Corporate Finance Boot Camp

The AIT School of Management hosted its first-ever Corporate Finance Boot Camp on October 18–19, 2025, marking a new hands-on learning initiative for the International Finance Program. The two-day event brought together students from Sections A and B of the Corporate Finance course for an intensive weekend of applied finance learning. Over shared meals, informal discussions, and interactive sessions, students had the chance to connect with faculty, peers, and industry professionals in a practical and engaging environment.

The Boot Camp was designed to introduce key tools of corporate finance and demonstrate how these concepts operate in real markets. The sessions combined classroom fundamentals with insights from three accomplished guest speakers whose backgrounds span investment banking, central banking, and cross-border finance.

Dr. Stan Ho, Chairman of ARC Ratings (Asia Pacific) and former Head of Non-Japan Asia Structured Finance at Fitch Ratings, delivered an informative session on Debt Financing and Credit Rating in Asia. Drawing on decades of experience in capital markets, securitization, and ESG finance, Dr. Ho offered students a look into how credit ratings influence corporate access to funding and how Asia’s bond markets have evolved in response to regulatory and sustainability trends.

Sithipath (Steven) Yooprong, a quantitative researcher at WorldQuant and former Bank of Thailand scholar, led a session on Trading and Quantitative Finance, introducing students to how data, modeling, and financial engineering drive modern investment strategies. His discussion helped bridge the gap between academic theory and the real-world decision processes behind trading and portfolio management.

The Boot Camp concluded with Joe Horn-Phathanothai, CEO of Strategy613 and a member of Amundi’s South Asia Advisory Board, who spoke on Cross-Border Investments and China’s Role in Regional Finance. Joe shared insights from his extensive advisory experience with clients such as Philips, Siam Cement Group, and the Bank of China. His talk also drew on his unique family connection to Thailand-China relations—his mother, Sirin Phathanothai, played a historic role in establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries. Educated at Oxford and Cambridge, Joe’s perspective linked historical context, strategic advisory work, and the opportunities shaping Asia’s financial landscape today.

The inaugural Boot Camp is part of a broader reworking of the International Finance Program at AIT with increased emphasis on the connection between modern theory and the practice of finance in Asia. The Boot Camp gave students an early opportunity to engage with the practical dimensions of corporate finance while learning important finance fundamentals. By combining academic rigor with real-world dialogue, the event reflected AIT’s broader mission to prepare graduates for leadership in dynamic and interconnected financial markets.