Iona Bain Keynote Speaker

Iona Bain is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, author and speaker who specialises in personal finance. She is BBC Morning Live’s resident money expert, broadcasting her supportive, down-to-earth advice and presenting regular updates on a range of subjects.

She has appeared extensively on TV and radio throughout her career, with appearances including Question Time, Newsnight and Panorama. She presented two in-depth investigations for File on 4 in 2023, has previously presented Radio 4’s Moneybox and joined Paul Johnson for the 2020 Radio 4 series. The Austerity Audit. She has also written prolifically for print and online media, with her work including a weekly column in the i newspaper and a bi-weekly column in the Metro. Iona Bain has also been a staple of youth and female-focused media with her comments appearing frequently in Vogue, R29 and VICE.

Iona has also written two books – her latest, Own It, focuses on how young people can invest their way to a better future. She recently started Focus on Finance, an initiative to help the next generation learn about the financial industry via in-person events featuring inspiring speakers. She will be awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2024 in recognition of her contribution to young people’s financial literacy.

In 2011, she founded the pioneering Young MoneyBlog and went on to become the UK’s go-to voice on millennial money throughout the 2010s.

Her 2022 report on her struggles with dyscalculia has been widely credited with bringing the condition (known as “numbers dyslexia”) into the mainstream and led to her becoming an ambassador for National Numeracy.She is proud of her educational work, having collaborated with BBC Bitesize to produce a series of educational videos and worked with Lloyds Banking Academy on the Your Future Finances initiative. She is also the youngest ever governor of the Pensions Policy Institute.