Ralph Serrano is co-founder and managing director of Miami-based Safe Harbor Equity, a boutique private equity firm that specializes in performing and non-performing real estate debt.

Serrano founded Safe Harbor Equity in 2005. Since then, he has overseen hundreds of individual performing and non-performing loans, defaulted debt instruments, and distressed real estate asset transactions. Safe Harbor Equity focuses on commercial and residential real estate opportunities primarily in South Florida, but routinely seeks investment opportunities in other markets in the continental U.S.

Ralph Serrano is a graduate of Florida International University. After graduation, he founded and served as CEO of MTU, Inc., a commercial vehicle fleet maintenance provider. From 1999 to 2001, Serrano was a national account manager for WorldCom, Inc. Following his tenure there, Serrano became a business management and strategic consultant for British Aerospace Systems (BAE Systems), overseeing the company’s South American portfolio.

At Safe Harbor Equity, Serrano and his team leverage decades of combined experience in the real estate industry to maintain a competitive edge and maximize investor returns in all market environments. Safe Harbor acts as both principal and intermediary for managed accounts, participations, joint ventures, and partnerships, targeting asset-backed real estate mortgages with expected IRRs above 20 percent. Serrano and his team pursue both single-note and loan pool acquisitions.

As part of his role as Safe Harbor Equity’s managing director, Ralph Serrano is a frequent speaker and panelist at real estate investment conferences throughout North America.

Serrano is also active in South Florida’s philanthropic community. His charitable giving activities include material and ongoing support for a number of organizations, such as Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, a cancer diagnosis and treatment facility in Miami. He also supports national nonprofits including the Ganley Foundation, which is devoted to educating the public about depression and other mental health disorders, and Best Buddies International, which promotes friendship, employment, and leadership opportunities for members of the community with intellectual and developmental disabilities.