José Fernando Figueiredo is from the 1st January 2015 the Executive President of IFD – Instituição Financeira de Desenvolvimento, the Portuguese SME Promotional Financing Institution.

Special Honorary Chairman of AECM, with the responsibility for the Relations of AECM Outside of Europe, he was Chairman/President of this international organization from 2007 to 2015. AECM – European Association of Guarantee Societies, is the European Association of credit guarantee entities, a non - profit organisation, based in Brussels, representing 42 members from 21 countries of the EU as well as Russia, Turkey, Bosnia , Montenegro and Kirgizstan. AECM members have a total portfolio of around 82 billion € in guarantees, helping around 3 million European SME and entrepreneurs getting access to credit financing.

Founder and Co-Coordinator of the Global Network of Guarantee Institutions, from June 2016 he was appointed one of the coordinators of the global network of guarantee institutions, a global platform aiming at improving the recognition of the guarantees as an important financing tool worldwide.

He is the Chairman of SPGM, the holding of the Portuguese Mutual Guarantee Scheme that manages the public counterguarantee mechanism (around 1,2 billion euros in own funds), a tool that partially guarantees the guarantees issued by the MGS and deals with the public agencies and the European Investment Fund -EIF, also acting as back-office to all the entities in the Portuguese Guarantee Scheme.

He is Member of the "Working Party on SME group" from OECD, representing AECM.

Alongside with guarantee activities José was also involved in the VC business as Chairman and partner of 2BPartner VC, a small Venture Capital firm running a start up fund, till the end of 2014, and was one of the founders of Invicta Angles, the Porto Business Angels Network.

Till the end of 2014, he was founder, Chairman and Executive President of Norgarante, Lisgarante, Garval and Agrogarante – the four Mutual Guarantee Societies (MGS) in Portugal - with a total equity base of around 300 million euro and an outstanding portfolio of 3,3 billion euro in guarantees (6,5 billion in credits), managing more than a 140 thousand files. These guarantees helped the more than 80 thousand SME that are shareholders (mutuals) of the MGS to get access to credit financing for above 20 billion euro since foundation.

He was Member of the Task Force for the Design, Implementation and Evaluation of Public Credit Guarantee Schemes for Small and Medium Enterprises, created in an initiative of the World Bank and the First Initiative, as representative of Europe.

He was Member of the 4 Independent Experts Group that evaluated the main EU Financial Programme aimed at supporting Innovation (RSFF), proposing measures for its successor, the Horizon 2020.

José started his career at Inter-Risco, at the time a joint Venture between the British VC 3i and BPI, one of the leading investment banks in Portugal, later he became member of the Board of IAPMEI – Portuguese Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Agency, responsible for all the Financial Instruments and was Chairman and Executive President of PME Investimentos - one of the major Portuguese Venture Capital and Private Equity Companies.

José acts regularly as International Adviser for several governments and international organisations.

He holds a 5 year degree in economics and the frequency of a master in industrial economics.