原文標(biāo)題：
Investor activism
Seize the day (and the board)
Why activist investors are needed more than ever
投資者激進(jìn)主義
抓住每一天（和董事會）
為什么現(xiàn)在比以往任何時候都更需要激進(jìn)投資者

Low rates, passive investing and ESG have left opportunities for active shareholders
低利率、被動投資和ESG為激進(jìn)股東留了機(jī)會

[Paragraph 1]
LITTLE SCARES the C-suite like shareholder activism.
沒有什么比激進(jìn)股東更令高管們害怕的了。

Bosses stay awake worrying about a call, a letter or a 100-page presentation in which a hedge fund outlines the depths of their ineptitude.
老板們睡不著覺，擔(dān)心一個電話、一封信或一份長達(dá)100頁的報告，因?yàn)閳蟾嬷袑_基金會勾勒出他們的無能形象。

At the start of the year executives were especially on edge.
今年年初，高管們尤為緊張。

During this year’s annual “proxy season”—a succession of shareholder meetings—they have mostly avoided votes on dissident nominees to their boards.
在今年的年度 "代理季"--即一系列股東大會--他們大多會避免對持不同意見的董事會候選人進(jìn)行投票。

Nevertheless in recent months some of the world’s largest firms—including Alphabet, Bayer, Disney and Salesforce—have had to tussle with activists, who are increasingly focused on the biggest companies.
然而，近幾個月來，世界上一些巨頭公司--包括Alphabet、拜耳、迪士尼和Salesforce--不得不與越來越關(guān)注大公司的激進(jìn)人士發(fā)生爭執(zhí)。

On May 25th, as we published this article, the battle between Carl Icahn, a prominent activist, and Illumina, a genomics giant, was set to come to a head.
5月25日，當(dāng)我們發(fā)表這篇文章時，著名激進(jìn)投資家卡爾.伊坎與基因組學(xué)巨頭Illumina之間的斗爭即將達(dá)到白熱化狀態(tài)。

[Paragraph 2]
Activist hedge funds are often seen as villains who are nasty, brutish and focused on the short term. Sometimes the shoe fits.
激進(jìn)的對沖基金通常被視為惡棍，他們卑鄙、野蠻、只關(guān)注短期利益。有時候，這符合他們的形象。

But more often activists are playing a role that is essential for shareholder capitalism. For several reasons, their campaigns are increasingly important.
但更多時候，激進(jìn)投資者扮演的角色對股東資本主義至關(guān)重要。以下幾個原因表明他們的活動越來越重要。

[Paragraph 3]
One is the rise of passive investing, which attempts to replicate the returns of an index rather than surpass them.
一是被動投資的興起，這種方式試圖復(fù)制大盤指數(shù)的回報率而不是超越它們。

Only one in three dollars invested by institutions in America’s thousand largest public companies is actively allocated, according to Man Group, an investment firm.
根據(jù)投資公司Man Group的數(shù)據(jù)，機(jī)構(gòu)投資于美國最大的 1000 家上市公司的資金中，只有1/3的資金是主動投資。

The biggest passive asset-managers, such as BlackRock, charge low fees and run lean investment-stewardship teams which are not designed to spot empire-building bosses or lazy boards.
最大的被動資產(chǎn)管理公司（如貝萊德）收取較低的費(fèi)用，有一支精簡的投資管理團(tuán)隊(duì)，這些設(shè)計(jì)目的不是為了發(fā)現(xiàn)建立帝國的老板或懶惰的董事會。

The result is an increasingly idle corporate electorate. Efforts to enfranchise the ultimate owners of funds are unlikely to solve the problem.
被動投資的結(jié)果是越來越多的企業(yè)選民會無所事事。賦予基金最終所有者權(quán)利的努力不太可能解決這個問題。

They typically want to earn returns but leave the decision-making to somebody else.
他們通常想賺取回報，但把決策權(quán)留給別人。

[Paragraph 4]
There are other channels by which bosses’ feet might be held to the fire.
還有其他渠道會給老板們施壓。

Since the 1980s leveraged buy-outs by private-equity firms have been a persistent threat to underperforming executives.
自1980年代以來，私募股權(quán)公司的杠桿收購一直對業(yè)績不佳的高管構(gòu)成威脅。

The best way to deter a hostile takeover is to raise your company’s share price.
阻止惡意收購的最好方法是提高公司的股價。

Today, however, the buy-out industry is roiling from the effects of higher interest rates, and is unlikely to recover fully for some time.
然而，如今，收購行業(yè)正因利率上升的影響而自身難保，且在一段時間內(nèi)不太可能完全恢復(fù)。

[Paragraph 5]
While the routes by which managers are held to account have shrunk, the need to boost profits by applying discipline has grown.
盡管追究資金管理者責(zé)任的途徑減少了，但通過遵守紀(jì)律來提高利潤的需求卻增加了。

