Born in Northern Ireland, Bill spent some of his early life in Germany, where he attended primary school in the late 1970s and developed a native command of the language. He then moved back to the UK with his family to complete his secondary education. Later he obtained an M.A. in Economics, History and German from Cambridge University.
Over 25 years’ experience in finance and translation
Educated in Germany and the UK
From economist and bond analyst to financial translator
Bill joined Deutsche Bank as a Graduate Trainee in 1991, working in London, Frankfurt and Luxembourg, and in 1993 accepted a bond analyst role at BHF Bank in Frankfurt. From 1996 to 2000 he was an economist at Henderson Global Investors in the City of London. Bill has been a full-time financial writer and translator since 2001.
Bill is qualified in both translation and finance. He holds the respected chartered financial analyst (CFA) qualification as well as the diploma in translation from the Chartered Institute of Linguists.
Bill also has a keen interest in history and has also translated several historical works. (See Portfolio).
TESTIMONIALS
Don’t just take Bill’s word for it. Here is what some of his clients say about working with him:
To my mind a translation is good when the reader doesn't notice that the text has been translated. Bill's translations offer just that. He thinks about what the author wants to convey and is able to faithfully capture our analysts' market-based language in English.
Bill's translations are invariably of a very high standard. His knowledge of German is outstanding, and his attention to detail exemplary. He has consistently shown that he is capable of tackling the most difficult texts and finding accurate and effective English equivalents to often obscure and archaic terminology.
We have been working with Bill Smyth since 2006 and trust him for his expertise in financial and legal translations. We are always happy with his collaborations as he is reliable, accurate and very conscious of deadlines. It is partners like him make an agency successful.
We have found Bill Smyth to be a very reliable partner, particularly his expertise in pinning down the correct technical terminology and his excellent English style. This allows us to project a professional image in English as well as in German.
Bill Smyth is a reliable and talented translator. He is thorough and has a very good style. He has been working for us on a regular basis since 2005. He has been translating mainly financial and economic texts such as annual and semi-annual reports, fund recommendations, fund prospectuses, monthly comments and fund factsheets, among other financial content.