Finance - PhD in Management

Finance studies the workings of an economy's financial system, its role in channelling financial resources from suppliers of capital to its final users, and allocating risk among investors. More specifically, finance examines the determinants of investment, portfolio, and financing choices of firms and individuals and their mutual interactions. These issues are explored from a theoretical and an empirical perspective, employing various tools ranging from game theory and stochastic calculus to econometrics and statistics.

The general area of finance can be divided broadly into three main fields: investments, corporate finance, and financial markets and institutions. The field of investments examines the determinants of portfolio allocation decisions of individual investors and the implications for the pricing of financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, and derivative securities. Corporate finance examines the criteria that firms use in their capital expenditure decisions and their choice of the financial instruments that are issued to finance these expenditures. Finally, the study of financial markets and institutions focuses on the role of financial intermediaries and organised securities exchanges in facilitating the funding of corporate investments, as well as the secondary market trading of financial instruments.

The Finance area at INSEAD comprises a diverse faculty actively involved in research in several of the abovementioned areas. Their current research interests include:

• Banking regulations after the crisis
• Managing for value
• Conflicts of interests in the exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry
• Portfolio management and strategies of mutual funds
• Microstructure and trading of fixed income: the role of CDSs
• Legal investor protection and corporate control
• Institutional ownership, block-ownership and family firms around the world
• The effect of equity lenders' preferences on the shorting market and asset prices
• Currency risk
• Impact of media on financial markets
• Costs and benefits of financial misrepresentation
• Maximising shareholder value
• Liquidity and asset pricing
• International asset pricing / global risk sharing

The Finance faculty is well-recognised for its excellence in research and has consistently produced articles in top finance and economics journals, such as the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Journal of Political Economy, among others.

Visit the Finance Academic Area Page

 Download the Finance Course Template

The Finance area is known for its quantitative rigour, requiring students to possess a strong foundation in quantitative skills and an insatiable curiosity. Thus, the area seeks candidates with strong academic backgrounds in economics, mathematics, statistics, finance, or related fields. Exceptional degrees in rigorous disciplines and a genuine desire for research are highly valued in the selection process. Having prior research experience and a background in finance can provide valuable insights and enhance the candidate's potential for success in our programme.

Download the Call for applications 2025 intake.

Here are some of our current students' backgrounds:

• BSc Industrial Engineering and Master of Finance
• BS Computer Science; MS Finance and Economics; and MS Financial Engineering
• BA English; MA Accountancy-Economics; and MSc Financial Economics
• BA Economics; MSc Applied Economics; and Master in Analysis and Politics in Economics
• BSc Finance and Arts in English Literature
• BSc Economics of Int'l Markets and New Technologies; and MSc Quantitative Finance

View the current PhD in Finance students' profiles

Our PhD Alumni have gone on to achieve great success after graduation, securing positions at top business schools worldwide and continuing their professional growth at prestigious academic institutions across the globe. Some of these institutions include the London School of Economics, ESSEC (France), HEC Paris, Tilburg University, and the University of Amsterdam in Europe; MIT, University of Chicago Booth, Yale, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of North Carolina, University of Southern Carolina, and Purdue University in the US; McGill University in Canada; and ESSEC (Singapore) and Nanyang Business School in Asia.

To discover more about the impressive achievements of our Global PhD Alumni Community, please visit our website.

We encourage prospects to plan for their application for the PhD in Management. Application for the following year's intake starts in the early Fall of the current year, with a preferred deadline of mid-December.

Go to the Admissions and Financing page

Moreover, we encourage prospects to attend our upcoming recruitment events or register below to receive the URLs of the Special Area Webinars we have conducted over the years.

Registration Link