TE||The direct route

1导读这篇文章主要讲的是07年金融危机爆发后，在欧洲，乃至全球传统的银行机构受到更加严格的资本监管，信贷规模控制，贷款进程审慎，于是给直接贷款基金有了大放异彩的舞台，很多资产管理公司、资本集团都设立了直接贷款基金，弥补了市场银行信贷的缺口。虽然融资成本较高，但也以快速、灵活的优势，给这些公司带来了稳定的现金流，而借贷对象则以小企业或者是打算收购小企业股权的私募基金为主。具体且看下文分解！感谢Lulu君精彩总结，感想部分更加精彩2音乐| 精读 | 翻译 | 词组The direct route直接途径本文英文部分选自经济学人Finance and economics版块

Private debt in Europe欧洲私人借贷Some investment funds will lend where banks fear to tread.一些投资基金愿意放贷给银行所不敢涉足的业务When Caronte & Tourist, a Sicilian ferry company, needs a new ship, it is cheap and easy to borrow from a bank. But in 2016, when Caronte’s controlling families wanted to buy back the minority stake held by a private-equity firm, banks balked at the loan’s unusual purpose. Edoardo Bonanno, the chief financial officer, also worried that the €30m ($33m) in extra bank debt might make shipping loans harder to obtain from them in future. So he turned instead to a direct-lending fund run by Muzinich & Co, an asset manager.当西西里岛的渡轮公司Caronte & Tourist需要购置一艘新船时，它能够便宜并且便利地从银行贷到款。但是在2016年，当Caronte控股家族想从私募基金公司回购少数股权时，银行拒绝了这笔具有不同寻常目的的贷款。该渡轮公司首席财务官Edoardo Bonanno同时也担心这高达3000万欧元（约3300万美元）的额外银行债可能会影响其今后从银行获取航运贷款。因此他转而求助于资产管理公司Muzinich & Co运营的直接贷款基金。

Such funds are only about a decade old in Europe (and not much older in America, where they started). Assets under management [HF1] at Europe-focused funds increased from a mere $330m at the end of 2006 to $73.3bn by mid-2017, which includes $27.9bn of “dry powder”, or funds yet to be lent out (see chart). In 2017 alone 24 direct lending funds raised a record $22.2bn. Such funds do what they say on the tin: lend directly to firms, usually in the form of big, multi-year loans. The borrowers are often either companies that are too small to raise equity or debt on capital markets, or private-equity funds buying such firms.这类基金在欧洲只有大约十年的历史（在美国，这类基金也早不了几年）。以欧洲市场为重点的基金资产管理规模，从2006年底的区区3.3亿美元增至2017年中的733亿美元，其中包括279亿美元的“干火药”，或称已募得却尚未出借的资金（见图表）。仅2017年一年，就有24支直接贷款基金筹集了就创记录的222亿美元。这些基金就如他们所宣传的那样：通常是以大笔多年期贷款形式直接贷款给公司。借款公司往往是难以在资本市场上发股或发债的小公司，或者是想要去买下这些小公司的私募。Blair Jacobson of Ares Management, an asset manager, says that the pummelling banks took in the global financial crisis “turbocharged” the direct-lending industry. Ares set up its European direct-lending arm, now one of the largest with $10.8bn under management, in September 2007, as the crisis broke. Most of the other direct lending firms moved into the business because of the crisis and the dearth of bank credit that ensued. Some were founded expressly for direct lending, notably Hayfin Capital Management in 2009, which in 2017 raised more than €3.5bn.Ares资产管理公司Blair Jacobson表示，银行受全球金融危机冲击，“极快加速”了直接贷款行业的发展。