本期中，作者介紹了避險(xiǎn)基金的概念。避險(xiǎn)基金是20世紀(jì)90年代興起的一種國(guó)際資本市場(chǎng)投資工具，不追求高報(bào)酬率，而以減低風(fēng)險(xiǎn)為主，投資對(duì)象則從貨幣期貨至證券、大宗貨品，無(wú)所不包。這類基金的種類很多，并非指單一的一種基金。聽(tīng)上去是不是有點(diǎn)暈？讀完本文，也許你就會(huì)明白啦！

By Taiping Chang

Introduction: Alfred Winslow Jones (1900–1989), a diplomat, financial journalist and author, is generally credited with forming the first hedge fund in 1949. After he graduated from Harvard in 1923, he served as a vice consul in Berlin, Germany. In 1941, he received his doctorate in Sociology from Columbia University. While he was working at Fortune Magazine in the 1940s, he did extensive research on how to invest in the stock market. In his famous article entitled “Fashions in Forecasting,” he assessed and analyzed each technical method on investment approach. He finally concluded that “leverage” and “short selling” are the best two investment tools. He used “l(fā)everage” to buy more shares, and used “short selling” to avoid market risk. He was so successful that his hedge fund had outperformed the best mutual fund over the previous five years by 44 percent, and on a 10-year basis, his fund had beaten the top performer Dreyfus Fund by 87 percent. He was widely recognized as the father of the modern hedge fund.

Tom: I’ve been studying “hedge fund” related issues since we talked about derivatives last time.

Tina: Good for you. Do you know what “hedge” means?

Tom: I know “hedge” means to manage or reduce risk, but I am not sure what a hedge fund is.

Tina: A hedge fund is an investment fund that utilizes a broad range of investments. It uses advanced investment strategies to reduce risk.

Tom: What are advanced investment strategies?

Tina: There are many advanced strategies to invest one’s assets. For example, an investor can use leverage, long or short selling, and derivative positions in both domestic and international markets.

Tom: Is diversification the basic investment strategy of a hedge fund?

Tina: Yes. Have you heard the proverb “don’t put all your eggs in one basket?” Diversification is the key. A successful investor can use “l(fā)everage” and “short selling” to hedge against the downside risk of a stock market.

Tom: How does “l(fā)everage” work?

Tina: Leverage, also known as gearing or levering, is a general term for any technique to multiply gains and losses. In finance, leverage refers to the use of debt capital to supplement equity capital.

Tom: How about “short selling?”

Tina: Short selling is the selling of a security that isn’t owned by the seller but that is promised to be delivered.

Tom: What? That’s so confusing!

Tina: Let me put this way: short selling is the practice of selling securities that have been borrowed from a third party, usually a stock broker, with the intention of buying identical securities back at a later date to return to the lender.

Tom: What’s the purpose of doing that?

Tina: Well, the short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the price of the security between the sale and the repurchase. If the price drops, the short seller can buy back the stock at the lower price and make a profit on the difference.

Tom: So the goal of using such a strategy is to generate high returns? From all the stories or cases that I have read or heard, it seems to me that most of the hedge funds are highly speculative.

Tina: Exactly. I know some hedge fund managers like to use some complicated strategies that are highly speculative.

Tom: So does that mean that not all hedge funds can “hedge risk”?

Tina: That is right. Some hedge funds may carry more risk than the overall market because some investment methods are highly aggressive and based on market predictions.

Tom: I suppose that a true hedge fund should be less speculative.

Tina: I totally agree. However, even nowadays, the goal of most hedge funds is to maximize return on investment.

Tom: Isn’t it true that after the financial crisis in 2008, many investment institutions are deleveraging aggressively.

Tina: It is true. According to some recent reports, some traditional long-only funds, which used to dominate shareholder registers in the 1990s, will again become prominent.

Tom: Who typically invests in hedge funds anyway?

Tina: Most of the investors are large institutions such as commercial banks, insurance companies, registered investment companies, charitable organizations, corporations, or partnerships with assets in excess of $5 million. Some call this type of investors “accredited investors.”

Tom: Can an individual investor like me invest in hedge funds?

Tina: Only if your income exceeds $200,000 over the last two years. If you are married, you and your spouse’s joint income has to exceed $300,000 over this period. In addition, the same income level is expected in the current year.

Tom: What is the minimum investment?

