Hannah's Blog
If you want to read about the wonderful world of finance, and all the great decisions within it, this isn’t the right place 😅. Here are my deepest concerns, critiques and curiosities.
Latest Blogs
Cash to crypto: Spain’s fiery fintech journey
The orange tree-lined streets of Spain are bursting and sputtering with contrast. Clusters of old men huddle noisily around café
Oil wars: It’s all about dollarisation
There is a troubling pattern between US invasions, and when oil states stop trading in dollars. After 20 years of
Why pay a writer when generative AI makes articles for free?
To understand the difference between skilled writers and AI content, let’s go back to iconic noughties’ gameshow, “Who Wants to
✨ 2025, wrapped! ✨
Data-heavy is how I would describe the past twelve months. Of the 42 articles I wrote, more than half of
25 marketing ideas for freelancers🎄
Freelancers don’t have a big budget, but we do need to be constantly marketing to stay relevant. And December can
Five HUUUUUUGE life lessons I learned on my wedding day! 💐💐💐😝
In the giddying months leading up to a wedding, there are whirlpools, waterfalls and wild rapids of emotions rising up
The Worrying Rise of ChatGPT Therapy
People using ChatGPT as a therapist 🤔 It’s becoming so normal that the platform creators have even had to take
How much cash do you have right now?
Brexit took a toll. Covid was a struggle. But nothing took down my freelance business faster than 14 hours without
How the USA benefits from a far-right Europe (and a weak euro)
As the euro poses an increasing threat to the USA’s world dominance, politicians are fighting to break up the union.
Uuuhhh…. Is AI the new dot.com? 😬
The Dot.com bubble. Say this to an old school banker and watch them shiver. They may even temporarily put down
Is the Elon Musk bubble (finally) about to pop? 🫧
The Elon Musk fan club. It’s not just pale incels. Musk believers are spread far and wide. The US government
21 secrets your interview reveals about you 🫢
Interviewing four or five people on the same topic is pretty standard for journalists. In my case, the topics are
Shortlisted articles
The UK politicians who get paid by oil companies 🤢
What’s that, sorry? I can’t hear you… It’s so OILY in here. All I can hear is KER-CHING, KER-CHING, KER-CHING. Where am I? Westminster of
$40 TRILLION of Greenwash?!😳
Updated: Jun 14, 2022 The UK is just three degrees away from being underwater. Three. But the very thing that caused the crisis – money –
Can we keep the metaverse out of ESG?! 🤦♀️
Updated: Feb 7, 2022 A LOT of our Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) money goes to tech companies. Take the world’s 20 largest ESG funds – worth
Award-winners
Peer-voted as the best financial blogs of 2021 and 2022 at the Headlinemoney awards
It’s not fair to target young people with Buy Now Pay Later
Updated: Mar 7, 2022 Browsing the latest trends online is part of everyday life for 20-year-old student Lauren. Like thousands before
How to greenwash: 9 ways BP tricks sustainable investors
Updated: Sep 13, 2021 Sustainable investors beware! BP may seem like a greener company nowadays, and it features on hundreds of
Uuuhhhhh… You guys YOLT is shutting down! 😲
Updated: Aug 2, 2022 In a wildcard move, our much-loved smart money app YOLT has decided to close the curtains. They
Enough of the bullsh**! Our banks are greenwashing
Updated: Jul 14, 2022 Fossil fuel companies cannot scale-up without money. They need banks to invest in them or lend some
How Sustainable Investing is f***ing with managers’ brains
Updated: Jun 11, 2021 From game theories to daddy issues, there’s a lot going on for today’s wealth managers. And this
5 Vice fund companies in ESG investments 😱
Updated: Jun 9, 2021 Is there anything so villainous as a sin stock making its way onto an ethical fund? If
Shortlisted articles
The UK politicians who get paid by oil companies 🤢
What’s that, sorry? I can’t hear you… It’s so OILY in here. All I can hear is KER-CHING, KER-CHING, KER-CHING. Where am I? Westminster of
$40 TRILLION of Greenwash?!😳
Updated: Jun 14, 2022 The UK is just three degrees away from being underwater. Three. But the very thing that caused the crisis – money –
Can we keep the metaverse out of ESG?! 🤦♀️
Updated: Feb 7, 2022 A LOT of our Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) money goes to tech companies. Take the world’s 20 largest ESG funds – worth
Finance and fintech
Daddy issues in finance
Why don’t grown men stand up to their bosses? This was what the notorious 1960s Milgram experiment set out to discover. Forty strapping guys (I imagine) were each told by an authority figure
Is Barclays run by psychopaths?
