Mistaken Identity: Janet Tavakoli Is Not the "Queen of RAVs"
TSF– November 29, 2011

A review posted on Amazon for Frank Partnoy's book F.I.A.S.C.O. on June 26, 1999 incorrectly claimed I’m the "Queen of RAVs," a character in his book. This error just resurfaced. It’s not me. This is a case of mistaken identity.

Partnoy wrote an unflattering portrait of an Iranian woman with whom he worked at Morgan Stanley and called her the "Queen of RAVs." She still works at Morgan Stanley; I never did. Personally, I believe that Partnoy painted an inaccurate picture of her, but to be clear she and I are not the same person. My last name is my ex-husband’s Iranian name; I’m USA born and bred and of northern European heritage.

Via email on December 1, 2011, Frank Partnoy confirmed the following: "Janet Tavakoli is not the woman I described in F.I.A.S.C.O. as the Queen of RAVs. We didn’t know each other and weren’t even aware of each other at the time. Ironically, we became acquainted because of this case of mistaken identity." Frank Partnoy will be happy to independently confirm that I am not the woman in his book.

I know two other women that have Iranian last names, worked at major Wall Street firms, and have expertise in derivatives. Coincidence is not the same thing as correlation (and correlation doesn't mean causation.)

Janet Tavakoli is the president of Tavakoli Structured Finance, a Chicago-based firm that provides consulting to financial institutions and institutional investors. Ms. Tavakoli has more than 20 years of experience in senior investment banking positions, trading, structuring and marketing structured financial products. She is a former adjunct professor of derivatives at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. She is the author of: Credit Derivatives & Synthetic Structures (John Wiley & Sons, 1998, 2001), Structured Finance & Collateralized Debt Obligations (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

Janet Tavakoli's book on the global financial meltdown is Dear Mr. Buffett: What An Investor Learns 1,269 Miles From Wall Street (Wiley 2009).

Clients of Tavakoli Structured Finance have the benefit of proprietary consultation, which is not available in any other paid or public forum. Clients also commission proprietary research and analysis.

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