Speaker biographies

Economist, Manager and Professor
Portuguese Catholic University

Vítor Bento holds a degree in Economics, a Master in Philosophy (Philosophy of Action) and a PhD in Strategic Studies. He is currently Chairman of the Portuguese Banking Association and invited Full Professor at the Portuguese Catholic University. He is a former Director General of the Treasury, founder and first President of the Debt Management Agency (IGCP), and Head of Department at Bank of Portugal, representative of the Ministry of Finance in the European Monetary Committee, and a member of Portugal’s Council of State. He has taught at several Portuguese universities and is the author of various books on economics, European affairs and strategy.

Chief Executive Officer
Banco de Investimento Global (BiG)

Mário Bolota is Chief Executive Officer of Banco de Investimento Global (BiG), one of Portugal’s leading independent investment banks, leading the Group’s banking, investment and wealth management activities in Portugal and international markets. During Portugal’s debt crisis, he was an Executive Director of BiG, helping steer the bank through one of the most challenging periods for the Portuguese financial sector. Since then, he has played a central role in shaping BiG’s strategy, operations and expansion, and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2019. 

Vice President
Moody's Ratings

During the sovereign debt crisis, Petter Bryman worked at the Swedish Ministry of Finance, serving as a desk officer in the Budget Department. He later joined Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group in 2018, where he is currently a Vice President and the lead analyst for the sovereign ratings of France, Portugal, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg and Moldova. He holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and has also authored several in-depth reports on key European credit themes, including Next Generation EU, political populism, the Capital Markets Union, and geopolitical and energy supply risks.

Chief Product Officer
Impresa

At the time of Portugal’s sovereign debt crisis, Ricardo Costa was already one of Portugal’s best-known political journalists and commentators, serving as a leading editor within Impresa’s media group. He played an important role in the coverage of Portugal’s financial assistance programme through SIC and Expresso. Since then, he has held several senior editorial responsibilities within Impresa. Today, he serves as Chief Product Officer at Impresa Board of Directors and remains an influential media commentator.

Chief Executive Officer
Start Campus

Robert Dunn is Chief Executive Officer of Start Campus, where he leads the development of SINES DC, Europe’s largest AI-ready and sustainable data centre campus. With extensive experience in the digital infrastructure sector, he has held senior leadership roles at Digital Realty and Laing O’Rourke, overseeing the delivery of hyperscale data centre projects across Europe. Having joined Start Campus in 2022, he was appointed interim CEO in 2023 and became CEO in 2024. Today, he is driving the company’s vision to position Portugal as a strategic hub for the global digital economy.

Chief Executive Officer
Caixa Central

Sérgio Raposo Frade is CEO of Caixa Central, Crédito Agrícola Group’s central body, and an executive board member since 2013. He took on an executive role after the initial shock of Portugal’s debt crisis, as banks adapted to changing regulation, imposed deleveraging and recapitalisation requirements. CFO from 2017 to July 2025, he oversaw finance, treasury, strategy, technology and the data & AI centre of excellence. Previously a consultant at PwC, Deloitte and Arthur D. Little, he holds an Economics degree from Universidade Católica Portuguesa, a financial markets and products specialisation from ISCTE/CEMAF, and completed INSEAD’s strategic management in banking programme.

Former Finance Minister of Portugal (2011-2013)
Researcher
Catholic University's Institute of Political Studies
Non-Resident Senior Fellow
Bruegel

As Minister of Finance from June 2011 to July 2013, Vítor Gaspar was responsible for the implementation of the EU–IMF adjustment programme under Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho. He guided the Portuguese sovereign back to full bond market access. He led the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department from 2014 to 2025. Before that, he was Head of Department at the Portuguese Ministry of Finance, Banco de Portugal, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission. Retired since December 2025, he is now a researcher at the Catholic University's Institute of Political Studies in Lisbon and a non-resident senior fellow at Bruegel.

Chief Executive Officer
Santander Portugal

Isabel Guerreiro joined Santander in 2005 and held senior responsibilities during the sovereign debt crisis, one of the most challenging periods for Portugal’s economy. An Executive Board Member since 2019, she has played a key role in the bank’s digital and commercial transformation and held European leadership positions within Santander. In March 2026, she became CEO of Santander Portugal, becoming the first woman to lead one of Portugal’s largest banking groups. She holds a degree in Computer Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico and an MBA from INSEAD.

President
Banco Alimentar Contra a Fome

Isabel Jonet joined Portugal's Food Bank Against Hunger (Banco Alimentar Contra a Fome) as a volunteer in 1993 and has led it for most of the years since. During the crisis, as unemployment rose and wages and benefits were cut, food banks became a key source of support for struggling families. An economist by training, she also founded Entrajuda, a platform that helps charities professionalise, and chaired the European Federation of Food Banks. In 2012 she sparked a national debate by urging the Portuguese to adapt their spending to harder times. She remains President of the Portuguese Federation of Food Banks Against Hunger, which runs biannual national food drives with around 40,000 volunteers.

