Get to Know Kamala Harris Financial Disclosure, Investment Portfolio

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

according to a report published by CNBC, Dustin Thackeray, a chartered financial analyst and chief investment officer at Crewe Advisors in Salt Lake City, who reviewed Harris’ disclosure that that “it was quite refreshing that it seemed so negative,”  “She is certainly not trying to trade based on any kind of inside information,” Thackeray added.

Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida, who also reviewed Harris’s financial disclosures, said she was “happy” to see Harris investing in low-cost passive investing strategies. Passive investing is defined as a “buy-and-hold” strategy.

“To me, she has the cleanest portfolio you’ll see in a politician,” McClanahan said.

“She’s in a bunch of index funds,” McClanahan explained. There’s no way she can game the system.”

Harris’ disclosure comes as members of Congress debate whether to limit the types of investments elected leaders can hold.

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

Harris lists 8 different funds she has invested in as part of two separate deferred compensation plans from her time working in California, in addition to participating in defined-benefit pension plans.

Meanwhile, her husband, second-in-command Douglas Emhoff, lists more than 30 investments in passively managed funds.

It’s worth noting that the disclosure only lists specific asset ranges for each fund, rather than specific amounts invested.

Experts who reviewed Harris’s document said the couple could trim the number of funds they own, thereby reducing any overlapping exposure.

“It’s very diversified, perhaps too much, and they have a lot of funds with similar holdings, just different weights,” said Barry Glassman, a certified financial planner and founder and president of Glassman Wealth Services.

Another expert, who has encouraged his clients to consider more foreign exposure, said the portfolio includes allocations to foreign stocks and fixed-income funds. He said there may be cheaper opportunities outside the United States, where investments have become more expensive in recent years.

He added that while Harris’s disclosure lists a lot of buy and sell transactions throughout the year, mostly in low-dollar ranges, that could simply be a result of quarterly rebalancing activity.

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

Harris and Emhoff also disclose cash holdings that could be around $850,000 or more, depending on the exact balances based on the ranges given.

Harris disclosed a 2020 mortgage at a 2.625% rate for a personal home ranging from more than $1 million to $5 million.

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

Since 2020, mortgage rates have risen dramatically, meaning the couple missed their chance to lock in a lower rate for a longer period of time.

Harris has more than $8,000 in royalties from her 2019 children's picture book, "Superheroes Are Everywhere," as well as a smaller amount from her 2019 memoir "The Truths We Hold: An American Journey"

According to Finbold the couple's most valuable investments are Emhoff’s bank deposit, iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond exchange-traded fund (ETF), iShares TR Core MSCI EAFE ETF, and a San Francisco Employees Retirement System defined benefit plan, each worth $250,001 – $500,000.

Other assets include the San Francisco Deferred Compensation Plan, Large Cap Equity S&P 500 Index Fund, SFDCP Large Cap Growth Equity Fund, Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF, iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets, iShares Broad USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF, Vanguard Value Index ETF, and Vanguard Growth Index ETF each valued at $100,001 – $250,000.