Part time PhD created competitive advantage

Dr Arthur Krebbers is Managing Director with NatWest Commercial and Institutional. He did his PhD in Accounting & Finance and is now a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde Business School. Here, he shares his part-time PhD journey. 

I have the pleasure of being both a financial market practitioner and researcher. Having worked at NatWest/RBS since 2008, I evolved from debt capital markets origination to a sustainable finance focused role. My current responsibility in the bank is to support our corporate customers with their sustainability strategies.

While at the bank, I conducted a part-time PhD in debt capital markets at Strathclyde in the years 2010 to 2016. Since then, I have been a Visiting Lecturer and, since 2023, Visiting Professor at the Department of Accounting and Finance. 

When I began looking at PhD study, I did a thorough study of all the highly ranked European business schools, looking for academics with a research interest in bonds and the wider debt capital markets. This led me to Professor Andy Marshall. We had a very constructive initial discussion and he reassured me on the university’s ability to also facilitate my PhD degree on a part-time basis. This was very reassuring, as professors at other universities were more dismissive of this route. 

My two main research interests are the debt capital markets and sustainable finance. With regards to the first, I have been studying the ways companies raise money from the bond markets in particular: What banks do they appoint? How do they garner more investor interest? With much of corporate finance focusing on equities, this is a somewhat overlooked area of focus, not least because the bond markets are the prime source of financing for many mid-size to large corporations. 

My interest in sustainable finance is broad-based. I look at different ways that financial decisions can have an environmental and/or social impacts. This can be through structured financial instruments such as green bonds, or indeed through incorporating such elements in the risk and reward assessments of investments. 

Vibrant research community 

I have found the Strathclyde research community to be very vibrant. Over the past 15 years I’ve been able to engage with academics from a variety of backgrounds with their distinct perspectives on interesting research methods and the workings of financial markets and systems. There is no dominant philosophy as you may have in other universities. My 3-4 day visits to the campus always provide real intellectual sustenance and inspiration. As a Dutchman I also appreciate the down-to-earth Glaswegian attitude that does not tolerate pretentiousness. It chimes in well with the saying we have in Holland: “Just be yourself, and you’ll be crazy enough!” 

The campus environment and its facilities are a very effective “academic oasis” for me. They allow me to retreat from corporate life for a few days to dive into research pursuits. 

Strathclyde support 

I am deeply indebted to the support Professor Andy Marshall and Dr Patrick McColgan offered throughout the six years of my part-time PhD degree. They made for a very effective supervisory team, dividing the different types of support that I required – such as academic writing skills, theory and hypothesis development and regression and data analytics. 

The support of the management and administration of the Accounting and Finance department has also been important. They have ensured my visits to Glasgow have gone smoothly and I have been able to make the most out of the time here. 

PhD benefits 

As my PhD was very closely linked to my work at NatWest, namely supporting company’s with accessing the debt capital markets, it created useful new insights. It also provided me with a distinct subject matter authority that makes for a competitive advantage. 

My ability to straddle the practitioner and academic worlds has continued to bear fruits. Recently the bank won a prestigious IFR Award for ESG Insights, where the jury specifically called out our value-add academic approach to thought leadership. 

Work and study balance 

Balancing work and studies can be tricky but it’s perfectly possible. I actually wrote a dedicated blog article on this in the year after I graduated: https://www.findaphd.com/blog/3292/making-a-phd-work-whilst-working-confessions-of-a-part-time-student and these tips remain true today. 

Reach out 

For any prospective postgraduate research students, I would advise them firstly to engage and ask questions! The faculty at Strathclyde is both passionate about their research areas and willing to share their knowledge and learnings. The more enthusiasm and interest you show, the more you will get out of your research experience. That also applies outside of the faculty – don’t be shy to email authors of research papers that have proven valuable for your research. I’ve had many positive and useful responses this way, even from Nobel prize winners. While many professors may seem “out of reach”, they’re ultimately all people and generally are eager to help out – they also were junior research students once! 

About Arthur Krebbers

Dr Arthur Krebbers did his MBA from 2010-2016 and has been a visiting professor at Strathclyde Business School since 2017. He is Managing Director with NatWest Commercial and Institutional.