by Roger Riffenburgh
Investment professional Herb Morgan is running for state controller. He says, “My campaign is a hard-charging, reform-first movement built on Radical Transparency — putting every state dollar on a public, daily, blockchain ledger so Californians can finally see where their money goes. I am running as the only candidate with both the financial expertise and the guts to break Sacramento’s culture of secrecy and restore trust in state government.” He plans to do this by providing ledger software to every state agency and requiring them all to use it.
Morgan has lengthy experience in investment management and financial operations. After several financial positions as a senior vice president, Morgan founded the investment company Efficient Market Advisors in 2004 and served as its CEO and chief investment officer. It was acquired in 2017 by Cantor Fitzgerald, a global financial services firm, where he now serves as chief investment officer of one of its divisions. His leadership and financial management experience qualifies him well to oversee the large sums of money in California’s enormous budget.
Some key functions of the state controller are: 1) to maintain the accounting system of the state government, 2) serving as an internal auditor to audit funds spent by state agencies, and 3) to supervise local government finances. These powers would allow Herb Morgan to implement his plans for transparency. He believes “Californians deserve to know exactly how their $300+ billion state budget is spent—without delay, red tape, or political spin”.
Herb Morgan grew up in Westminster and later Oceanside, where he graduated from El Camino High School. He earned his degree in economics with honors from UC Santa Cruz. His early experience includes working at investment management firms in New York and Phoenix and elsewhere. His work history also includes a spell in the Bay Area at Sand Hill Global Advisors in Silicon Valley. At the same time he’s been active in the community and served on boards relating to education, fraternities, and the San Diego City Employees Retirement System.
Herb has been married for 34 years and has two adult children, a son and a daughter. He lives in San Diego. When he has time, Herb likes to play golf, even though it frustrates him, and has served as a caddie in tournaments. Learn more about Herb Morgan on his campaign website. One can also listen to Herb’s ‘Slaying Bulls & Bears’ podcast about economics and investing.
