Seth Metcalf is an American attorney, chief financial officer, insurance executive, and former public official who served as deputy treasurer of Ohio from 2011 to 2017 during the tenure of Treasurer

Josh Mandel Joshua Aaron Mandel (born September 27, 1977) is an American politician who served as the 48th treasurer of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the Ohio State Representative for the 17th district from 2 ...

. He subsequently served as an appointed investment expert and

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

for the Ohio Public Employee Retirement System, one of the largest pension funds in the United States. Following graduation from

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private university, private, Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, Cornell Law School offers four degree programs (Juris Doctor, JD, Maste ...

in 2004, Metcalf practiced law in the areas of

mergers & acquisitions ''Mergers & Acquisitions'' is a real-time B2B community, featuring a monthly magazine, daily enewsletter, conferences and member gatherings that provide news, commentary, data, analysis and community around the burgeoning middle market, providin ...

corporate restructuring Restructuring or Reframing is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. ...

taxation A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal person, legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to Pigouvian tax, regulate and reduce nega ...

, bonds, and

public finance Public finance refers to the monetary resources available to governments and also to the study of finance within government and role of the government in the economy. Within academic settings, public finance is a widely studied subject in man ...

as an associate at

Squire Patton Boggs Squire Patton Boggs is an international law firm with over 40 offices in 20 countries. It was formed in 2014 by the merger of multinational law firm Squire Sanders with Washington, D.C.–based Patton Boggs. It is one of the largest law firms in ...

. During his tenure at the Ohio Treasury, Metcalf implemented programs focused on reducing financing costs for state and local government, improving savings and investment programs for individuals with disabilities, as well as promoting transparency with a searchable database of government expenditures. He returned to the private sector in 2017 to become

chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

of Bold Penguin, an insurance and

financial technology Financial technology (abbreviated as fintech) refers to the application of innovative technologies to products and services in the financial industry. This broad term encompasses a wide array of technological advancements in financial services, ...

company.

Education and early career

In 2001, Metcalf graduated from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

with a Bachelor of Arts, ''cum laude'', in political science. He subsequently attended

, graduating with a JD in 2004. While a law student, he joined the

Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy The ''Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy'' (''JLPP'') is a law review published by students at Cornell Law School. Founded in 1991, ''JLPP'' publishes articles, commentaries, book reviews, and student notes that explore the intersections of ...

, where he was a note editor. Following graduation from law school, Metcalf joined the international law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (now

) where he was an associate in the tax and financial practice areas until his selection as deputy treasurer.

Government service

In 2011, Metcalf was appointed by Ohio Treasurer

to serve as deputy treasurer and executive counsel. In this role, Metcalf developed and implemented several public finance initiatives. These efforts frequently used technology to improve efficiency and transparency for state financial transactions. Metcalf oversaw the launch of Ohio’s Market Access Program, which created a marketplace for municipalities to issue bonds, lowering interest expenses for public debt in Ohio. Metcalf was recognized for the program's implementation with an award from ''The Bond Buyer'', a trade newspaper specializing in analysis of the bond industry. A major initiative during Metcalf's tenure was OhioCheckbook.gov, a

government spending Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual or ...

transparency platform. Prior to Metcalf and Mandel beginning their terms at the Treasury, the state of Ohio had been ranked near the bottom in financial transparency. They launched Ohio Checkbook in large part to address these issues by creating an improved searchable database to report expenditures across Ohio’s state and local government, allowing citizens to track spending and search entries across multiple categories. This program was credited with raising Ohio’s transparency ranking from 46th to 1st in the United States as assessed by the

Public Interest Research Group Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) are a federation of U.S. and Canadian non-profit organizations that employ grassroots organizing and direct advocacy on issues such as consumer protection, public health and transportation. The PIRGs are cl ...

. In June 2016, Ohio launched a program called STABLE Accounts, which allowed Ohioans with disabilities to invest without losing eligibility for public benefit programs like

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

and

Social Security Disability Insurance Social Security Disability Insurance (SSD or SSDI) is a payroll tax-funded federal insurance program of the United States government. It is managed by the Social Security Administration and designed to provide monthly benefits to people who ha ...

. This made Ohio the first state with a program to allow its residents to benefit from tax-advantaged savings pursuant to the ABLE Act.

Retirement system trustee

After concluding his tenure in the Treasury in 2017, Metcalf was appointed as an investment expert to the board of trustees of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, one of the largest pension systems in the United States. He also served as a trustee for Ohio’s Deferred Compensation Plan, an optional retirement supplement for Ohio public employees.

Private sector

Since returning to the private sector, Metcalf has served as an executive for companies in the financial sector. In 2017, Metcalf joined the

fintech Financial technology (abbreviated as fintech) refers to the application of innovative technologies to products and services in the financial industry. This broad term encompasses a wide array of technological advancements in financial services, ...

company Bold Penguin as

. The company functions as an insurance portal, creating an online marketplace to streamline commercial

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

casualty insurance Casualty insurance is a defined term which broadly encompasses insurance not directly concerned with life insurance, health insurance, or property insurance. Casualty insurance is mainly liability coverage of an individual or organization for n ...

. In 2021, Bold Penguin was acquired by

American Family Insurance American Family Mutual Insurance Company, also abbreviated as AmFam, is an American private mutual company that focuses on property, casualty, and auto insurance, and also offers commercial insurance, life, health, and homeowners coverage ...

for an undisclosed sum. In 2021, he became the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

of SoLo Funds, a Los Angeles-based consumer finance marketplace. He had served as an advisor to the company since 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalf, Seth Chief financial officers Ohio State University alumni Cornell Law School alumni Chief operating officers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people