Subject: joao neves
dear vince :
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i am in a somewhat delicate position . one of the people in the group here
has asked me to introduce him to you . ? as an el paso vice president , i
should not have agreed to do this , and frankly , the guy should not have
asked . ? but he is clearly very unhappy at el paso , so , as a human being , i
felt it was appropriate . also , because this guy would have contacted you
anyway , with or without my introduction , as a professional courtesy , i would
like you to benefit from my experience with this fellow .
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the guy ' s name is joao neves ( portugese ) . ? i think he is reasonably bright
and seems to have a quite deep understanding of general finance and
financial mathematics . he is a manager and feels very frustrated because he
had hoped to be promoted to a position of authority . instead the group ' s
m . d . brought in two price - waterhouse - coopers consultants as v . p ' s to run the
structuring and quant sides of the group . in this respect , i can understand
his unhappiness . unfortunately for him , however , i also think it is in his
nature to whine . ? i have observed him to bad mouth lots of people starting
with the it guys ( ok , that ' s perhaps not much an indictment ! ) all the way to
dismissing broadie & glasserman ' s or eduardo schwartz ' works as shoddy or
shallow . ? he does not seem to suffer well people he considers fools . ? caveat
emptor , therefore ! having said all this , i do want to emphasize that he is a
bright guy , is very pleasant with me , and , perhaps given the appropriate
environment and supervision , might be quite productive . ? but don ' t take my
word for it . talk to him , and see what you think . ? obviously , i would ask
that you keep these comments in confidence . i have given you an honest
assessment - - brutally so .
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' nuff said ! i have fulfilled my moral obligations both to joao and to you .
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best regards ,
grant .