Wealthy Asians have poured billions of dollars into some of the riskiest parts of the European corporate bond market this year in a bid to secure a higher yield in a low interest rate -environment.
今年以来，亚洲富人将数十亿美元投入了欧洲企业债券市场一些风险最高的领域，以期在低利率环境下获得较高收益率。
At least $10bn worth of European “hybrid debt specifically targeted at rich Asian retail investors has been sold this year, according to estimates by analysts, sharply up from the previous two years where only a handful of similar deals were done.
根据分析师的估测，今年已发行的专门面向亚洲富有散户投资者的欧洲“混合债券至少达100亿美元，远远高于之前的两年。
Much of the debt has been bought through Asian private banks, the top 20 of which in the region have nearly doubled their assets under management to more than $1tn since 2007, according to a survey by Private Banker International.
根据《私人银行家》(Private Banker International)杂志的一项调查，其中很多债券是通过亚洲私人银行认购的，自2007年以来，亚洲最大的20家私人银行的资产管理规模扩大了近一倍，达到逾1万亿美元。
“Private banks in Asia have a lot of cash to put to work, said Melissa Smith, head of European high-grade corporate debt capital markets at JPMorgan. “With government bond rates so low, many are looking at sub-ordinated debt from well-known European names as a way to provide more yield.
“亚洲私人银行有大量资金可以运作，摩根大通(JPMorgan)欧洲优质企业债券资本市场主管梅丽莎·史密斯(Melissa Smith)表示，“由于政府债券收益率较低，很多私人银行正把目光投向欧洲知名企业发行的次级债券，作为寻求更高收益率的一种途径。
Hybrid, or subordinated, debt pays a higher coupon to investors than more senior debt but is designed to bear losses earlier than other forms if the company runs into trouble. The bonds can also convert into shares, giving companies added -flexibility.
混合债券（或者次级债券）支付给投资者的利息要高于更高级债券，但如果企业陷入困境，这种债券将比其他债券更早承担损失。这种债券还可以转换成股票，赋予企业更多灵活性。
ArcelorMittal, for example, issued $650m of hybrid debt earlier this month as part of a bid by the Paris and Madrid-listed steelmaker to restore its credit rating after being downgraded by Standard and Poor’s in August. Others issuing in recent months include SSE, the UK utility, Louis Dreyfus, the French commodities group, and RWE, the German utility.
例如，阿塞洛-米塔尔(ArcelorMittal)本月早些时候发行了6.50亿美元的混合债券，这是在标准普尔(Standard and Poor’s)8月调降其评级后，这家在巴黎和马德里上市的钢铁制造商试图恢复其评级的努力的一部分。最近几个月发行此类债券的还包括英国公用事业单位SSE、法国大宗商品集团路易达孚(Louis Dreyfus)和德国公用事业单位RWE。
Hybrid is typically issued by financial groups, but there has been a rash of European corporates issuing in recent months, partly on the back of this demand from Asia. Total European non-financial hybrid issuance has doubled from last year to a post-crisis high of $7.3bn, according to Dealogic.
混合债券一般由金融集团发行，但最近几个月，在一定程度上受到亚洲需求的推动，大量欧洲企业都发行了此类债券。根据Dealogic的数据，今年以来欧洲发行的非金融混合债券总额较去年翻了一番，达到73亿美元，为危机之后最高水平。
Many companies are taking advantage of the demand from private banks to diversify their funding and shore up their capital structure in the face of ratings pressure. The rating agencies count subordinated debt as half equity, allowing companies to borrow more before the debt starts hurting their credit ratings.
面对评级压力，许多企业正在利用来自私人银行的需求，扩大资金来源，增强资本结构。评级机构将次级债务视为“半股本(half equity)，这让企业能够在这种债务开始损害自身信用评级之前借入更多资金。