Carlos Garcia-Marxuach P’21 Speaks to St. Sebastian’s Finance Academy

By Colin Boland ‘22    

Mr. Carlos Garcia-Marxuach P’21, Founder and CEO of BayBoston, delivered a fantastic presentation to the St. Sebastian’s Finance Academy on Thursday, November 12, 2020. Mr. Garcia took the audience on a journey through his career and how he got to where he is now, as well as gave insight to the financial world and offered important tips on how to be happy and successful in whatever career you pursue. 

In his presentation, Mr. Garcia described how his childhood as a young tennis star in Puerto Rico gave him the opportunity to attend the University of Pennsylvania. Here, he received a Dual Degree at the Wharton School of Business and College of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Garcia began his career as an investment banker before making a switch to the corporate side, working at Santander for 14 years. Mr. Garcia then received a presidential appointment to be on the Federal Oversight Board for the Government of Puerto Rico. Upon returning from Latin America, Mr. Garcia spent a brief time with Santander again before being compelled to re-invent himself and found BayBoston, which he has worked on growing ever since. 

Mr. Garcia described BayBoston as a private equity manager that advocates for community, diversity, and inclusion as key strategic assets both within their portfolio and at BayBoston. He explained that they seek predictable, strong returns by disciplined investing and active management through a 3-phase process of buying at attractive entry points, growing assets and earnings, and exiting and capturing a multiple expansion with a larger scale. Mr. Garcia emphasized the importance of being diligent, thorough, and selective with the companies he is interested in and that the most important thing to consider is the character of the people he would be working with.  

Time management is very important to Mr. Garcia and he encouraged the members of the Finance Academy to reflect on if they are investing their time, effort, and love in the areas of their lives that they value the most. Mr. Garcia explained that he values family first, followed by his community, then craft, and finally his wellness. The value of community was particularly evident in Mr. Garcia’s presentation as he explained that the investment that has given him the greatest satisfaction is CFG Partners, a company that gives access to credit in Latin America, which provides needed financial solutions to a sector of the population that is undeserved by traditional banks. Mr. Garcia said that his happiness and success increases the more he gives back. 

The Finance Academy members were honored to have Mr. Garcia speak with us and will use the information from his presentation to reflect on our own lives and to make better investments in the future.