Full Professor of Economics
Nova SBE

As Secretary of State for Employment from 2011 to 2013, Pedro Silva Martins led the labour market reforms of the Troika programme. Building on a January 2012 tripartite agreement with employers and the UGT (one of Portugal's two main trade union confederations), the revised Labour Code cut severance pay, halved overtime premiums and introduced individual working-time accounts. He also tightened the extension of collective agreements, reformed unemployment benefits and public employment services, and launched the Impulso Jovem youth employment programme. A labour economist, he taught at Queen Mary University of London from 2004 to 2021. He is now a Full Professor of Economics at Nova SBE.

Chief Executive Officer
Pathena

During the sovereign debt crisis, António Murta was actively involved in Portugal’s technology and venture capital ecosystem, serving as Managing Partner of Pathena SGPS from 2010. He played a key role in raising Pathena’s first venture capital fund and led the evaluation, financing and development of multiple technology businesses, while serving on the boards of several portfolio companies. Prior to this, he held senior executive responsibilities in the technology sector, including serving as Vice President Retail at Wipro Retail following the acquisition of Enabler by Wipro. Since then, he has become a venture capital operator and a serial medical technology activist investor. Today, he serves as CEO of Pathena and also CEO of AI4CMR, a diagnostic cardiology medical AI assistant company.

Vice-Governor
Banco de Portugal

Clara Raposo has been Vice-Governor of Banco de Portugal since December 2022. Previously she served as Dean of ISEG Lisbon School of Economics and Management – Universidade de Lisboa from 2018 to 2022, as well as Full Professor of Finance at this institution since 2010. She has been in charge of the scientific area of Finance in the Management Department, coordinated the Master courses both in Finance and Management (MiM), the Post-Graduate Degree in Financial Analysis and the Sustainable Finance: Green and Climate Finance Executive Programme.  

She formerly held the position of Associate Professor with habilitation, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor at ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon (2000-2010), University Lecturer of Finance at Saïd Business School – University of Oxford (1998-2000), Tutorial Fellow of Management at St. Edmund Hall – University of Oxford (1998-2000) and Junior Teaching Assistant at the Nova School of Business and Economics – Universidade Nova de Lisboa (1992-1993).

She holds a PhD in Finance from London Business School – University of London (1998), a Master’s Degree in Economics from Westfield College – Queen Mary University of London (1994) and a degree in Economics from the Nova School of Business and Economics – Universidade Nova de Lisboa (1992).

Former Finance Minister of Portugal

During the sovereign debt crisis, Fernando Teixeira dos Santos served as Portugal’s Minister of State and Finance (2005-2011), being a central actor in that period. Prior to this role, he held academic positions at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto, served as Secretary of State for the Treasury and Finance (1995-1999) and Chairman of the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) between 2000 and 2005, while also chairing the Executive Committee of IOSCO (International Organization of Securities Commissions). Following his public service career, he returned to academia, coordinating executive MBA programmes at Porto Business School before serving as CEO of Banco BIC between 2016 and 2020.

Current Finance Minister of Portugal

Joaquim Miranda Sarmento entered the crisis as a public finance specialist, after a decade at the Ministry of Finance. In 2010 and2011 he worked at UTAO, the parliament's independent budget unit, as the public accounts deteriorated. From 2012 to 2016 he was economic adviser to President Aníbal Cavaco Silva, advising the head of state throughout the adjustment programme. He holds a PhD in finance from Tilburg University, and he is an Associate Professor at ISEG. His research covers taxation, public finance and public-private partnerships (PPPs), whose costly contracts the Troika required Portugal to renegotiate. He has been Minister of State and Finance since April 2024, in both of Luís Montenegro's governments. Portugal posted a budget surplus of 0.7% of GDP in 2024 and 2025, and a public debt below 90% of GDP in 2025.

Managing Director
BlackRock

Matthias Wyrwoll leads Official Institutions Advisory globally within BlackRock’s Financial Markets Advisory group (FMA). During the global financial crisis, he oversaw various assignments related to the recapitalisation of financial institutions in Southern Europe, working with banks and supervisors. BlackRock's FMA team supports clients across a range of advisory services, focusing on capital markets, investment mobilisation, financial stability and insurance solutions. Prior to joining BlackRock, Matthias Wyrwoll worked for Lone Star Funds, leading the team responsible for the financing and hedging activities for Lone Star’s distressed asset investments in EMEA.