Afonso Varatojo Januário is Assistant Professor (Adjunct) at NOVA School of Business and Economics and an advisor to asset managers and financial institutions on investment strategy, asset allocation and investment governance.
Afonso works with senior management and investment committees to help design, assess and oversee portfolio construction frameworks, multi-asset strategies and quantitative investment platforms.
His work focuses on ensuring that research translates into robust, scalable and well-governed investment solutions, aligned with client objectives and regulatory constraints.
Previously, Afonso held senior roles at Santander Asset Management, where he helped design and implement strategic and tactical asset allocation frameworks and led the development of multi-asset investment solutions for retail distribution.
He also worked at Schroders, across Systematic Investments and Multi-Asset Investments, where he was part of the team developing and managing flagship global strategies for institutional clients.
In parallel, he helped develop bespoke client solutions, including pension fund mandates, from ESG to Shariah-compliant strategies, adapting his best systematic insights to different regulatory and client constraints.
Earlier in his career, Afonso worked at Now-Casting Economics, applying machine-learning and big-data techniques to macroeconomic forecasting, strengthening his long-standing focus on macro risk, cross-asset interactions and regime-dependent investment behaviour.
Afonso holds a PhD in Finance from London Business School, as well as an MSc in Finance and a BSc in Economics from NOVA SBE.
His research and professional interests focus on systematic investing, asset allocation, macro and cross-asset risk, and the governance of investment decisions.