Melissa Porras Prado

Melissa Porras Prado is a Full Professor in the Department of Finance at Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE). She holds the NOVO BANCO Chair in ESG and serves as Area Coordinator of the Nova Finance group and Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Her research focuses on institutional investment, empirical asset pricing, and ESG finance, with publications in top-tier journals like the Journal of Finance and Review of Financial Studies.

• 2012 - PhD in Finance, RSM Erasmus University
• 2006 - Master in Finance, RSM Erasmus University
• 2005 - International Management (CEMS), RSM Erasmus University
• 2004 - Bachelor in Business Administration, RSM Erasmus University

Her research explores how market frictions influence institutional investor behavior and asset prices, with a focus on mutual funds, short selling, and real estate. Recent work examines ESG investing, FinTech lending impacts on SMEs, and team diversity in financial decision-making. Her publications span empirical studies on equity lending, ownership structures, and market efficiency.

Her academic contributions show trends in institutional investor dynamics, market structure analysis, and ESG integration into finance. Key subfields include mutual fund performance, arbitrage limitations, and sustainability-driven financial innovation.

Melissa leads the Nova Finance group and contributes to research networks like CEPR. She operates from Nova SBE's Carcavelos campus in Portugal.