Raoul Thomas

With over 25 years of investment and banking experience, Mr. Thomas knows the industry is about more than meets the eye. His approach to alternative investments is finding value where others can’t and putting capital back into the source of his success: the community. Raoul Thomas has overseen the firm since its creation in 2006. He leads the firm in applying strategic and effective management and financing to increase the value of its commercial real estate and infrastructure investments and turn assets into Class-A, fully operational ones. With over 25 years of investment and banking experience, Mr. Thomas knows the industry is about more than meets the eye. His approach to alternative investments is finding value where others can’t and putting capital back into the source of his success: the community. Mr. Thomas began his career as a banking regulator supervising international financial institutions licensed in the U.S., a position that enabled him to develop and nurture strong relationships worldwide. He was then recruited to undergo a “Management Development Program” at a global bulge bracket investment bank, where he worked structuring and executing large debt transactions in the global capital markets on behalf of sovereigns, public, and private corporations. Mr. Thomas then went on to work overseas as an expatriate running the capital markets distribution platform for another global bulge bracket bank, where he spearheaded and executed successful high-profile regional transactions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Two years later, he transitioned to the buy-side as an executive for one of the wealthiest individuals in the world, where he was involved in overseeing investments in both the private and public sectors in the Caribbean and Latin America. This experience was the catalyst behind the formation of CGI Merchant Group in 2006. Mr. Thomas sits on the Advisor Board of a U.S. bank and is an active member of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, New America Alliance, and Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Thomas founded the Isabella Alycia Foundation (AI Foundation), an organization run by his daughter, Isabella Alycia Thomas. The AI Foundation makes a social impact in underprivileged neighborhoods and individuals through the provision of tools and capital resources.