Biography
Janet Tavakoli, Founder & President
of Tavakoli Structured Finance LLC
Janet Tavakoli, President
Tavakoli Structured Finance ™
360 E. Randolph St. Suite 3007
Chicago, Illinois 60601 USA
(312) 540-0243
jt@tavakolistructuredfinance.com
Introduction
Janet Tavakoli is a globally recognized authority on structured finance, derivatives, and risk management, with over four decades of experience at leading financial institutions. Renowned for her prescient warnings of the 2008 financial crisis and her perfect record as an expert witness, she delivers unparalleled insights to financial institutions, law firms, and global audiences through consulting, speaking, and bestselling books.
“To Janet – Who should have been listened to much more carefully in the past…& who will be in the future.”
Warren Buffett
Sought-After Expertise
Janet Tavakoli has earned a reputation for her prescient market insights and unflinching analysis of complex financial instruments.
Tavakoli gained international recognition for warning that flawed financial products combined with leverage would lead to the 2008 financial crisis years before it unfolded. Her penetrating analysis revealed critical vulnerabilities in major financial institutions and exposed fundamental flaws in structured products dramatically overrated by credit rating agencies. This earned her the prophetic title “The Cassandra of Credit Derivatives” from Business Week, while the University of Chicago celebrated her “Structured Success.”
Derivatives and Securitization: Global Markets Experience
With four decades of experience in complex finance, Tavakoli has held pivotal leadership positions at the world’s most prestigious financial institutions. Her distinguished career includes Executive Director and Head of Financial Engineering at Westdeutsche Landesbank in London, senior positions at Bank One, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and strategic roles at Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns. Her global expertise spans from Wall Street to the City of London and extends to pioneering work in Asian markets.
Tavakoli also originated the influential “Corruption-to-Production Ratio,” a simple yet powerful concept that measures the impact of corruption on a country’s economic output. In addition, “Tavakoli’s Law of Sovereign Bailouts” has become a cornerstone for understanding government interventions in financial markets.
Her product expertise includes securities, derivatives, credit derivatives, total return swaps, leverage, stocks and hedges, complex derivatives, special purpose entities, structured insurance and reinsurance, mortgage-backed securities, interest rate swaps, synthetic collateralized debt obligations, securitizations, sovereign debt and related currencies, insurance-linked securities, auction-rate securities, tender option bonds, principal-protected notes, asset-backed commercial paper programs, et al., and the rating agencies’ ongoing role in incorrectly rating securities.
Today, through Tavakoli Structured Finance LLC, she continues to provide expert consultation to financial institutions, insurance companies, and law firms, maintaining her perfect record of successful outcomes in high-profile civil suits where she has served as an expert witness.
Groundbreaking Finance Bestsellers
As an author, Tavakoli has written several groundbreaking books that have become essential reading in the financial sector. Her works include the first comprehensive explanations of credit derivatives and structured financial products, notably Structured Finance & Collateralized Debt Obligations and Credit Derivatives & Synthetic Structures.
“Your books are how I learned about CDS.”
Michael J. Burry, M.D., Scion Asset Management
These books have influenced how complex financial instruments are perceived, created, and used. Her 2009 book, Dear Mr. Buffett, provides an insider’s perspective on the events leading to the global financial crisis. Her commentary, Risk, reveals fundamental principles for identifying hidden financial risks. In addition, she sometimes writes novels.
Tavakoli has shared her insights with leading financial media, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, and Bloomberg. Her television appearances include CNBC, Bloomberg, CBS’s 60 Minutes, and the BBC, where she analyzes complex financial matters. She has presented before the International Monetary Fund, Federal Reserve Bank, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Securities and Exchange Commission.
Recognition by Financial Authors
Janet Tavakoli’s prescient warnings about CDOs, excessive leverage, and accounting irregularities prior to the 2008 financial crisis have been acknowledged by numerous financial authors and journalists in their acclaimed works:
- Richard, Christine S. Confidence Game. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2010, 185, 189.
Richard opens Chapter 17 “Apocalypse Now” with Tavakoli’s prescient quote: “Super Senior CDOs: The greatest triumph of illusion in twentieth century finance,” and describes her as a “CDO guru” who identified toxic securities strategies. [Read Tavakoli’s commentary on the Ackman-MBIA battle.] - McLean, Bethany, and Joe Nocera. All The Devils Are Here. New York: Portfolio Penguin, 2010, 272, 313. The authors describe Tavakoli as “a structured finance expert who became a fierce, prescient critic of CDOs.”
These independent validations from respected financial journalists and authors underscore the accuracy and importance of Tavakoli’s early warnings about the systemic risks that ultimately led to the 2008 financial crisis.
Education
Tavakoli’s academic credentials include an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She influenced the next generation of finance professionals as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Chicago Booth, teaching advanced derivatives courses.
During her career, she has been registered and licensed with the SFA, NASD, ASE, CBOE, NYSE, PSE and the NFA and has passed the Series 7, 63, 65, and 3 qualifying exams. As a risk consultant, she is not registered or licensed with these agencies, since she is not affiliated with an investment advisory or a brokerage firm.