Ares于2007年9月金融危机爆发之际成立了欧洲直接贷款分部，现旗下资产管理规模达108亿美元，是目前最大的直接贷款公司之一。金融危机以及随之而来的银行信贷紧缺，大批直接贷款公司进入行业。有些公司专做直接贷款业务，如2009年成立的Hayfin资本， 2017年筹资超35亿欧元。Despite superficial similarities, these firms are far from being banks. Many started out in more complex credit markets. ICG, for example, specialised in the riskier tranches of loans to private-equity firms. Another, BlueBay Asset Management, started as a bond-fund manager.尽管这些公司表面上与银行有相似之处，但其实和银行相差甚远。许多公司从更复杂的信贷市场起家。例如，ICG原是一家专门向私募基金公司提供风险较高贷款的信贷机构；再如，BlueBay资产管理公司最初是一家债券基金管理公司。Direct lenders raise money from institutional investors, to whom they usually promise returns of around 10% or even 15%. So they cannot compete with the interest rates banks charge borrowers. But they do offer speed and flexibility. In Caronte’s case, for instance, Mr Bonanno liked the flexibility of Muzinich’s loan, such as the ability to pay it back early. The largest direct lenders, like Ares or Hayfin, can also compete on their ability to write large loans, even for several hundred million euros, off their own bat. Since the financial crisis, banks lending limits have been reduced, and syndication to even a dozen others can be like “herding cats”, in the words of Hayfin’s Andrew McCullagh. 它们无法与银行收取的贷款利率相竞争直接信贷企业向机构投资者进行筹资，并往往会向这些投资人承诺大约10%甚至15%的资金回报率。因此，与银行收取的贷款利率相比，他们并不具有竞争力。但是这些机构确实能够及时满足资金需求，并且借、还款机制更加灵活。例如，在Caronte公司的筹资活动中，其CFO Bonanno青睐Muzinich公司贷款的灵活性，比如可以提前还款。像Ares或是Hayfin这些大型信贷公司，他们在巨额贷款方面颇具竞争力，即使是独立出借几亿欧元。自金融危机以来，银行贷款规模受到限制。这时，借用Hayfinde 公司高管Andrew McCullagh的一句话说便是，各种不同的金融机构聚集在一起就像放牧猫一样难管。herding cats：涉及许多不同群体或人的协调的东西就像放牧猫一样困难off their own bat：独立地Direct-lending funds also differ from banks in how much of their lending goes to private-equity firms. More than four-fifths involves private equity in some way, whether to finance a buy-out or to lend money to a private-equity-owned firm.在向私募公司借款这方面，直接信贷基金可借出款项数额也是与银行有所不同的。不论是融资收购还是贷款给私募公司，超过五分之四以上的资金涉及私募基金。But that is changing. Many funds have formed ties with firms that become repeat customers when they need more financing. And direct lending is becoming better known as a financing option. For certain funds, a sizeable portion of their lending now has no private-equity “sponsorship”— about 40% for Hayfin, for instance, a third for Muzinich, and nearly half in Muzinich’s separate (albeit small) Italian fund.但是这种情况正在发生改变，很多基金公司已经和借款企业建立了紧密联系（回头客），每当这些公司需要融资时，即可提供拆借。直接贷款渐渐变成更为人熟知的融资方式。一些基金规定其贷款中特定比例不含私募股权，比如Hayfin公司大约百分之四十，Muzinich公司三分之一, Muzinich的独立意大利基金（虽然规模很小）约二分之一都不含私募股权。