He received a B.A. in Economics in 1998 from the Catholic University in Lisbon, Portugal; a Masters in Finance in 2004 from ISCTE Business School (Lisbon, Portugal); and a Ph.D. in Financial Economics in 2008 from Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA). Fernando was previously an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Texas at Austin (McCombs School of Business), from 2009 through 2015; and an Assistant Professor of Finance at ISCTE Business School (2008-2009). Fernando also has non-academic work experience, mostly in strategy and business development (Boston Consulting Group, Portugal Telecom).