35 Under 35: Alexandra Basirov, Head of Sovereigns, Supranationals, and Agencies for Debt Capital Markets, BNP Paribas

By Elizabeth Harrin (London)

“One of the first pieces of advice I was given was never tell your age to anyone as they could perceive you differently,” says Alexandra Basirov, Head of Sovereigns, Supranationals and Agencies for Debt Capital Markets at BNP Paribas. I won’t tell you her age, but suffice to say that Alexandra has leapt up through the hierarchies of banking to her position before most women have managed to make much of a mark on the corporate world.

“Economics had always fascinated me from a very young age,” she explains. “I had the first opportunity to study it at A-level while being educated in England after moving from Australia. I went on to study at the London School of Economics.” During the holidays, she sought out internships, and it became clear that a career in the banking industry was what she wanted to do. “There was something about the working environment coupled with being able to follow markets and applying my studies that excited me,” she says.

Basirov continues: “I have always been a firm believer that you have to love what you do to succeed. Like any job, and in particular on the trading floor, work can get very stressful. Banking is an industry that requires you to give it all, and unless you are devoted and have a passion for what you do, it’s unlikely you will last for the duration or climb the ladder.”

The Climb to the Top in Banking

Basirov started her ladder-climbing after an internship in JPMorgan‘s M&A department, spending time both in London and Frankfurt. She then joined their Investment Banking division and subsequently went on to join the Debt Capital Markets team, after a period of training in New York.

Initially, Basirov worked in JPMorgan’s German team as the junior covering Corporates, Financial Institutions and Agencies. After about 9 years, she moved to work in debt capital markets, helping various institutions raise funds from the capital markets. Eventually, she took a post running the Austrian and German financial institutions and frequent borrowers team.

The excellent experience Basirov gained at JPMorgan gave her a great foundation on which build. In 2006, she joined BNP Paribas to run its European Sovereign, Supranational and Agencies business. “The opportunity excited me in many ways. One key aspect that made me make the move was to have the opportunity to rebuild a business and exploit the strengths the bank had to offer via its global platform that at the time I saw were not being utilized to full extent,” she says.

Managing European Sovereign, Supranational and Agencies at BNP Paribas

In this role, Basirov manages a team of bond originators and derivative marketers. It’s a demanding job that sees her managing the day-to-day activities of the team for the client base across Europe, as well as ensuring that the bank is best set up for the changing dynamics in the markets. For example, there is a lot of work going on at the moment to manage the structure changes that are the result of the increase of government bond issuance. “If we had not been proactive years ago covering these clients, we would not be in such a strong position today leading and managing numerous sovereign issues,” she says. “In the last year I have incorporated the coverage of not only bond solutions to our client base but also derivative coverage to ensure that we can provide an holistic advice to the client base to manage their assets and liabilities.”

Basirov’s “mission” when she joined BNP Paribas was to make the bank the number one underwriter for the European Sovereign, Supranational and Agencies issuers. And it was a mission accomplished. “This was successfully achieved in a relatively short period of time,” she says, “and in the first half of 2009, BNP Paribas was firmly the one bookrunner for all Euro issues from this client base.”

Executive Women in Investment Banking

There are few senior women in investment banking, and Basirov hopes that this is something that will change. “Over the years definitely more and more women have joined investment banking at the graduate level,” she says. “Unfortunately, though, it still remains a challenge to retain them at the more senior levels, which is something the industry continues to focus on. Hopefully this will change. I am determined to give it my best shot!”

BNP Paribas is certainly doing its bit to help recruit and retain women. The bank takes its commitment seriously: BNP Paribas has a network of senior women who work closely with different business lines to drive forward recruitment and mentoring. “There is an official women’s network which holds monthly meetings to discuss issues and plan events,” Basirov explains.

Basirov herself is currently on maternity leave, and will be returning to the company in due course. Balancing a demanding job with the needs of a young family is a challenge that she sounds very excited about taking on.

“I think it is important to be yourself,” she says, when I ask her what advice she would offer women wanting a senior career in investment banking. “Reading is very important to broadening one’s horizons. I have picked up lots of inspirational tips from autobiographies, and also by attending various conferences where both senior men and women have spoken. Often it’s only a sentence they say that can have a huge influence on how you do your job or a means to better yourself.”

Basirov says she was mindful of her age in the early days of her career. “I realized I had a lot of responsibility and didn’t want my young age to interfere with how clients or colleagues may perceive me. As time went on, and I guess as I became more established, I was less worried. Ultimately the industry is full of young successful people and overall I have never seen my age as an issue to my career development, if anything it may help me as I have plenty of years still to give!”