中國富豪提議將名畫證券化

Chinese retail investors may be able to dream of Picasso while hanging share certificates on their walls.

中國散戶投資者或許將可以在把股票掛在墻上的同時，做一做畢加索(Picasso)的夢。

A Singapore-based Chinese billionaire investor, who this year acquired stakes in peer-to-peer group Lending Club, Legg Mason, the fund manager and Sotheby’s, has proposed “securitising” the artist’s work to create fractional ownership and tap a wider market in Asia.

居住在新加坡的中國億萬富豪投資者陳天橋提議將藝術(shù)家的作品“證券化”，以創(chuàng)建部分所有權(quán)，并挖掘亞洲的更廣泛市場。今年，陳天橋曾入股P2P集團Lending Club、基金管理公司美盛(Legg Mason)和蘇富比(Sotheby's)。

Chen Tianqiao and his wife Chrissy Luo, co-founders of investment group Shanda, floated the idea to Sotheby’s chief executive that the auction house could enlarge its base of Chinese buyers by creating shares in artworks.

陳天橋和盛大(Shanda)投資集團共同創(chuàng)始人、他的妻子雒芊芊(Chrissy Luo)向蘇富比首席執(zhí)行官提出，這家拍賣行可以通過創(chuàng)建藝術(shù)品的股票，來擴大其中國買家群體。

“The Picasso painting is $100m,” Mr Chen says. “No one can pay that unless you are a billionaire. How [about] if we securitise to 100m shares and each share is $1? If you buy 100 shares of each Picasso painting, that will be a portfolio for Picasso.”

陳天橋表示：“畢加索的畫作是1億美元。除非是億萬富翁，沒人付得起這么多錢。如果我們把它證券化成1億股、每股1美元會怎么樣?如果你買下畢加索每幅畫作的100股，就構(gòu)成了一個畢加索的投資組合。”

The investors would profit if the artwork rose in value, Mr Chen adds.

陳天橋還說，作品只要一升值，投資者就會盈利。

The couple, who founded online gaming and books group Shanda Interactive Entertainment in 1999, say they can be pioneers in investment — leading more of China’s private wealth overseas.

1999年，陳天橋夫妻倆創(chuàng)立了網(wǎng)絡(luò)游戲和網(wǎng)絡(luò)圖書集團——盛大互動娛樂有限公司(Shanda Interactive Entertainment)。兩人表示，他們可能是投資領(lǐng)域的帶頭人，從而引領(lǐng)更多中國私人財富走向海外。

While Shanda, which has $8bn in net assets under management, sold its 2 per cent stake in Sotheby’s in August, it is now attempting to direct its innovative investment approach to other companies, mainly in the financial sector.

盛大目前管理的凈資產(chǎn)達80億美元。盡管該公司在今年8月已經(jīng)轉(zhuǎn)讓了手中持有的蘇富比2%的股份，但該集團正試圖將其創(chuàng)新的投資模式導向以金融產(chǎn)業(yè)為主的其他企業(yè)。

The Singapore-based company has a 15.13 per cent stake in US group Lending Club — making it the single biggest investor — and a 9.9 per cent stake in Legg Mason, acquired in April. It also has accumulated a 13.8 per cent holding in US hospital operator Community Health Systems.

這個總部駐新加坡的公司持有美國Lending Club集團15.13%的股份(這讓該公司成為后者的最大投資者)，還曾在今年4月收購美盛9.9%的股份。此外，它還累積了美國醫(yī)院運營商——社區(qū)衛(wèi)生系統(tǒng)公司(Community Health Systems) 13.8%股份。

The group is now looking to raise its stake in Legg Mason to 15 per cent, the two companies have said. Mr Chen will by June join the board of the US-listed asset manager as vice-chairman and will lead Shanda’s efforts to assist Legg Mason in building its brand in China.

該集團和美盛共同表示，盛大正尋求增持美盛股份至15%。陳天橋?qū)⒆钸t在2017年6月以副董事長的身份加入這家在美國上市的資產(chǎn)管理公司的董事會，并將領(lǐng)導盛大幫助美盛打造其在華品牌的努力。

“The globalisation of the renminbi will happen,” Mr Chen says. “More and more Chinese money will come to the market.”

陳天橋表示：“人民幣將會全球化。越來越多的中國資金將進入市場。”

But the ups and downs of equities markets make potential Chinese investors anxious, he says, so first they have to conquer their fears: “Once they move the asset offshore, their mindset is to try to keep the asset safe.”

不過，他還表示，股市的波動令潛在的中國投資者十分焦慮，因此他們首先需要征服恐懼感：“一旦把資產(chǎn)移至境外，他們的想法將是努力確保資產(chǎn)安全。”

Mr Chen cites Lending Club’s A and B grade loans — the top two tiers of their seven-grade system — as examples of relatively safe products that might tempt Chinese buyers. “This is a good product. We can help them introduce the product to the Chinese investor.”

