Exiled: Catherine Lang Anderson, A&O
Welcome to Exiled: The Real Assets People, a podcast where we ‘strand’ a guest on a desert island and ask them who from their professional past, present, and future they’d choose to be stranded with. After all, it’s people that make a profession. Our first guest is Catherine Lang Anderson, Partner & Head of Trade & Commodity Finance Practice at A&O Shearman. Recorded live from the Royal Academy of Arts, it will be no surprise to anyone who knows Catherine that her Exile is going to be a party!
From her past
Catherine chose Nick Grandage, Norton Rose Fulbright. Nick is a true titan of the industry, Catherine’s first mentor and someone who’s always up for an in-depth chat about Black Letter Law. Mentorship can shape a whole career and, following in Nick’s footsteps, Catherine aims to uplift others in the industry regardless of which company they work for.
From her present
Catherine chose her whole A&O Shearman team, including the likes of Greg Brown, for their range of skills and amazing teamwork. Not only does she think the team would help each other to survive - and maybe even escape - but their enthusiasm for cooking and yoga would turn this Exile into a retreat.
From her future
After toying with appointing her own AI avatar to get on with running the practice whilst she focuses on island life, Catherine went for a more creative option. Given the high stakes and high drama of the commodities world, Catherine thought that a desert island Exile would be the perfect time to invite an acclaimed TV director to create a binge-worthy series based on the profession. Replete with flashbacks, intrigue, and innovation, the series would pivot around the annual awards dinner at TXF Amsterdam.
Bonus round
Of course, Catherine couldn’t go into Exile without her kids, husband, and their dog, Stormzy.
Tune in next week, where we’ll be speaking to Marlon Smith, Managing Director, JLC Infrastructure
