José Faias is the Academic Director of the MSc Programs in Finance and an Associate Professor with Habilitation (Agregação) in Finance at Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics. He was also affiliated with the Sustainable Finance Center at Católica Lisbon SBE. He has received the Católica Lisbon SBE Distinguished Teaching Award ten times between 2016 and 2025 for excellence in graduate teaching.
He holds a PhD in Finance from NOVA School of Business and Economics, an MSc in Statistics and Optimization from NOVA School of Science and Technology, an MBA from Católica Lisbon SBE, and a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics (Actuarial Sciences) from NOVA School of Science and Technology. He has been a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University and a Visiting Scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before joining Católica Lisbon SBE, he taught at NOVA SBE and worked in the insurance and investment banking industries.
His research focuses on empirical finance, with particular interests in treasury bond auctions, asset pricing, market efficiency, financial predictability, extreme events, risk management, investor heterogeneity, mergers and acquisitions, catastrophe bonds, and quantitative portfolio management. His work has been presented at leading international conferences in finance, economics, and statistics and published in top academic journals. He has also received several competitive research grants and awards in recognition of his scholarly contributions.