陳天橋提到了Lending Club的A級貸款和B級貸款——該公司7級系統(tǒng)中最高的兩個級別，把它們作為可能吸引中國買家的相對安全的產(chǎn)品的例子。“這是個好產(chǎn)品。我們可以幫助他們將該產(chǎn)品介紹給中國投資者。”

He proposes customising Legg Mason’s investment products for Chinese clients. Chinese retail investors might be tempted by real estate assets that are securitised to provide liquidity, but with insurance companies brought in to guarantee a minimum return, Mr Chen suggests.

他還建議把美盛的投資產(chǎn)品針對中國客戶做相應(yīng)定制。陳天橋提出，通過證券化處理提供流動性、同時引入保險公司以保證最低回報的房地產(chǎn)資產(chǎn)，或許會吸引中國散戶投資者。

A draft of new rules restricting some capital outflows from China have circulated since Mr Chen expressed this optimistic outlook to the Financial Times.

自陳天橋向英國《金融時報》表達這一樂觀展望以來，限制部分資金從中國外流的新規(guī)定草案開始流傳。

Acquisitions of more than $1bn will be screened by the government for signs of capital flight as opposed to strategic investment.

規(guī)模超過10億美元的收購將受到政府的審核，尋找該交易屬于資金外逃(而非戰(zhàn)略投資)的證據(jù)。

Through a spokeswoman, Mr Chen later declines to comment on the capital outflow rules. However, a boom in overseas investment in recent years means there are plenty of investors with capital outside China. According to commerce ministry data, Chinese companies’ overseas purchases reached $146bn in the first 10 months of 2016.

陳天橋后來通過一位女發(fā)言人表示，拒絕評論有關(guān)資本外流的規(guī)定。不過，最近幾年中國對境外投資的繁榮，意味著有足夠多的投資者在中國境外持有資金。根據(jù)中國商務(wù)部的數(shù)據(jù)，2016年頭10個月中企海外收購的規(guī)模達到1460億美元。

Finance is the sector that Shanda is focusing on because it is “sustainable,” Mr Chen says. “A lot of financial companies have 100 years of history.”

陳天橋表示，盛大關(guān)注金融產(chǎn)業(yè)是因為該產(chǎn)業(yè)是“可持續(xù)的”。“許多金融企業(yè)都有100年的歷史。”

Global regulators are increasingly focusing attention on peer-to-peer lenders, with the US Treasury pushing for greater transparency both for borrowers — on pricing terms — and investors — on loan-level data.

全球監(jiān)管機構(gòu)正在把越來越多的注意力集中到P2P銀行上，美國財政部正推動提升借貸雙方的透明度——對借款方是指公開其產(chǎn)品定價信息，對投資者則是指公開放貸水平的數(shù)據(jù)。

Shanda revealed in a securities filing in May that it had accumulated a stake of nearly 12 per cent in Lending Club. The filing was made two days after the online lender’s chief executive Renaud Laplanche stepped down amid a loan mis-selling scandal and the company’s stock price collapsed.

今年5月，盛大在一份監(jiān)管申報文件中披露，該公司已累積了Lending Club近12%的股份。而就在這份文件提交兩天前，Lending Club首席執(zhí)行官雷諾•拉普朗什(Renaud Laplanche)由于一宗不當發(fā)放貸款的丑聞辭職，該公司股價也因此暴跌。

“I fully believe in the power of the technology,” Mr Chen says of Lending Club. “All of these transparency problems can be solved. It just takes time. Peer-to-peer lending makes the lender directly meet the customer, it can save a lot of costs and time — strategically it is a great direction for the finance business.”

在提到Lending Club時，陳天橋表示：“我完全相信科技的力量。所有這些透明度問題都能解決。只是需要時間而已。P2P貸款將銀行與客戶直接對接，可以省去許多成本和時間——從戰(zhàn)略上說，這是金融業(yè)務(wù)的一個大方向。”

A more regulated market will ultimately benefit Lending Club, he adds. “As a dominant player, the more regulated the better.”

他還表示，加強監(jiān)管的市場最終會令Lending Club受益。“對于占絕對優(yōu)勢的參與者來說，監(jiān)管越多越好。”

He cites Lending Club’s commanding position — it is the biggest listed online lender by loan volumes — and its $800m cash on its balance sheet as evidence of its strength.

他提到了Lending Club占據(jù)的制高點位置——該公司是貸款總額最大的上市網(wǎng)上銀行——以及其資產(chǎn)負債表上的8億美元現(xiàn)金，稱其為Lending Club實力的證據(jù)。

Mr Chen also predicts consolidation in the P2P lending sector. “Followers, peers of Lending Club — if their scale is small, if internal controls are weak — there will be a shakeout. That will be good for the industry and also good for the dominant player.”

陳天橋還預(yù)計P2P貸款行業(yè)會出現(xiàn)整合。“Lending Club的追隨者和同行如果規(guī)模較小、內(nèi)控機制較弱，就會遭遇洗牌。這對整個行業(yè)是件好事，對于占優(yōu)勢地位的參與方也是好事。”

Additional reporting by Don Weinland in Hong Kong and Mary Childs in New York

唐•溫蘭(Don Weinland)香港、瑪麗•蔡爾茲(Mary Childs)紐約補充報道