When interest rates were low, large technology firms hired aggressively and expanded into peripheral lines of business. Now profits are more important than growth.
當(dāng)利率較低時，大型技術(shù)公司積極招聘，并向外圍業(yè)務(wù)領(lǐng)域擴(kuò)張?，F(xiàn)在，利潤比增長更重要。

Over the past decade the demand for managers to respond to environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns has also grown.
在過去的十年里，對管理者回應(yīng)環(huán)境、社會和治理（ESG）問題的要求也在增長。

Some shareholders campaign for ESG—as is their right—but the danger of firms losing focus and wasting money as they are drawn into politics has increased.
一些股東為ESG開展活動--這是他們的權(quán)利--但公司因卷入政治而失去焦點(diǎn)和資金打水漂的風(fēng)險也在增加。

[Paragraph 6]
In such an environment the presence of activists is a welcome reminder that it is owners, not managers, in whose interest firms should be run.
在這樣的環(huán)境中，激進(jìn)人士的出現(xiàn)值得歡迎，即公司的運(yùn)營應(yīng)該符合所有者的利益，而不是管理者的利益。

And because dealmaking is down, activists will be more likely to improve a firm’s operations than force it to sell itself in search of a quick buck.
而且由于交易減少，激進(jìn)投資者更有可能改善公司的運(yùn)營，而不是強(qiáng)迫出售公司本身來賺快錢。

That should assuage the fears of those who see activists as corporate cowboys rather than drivers of efficiency.
這應(yīng)該有助于減輕一些人的擔(dān)憂，因?yàn)檫@些人總認(rèn)為激進(jìn)人士只是企業(yè)投機(jī)者而非效率推動者。

[Paragraph 7]
Get out the vote
動員投票

Fortunately, the job of activists is getting easier.
幸運(yùn)的是，激進(jìn)投資者的工作正變得越來越容易。

New rules that came into force in America last September should make it simpler for them to obtain board seats by letting shareholders vote for candidates individually, rather than as a bloc.
去年9月在美國生效的新規(guī)則應(yīng)使他們更容易獲得董事會席位，即股東可以對候選人進(jìn)行單獨(dú)投票，而不是作為一個集團(tuán)投票。

The wave of nail-biting shareholder votes some expected to follow immediately has not yet materialised.
一些人預(yù)測的隨后會出現(xiàn)的一波股東投票潮緊張場面尚未出現(xiàn)。

But more battles between activists and complacent managers would be no bad thing.
但激進(jìn)投資者與自滿的經(jīng)理人之間多發(fā)生點(diǎn)爭執(zhí)并不是什么壞事。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量596左右）
原文出自：2023年5月27日《The Economist》Leaders版塊

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
卡爾·伊坎（Carl Icahn）是一位美國投資者、商人和慈善家，活躍于金融業(yè)50多年。他于1936年出生在紐約皇后區(qū)，1957年畢業(yè)于普林斯頓大學(xué)哲學(xué)專業(yè)。伊坎在20世紀(jì)60年代開始在華爾街工作，先后擔(dān)任股票經(jīng)紀(jì)人，隨后在1968年創(chuàng)立了自己的投資公司Icahn & Co.。伊坎在其職業(yè)生涯中以公司掠奪者和激進(jìn)投資者的身份著名。他通過大量投資于陷入困境的公司，然后施加壓力促使管理層進(jìn)行改革以增加股東價值，賺取了數(shù)十億美元。他最著名的投資之一包括TWA、特克斯科和塊狀錄像帶。

環(huán)境、社會和治理（ESG）是用于描述評估公司或投資的可持續(xù)性和道德影響的框架。它考慮了公司的環(huán)境、社會和治理因素，這些因素被視為公司整體可持續(xù)性和長期成功潛力的重要指標(biāo)。環(huán)境因素是指公司對環(huán)境的影響，例如其碳排放、廢物管理和自然資源利用。社會因素指公司對社會的影響，包括其勞動實(shí)踐、人權(quán)和社區(qū)參與。治理因素指公司的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和管理，包括其董事會結(jié)構(gòu)、高管薪酬和透明度。隨著投資者越來越多地尋求將其投資與其價值觀相一致，ESG投資在近年來變得越來越受歡迎。人們認(rèn)為，具有強(qiáng)大ESG實(shí)踐的公司更有可能管理風(fēng)險和機(jī)會，因此具有長期的強(qiáng)大財務(wù)績效潛力。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3個）
Activist hedge funds are often seen as villains who are nasty, brutish and focused on the short term. Sometimes the shoe fits.
激進(jìn)的對沖基金通常被視為惡棍，他們卑鄙、野蠻、只關(guān)注短期利益。有時候，這符合他們的形象。

Over the past decade the demand for managers to respond to environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns has also grown.
在過去的十年里，對管理者回應(yīng)環(huán)境、社會和治理（ESG）問題的要求也在增長。

And because dealmaking is down, activists will be more likely to improve a firm’s operations than force it to sell itself in search of a quick buck.
而且由于交易減少，激進(jìn)投資者更有可能改善公司的運(yùn)營，而不是強(qiáng)迫出售公司本身來賺快錢。