It used to be so easy to “earn” a performance bonus in financial services. Step one: agree a contract whereby you are paid if you exceed a modest benchmark with the funds you are managing. Step two: borrow money and invest it in risky assets. Step three: profit! Step three does not follow automatically, of course, if the risky asset does not pay off. But from the point of view of the fund manager and his bonus, it’s a case of “heads I win, tails the investor loses”.
曾經,在金融服務業(yè)“賺取”業(yè)績獎金是那么容易。第一步:簽訂一項協(xié)議,根據(jù)它,只要你管理的基金業(yè)績超過一個一般的基準水平,你就能獲得報酬。第二步:借入資金,將之投入風險資產。第三步:獲利!當然,如果風險資產未能盈利,第三步不會自動實現(xiàn)。但從基金經理及其獎金的角度看,這是一個“正面我贏,反面投資者輸”的局。