Iona Bain – Keynote Speaker

Since founding the pioneering Young Money Blog in 2011, Iona Bain’s gone on to become one of the most respected financial writers of her generation, with a rare combination of accessibility and authority.

Iona’s beginnings in the finance world came when she was a jobbing musician still living at her parents home back in Edinburgh, and her savings were burgled from her piggy bank. All she knew about money needed to change and her dyscalculia meant her uphill struggle was larger than most. Iona founded Young Money Blog to help her generation get to grips with their finances and quickly found an audience with her down-to-earth, witty and helpful analysis of the financial problems facing millennials. Iona is BBC Morning Live’s financial expert and has also appeared on Rip Off Britain, NewsNight, Question Time and the One Show.

Iona Bain’s empathetic approach has earned her the title Money Hacker in residence for Radio 1’s flagship advice programme Life Hacks. She has been flying the flag for young people’s financial rights on the airwaves for over 10 years, and has also been a roving financial reporter for Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch. Podcast appearances range from the Spectator’s flagship Edition show, to Free the Geezer with rap group The Manor, to Saira Khan’s podcast Backing Brilliant Business, demonstrating Iona’s versatility. Iona is also a staple of online youth and female-focused media, with recent contributions to VICE UK, British Vogue and Refinery 29.

Iona writes a weekly column for the i paper, and is a regular contributor to the Financial Times. Her journalism and commentary have appeared extensively in both national and regional titles, including the Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Independent and the New Statesman, and Iona’s book ‘Own It!’ is all about how young people can invest their way to a better future.

Iona Bain is particularly proud of her educational work, having collaborated with BBC Social, BBC Bitesize and Young Scot to produce a series of educational videos. She also worked with the Lloyds Banking Academy on the Your Future Finances initiative, the first educational programme in the UK to be fully sign language enabled. Iona is also the youngest-ever governor of the Pensions Policy Institute.