Since the Paris Agreement in December 2015, Barclays Bank has gone on to funnel more than $164 billion into fossil fuel expansion. $164 BILLION. Umm… WTF?! It’s the largest amount from any UK
Tory Money-Saving Hacks 🤑
… Feeling the financial pinch? With the cost of living crisis escalating, we all need to find ways to be a bit more thrifty. Luckily, if there’s one thing this government knows, it’s
10 things bankers and bullsh** have in common
I love bankers. For years I was one (sort of). But you have to admit, they’re often full of crap. Suits so rigid they’re practically torture devices. And hair so slicked it’s basically
How small and boring “corporate administrative services” help oligarchs move money 🤮
How do criminals move their dirty money? In financial services we’re taught about the methodical way it’s done. The three stages of money laundering are placement, layering and integration. Any wealth professional can
Why do bankers call things “sexy”?😅
Updated: Apr 3, 2023 If you work in wealth management (or had the misfortune to be surrounded by people who do), you’ve likely heard this strange turn of phrase. Out of the blue, and
Student debt: The greatest daylight robbery of all time?
Updated: Mar 7, 2022 Forcing English and Welsh students to pay nearly £10,000 a year towards their education is just the beginning. One of the coldest on record, 1998 was a strange year. Boyzone
How can we help men get senior roles in finance? My Story 👫
Updated: Jun 29, 2022 Hi! 👋 I’m Duncan Hannah. I’m 30 years old and I live in London. I’ve been working with Wealth Management for around seven years now. Like every ahem *man*, my
10 Jokes for Investment Managers
Updated: Dec 15, 2022 This might be the worst idea I ever had. Let’s do it. We all like a rubbish joke right? The kind which ignites facepalms and leave only the joke-teller laughing.
Freelance life and journalism tips
Peer-voted as the best financial blogs of 2021 and 2022 at the Headlinemoney awards
The epic power of partying
My legs are 🔥BURNING🔥 right now. And it’s been six entire days since I stopped dancing at the FFAwards. SIX. Thank god I wore my comfy heels. I’ve just returned from London’s epic
My Favourite Freelance Cafes in London ☕️✨
When you freelance, you get to be your own boss! YASSSS!!! You can go wherever you want. Do whatever you like. Eat whenever you fancy. But there is an awkward catch… You have
104 Freelancing Tips🕺
Oh my days. I’ve now been a full-time freelance writer for four years and two months! It’s been a journey. I’ve had to battle my tiny business through Brexit, COVID, huge fintech redundancies,
Freelancing and grief 💙
On Wednesday 7th September at 9 pm, I stopped breathing properly. My grandfather’s neighbours – who are sort of like family – called me to say that they’d found him face down on
How to become a freelance writer 🕺
Updated: Feb 19 Remember when Peter Parker threw himself off a building? Somehow this random guy trusted that the weird gunk coming out of his fingertips was going to save him. That’s kind of
Videos, videos, videos… The genius of the Fintech Finance Awards
It’s not every day that Michelle Heaton from Brit-pop sensation, Liberty X, asks you to explain fintech. Normally when a pop star holds a microphone in front of your face at a party,
How I get clients…
Updated: Nov 8, 2021 For many people, the hardest part of running a business is getting others to believe in your product and part with their money. As a freelance writer, this is something
How to get quoted by journalists
Updated: Dec 15, 2022 Want to sharpen your panel speaking skills? Attending talks, logging into webinars and plugging into podcasts are ideal places for financial journalists like me to discover new hooks. Here are
How to write the best investment content ✨
Updated: Apr 5, 2022 Looking for ways to sharpen your investment content? Here are 15 powerful tips for silky copy which melts in your mouth and caresses your brain. 1. Who are you writing
