The
extraordinary success of Paradigm’s training programs could not
have occurred were it not for the excellence of its team of
instructors. Paradigm’s instructors have not only extensive
knowledge and professional experience, but also the pragmatic
disciplines that follow from the responsibility of managing
bottom line profits.
As former
managers of trading and risk management activities, they bring
to the classroom a real-world perspective on how deals are done,
how decisions are made and how to avoid things that can go
wrong. Seminar participants come away with a working knowledge
of how best to utilize sophisticated financial instruments and
risk concepts to meet day-to-day business challenges.
Despite
their strong backgrounds and thus their personal marketability
in the energy and trading workplace, Paradigm’s small cadre of
instructors are passionately committed to training. These
senior professionals are not engaged in training while “between
assignments”. They have chosen training over returning to the
business line. They genuinely enjoy and gain great satisfaction
from the training process and working with energy professionals.
All have
been with Paradigm for many years and have been heavily involved
with the development of the course materials in our
training manuals. No one
is working from an inflexible script. Paradigm instructors are
themselves excited by the subject matter and so are fond of
exploring new perspectives and ideas in the risk management
arena. They respond with enthusiasm when class participants
demonstrate a shared intellectual appetite for this field of
knowledge by asking questions that go beyond the core ideas.
Their passion and excitement is contagious and undoubtedly
contributes to the
many accolades
received from class participants.
Our instructors
are:
Frank H.
Ribeiro (principal)
Expertise:
u
Marketing and trading crude oil, natural gas,
fixed income and currency derivatives in the United States and
Europe from their embryonic beginnings
u
Creating innovative derivative structures and risk
management strategies tailored to meet specific end-user needs
u
Managing profit-generating deal origination and
structuring teams
u
Establishing price and credit risk control systems
for dealing operations
u
Creating and delivering application-based skill
development programs and curriculum in emerging techniques in
trading, deal structuring and hedging risks specific to the
deregulated energy markets of North America and Europe
Experience:
u
Economist, responsible for reviewing electricity
tariff rate filings of regulated utilities for the Federal Power
Commission (predecessor to FERC)
u
Various capacities in the finance, oil trading and
chemical divisions of Exxon Corporation
u
Vice President & Director for Bank of America’s
Investment Banking Group, heading up their derivatives team in
New York City
u
Vice President & Manager, Derivative Origination
and Structuring, ABN-AMRO Bank
u
Consultant to the United Nations, advising and
training senior government officials from UN member countries on
derivative and risk management technologies
u
Advisor to leading energy marketers and utilities
on defining and imparting the knowledge and skill sets necessary
for their professional staff to function effectively in
deregulated energy markets
u
Author of articles published in Energy Risk
International, Euromoney, and Swap Finance, and a
chapter on currency derivatives and credit risk arbitrage in the
textbook International Corporate Finance
Education:
u
M.P.A., Princeton University
u
B.A., Economics, California State University,
Northridge
Edward W.
Downing (principal)
Expertise:
u
International finance with special proficiency in
debt structuring
u
Employing sophisticated banking products to bring
about mergers, acquisitions and innovative financing structures
to better manage risk
u
Utilizing derivative products to enhance the
attributes of debt and equity capital markets
u
Marketing of new financial products and risk
management techniques and concepts
u
Designing and writing training course materials
Experience:
u
Vice President, Foreign Direct Investment Group,
Citibank
u
Vice President, International Finance Group,
Bankers Trust
u
Director, European business unit, Barclays de
Zoete Wedd, New York
u
Non-executive Chairman, U.S., major European
communications and media company
Education:
u
B.A., Banking and Finance, United Kingdom
Venitta M. Ferguson
Expertise:
u
Specialized knowledge of energy trading and
optimization
u
Assessing,
quantifying and consolidating financial and energy price risk
across business units
u
Developing and implementing derivative-based hedge
strategies to manage risk
u
Understanding of the mechanics, nuances and price
drivers of both the financial and physical energy marketplace
u
Identifying and exploiting arbitrage, employing
the integration of both the physical and financial energy
markets
Experience:
u
Vice President, Natural Gas Risk Management,
Coastal Gas Marketing Company
u
Vice President, Energy Risk Management, NorAm
Energy Services, Inc.
u
Appointed
Member, Natural Gas Advisory Committee of the New York
Mercantile Exchange
u
Charter Group Member in the construction of the
Standard EFP Agreement
John A.
Doble
Expertise:
u
Trading and developing special applications for
derivative products
u
Employing derivatives to better manage market,
credit and liquidity risk with specialized knowledge of
extremely volatile markets
u
Managing dealing rooms
u
Developing training seminars on the mechanics and
use of derivative products with a special emphasis on the risk
management attributes of derivatives
Experience:
u
Pipeline Division, Bechtel Corporation, San
Francisco
u
Trading and marketing derivative products for Bank
of America in the US and Europe
u
Treasurer, Latin America/Canada Group, Bank of
America, San Francisco
Education:
u
M.B.A., FC Austin Scholar, Kellogg School,
Northwestern University
u
B.A., Economics, Stanford University
