About GMI Capital
GMI Capital is the result of two decades of market relationships, disciplined underwriting, and a thesis about where America is growing. Francis built the foundation. The team executes it every day.
From the first insight to the fund today, Francis tells the story of how patience, local relationships, and personal commitment became the investment discipline.
The Beginning
2012 / The insight
Francis began his career in real estate investment banking and private equity, drawn to an advantage public markets cannot offer: legal information asymmetry. The opportunity was to find value before the market had named it.
San Francisco / The shift
After real estate private equity in San Francisco with Victor Macfarlane (regarded as one of the pioneers of urban revitalization in the 1990s), Francis watched technology untether people from cities. Suburbs were no longer a compromise. They were becoming the destination.
2016 / First capital
A contrarian investor, in 2011 Francis returned to Las Vegas to capitalize on the GFC, build relationships and market knowledge. His first personal loans followed in 2016, first raised pool of capital in 2019, and COVID accelerated the thesis by a decade and the first fund followed in 2020 followed by fund II in 2024.
What He Built
Although Fund I and II are considered great success by their investors. There were several lessons learned that are being carried into Fund III. The thesis remains the same: capital preservation through senior-secured positions on real assets, not lending on anything we wouldn’t own at our basis plus foreclosure costs, and local knowledge with institutional execution and discipline. GMI is curating 50 investors for Fund III that want exposure to our target markets of Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, Utah, and Texas.
How We Think
Yours and ours. Every other rule exists to make this possible.
01 — Do not lend on anything you would not own at that loan basis, including estimated foreclosure costs.
02 — Location is not a factor. It is the factor.
03 — A great piece of paper does not necessarily mean it is a great loan.
04 — No exurban assets without a genuinely defensible story.
05 — We do not take subordinate positions behind senior loans we cannot control.
This is not a fund managed at arm’s length. It is a business Francis is building with his own money in it. The alignment is real.
THE TEAM
GMI Capital is built on the principle that the fund is only as good as the people running it. Francis set the philosophy. The team executes it on every loan, in every market, on every call with every investor.
Who We Work With
Francis built GMI Capital around a set of principles including investors are not just another number. The team has real relationships with its investors, shares information and opportunities directly, and keeps the group small enough for that standard to hold. Fund III is targeting ~50 investors; the growth and pace are intentional. That is the design.
Jag Mehta, Ph.D. — Former UNLV Professor and Long-Term Mentor and GMI Capital Investor
GMI Capital is selective by design. Business, investing, relationships and alignment start with a conversation.