What brought you to Luxembourg?
A fortuitous blend of good luck, timing and global politics! I was working as deputy editor at energy news service ICIS in London when I was offered an intriguing new role in investment writing at the European Investment Fund. The Brexit referendum had just taken place, so my husband and I took a look at the way the wind was blowing in London and decided to take our chances to live abroad while we still could. That and one of my dearest friends lived here so I already knew Luxembourg.
It’s been a joy. It’s a beautiful city surrounded by jaw-dropping scenery, so for the first time in our lives we were able to spend weekends hiking and camping within an hour of a capital city. We love the passing of the seasons here and the traditions that accompany them, from the drinking of Feuerwasser in the autumn to the Christmas markets to the magic of the annual Schueberfouer with its cocktails and rollercoasters.
I still remember the moment a red squirrel swung through the trees behind our apartment even though we’re in the heart of the city, and the moment a deer leapt across my path as I walked down Val des Bons Malades towards town. A great circle of friends took us to their bosom (so to speak!) and when lockdown hit, we felt really privileged to be in Luxembourg where we could still breathe fresh air and walk out into the forest without seeing a soul. I should work on the tourist board!
Financial journalism seems an odd choice for someone who didn’t study finance…
A bit of a confession--I’d never known much about finance pre-2010 and I didn’t study economics. However, I had started out my career in recruitment, which involved cold calling prospective clients and candidates for ten hours a day so I developed a thick skin for brusque rejections and a nose for a deal.
When I switched into journalism in 2010 I still didn’t know a great deal about finance, and must have tested the patience of the asset managers I hounded down. However, by my second job in journalism I had learned a great deal, and by the time I was working at Debtwire (a newswire specialising in leveraged finance) I was hooked.
When you’re coaxing information out of a source that is sensitive enough to change the pricing on debt behind an M&A deal or scupper the deal all together you have to understand what you’re talking about. When you dig down into this somewhat opaque world, when you see the stories you found get reported in the wider media, you start to see that finance is complex enough to offer you part investigative journalism, part craft and part industrial espionage. It’s the essence of reporting for me.
What might people not know about you?
I’m terrified of The Witches by Roald Dahl. I can’t even google it. I once had to get my friend to remove a copy of the book from a room in which I was sleeping.
