What Kamala Harris’ latest financial disclosure reveals about her investment portfolio

Financial
experts
describe

Vice
President
Kamala
Harris‘
investment
style
in
one
word:
Boring.

For
a
woman
seeking
the
highest
office
in
the
U.S.,
it
also
means
she
is
relatively

free
of
financial
conflicts.

In
her
role
as
vice
president,
Harris
filed
a
public
financial
disclosure
report
for
2023,
which
was
signed
in
May.
It
reveals
she
favors
passively
managed
index
funds
in
her
investment
portfolio.

“For
me,
it
was
quite
refreshing
that
it
appears
to
be
very
passive,”
said
Dustin
Thackeray,
a
chartered
financial
analyst
and
chief
investment
officer
at
Crewe
Advisors
in
Salt
Lake
City,
who
reviewed
Harris’
disclosure.

“She’s
definitely
not
attempting
to
trade
on
any
inside
type
of
information,”
Thackeray
said.

Carolyn
McClanahan,
a
certified
financial
planner
and
founder
of
Life
Planning
Partners in
Jacksonville,
Florida,
who
also
reviewed
Harris’
financial
disclosure,
said
it
makes
her
“heart
sing”
to
see
Harris
investing
in
low-cost
passive
investment
strategies.

“To
me,
she
has
the
cleanest
portfolio
you’ll
see
in
a
politician,”
said
McClanahan,
who
is
also
a
member
of
the
CNBC

Financial
Advisor
Council.

“She
owns
a
bunch
of
index
funds;
there’s
no
way
she
that
she
can
game
the
system,”
McClanahan
said.

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Harris’
disclosure
comes
as
members
of
Congress
are
debating
whether
elected
leadership
should
be
restricted
on
the
kinds
of
investments
they
can
own.

A
group
of
senators
is
pushing
for
a
bill
that
would
prohibit
members
of
Congress
—
as
well
as
their
spouses
and
dependents
—
from
buying
certain
investments
like
individual
stocks,
as
opposed
to
diversified
investment
funds
or
Treasury
securities.
While
a

Senate
panel
voted
this
week
to
approve
the
bill,
it’s
unclear
whether
it
will
eventually
become
law.

In
addition
to
Harris’
favoring
of
passive
investments,
the
disclosure
also
reveals
more
about
her
financial
circumstances
that
may
hold
lessons
for
other
investors,
according
to
experts
who
reviewed
the
document.

Harris
lists
eight
different
funds
she’s
invested
in
as
part
of
two
separate
457(b)
deferred
compensation
plans
from
her
time
working
in
California,
in
addition
to
participation
in
certain
defined
benefit
pension
plans.

At
the
same
time,
her
husband,
Second
Gentleman
Douglas
Emhoff,
lists
more
than
30
fund
investments
that
are
mostly
passively
managed.

Notably,
the
disclosure
only
lists
certain
asset
ranges
for
each
fund,
rather
than
specific
amounts
invested.

Experts
who
reviewed
Harris’
document
said
the
couple
could
cut
down
on
the
number
of
funds
they
own,
and
therefore
reduce
any
overlapping
exposure.

“She’s
very
well
diversified,
maybe
even
more
than
necessary,
owning
many
funds
with
similar
holdings,
just
in
different
weightings,”
said
Barry
Glassman,
a
certified
financial
planner
and
founder
and
president
of Glassman
Wealth
Services.

Glassman
is
also
a
member
of
CNBC’s

Financial
Advisor
Council.

McClanahan
also
said
the
couple
could
reduce
the
number
of
funds
they
own.

“They
could
consolidate,
keep
it
simpler,”
she
said.

The
portfolio
includes
allocations
to
foreign
equities
and
fixed
income
funds,
said
Thackeray,
who
has
been
encouraging
his
own
clients
to
consider
more
foreign
investment
exposure.
There
may
be
less
expensive
opportunities
outside
the
U.S.,
he
said,
where
investments
have
become
more
expensive
in
recent
years.

While
Harris’
disclosure
lists
a
lot
of
buy
and
sell
transactions
over
the
year,
mostly
for
lower
dollar
ranges,
that
may
just
be
the
result
of
quarterly
rebalancing
activity,
Thackeray
said.

How
much
impact
those
transactions
have
on
the
couple’s
tax
bill
depends
on
whether
those
trades
are
happening
inside
or
outside
of
their
retirement
accounts.

It’s
unclear
whether
Harris
and
Emhoff
work
with
a
financial
advisor.
Harris’
office
declined
to
comment.

Harris
and
Emhoff
also
reveal
cash
holdings
that
may
add
up
to
around
$850,000
or
more,
depending
on
the
exact
balances
based
on
the
ranges
given.

Having
such
a
large
cash
pool
as
a
safety
net
is
common
among
his
clients
today,
Thackeray
said.

“The
good
thing
about
cash
balances
today
is
that
they
are
actually
making
an
investment
return,
where
they
hadn’t
for
many,
many
years
prior
to
higher
rates,”
Thackeray
said.

Yet
because
it
is
up
to
investors
to
shop
around
for
the
best
rates,
it’s
not
a
guarantee
that
Harris
and
Emhoff
are
earning
the
best
returns
possible.

“I
hope
all
that
cash
in
the
bank
is
earning
attractive
interest,”
Glassman
said.

Harris
lists
a
2020
mortgage
at
a
2.625%
rate
for
a
personal
residence
ranging
between
more
than
$1
million
to
$5
million.

But
the
catch
is
it
is
a
7-year
adjustable-rate
mortgage,
which
means
that
low
rate
won’t
last.
Adjustable-rate
mortgages
typically
offer
an
initial
fixed
interest
rate
that
expires
after
a
certain
period
of
time,
and
then
changes
annually.

Since
2020,
mortgage
rates
have
increased
substantially,
which
means
the
couple
missed
their
chance
to
lock
in
a
low
rate
for
a
longer
term.

McClanahan
said
she
urged
everyone
to
lock
in
the
record
low
mortgage
rates
that
were
available
back
then.

“Personally,
I
would
have
locked
in
a
longer-term
mortgage
at
that
time,”
Thackeray
said.

While
the
couple
may
be
in
for
a
shock
in
2027,
they
can
always
refinance
or
pay
off
the
mortgage,
McClanahan
said.

It
is
possible
mortgage
rates
may
be
lower
in
2027
than
where
they
are
today,
Thackeray
said.

Harris
also
lists
more
than
$8,000
in
royalty
income
from
the
2019
children’s
picture
book
she
authored,
“Superheroes
are
Everywhere,”
as
well
as
a
smaller
sum
from
her
2019
memoir,
“The
Truths
We
Hold.”

While
the
income
is
not
a
lot
of
money,
it
is
a
good
example
of
the
way
a
side
hustle
can
help
contribute
to
a
household’s
bottom
line,
according
to
Ted
Jenkin,
a certified
financial
planner
and
the
CEO
and
founder
of oXYGen
Financial,
a
financial
advisory
and
wealth
management
firm
based
in
Atlanta.
Jenkin
is
also
a
member
of
CNBC’s

Financial
Advisor
Council.

Harris
is
using
Beyoncé’s
“Freedom”
as
her
campaign
song.

Yet
Harris
was
a
Beyoncé
fan
well
before
the
recent
pick
of
that
song,
her
latest
financial
disclosure
reveals.
In
2023,
Harris
was
gifted
tickets
valued
at
more
than
$1,600
to
a
Beyoncé
concert.
The
source
listed
for
that
gift:
Beyoncé
Knowles-Carter.