2019年经济学人 嘉信理财和德美利证券(2)

 

Schwab could not go on charging $4.95 a pop. Still less could TD Ameritrade keep asking $6.95.

嘉信理财不能再继续收取4.95美元的费用了。德美利证券也不收取6.95美元的没用了。

Admittedly, both have more strings¹ to their bows than execution.

诚然，两家公司不仅只有交易这一种手段。

They have their adviser² platforms; they hold a combined $5trn-plus in client assets; Schwab owns a bank with $208bn in assets.

他们有自己的顾问平台；他们总共持有逾5万亿美元的客户资产；嘉信理财拥有一家资产达2080亿美元的银行。

But no one expects the combined firm to start charging again for online trades.

但是没有人认为合并后的公司会重新对在线交易收费。

To stay competitive, the established discount brokers³ will have to drive costs down, spread those costs over a broader base and spend more on technology.

为了保持竞争力，老牌折扣经纪将不得不降低成本，将这些成本分散到更广泛的基础上，并在技术上投入更多资金

Christopher Harris, an analyst⁴ at Wells Fargo, estimates that in past takeovers of discount brokers,

美国富国银行的一名分析师Christopher Harris估计在过去对折扣经纪公司的收购中，

cost savings⁵ have amounted to 50% of the target's expense base.

节省的成本达到了目标公司支出基础的50%。

Schwab and TD Ameritrade expect to save $1.8bn-2bn a year, about two-thirds of TD Ameritrade's operating costs.

嘉信理财和德美利证券预计每年将节省18亿至20亿美元，约占德美利证券运营成本的三分之二。

As elsewhere in finance, the biggest are likeliest to endure.

和其他金融领域一样，最大的公司最有可能坚持下去。

They can afford to spend oodles on technology and to maintain branches as a national branding presence.

他们有财力在技术上投入大量资金，并维持分支机构作为全国性品牌的存在。

And when margins⁶ are wafer-thin, volume is king.

当利润微薄时，交易量才是王道。

The importance of scale may help to explain why E Trade's share price fell by more than 9% on the day news broke of its rivals' probable tie-up.

规模的重要性或许能够帮助解释为什么在其竞争对手可能结盟的消息传出的当天，E Trade的股价下跌了9%以上。

It had also been buoyed⁷ by a takeover premium⁸; now E Trade looks a little lonely.

它还受到收购溢价的提振；现在E Trade看起来有点孤单。

America's antitrust authorities are certain to scrutinise a deal between the two biggest discount brokers.

美国反垄断机构肯定会仔细审查这两家最大的折扣经纪之间的交易。

Whether they will block it, says Matthias Memminger of Bain, a consulting firm, is less sure.

贝恩咨询公司的Matthias Memminger表示，他们是否会阻止它，就不那么确定了。

Americans buying and selling shares have plenty of choice. They can invest, for example, using Fidelity⁹ or Vanguard,

美国人买卖股票有很多选择。例如，他们可以用富达或先锋这两家强大的资产管理公司来投资

two mighty¹⁰ asset managers that push their own funds, or through their tied advisers¹¹.

（这两家公司都在推广自己的基金），也可以通过他们的固定顾问进行投资。

Banks' broking divisions are also keen for their custom.

银行的经纪部门也热衷于此。

And Schwab and TD Ameritrade will doubtless argue that they have fintechs to look out for too.

嘉信理财和德美利证券无疑也会辩称，它们也需要关注金融科技。

If they didn't, they would have had less of an urge to merge¹².

如果不是如此，他们就不会那么急于合并。

1 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

6 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

7 buoyed   

v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神

参考例句：

• Buoyed by their win yesterday the team feel confident of further success. 在昨天胜利的鼓舞下，该队有信心再次获胜。
• His encouragement buoyed her up during that difficult period. 他的鼓励使她在那段困难时期恢复了乐观的情绪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

9 fidelity   

n.忠诚，忠实；精确

参考例句：

• There is nothing like a dog's fidelity.没有什么能比得上狗的忠诚。
• His fidelity and industry brought him speedy promotion.他的尽职及勤奋使他很快地得到晋升。

10 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

11 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

12 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。