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Rubén Fernández-Fuertes

Assistant Professor in Finance, HEC Montréal (from August 2026)

Ph.D. in Economics and Finance, Università Bocconi (2026)

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Appointments

From Aug 2026
Assistant Professor in Finance
HEC Montréal · Montréal, Canada

Education

2021 — 2026
Ph.D. in Economics and Finance
Università Bocconi · Milan, Italy
  • Ph.D. completed June 2026
  • BIS PhD Fellowship (2025)
  • Baffi Centre Merit Grant (5th year)
2020 — 2021
M.Sc. in Mathematical Finance
University of Manchester · United Kingdom · 82/100 (Distinction)

Thesis: Reinforcement Learning Approach to Continuous Mean-Variance Portfolio Selection.

2020
M.Sc. in Secondary Education
Universidad Europea · Madrid, Spain · 9/10

Thesis: Around the Validity of International Assessments on Mathematics during Obligatory School.

2020
Professional Music Qualification in Viola
Conservatorio Profesional de Arturo Soria · Madrid, Spain · 9/10
2015 — 2019
B.Sc. in Mathematics
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid · Madrid, Spain · 8.76/10

Thesis: The Geometry of Tessellations. The (2,3,7)-tessellation.

Job Market Paper

Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope — LLMs and Central Bank Communication

I develop a multi-agent LLM framework that processes Federal Reserve communications to construct narrative monetary policy surprises. By analyzing Beige Books and Minutes released before each FOMC meeting, the system generates conditional expectations that yield less noisy surprises than market-based measures. These surprises produce theoretically consistent impulse responses where contractionary shocks generate persistent disinflationary effects, and enable profitable yield curve trading strategies that outperform alternatives. By directly extracting expectations rather than cleaning surprises ex post, this approach demonstrates how multi-agent LLMs can implement narrative identification at scale without contamination in high-frequency measures.

Working Papers

Oct 2025
Scoring in the Transition
With G. Bezzi, Max Croce, and G. Gigante

We propose a progress-oriented score that improves capital allocation when firms have valuable environmental growth options and CEOs hold private information about quality. Assessing decarbonization plans separates good (green) from bad (brown) options and yields superior investment performance.

Oct 2025
The Scope of Scope 3
With Max Croce, Nicolás Guíñez, Alejandra Inzunza-Méndez and Claudio Tebaldi

We introduce a network-based methodology to measure emissions along complex international supply chains, enabling counterfactual experiments and forecasts for high-scope emissions under scenarios like maritime disruption, conflicts, trade wars, and revised carbon taxes.

Sep 2023
Monetary Policy in the COVID Era and Beyond
With Carlo A. Favero

We study stochastic-trend monetary policy rules linking potential output growth, demographics, and inflation expectations to prevailing rate trends. The model improves US short-rate forecasts; for the Eurozone, cautious policy following the US proves more effective than fragmentation-focused rules.

Published Papers

2025
Towards Data-Congruent Models of the Term Structure of Interest Rates
With Carlo A. Favero · Econometric Reviews

We show that aligning term-structure models with salient data features improves forecasts of US short rates and yields stationary term premia, highlighting the benefits of data-congruent specifications.

Work in Progress

Through a Glass, Darkly
Strategic Information Transformation in Federal Reserve Communication
Oct 2025
Green DAOs for Brown Networks
With Max Croce, Nicolás Guíñez, Alejandra Inzunza-Méndez and Claudio Tebaldi

We model networks with emission externalities where greenness shapes borrowing constraints. A DAO that allocates capital internally and records emissions on-chain replicates the first-best; preliminary evidence suggests sizeable welfare gains.

