The firm earns an Above Average Parent rating.
Brandes is a small independent asset manager based in San Diego and founded by Charles Brandes in 1974. He retired in 2018 and no longer has any role at the firm. He also exited the partnership, but he is still due payments for his interest in the firm until 2029. The ownership transfer is self-funded by the firm and its 28 existing partners, preserving the firm's independence and its sound investment culture. Assets under management have declined sharply since 2008 because of subdued performance and hefty outflows, but Brandes has stuck to its deep-value style in the past 15 years. According to senior management, the firm has managed to remain profitable every year by reducing its fixed costs and outsourcing noncore functions. Comfortingly, its investment capabilities have been safeguarded. Brandes benefits from a pool of seasoned fund managers and analysts with very long tenures who all share the same value mindset. It's not rare that investment personnel spend the bulk of their career at the firm. Teamwork is clearly emphasized with several investment committees running the strategies, which reduces key-person risk.
When compared with appropriate value indexes, the firm's fund range has performed well on average in the long run, though the emerging-markets equity strategy and the small fixed-income products have delivered underwhelming results. Another area of improvement is to formally link the managers' variable compensation to the funds' long-term returns. Our concerns are alleviated by the firm's co-investment policy whereby fund managers must invest in the funds alongside investors.