Sir Patrick Bijou is a UK-based investment banker and fund manager who has spent more than 30 years working in debt capital markets, private placements, and structured finance. His career started early, with a move from Georgetown, Guyana to Britain at age five. That shift shaped how he thinks about building stability over time, even when conditions change.
He studied business and finance across multiple stages. He earned a BA (Hons) in Business Studies, completed an MBA in Economics and International Banking, and later completed a PhD in Economics. His doctoral work focused on how quantitative easing affects interest rates, financial markets, and economic activity.
Bijou lived and studied in New York for 14 years and began his career at Wells Fargo on Wall Street. He moved onto the trading floor, specialising in derivatives and debt markets, then expanded into bond trading and investment banking. Over the years, he worked across major institutions, including Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, Lloyds Bank, Credit Agricole CIB, Calyon, and BlackRock, where he held a Director role. He also founded a hedge fund, The Tiger Fund.
A defining feature of his work has been building and scaling private placement activity. At Lloyds Bank, he helped establish an MTN and Private Placement Desk and increased self-led deals from 4% to 32%.
Outside finance, he is active in philanthropy and international organisations. His projects include irrigation systems in Sierra Leone, housing support for vulnerable children in India, and charity work tied to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. He is also a best-selling author on private placement programmes.
How do you define success today?
Success is building things that still work when conditions get difficult. In markets, that means structures that hold up under stress and relationships that stay intact when volatility hits. In life, it means having enough discipline to keep your commitments, and enough perspective to remember what the work is meant to support.
What is one moment that shaped your definition of success?
Moving countries as a child set the tone. I was born in Georgetown, Guyana, and came to Britain at five. You learn early that comfort can disappear quickly, and that progress comes from building stable habits. Later, living in New York for 14 years reinforced that lesson. Wall Street rewards speed, but it punishes sloppy thinking. That contrast helped me value precision over noise.
What did you learn from starting at Wells Fargo and working your way into markets?
I learned that trust is built in small moves. I started at Wells Fargo and moved from banking into the trading floor, focusing on derivatives and debt markets. Those products are unforgiving. If you are unclear, the market will expose it. I also learned that success is rarely a solo act. Even when one person makes the call, the outcome depends on teams, controls, and communication.
What role did education play in your career success?
Education gave me a framework for judgement. My path included a BA in Business Studies, an MBA in Economics and International Banking, and a PhD in Economics focused on quantitative easing and its market impact. That kind of study trains you to think in second-order effects. It also helps you stay calm when policy changes ripple through rates and liquidity. You stop reacting to headlines and start watching what the incentives are doing.
What is a business win you are proud of, and why?
At Lloyds Bank, I helped establish an MTN and Private Placement Desk and increased self-led deals from 4% to 32%. I value that because it was not a one-time trade. It was a system change. Success, to me, is repeatable execution. When you build a desk, you are building process, standards, and confidence. The numbers matter, but the operating model matters more.
How do you stay effective across complex products and high-stakes decisions?
I use a simple rule: structure first, story second. I have worked across equity derivatives, commodities, FX, credit, and inflation-linked structures. Complexity can be useful, but it can also hide weak logic. I push for clean assumptions and clear downside planning. I also do a “stress sentence” before major decisions: if I had to explain the risk in one sentence, could I do it without jargon? If not, the structure is not ready.
What does success look like in your current chapter?
It looks like building ventures with strong foundations. I lead Blackhorse International and Blackhorse Holding LLC, and in 2024 I became Founder and Chairman of Westpac Trading FZE and Blackhorse Tec Acquisition Ltd. At this stage, success is choosing fewer priorities and executing them well. It is also maintaining trust across a footprint that includes the UK, the US, Singapore, and Dubai in the UAE.
How does philanthropy fit into your view of success?
Philanthropy keeps the work honest. I have supported projects like irrigation systems in Sierra Leone, housing for vulnerable children in India, and charity work connected to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. In that world, results are not theoretical. A system works or it does not. Success becomes practical: continuity, safety, and outcomes that last.
What is a behind-the-scenes habit that supports your success?
I write. I have authored best-selling books on private placement programmes, and writing forces clarity. It also reveals weak thinking fast. If I cannot explain a concept cleanly on paper, I probably do not understand it well enough to structure around it.
What do you think people misunderstand about success in finance?
They confuse visibility with durability. Titles, recognition, and deal headlines can come and go. The durable version of success is quiet: risk managed, clients served well, teams operating with discipline, and structures designed to survive the cycle.