The Board of Directors of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC), at its regular Board Meeting held on August 3, 2022, elected Mr. Ramon M. Lopez as Independent Director of SMIC. Mr. Lopez was the Secretary of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). He served for the full term of the administration of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

He chaired during his term the DTI institutions such as the Board of Investments, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, the Export Development Council, Anti-Red Tape Authority Advisory Council, Philippine International Trading Corp., CITEM, and the Halal Board. He also supervised attached agencies such as the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Cooperative Development Authority, among others. He also received several awards such as the 2016 Nation Builders Award for Government Service and the Philippine Innovation Man of the Year Award in 2017.

In 2018, he received from former President Duterte the Presidential Award, Order of Sikatuna, with a rank of Datu, one of the senior honors one can receive in the Philippines. He was also named by People Asia as one of the 2020 People of the Year, for the re-opening of the economy during the pandemic. Just recently, he was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit for his vital role in the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Mr. Lopez has a Master's Degree in Development Economics class at Williams College, Massachusetts USA and an AB Degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines School of Economics.