[rich_sasha]

It is usually very different entities that invest in investment products vs those in debt. By far the largest owner of shares worldwide are pension funds and insurance companies. Larger still if you add the somewhat indirect savings via products for individual savers, like mutual funds. I suppose this might include sovereign funds - these are often styled as pension funds.

The pension/insurance funds themselves may have debt for their own corporation, not sure - but the capital "surplus" they invest isn't their own money, rather, more or less directly, their clients' money.

There must be some people that choose between repaying debt and investing surplus in 3rd party investments, but surely a minority. Much smaller still for VC which is crazy illiquid.