Area of work
Fixed Income, Debt Capital Markets
Studied
PhD Public Policy, Princeton University
Joined
1999
Working in
London
In Debt Capital Markets, we work with public or corporate institutions that want to raise funds through the capital markets in the form of bonds or other fixed income instruments.
What I really enjoy in my role is to be viewed as the privileged, intellectual partner of important clients. To be the person that they call when things get tough and they need advice, and then for us to be able to provide that advice and actually help them is enormously satisfying. We really try to be thought leaders at BNP Paribas, to create wholly original things, solutions that the client hadn't thought of but because our closest clients see us as trusted advisors, they go with our judgement and it ends up being profitable for both of us.
We've participated in a number of firsts lately in my area; some of the first inflation linked deals ever came out of BNP Paribas. We were also involved in the first ever 50 year transaction. There was a concern in the markets a while ago about whether pension funds could cover their liabilities, so there was a search for very, very long dated securities to help with this. Because you won't get paid back for so many years, it's a very difficult and risky thing to price and issue, but we worked closely with the French Government and managed to put out the first ultra-long-dated bonds. To be able to participate in this kind of deal you need to have an in-depth knowledge in many different sectors. You need to understand the policy issues involved, as well as take advantage of efficiencies in the market for the pricing and then be able to put everything into a compelling marketing package to convince people to invest.
Another new area where we have been involved is in developing local currency markets, particularly emerging market currencies. Historically BNP Paribas has a great presence in West Africa and we did the first issuance of a bond by a non-domestic borrower in West African francs (CFA). West African francs are used by eight, mainly French speaking, independent countries who share the same currency. In combination with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, we managed to issue the first CFA bond as part of their role in developing local capital markets. It was a great project to be involved in, because not only was it an interesting project with many different challenges, and profitable, but it also enabled the IFC to serve its policy goals. We added diversity to the West African pool of borrowers and gave local investors the chance to buy an instrument from a AA+ institution.
I think our internal culture contributes enormously to our presence in so many first-of-a-kind transactions. It's a very collegial environment, decidedly non-hierarchical with a tradition of not using job titles and not having the rigid structure that many firms do, but combining this with a ruthless push for intellectual rigour and for advancements in the firm's thinking. The intent of the firm is to be at the forefront of thinking for clients, to use the weight and power of the institution where needed, including the power of our balance sheet, but to combine this with intelligence and individual solutions. There's a great professional flexibility here, a freedom for individuals who show ability to advance quickly and pursue their own goals, but it remains a proudly collegial institution.
I have about 50 people in my team and we really try to work together and share all information so there's no duplication of work. It's a partnership where we move people around, do a lot of brainstorming and try to integrate our talents into a common base of knowledge that allows us to create great things. There's such a lot of talent at investment banks and in BNP Paribas especially, but the challenge is to be able to draw out the intellectual energy and put it together to create a new idea. And then for us, we need to package it in a coherent and compelling fashion and go ahead and sell it to clients.
