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Spotlight: Meet Ray Lewis, Marketing Director at Brandes Investment Partners in San Diego

image3-1Ray Lewis leads the development and execution of integrated global marketing and communications strategies encompassing all of Brandes Investment Partners’ client channels and investment products. She also oversees corporate initiatives. 

Before joining Brandes, Lewis was an assistant vice president, Investment Management Services Division, at Prudential Securities. She earned her bachelor of science in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin and holds Series 7, 63, and 65 licenses. Lewis was a member of the PAICR-The Asset Management Marketing Association from 2000 to 2017, where she served as secretary on the board of directors (2014-2016). Her relevant experience began in 1988, and she joined Brandes in 1996.

To learn more about our On Purpose guest, please visit her LinkedIn.


We want to hear about your business. Can you describe it in a nutshell? 

My firm manages money for organizations and individuals the same way you might shop for groceries. You might compare the price of items to their value—or what you think they're worth. That "supermarket" mindset applies to stock and bond markets, too. I work at Brandes Investment Partners. Since we were founded in 1974, Brandes has always applied this "value" investing approach. We were one of the first firms to thoughtfully compare price versus value with stocks and bonds in global markets. Brandes is 100% employee owned; we have a very independent spirit—just like me! We are headquartered in San Diego with offices in Dublin, Milwaukee, Singapore, and Toronto. I'm one of about 200 employees worldwide. 

What do you like most about working for your company? 

That’s easy—the people! Out of the 33 years I have been working in the financial services industry, 25 of them have been with Brandes. During that time, I’ve had the great opportunity of working with some of the most exceptional people in our industry. Our firm has a wonderful corporate culture. While we are independently owned, everyone enjoys collaborating and working hard. Our firm’s mission statement says it all: “Be an exceptional firm which provides superior investment advisory services in an atmosphere of accomplishment and enjoyment.” Some “fun” things we do include team-building events such as pizza-making class, sailing, scavenger hunts, walking tours, or dressing up on Halloween using a firmwide theme (e.g., a character from a streaming series or visual puns.) Lately, we've done virtual events like “Take Your Kids to Work Day,” “SHAMROCKIN’,” and “Good Time and Switchboard Games.”   

Also, desimage4-2pite being physically apart this past year, employees from each of our global offices have participated together in the Brandes Fitness Challenges. As a group, we have walked over 60 million steps and 24,000 miles in pursuit of whole-body wellness the Brandes way. On May 6, we kicked off our third fitness challenge, “Spring into Summer.” We have four teams competing, and I am captain of the pirates’ team. Ahoy, matey!

 

What is the most progressive change you’ve seen in your company's marketing, whether external or internal?

Our continued move toward automation and self-service. In addition, Marketing has taken more ownership of the material production process. We accomplish this in two ways: one, by having people with both marketing and technical skills, and two, we have best-in-class tools available for our digital marketing needs. Our marketing tool set includes Brightcove, Eloqua, Hootsuite, SalesForce, Seismic, Sharepoint, Sitefinity, TEAMS, Trello, and Zendesk.

Given the pandemic, have your firm’s employees returned to the office?

Not yet, but we plan to this fall. Things will be different when we return. Our firm will be offering more flexible hours and workspace options such as offices, cubicles, and hoteling stations. While we've stayed close virtually, we are looking forward to being together again. 


     

If you enjoyed this spotlight, please share this post and follow the links below.

Website: brandes.com/us/individuals

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rayedenslewis/ and linkedin.com/company/brandes-investment-partners/

Twitter: @BrandesGlobal

Facebook Page: @BrandesGlobal

Instagram: @thefinancialeffect


 

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