2019年经济学人 嘉信理财和德美利证券(2)（在线收听）

Schwab could not go on charging $4.95 a pop. Still less could TD Ameritrade keep asking $6.95.

嘉信理财不能再继续收取4.95美元的费用了。德美利证券也不收取6.95美元的没用了。

Admittedly, both have more strings to their bows than execution.

诚然，两家公司不仅只有交易这一种手段。

They have their adviser platforms; they hold a combined $5trn-plus in client assets; Schwab owns a bank with $208bn in assets.

他们有自己的顾问平台；他们总共持有逾5万亿美元的客户资产；嘉信理财拥有一家资产达2080亿美元的银行。

But no one expects the combined firm to start charging again for online trades.

但是没有人认为合并后的公司会重新对在线交易收费。

To stay competitive, the established discount brokers will have to drive costs down, spread those costs over a broader base and spend more on technology.

为了保持竞争力，老牌折扣经纪将不得不降低成本，将这些成本分散到更广泛的基础上，并在技术上投入更多资金

Christopher Harris, an analyst at Wells Fargo, estimates that in past takeovers of discount brokers,

美国富国银行的一名分析师Christopher Harris估计在过去对折扣经纪公司的收购中，

cost savings have amounted to 50% of the target's expense base.

节省的成本达到了目标公司支出基础的50%。

Schwab and TD Ameritrade expect to save $1.8bn-2bn a year, about two-thirds of TD Ameritrade's operating costs.

嘉信理财和德美利证券预计每年将节省18亿至20亿美元，约占德美利证券运营成本的三分之二。

As elsewhere in finance, the biggest are likeliest to endure.

和其他金融领域一样，最大的公司最有可能坚持下去。

They can afford to spend oodles on technology and to maintain branches as a national branding presence.

他们有财力在技术上投入大量资金，并维持分支机构作为全国性品牌的存在。

And when margins are wafer-thin, volume is king.

当利润微薄时，交易量才是王道。

The importance of scale may help to explain why E Trade's share price fell by more than 9% on the day news broke of its rivals' probable tie-up.

规模的重要性或许能够帮助解释为什么在其竞争对手可能结盟的消息传出的当天，E Trade的股价下跌了9%以上。

It had also been buoyed by a takeover premium; now E Trade looks a little lonely.

它还受到收购溢价的提振；现在E Trade看起来有点孤单。

America's antitrust authorities are certain to scrutinise a deal between the two biggest discount brokers.

美国反垄断机构肯定会仔细审查这两家最大的折扣经纪之间的交易。

Whether they will block it, says Matthias Memminger of Bain, a consulting firm, is less sure.

贝恩咨询公司的Matthias Memminger表示，他们是否会阻止它，就不那么确定了。

Americans buying and selling shares have plenty of choice. They can invest, for example, using Fidelity or Vanguard,

美国人买卖股票有很多选择。例如，他们可以用富达或先锋这两家强大的资产管理公司来投资

two mighty asset managers that push their own funds, or through their tied advisers.

（这两家公司都在推广自己的基金），也可以通过他们的固定顾问进行投资。

Banks' broking divisions are also keen for their custom.

银行的经纪部门也热衷于此。

And Schwab and TD Ameritrade will doubtless argue that they have fintechs to look out for too.

嘉信理财和德美利证券无疑也会辩称，它们也需要关注金融科技。

If they didn't, they would have had less of an urge to merge.

如果不是如此，他们就不会那么急于合并。