Laurie McAughtry, the new editor of The Trade, had a plan for her education and career. She studied at all the right schools in the UK and U.S. and then took a job in banking. However, after getting married to a man who is half Malaysian and moving to Malaysia, she was drifting about.
Malaysia had lots of opportunities in banking at the time, she said, but somehow she fell into journalism.
She lived in Malaysia for 10 years where she covered the whole of Southeast Asia and the Middle East. During that time, the Malaysian finance industry transformed and grew as Islamic finance, or Sharia-compliant finance, became popular. Malaysia was at the forefront of that growth, and McAughtry was right there covering it.
But she did more, working with the banks and the regulators to help grow the Islamic finance industry across the whole region. She describes this consulting as some of the most rewarding work she has done in her career.
Having lived in Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, McAughtry and her husband returned to London in 2016 after she became pregnant, as they wanted to bring up their family there. McAughtry knew at that time that she wanted to expand beyond Islamic finance.
After spending two-and-a-half years having babies, as McAughtry puts it, she took a job with the A-Team Group, which focused on RegTech and data management. She had also started her own publication, Ethical Finance, which was a comprehensive platform in the institutional space for ESG finance.
When the pandemic hit, she was recruited to join TradingView, a large community of traders, where she became the head of editorial content.
She was recruited again in September of 2021 for the job at The Trade; she had missed being the head of the newsroom.
Excited about the opportunity, McAughtry says The Trade in the future will do more events, while maintaining the current editorial content. It will also do more joint projects, including one with the London Stock Exchange for International Women’s Day. Also planned is a roadshow across Europe this summer.
The Trade will be producing more digital content, McAughtry said. The core coverage will stay the same, but as the industry evolves, The Trade will evolve too, she said.
