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Seth Magaziner

General Treasurer

Seth Magaziner was sworn in as General Treasurer for the State of Rhode Island on January 6, 2015. Seth was born and raised in Bristol, Rhode Island, and his parents taught him the importance of public service from a young age. After college, Seth worked as an elementary school teacher in rural Louisiana during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. As the recession hit businesses and families across the country, Seth went to graduate school to study how the financial system can be changed to empower working people. Returning home to Rhode Island, Seth went to work as a vice president at Trillium Asset Management, a socially responsible investment firm with more than $1 billion of assets under management.As General Treasurer, Seth is transforming the office to make it an engine for job creation, so that all Rhode Islanders have the opportunity to work. Under his leadership, the Treasurer’s office is pursuing initiatives to support small businesses and entrepreneurs, upgrade Rhode Island’s infrastructure, and work with bank and community leaders to crack down on predatory financial services and build a financial system that works for all Rhode Islanders.In his first months in office, Seth championed the successful creation of the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank – a central hub for green infrastructure financing initiatives. By using innovative financing methods, the Infrastructure Bank will fund tens of millions of dollars in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in the coming years.Under Seth’s leadership, Rhode Island now has the most transparent state treasury in the nation. A major step forward for open government in Rhode Island, Seth’s "Transparent Treasury" initiative is designed to help Rhode Islanders access information about how their public funds are managed. Among other features, the new transparency initiative includes a first-of-its-kind investment policy stating that Rhode Island will only invest with fund managers that agree to public disclosure of performance, fees, expenses and liquidity. Currently, Seth is leading a national coalition of state and municipal public pension funds with approximately $1 trillion in assets that have joined together to call on the Securities and Exchange Commission to strengthen transparency of private equity fees and expenses.An investment professional with a strong track record, Seth brings a steady hand to Rhode Island’s retirement system. After losing almost half of its pension fund’s value during the Great Recession, Rhode Island now employs a diversified investment strategy designed to minimize risk.Seth lives in Providence and is an active member of the community. He serves on the boards of Crossroads Rhode Island, the state’s largest provider of services to the homeless; and Serve Rhode Island, which promotes volunteerism and community service.Previously, Seth was the treasurer of the Campaign for Marriage Equality, and a board member of Common Cause of Rhode Island and the Bristol Fourth of July Committee. Seth holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Brown University and a master’s degree in business administration from Yale University.