Tina: It varies from fund to fund. A common starting range is between $250,000 and $500,000. Some well-established funds have much higher minimums, such as $10,000,000 or more, depending on the fund and manager.

Tom: No kidding. I suppose that if you can not afford to lose the money, then you should not invest in hedge funds at all. How about the fee structure?

Tina: It also varies. The most common fees are management and performance fees. Normally the management fee is collected in advance, and the performance fee is calculated annually.

Tom: No wonder some hedge fund manager can make millions of dollars in a year.

(Edited by Samuel Peterson and Jeanne Knechtges Peterson)

Vocabulary

hedge fund 對(duì)沖基金，避險(xiǎn)基金，其中hedge一詞有“回避；避免損失”的意思。hedge fund是20世紀(jì)90年代興起的一種國(guó)際資本市場(chǎng)投資工具，不追求高報(bào)酬率，而以減低風(fēng)險(xiǎn)為主，投資對(duì)象則從貨幣期貨至證券、大宗貨品，無(wú)所不包。這類基金的種類很多，并非指單一的一種基金。避險(xiǎn)基金之下又可分成數(shù)種不同的基金，內(nèi)容十分復(fù)雜

vice consul 副領(lǐng)事

extensive 廣泛的，徹底全面的

assess 評(píng)估，估定

leverage （財(cái)務(wù)）杠桿作用。是公司籌集資金的一種金融工具。企業(yè)投資人以借入的資金經(jīng)過(guò)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，來(lái)提高其投資的收益率

short selling 賣空行為，空頭賣出。投資人以貸借的方式，以買空賣空的方式獲取利潤(rùn)

outperform 做得比……好，勝過(guò)

mutual fund 〈美〉共同基金（一種投資公司形式）

derivative 衍生產(chǎn)品，或作衍生商業(yè)工具、衍生商業(yè)商品，詳見(jiàn)今年第9期的“趣話金融”欄目

long selling 長(zhǎng)期銷售。一般股票投資人均采用此方式投資，即購(gòu)買股票，存放一段時(shí)間，待股票升值后再賣出，獲取利潤(rùn)

diversification 多樣化，這里指“（投資的）多元化”

don’t put all your eggs in one basket 不要孤注一擲，不要集中財(cái)力干一件事

downside 呈下降趨勢(shì)的

multiply 使成倍地增加

debt capital 債務(wù)資本。一般指公司向銀行“貸款”，作為公司運(yùn)營(yíng)的資本

supplement 增補(bǔ)，補(bǔ)充

equity capital 權(quán)益資本，股本金，股權(quán)資本。一般指公司擁有人自己出資或是投資該公司的資本，并非借貸所得的資本

security 證券，有價(jià)證券

identical 同一的，相同的

repurchase 買回，購(gòu)回

high return 高利潤(rùn)，高收益

speculative 投機(jī)性的

maximize 使增加（或擴(kuò)大）到最大限度

deleverage 減債。一個(gè)公司企圖減少利用債務(wù)的杠桿作用而清還公司所欠的債款

traditional long-only fund 長(zhǎng)期傳統(tǒng)基金。一般“長(zhǎng)期”指投資時(shí)間超過(guò)五年以上

shareholder register 份額持有人名冊(cè)

prominent 突出的，顯著的

charitable organization 慈善組織，慈善機(jī)構(gòu)，如醫(yī)院、教會(huì)、慈善基金會(huì)等

in excess of 超過(guò)

accredited investor 經(jīng)認(rèn)可的投資者，即財(cái)務(wù)機(jī)構(gòu)必須先審理投資人或是投資機(jī)構(gòu)的財(cái)力是否達(dá)到所設(shè)定的投資能力，經(jīng)過(guò)嚴(yán)格的審理過(guò)程才決定是否接受該投資人或是投資機(jī)構(gòu)

management and performance fee 經(jīng)營(yíng)管理費(fèi)和表現(xiàn)費(fèi)。前者與投資的回報(bào)無(wú)關(guān)，在設(shè)立賬戶的時(shí)候，管理該賬戶的經(jīng)理即可征收；后者則是按照每年投資的回報(bào)征收百分比的費(fèi)用，投資的回報(bào)越高，管理該賬戶的投資經(jīng)理所獲得的報(bào)酬也越高

annually 每年的，年度的

（來(lái)源：英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)雜志）