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AWARDS
2017
Financial Commentator of the Year
Winner
Claer Barrett, Financial Times
Each year, the bulk of the names making up
Headlinemoney’s judging panels are drawn from the
financial journalist community with the balance being
senior financial services professionals drawn from
other parts of the media and beyond. As you might
imagine, coming from different parts of the industry
it’s rare for the judges to agree on everything from the
first moment of a judging session. There is usually a
period of cogitation, reflection and debate as each
individual considers the views of his/her fellow judges
before ultimately feeding in to a panel decision.
However, in 2017 the financial commentator
discussion was one of the shortest in history with
the judging panel unanimously agreed on their idea
of the winner within a fewminutes of sitting down.
The Financial Times’
Claer Barrett
landed the same
trophy in 2016 and made it back-to-back wins in 2017
with three submissions which had the judges in total
agreement from the outset.
“These were three really interesting pieces, from
help-to-buy to student loans, to women being
turned off to financial services advertising and they
each hit the spot,” one judge commented. “Claer’s
submissions were superbly written and each made a
telling point prompting the reader to sit up and think
seriously about the financial matter in hand,” a second
judge added. “I think it would probably be fair to say
that Claer is the most populist-orientated individual
ever to hold the money editor role at the FT. She’s
using her position to confront some telling issues in
her commentary pieces,” a third judge remarked.
The Shortlist
•
Claer Barrett,
Financial Times
•
Ian Cowie,
The Sunday Times
•
Dan Hyde,
Money Mail
•
Merryn Somerset Webb,
MoneyWeek/FT
•
John Stepek,
Money Week
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