Maria Debora Braga
Affiliate Professor

Biography
Maria Debora Braga is an Affiliate Professor of Banking and Insurance at SDA Bocconi School of Management. She is a Full Professor of Financial Markets and Institutions at Università della Valle d’Aosta where she is also the coordinator for the Bachelor Program in Business Administration.
Since 1997, she has collaborated with SDA Bocconi as coordinator of several custom courses in the areas of securities finance, asset management and banking management. She teaches in the Executive Master in Finance (EMF) and in the Financial Management Master in partnership with ESA School of Business. She has created content for education programs on topics recommended by ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) as well as advanced content for financial institutions to be delivered online. She coordinates and designs many education programmes in Italy for asset management companies, insurance companies, banks and the main actors in the Private Banking sector. She is also Scientific Director of the Course Finanza Sostenibile e Investimenti ESG with SDA Bocconi for the preparation for the EFPA ESG Advisor certification in partnership con Anasf.
Her research activities include asset management (portfolio optimization and asset allocation, risk budgeting and risk management, performance measurement and evaluation); fixed income markets and instruments; cash management; financial advice and provision of investment services.
She is the author of essays, books and articles on her topics of interest. Her more recent contributions include: the volume "Asset Management e Investitori Istituzionali" (2nd edition in Italian - Person 2019, 1st edition in English, Springer 2016) with I. Basile and P. Ferrari, the monograph "“Il finanziamento delle startup e delle PMI”, (Pearson, 2019) with L. Anderloni, the monograph “Risk-Based Approaches to Asset Allocation – Concepts and Practical Applications” (Springer, 2016). She was also editor (in partnership with L. Anderloni, E.M. Carluccio) of “New Frontiers in banking services – Emerging needs and tailored products for untapped markets” (Springer Verlag, 2007). In 2008, she published the monograph “Il risk budgeting nell’asset management” (collana Banca e Mercati, Bancaria Editrice).
She is a Short Term Visiting Research Fellow at Cass Business School-University of London and she was a Visiting Ph.D. Student at the Department of Economics at Birkbeck College (University of London).
She has won many awards for her teaching and research activities, including the award for Excellence in customer relationship management in 2008 and the award for Excellence in teaching, for four years in a row, from 2009 to 2012 and again in 2015, 2018 and 2019. In 2014, she won the award "Internationalization/Innovation" - Banks and financial intermediaries Division. She is a member of the European Financial Planning Association’s scientific committee (EFPA EUROPE) as the delegate for Italy and of ACF (Arbitro per le Controversie Finanziarie) designated by the National Competent Authority, Consob.
Maria Debora earned a degree in Business Administration from Università degli Studi di Parma, a Ph.D. in Business Administration and Management (Specializing in Banking and Finance) from Università Bocconi, an ITP (International Teachers Programme) from HEC in Paris and the “Global Colloquium Centered Learning” Certificate from Harvard Business School in Boston.
Recent Publications
- 2025
Detecting exuberance phenomena in thematic investing
BRAGA, M. D., G. GENONI, G. VACCA, "Detecting exuberance phenomena in thematic investing", Finance Research Letters, 2025, vol. 75, pp. 106889 - 2024
Strategic Asset Allocation with Mean-Variance Optimisation
BRAGA, M. D., "Strategic Asset Allocation with Mean-Variance Optimisation" in Asset Management and Institutional Investors., Ignazio Basile, Pierpaolo Ferrari (Eds.), Springer International Publishing, pp. 117-202, 2024 - 2024
Methods and Tools for Portfolio Selection
BRAGA, M. D., "Methods and Tools for Portfolio Selection" in Asset Management and Institutional Investors., Ignazio Basile, Pierpaolo Ferrari (Eds.), Springer International Publishing, pp. 203-242, 2024 - 2024
Alternative Approaches to Traditional Mean-Variance Optimisation
BRAGA, M. D., "Alternative Approaches to Traditional Mean-Variance Optimisation" in Asset Management and Institutional Investors., Ignazio Basile, Pierpaolo Ferrari (Eds.), Springer International Publishing, pp. 243-255, 2024 - 2024
Returns-Based Style Analysis
BRAGA, M. D., "Returns-Based Style Analysis" in Asset Management and Institutional Investors., Ignazio Basile, Pierpaolo Ferrari (Eds.), Springer International Publishing, pp. 345-371, 2024 - 2024
Performance Attribution
BRAGA, M. D., "Performance Attribution" in Asset Management and Institutional Investors., Ignazio Basile, Pierpaolo Ferrari (Eds.), Springer International Publishing, pp. 373-395, 2024 - 2024
Asset management e investitori istituzionali. III Ed.
BASILE, I., P. FERRARI, M. D. BRAGA (Eds.), "Asset management e investitori istituzionali. III Ed." - 2024, Pearson Italia, Italy - 2023
Kurtosis-based vs volatility-based asset allocation strategies: Do they share the same properties? A first empirical investigation
BRAGA, M. D., C. R. NAVA, M. G. ZOIA, "Kurtosis-based vs volatility-based asset allocation strategies: Do they share the same properties? A first empirical investigation", Finance Research Letters, 2023, vol. 54, pp. 103797 - 2023
Kurtosis-based risk parity: methodology and portfolio effects
BRAGA, M. D., C. R. NAVA, M. G. ZOIA, "Kurtosis-based risk parity: methodology and portfolio effects", Quantitative Finance, 2023, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 453-469 - 2022
Asset Allocation Strategica: principi e metodi
BRAGA, M. D., "Asset Allocation Strategica: principi e metodi" in Manuale del Private Banker. VIII Edizione., P. Musile Tanzi (Ed.), Egea, chap. 3, pp. 47-74, 2022
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Grants & Honors
Best Professor of the Year Award, SDA Bocconi School of Management, 2019
Best Professor of the Year Award, SDA Bocconi School of Management, 2018
Premio Eccellenza nella didattica, SDA Bocconi School of Management, 2015
Premio Internazionalization/Innovation, SDA Bocconi School of Management, 2014
Premio Eccellenza nella didattica, SDA Bocconi School of Management, 2012
Premio Eccellenza nella didattica, SDA Bocconi School of Management, 2011
Premio Eccellenza nella didattica, SDA Bocconi School of Management, 2010
Premio Eccellenza nella didattica, SDA Bocconi School of Management, 2009
Premio Eccellenza nella gestione delle relazioni con i clienti, SDA Bocconi School of Management, 2008

