Andrew Ray

Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Commercial Banking

Andrew Ray is a managing director and group head of the ABL Credit Markets team at J.P. Morgan Commercial Banking, focusing on the origination & execution of all syndicated ABL loans.  The ABL Credit Markets team also works to attract, develop, and retain junior talent across the business.  Andrew joined J.P. Morgan in 2007. 

Based in Dallas, Andrew has been an active leader and mentor in his community.  He sits on the Finance Committee for Texas Exes, the Ex-Students Association for The University of Texas, and the Investment & Finance Committee for The Secured Finance Network.  Andrew is on the Board of Mission Possible Kids, a charitable organization focused on empowering “at-risk” youth in Dallas. He also serves on the Advisory Board for Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Dallas, which his three children attend. 

What advice would you give on how to self-advocate?

Actions speak louder than words, and the best form of advocacy is doing a good job in your current role.  Excelling in your current job will increase your profile and help build your network.  I think this is overlooked today, as many people are focused on what opportunity comes next, often to the detriment of embracing the current role they have and learning as much as possible.  My last piece of advice would be patience.  For every marginal opportunity that came up early in my career trajectory, my long-term optionality was greater and the longer track of performance provided better opportunities.  I’ve been lucky to have several mentors in my career and I have used those relationships to get feedback on opportunities as they came up to make sure I was carefully thinking through near- and long-term impacts.

When interviewing newcomers to the industry, what do you say to pique their interest on why they should accept a position in this industry?

I spend a lot of time with junior talent and sharing with them what attracted me to accept an intern position years ago and still be excited coming to work 15 years later.  During my career at J.P. Morgan, I’ve worked with a variety of businesses across numerous industries that have given me broad exposure to different parts of the economy.  We’ve partnered with everyone from small, family-owned businesses in our middle market platform that need traditional banking services to large public or private equity-owned businesses with deep, complicated capital structures and cross-border international needs.  I’ve been fortunate to see numerous credit cycles and work through several restructuring/bankruptcy transactions that provide great learning opportunities.  Overall, the J.P. Morgan ABL business is a great entry point into finance for junior talent, and their efforts are crucial as we continue to grow our business and resulting need for talent.

What is the best professional advice you have been given and how have you implemented it? 

The best advice I have been given has been centered around attitude, effort, accountability, and curiosity.  These are the key traits that have been ingrained into me going back to childhood and been a key differentiator throughout my career.  Attitude is the easiest to control and one of the most beneficial traits, as people naturally gravitate to those they enjoy working with, and it helps you build client relationships and navigate internal partnership.  Effort is probably the most important trait in that it has the highest correlation with a positive outcome.  Accountability is the foundation of trust and a key trait for dealing with clients and internal partners.  Curiosity is a major differentiator as you progress in your career and an important trait given the competitive state of our business and creative solutions needed by our clients.