The industry is also expanding geographically. As recently as 2013, Britain accounted for almost half of direct-lending deals; transactions elsewhere were often done by fund managers jetting in from London. But many European countries have allowed funds to lend without a full banking licence. And the EU plans to harmonise the direct-lending market. In the first three quarters of 2017, Britain’s share of new deals fell to a shade over a third. Many firms have set up regional offices, or even country-specific funds such as Muzinich’s Italian, French and British funds.直接贷款行业正进行区域性扩张。就2013年来说，英国占了直接贷款交易总额的近一半，而英国之外的交易也大多由伦敦的基金经理们负责处理。但是，现在很多欧洲国家已经允许没有完整银行执照的基金公司发放贷款。欧盟也计划协调直接贷款市场。2017年前三个季度，英国新交易份额跌至仅三分之一。很多企业建立了当地办事处，甚至针对特定国家设立基金，比如Muzinich意大利，法国，和英国基金。Direct lending covers a broad spectrum of activity. At one end is Muzinich, with its strong focus on small enterprises. This is a far cry from Ares’s boasts of being able to lend €300m at short notice (although Ares does lend to smaller firms, too). Yet both are part of a continuing structural shift in Europe, as a result of which small and midsized firms have a viable alternative to banks as a source of credit.直接贷款涵盖了很广泛的活动范围，一边是侧重小企业的Muzinich，它和 自吹可以随时贷款3亿的Ares差别悬殊（尽管Ares也给小企业提供贷款），然而,这两个公司都为欧洲持续的结构性转变出了一份力,现在中小企业在选择信贷来源时，有了除银行之外的另一个选择。翻译组：Vivian，女，国际商务硕士，经济学人爱好者Top，女，翻译专业大三学生，经济学人爱好者Jasmine，女，税收专业大三学生，经济学人爱好者校核组：Emily，女，金融民工，经济学人粉丝Alan，男，金融工程硕士，经济学人粉丝3观点 |评论|思考本次观点由金融民工Lulu全权执笔划重点：单身国内实业融资难、融资贵也是板儿上的事情，当然那些各家银行把热脸贴上去还得下浮利率的国资大佬那些事儿在板外，嫡系和庶出那不得有点差别。之前在网上有个很火的帖子，就是关于华夏幸福这个庶出，怎么修炼一身道行，成就一本“花式融资百科全书”，在2012-2016年的4年时间内融资3000个亿。你会发现，呵，资本运作原来还能这么玩儿，那么玩儿，当真是贫穷限制了想象。掐指一算，稍作梳理，大致可以分为五大类二十一小类，详见下图。序号分类融资工具1常用流动资金融资工具销售输血法2银行承兑3短期融资券4委托贷款5关联方借款6债务重组方式债务重组7信托融资信托借款8特殊信托计划9夹层式资管计划10收益权类融资债权转让11售后回租式融资租赁12应收账款收益权转让13特定收益权转让14股权收益权转让15资本市场常用融资工具资产支持证券（ABS）16公司债17战略引资18夹层融资19股票质押和对外担保20定向增发21银团贷款这些手段中不乏很多监管的灰色地带，花样百出的融资方式后面必然是各显神通的资金走向，层层通道，完美包装。然后当国家的最高层意志都看不清这些个蛙儿子（详询旅行青蛙爱好者）蛙孙子们到底在怎么搞七捻三，心里那也是有点慌的，毕竟被黑天鹅振翻或被灰犀牛碾压，都不是什么酸爽的事儿。于是有了2017年的强监管年，以及开年就持续严谨的2018年，各种通道被一一封杀，规范银信业务，终止资管委贷，禁令明股实债，一个个补丁啪啪响，无论是融资方还是资金方一时间都哀鸿遍野，毕竟很多企业预期靠资金不断滚动维持经营，毕竟很多银行靠投向这些高收益资产来维持理财收益的兑付，毕竟很多证券信托保险公司还指着收通道费来发红包。当然，永远要相信民间智慧的力量，无论多么严格的监管一定会有它的漏洞所在，金融机构和监管机构的博弈也因为利益冲突也会一直存在，只不过说金融机构躺着赚钱的时候过去了，蛙儿子们哭完闹完看没什么效果，还不得擦干眼泪继续前行，继续窥伺着擦边球的时机；也只不过说华夏幸福曾经的幸福的像花儿一样的年代一去不复返。有篇金融圈儿里转疯的文章说，“凛冬已至,未来已来。金融周期末端,是资产端荒草蔓延的时代,更是负债端乡关何处的时代。一曲愁肠唱断,谁在枉然凝眉?”---一语道出多少辛酸泪。不要觉得这是机构的事儿，跟小老百姓没什么关系。举个简单的例子，手里多少有点银行理财吧，要是银行理财起点太高，陆金所啊之类的平台固收类产品买了点吧，这都是小白理财的标配产品，但是有想过这些理财资金都投到哪儿去了么？仔细看过合同了么？就算看了合同看明白到底什么项目了么？项目的风险有几成把握么？一脸懵逼两脸迷茫三脸沧桑。随着监管要求刚性兑付的解除，预期收益率就真的只会是预期，非保本就真的会不保本，哭闹没用，参见蛙儿子们，这必然是环环相扣的。不知道为什么，就哼着--篱笆外的古道我牵着你走过，荒烟漫草的年头就连分手都很沉默…4愿景打造独立思考 | 国际视野 | 英文学习小组小编理工男，建筑底层民工，经济学人铁粉，和小伙伴(经济学人小群不超过8个人）看经济学人到现在已经将近700多天。现有一经济学人大群,如果您也有兴趣，可加入我们学习小组，群规甚严，请三思后而入群，WeChat : foxwulihua长按关注个人公众号英文部分转自《经济学人》，非商业用途，仅限于小组学习，如有任何翻译错误，请大家留言更正，谢谢！