Congratulations to Poohpha Pissamai, a fourth-year student in the Financial Planning and Investment program within the School of Business Administration, who has a clear goal of pursuing a career as an investment analyst. He recently took part in the 2026 “New Breed Capital Market Financial Professionals” program organized by the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) — a valuable experience that strengthened both his financial knowledge and strategic skills.

From Repeated Advertisements to a Real Application

Phupha shared that he had known about the New Breed program for some time through the internet, though he was not particularly interested at first. After repeatedly seeing advertisements and recommendations about the program, along with direct advice from a senior student he had interned with, he decided to apply.

“The main factor behind my decision to apply was that the New Breed program offers free e-learning lessons as well as financial support for the costly investment-knowledge certification exam fees. Those who pass the criteria receive two free exam attempts, which was an extremely worthwhile opportunity for me since I want to obtain a certification in this field,” he said.

The Road to the Strategist Simulation Camp: From 700 Applicants to the Final 150

The program required applicants to complete every chapter of the e-learning content in order to qualify for the scholarship examination. Of more than 700 applicants who met this requirement, 250 received exam-fee scholarships. In the first-round examination, the program ranked all candidates' scores — passing a minimum threshold was not required — and the top 150 scorers earned a place at the New Breed Capital Market Financial Professionals camp. Phupha was one of the students who made it through this round.

"The camp was structured into three tracks: the Financial Institution Track, the Corporate Finance Track, and the Career Skills Preparation Track. The Career Skills track was conducted online, while Tracks 1 and 2 were held onsite. Participants had the opportunity to rank their top three track preferences. As for me, I chose the Corporate Finance Track."

4 Days, 3 Nights at the SET Building, Tackling a Real Business Case

The camp was held at the Stock Exchange of Thailand building over four consecutive days and three nights, with accommodation provided for all participants throughout the program, as well as travel support for those coming from other provinces.

“The Corporate Finance track had around 50 participants, a mix of junior and senior students as well as graduates and members of the public. The program deliberately mixed participants together to create balanced teams, with each team made up of six members.”

“The camp’s case study asked participants to take on the role of ‘strategist’ for a real pharmaceutical and dietary-supplement company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, with the goal of growing the company’s value from a capital base of 100 million baht to 500 million baht within five years, through an inorganic growth strategy — mergers and acquisitions — to strengthen the business, rather than organic growth built on self-driven product development and marketing.”

Days for Learning, Nights for Team Strategy

Each day of the camp was split into two main parts: daytime lectures delivered by expert speakers from the financial industry, and evening sessions in which each team gathered to apply what they had learned to build a strategy for their assigned case. Team meetings each night typically ran until around 3 a.m., continuing for three full nights in a row.

"Even though the team members were not specialists in Corporate Finance, they had to quickly study the subject and jointly devise a strategy within a limited timeframe of just 4-5 days, before presenting their work (pitching) to the panel of judges on the final day of the camp — a true test of teamwork under time pressure."

An Experience Beyond the Classroom

The New Breed program does more than give students access to financial and investment knowledge through e-learning and certification exams. It also simulates a real corporate-strategist working environment, giving participants hands-on practice in business analysis, strategic planning, teamwork with people from diverse backgrounds, and presenting to a panel of judges under tight deadlines.

The experience gained through the New Breed Capital Market Financial Professionals program marks an important step in building the analytical and financial-strategy capabilities of Bangkok University students, in line with the university's “Practical University” approach, which emphasizes learning through real-world experience alongside classroom knowledge — preparing students to confidently pursue careers in finance and investment.