Mr. Garcia received a B.A. in Economics from Yale University. After graduating in 1985, he joined Salomon Brothers in New York City where he became a Vice President specializing in mortgage-backed securities. In 1990, he joined former Mayor Henry Cisneros to build Cisneros Asset Management Company, ultimately becoming its President. In 2002, he joined Garcia Hamilton & Associates and is the firm’s Managing Partner. Under his leadership, the firm grew from $200 million in fixed income assets under management to over $16.4 billion as of October 2020.
GH&A has received numerous industry recognitions. Most recently in 2019 Houston Business Journal recognized Mr. Garcia among Houston’s Top CEOs, as well as being ranked among their Best Places to Work in 2018. The firm also received Pensions & Investments’ Best Places to Work in Money Management for the fourth year in a row (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016). Emerging Manager Monthly awarded the firm Fixed Income Manager of the Year for the third time (2019, 2018 and 2010). Other past awards include FundMap’s 2018 US Fixed Income Manager, Institutional Investor’s Intermediate-Term Fixed Income Manager of the Year in 2016 and 2015, as well as their 2014 Fixed Income Investment Grade Manager of the Year.
During the recent COVID-19 crisis, Mr. Garcia and GH&A have donated over 30,000 masks along with hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes to various organizations.
Mr. Garcia is proud to serve on two SEC advisory boards: SEC’s Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Board and SEC’s Asset Management Advisory Committee where he leads a subcommittee focused on Diversity and Inclusion. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for Dallas Police & Fire Pension System and serves with Chairman Henry Kravis on the Board of Directors of SEO, a non-profit providing summer internships on Wall Street for minority undergraduates. Additionally, in 2018 he was co-chair for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The same year, he was also awarded “Male Entrepreneur of the Year 2018” by the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In 2015, Mr. Garcia was awarded the SEO Alumni Leadership Award alongside other honorees, including the former mayor of New York City, Michael R. Bloomberg, and Co-Founder & Co-CEO of The Carlyle Group, David M. Rubenstein.
From 2012 – 2016, Mr. Garcia served as Chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County where he implemented the “Garcia Rule” which requires at least one diverse investment manager be included in every asset class search. Also, during his tenure, METRO paid down debt and started five year budget forecasting , secured a $900 million full funding grant agreement for light rail expansion, passed a referendum securing additional funding for METRO with 80% voter approval, increased light rail from 7 miles to 22 miles, and reimagined the entire bus system. This led to METRO receiving transparency awards and being awarded the 2015 APTA Award for outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement.
Previously, Mr. Garcia served on the Board of Directors of Sanchez Energy, Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Houston Downtown Management District, member of the Board of Directors of the Yale Club of Houston and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System. In addition, he is a Class X graduate of Leadership Houston. Mr. Garcia is married with four children and enjoys martial arts and coaching youth sports.