He was reluctant to use the word retirement when contacted by the Otago Daily Times yesterday as he still plans a busy lifestyle into the foreseeable future. But his activities as a sharebroker will be greatly reduced from tomorrow.
Mr Lewis (58) has been a sharebroker in the city for 35 years, starting with H. Robert Wilson, Greenslade and Partners in 1980.
The time had come for him to concentrate on other activities but that did not mean he was completely giving up his advising activities, he said in an interview.
From the end of the year, Mr Lewis would become a registered financial adviser (RFA) rather than an authorised financial adviser. Becoming a RFA would still allow him to work with other advisers and corporate clients.
He intended continuing to work with his current team of Michael Milne and Haley van Leeuwen on a semi-regular basis.
But it was the charitable work which had caught his attention this year, Mr Lewis said.
Earlier in the year he had worked in Morocco for a United Kingdom-based charitable trust and next year, he planned travelling to Zambia to carry out similar work.‘‘This frees me up. I have a daughter in London and a daughter in Sydney.
I want to be able to get away and not feel I have to get back tomorrow.
‘‘The market is in a good place, I am fortunate that I am healthy and can take on a new challenge.''
Mr Lewis started with his first firm, 35 years ago, which eventually turned into Wilson, Elsom Greenslade, ABN Amro Craigs and latterly, Craigs Investment Partners with Deutsche Bank having a 49.9% share.
After being appointed as managing partner of the Wilson-Greenslade firm in 1984, Mr Lewis remained as a managing director of the ensuing firms for 20 years, having to battle through some tough times after the 1987 sharemarket crash.
Staff numbers had to be reduced from about 45 to five to keep the firm viable.
‘‘These were very traumatic times. A lot of loyal, hard-working people had to go to make sure the business survived. As managing director, I went through some tough times but I had a very good mentor in Bob Hudson.''
The late Mr Hudson and Mr Lewis shared an office and Mr Lewis would take his problems to Mr Hudson.
‘‘I often knew the answer and he would tell me how to implement it. Bob had the confidence of the senior partners. After the discussion, Bob would put the answer to the partners and it was pretty much always accepted. That was fine by me.''
As secretary of the Dunedin Stock Exchange, Mr Lewis found himself the last man standing after the 1987 crash.
He was seconded on to a subcommittee of the New Zealand Stock Exchange which oversaw the management and finances of what became the NZX.
That soon became a full-time role and Bill Foster was appointed to run the exchange.
Much to the amusement now of his colleagues, Mr Lewis was also appointed to a specific subcommittee which was working on computerising the NZX.
‘‘Back then, I had to know how to do each job. Now, I don't have to know about it, just how to use the technology.''
The toughest part of the job following the 1987 crash was rebuilding the business.
In the 1980s, the firm had built up a strong fixed-interest operation and in hindsight, Mr Lewis believed that operation carried the business through the tough times.
In the late 1980s, people were selling out of everything and in the early 1990s, they were reluctant to get involved again. However, the firm worked on government stock, local authority bonds and fixed interest and built back from there.
In 1993, Noeline Munro merged her business with Wilson, Elsom Greenslade and played a strong role of directing growth in the company, he said.
Many people had played a role in growing the business to where it was today and merging with Craigs had proved to be beneficial.
Sharebroking firms needed size. Compliance was onerous but necessary. People needed training and had to be kept up to date.
‘‘Things are going well and it is nice to step back at this time,'' Mr Lewis said.
