或感觉)；吸(喷)气；(高尔夫球或棒球)挥空棒

v. 发臭；嗅，闻；喷出；吸气或吹气；挥空(击球未中)

3. arbitrage

/ˈɑːbɪˌtrɑːʒ/

n. 套汇，套利；仲裁

4. zealot

/ˈzɛlət/

n. 狂热者；犹太教狂热信徒

5. docile

/ˈdəʊsaɪl/

adj. 驯服的，容易控制的，温顺的

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Para.5

As private assets become more important, that must change. Regulators should co-operate internationally to ensure that the safety-buffersare adequate. High standards of transparency and capital need to be enforced by suitably heavyweight bodies. The goal should not be to crush a new business model, but to make it safer. Financial innovation often brings new benefits even as it creates new ways to blow up the system. Regulators would be making a mistake to ignore either edge of the sword.

随着私募资产变得越发重要，这种情况必须改变。监管机构应开展国际合作，确保企业有足够的安全缓冲。关于透明度和资本的高标准还需要具备足够影响力的机构来执行。其目标不应是压垮一个新的商业模式，而是让它更安全。尽管金融创新会变出新花样来破坏金融体系，但往往也会带来新的益处。监管机构忽视这把双刃剑的任何一面都将是一个错误。

点击此处查看翻译

1. buffer

/ˈbʌfə/

n. 起缓冲作用的人(物); 老头; 缓冲存储器，缓存; (铁路机车头尾的)缓冲器，减震器; (用于擦亮表面的)抛光工具

v. 保护(某物); 缓解，缓冲; 存储，缓存(数据等)

点击此处查看词汇词组

本文节选自：The Economist（经济学人）

发布时间：2023.02.03

作者：The Economist

原文标题：The risks to global finance from private equity’s insurance binge

写作句总结

原句：And in a crisis insurance policyholders may sometimes flee as they seek to get out some of their money even if that entails a financial penalty.

结构：In X situation, Y may Z even if it W, showing the complex nature of A.

例句：And in times of economic uncertainty, investors may sometimes panic and sell off their assets even if that results in losses, demonstrating the unpredictable nature of financial markets.

阅读理解题

Based on the passage, what is the author's attitude towards the strategy of private equity firms buying insurers?

A) Supportive

B) Cautiously optimistic

C) Neutral

D) Critical

D。作者在文中表达了对这一策略带来的风险和需要监管的观点，因此体现持批评态度，选D。

点击此处查看答案

打卡作业

本期推送2023年《经济学人》合集资源

每期《经济学人》包含五种格式：

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