Conferences & Seminars

Jul 26 — 29, 2026
World Finance Conference
Ireland · Presentation: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
Jul 8 — 10, 2026
33rd Finance Forum
University of Alicante, Spain · Presentation: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
Jun 25 — 26, 2026
International Symposium on Climate, Finance, and Sustainability (ISCFS-2026)
Paris Panthéon-Assas University · Scoring in the Transition (presented by G. Bezzi)
Jun 22 — 24, 2026
CEBRA Annual Meeting
University of Copenhagen, Denmark · Presentation: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
Jun 11 — 12, 2026
AI and Society Conference
Bocconi University, Milan · Presentation: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
May 28 — 29, 2026
Green Tech: Opportunities and Challenges
SDA Bocconi, Rome · Presentation: Uncovering the Blue Economy
May 14, 2026
Wolfe Research 9th Annual European Quantitative and Macro Investment Conference
Invited talk: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
May 13, 2026
Bank of England
London, United Kingdom · Invited seminar: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
May 6 — 7, 2026
Liechtenstein Workshop on AI in Finance (LW-AIF)
University of Liechtenstein, Vaduz · Presentation: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
Apr 24 — 25, 2026
Conference on Artificial Intelligence in the Macroeconomy
University at Albany, NY · Presentation (remote): Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
Apr 24, 2026
2026 Sustainable Finance Conference
University of Leeds, United Kingdom · Scoring in the Transition (presented by G. Bezzi)
Apr 16 — 17, 2026
New Frontiers in Banking and Capital Markets (7th Edition)
Università di Milano-Bicocca & Luiss Business School · Scoring in the Transition (presented by G. Bezzi) — Best Capital Markets Paper Award
Mar 26 — 27, 2026
Workshop in Empirical Macroeconomics 2026
University of Innsbruck, Austria · Presentation: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
Jan 2026
ASSA / AFA 2026 Annual Meeting
Philadelphia, PA · Poster session: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
Dec 4 — 5, 2025
1st Lausanne PhD Macroeconomics Conference
HEC Lausanne, Switzerland · Presentation: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
2025
PhD Alumni Conference
Bocconi University, Milan · Presentation: Monetary Policy Shocks: A New Hope
2024
4th Frontiers of Factor Investing Conference
Lancaster, United Kingdom · Presentation: Towards Data-Congruent Models of the Term Structure of Interest Rates
2023
BSE Summer Forum
Barcelona, Spain · Poster: Modelling the Term Structure with Trends in Yields and Cycles in Excess Returns

Teaching

2025 — 2026
AI-Augmented Research Workflows (Lecturer)
USI Università della Svizzera italiana & Università Bocconi

PhD short course on using large language models as tools for economic research.

Apr 2026
LLMs as Tools for Economic Research (Invited teaching session)
Symposium on Behavioral AI in Education, Work, and Decision-Making · ESSCA School of Management
2022 — 2026
Other Teaching · Università Bocconi
Lecturer: Finance 2 (PhD); Mathematical Modelling for Finance (Master). Teaching Assistant: Advanced Mathematics for Economics and Social Sciences; Theory of Finance; Advanced Corporate Finance for Management; Mathematics; Logic and Methodology of Social Sciences; Mathematical Modelling for Finance.

Work Experience

Apr — Jun 2025
Senior Associate
Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
2024 — 2028
Monetary Policy Expert Panel (Bocconi Group)
Bottazzi, Favero, Fernández-Fuertes, Giavazzi, Guerrieri, Lorenzoni, Monacelli, Sala, Trigari
Nov 2023 — Mar 2024
Research Assistant
EI MUSA — Multilayered Urban Sustainability Action
Jul 2023
Research Assistant
Banco de España — Monetary Policy and Capital Markets Division
2022 — 2023
Research Assistant
Università Bocconi — Big Data and Data Analysis

Other Education

Sep 2024
Local Projection Methods for Time Series and Panel Data
CEMFI · Prof. Òscar Jordà
Jul 2024
Data Science Summer School — Harnessing Language Models
Barcelona School of Economics · Grade: 9.5/10 (A+)
Jun 2023
CREI Macroeconomics Summer School
Barcelona School of Economics

Computer Skills

Advanced: Python, Matlab, C++, LaTeX

Intermediate: R, RStudio, Git, GitHub, AWS

Basic: HTML, CSS, JavaScript

Languages

Spanish (Native) · English (Advanced) · Italian (Advanced)

Honours

  • Baffi Centre Research Grant (2025)
  • BIS PhD Fellowship (2025)
  • Bocconi Merit-Based Fellowship (2021)
  • MSc Mathematical Finance with Distinction (2021)
  • High Honours in Modelisation and Complex Analysis (2017)
  • High Honours in Bachillerato (2015)
  • Becas Europa — Top 200 students (2014)