Good morning,
This week on The Overseas Athlete
Jamie McLaren scored in front of 70,000 people in a Kolkata derby last year. He calls it one of the best moments of his career.
It is a long way from where he started. He left Melbourne at 15 to join Blackburn Rovers, and didn't see his family for six months.
I wanted this episode because Jamie's career is a clinic in steering your own ship. Going home to the A-League when staying in England looked better on paper. Taking a pay cut to chase a World Cup spot. Planning for life after football before he was 21.
He is now the all-time leading scorer in A-League history, with four golden boots and a marquee deal in India.
His dad gave him one line that shaped all of it. It is your career. You write your own script.
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bDrpTa4RUcQ
What's moving in currency markets this week
The best pound-to-Aussie rate since February
A quick note, because you move money across exactly these currencies.
This week we moved £200,000 into Australian dollars for a client.
It was the best pound-to-Aussie rate since February.
They were about to run it through their bank. The transfer was sitting ready to go. Then they were introduced to me, and we did it a different way.
Against the rate their bank was offering, we came in 2.4% better. On £200,000 that is £4,800. Same money, same day, one conversation. £4,800 that stayed with them instead of the bank.
The timing helped as well. The pound has climbed around 4% against the Australian dollar over the past six weeks, its strongest run since February.
GBP/AUD - Daily Exchange Rate
Here is why the rate is sitting where it is.
Sterling has held firm while most currencies have not. The Bank of England is still alert to inflation, and that has kept the pound supported even through a noisy week in the market.
The Australian dollar has gone the other way. Soft, range-bound, with its central bank now looking finished hiking and settled on hold at 4.35%.
Firm pound, soft Aussie. That is what put the conversion at its best in five months. If you are holding pounds to bring into Australian dollars, that is the backdrop in front of you right now.
The US dollar is the other side of your book. It is firm too, on higher oil, higher yields and safe-haven demand, with the Federal Reserve minutes on Wednesday the next thing to watch. For anything you are moving into or out of dollars, that strength helps you one way and costs you the other, depending on your direction.
None of this is about rushing.
A forward contract locks a level on money already committed, so you hold today's rate rather than hope for it. A limit order sits above the market on money not yet moved, ready if the rate extends.
One guards the floor. The other reaches for the high. The £4,800 this week came from the execution, not from luck.
The market, you cannot control.
The rate, you can.
Also from The Overseas Athlete
In case you missed these recent episodes, watch below.
Episode 24 — Guiuseppe Funicello
He owns the club and has seen the maths. The honest economics of going pro abroad, and the visa traps nobody warns you about.
Episode 23 — Filip Krušlin
37 years old, 20th season, five countries. On lasting two decades, moving as a family, and planning for the day it stops.
Episode 22 — Travis McAvene
NIL money, the overseas pay cliff, and recruiting athletes who actually last. The business of basketball abroad from the recruiting seat.
That's it for this week.
If any of this is relevant to where you are right now — a contract coming up, a transfer to manage, or just starting to think about what going overseas actually involves financially — I'm always happy to talk it through.
Chris