Gareth Morgan (economist)
Gareth Huw Morgan (born 17 February 1953) is a New Zealand businessman, economist, investment manager, philanthropist, public commentator and former political figure. Early life and education. Morgan was born in Putāruru, New Zealand, to Welsh migrants Roderic and Mary Morgan. He was the second of five children and the first to be born in New Zealand. From 1958 to 1970, Morgan attended school in Putāruru at Oraka Heights Primary and Putaruru High. He then attended Massey University for four years gaining a BA(Hons) in economics. In 1982, he graduated from Victoria University of Wellington with a PhD  in economics. Work. Career and business. Morgan worked for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in the early 1980s, before founding economics forecasting company Infometrics Limited in 1983. That company became one of New Zealand's largest independent economics consultancy and forecasting businesses and for 18 years while under Morgan's leadership (until the end of the 1990s) maintained a regular national circuit of business and public speaking engagements focussed on raising the economics literacy of businesspeople and householders. In 1984, he and business partner Andrew Gawith launched a twice weekly horse racing form guide, "Bettor Informed", based on econometric  modelling of all 7,500 gallopers on the New Zealand scene. The publication sought to identify the fair dividend for each horse and to instruct its readers when the odds being paid at the tote were a good return compared to the horse's actual chances of winning in that field. This publication was later sold to Independent Newspapers Limited, the owners of competing titles "Best Bets" and "Turf Digest". In 2000, Morgan established Gareth Morgan Investments, a personal investment portfolio management service. When the New Zealand Government initiated KiwiSaver in 2007, Gareth Morgan KiwiSaver Limited launched the Gareth Morgan KiwiSaver  Scheme. Morgan is well known for activism against New Zealand's financial services industry. Morgan says that he's been persistent in exposing and criticising the sector, challenging the financial sector to produce safer and more ethical products. Morgan and his wife Joanne were early investors in Trade Me, founded by his son Sam Morgan. They were paid NZ$50m for their shares when Fairfax Media bought Trade Me in 2006. Morgan was a member of the Government appointed Capital Markets Task Force (2008–2009) and the Tax Working Group (2009). He is the chair of the Motor Cycle Safety Levy  Advisory Council, Patron of Wing 256 NZ Police Cadets, and was North & South's New Zealander of the Year in 2007. In 2011, as part of a business consortium, Morgan and six other Wellington businessmen joined to take over the licence of Wellington Phoenix FC, the only professional soccer team in New Zealand after its owner was declared bankrupt. UNICEF Projects. Along with his wife Jo, Gareth Morgan has been a UNICEF NZ Ambassador and major donor since 2007 and has instigated a number of specific programmes in conjunction with UNICEF since that time. They include: The Kiwi Heroes Programme . Since 2006 Gareth and Joanne have supported the work of a number of New Zealanders involved in significant foreign aid around the world. They include: Political career. In 2016 Gareth Morgan launched his own political party, The Opportunities Party (TOP), to contest the 2017 New Zealand general election. The party won 2.4% of the party vote and consequently did not reach the necessary 5% threshold under MMP to win seats in Parliament. Some electoral seats were contested but the party was also unsuccessful in those contests. In December 2017, three months after the election, Morgan resigned as leader and the  party's deputy leader Geoff Simmons and two candidates also stepped down from their roles. Morgan said the party would contest the 2020 election but he would not lead it. On 9 July 2018, Morgan announced that the board of The Opportunities Party had decided to dissolve the party since they concluded that it lacked the time and resources needed to contest the 2020 general election. In late July 2018, Morgan announced that the party's board was reconsidering their decision to dissolve the party after receiving expressions of interests from sympathetic individuals. He also indicated he was willing to  bankroll a "credible successor" provided they remained true to the TOP's manifesto. On 31 March 2019, Gareth Morgan resigned from all remaining positions he held with the party, quitting it entirely. Personal life. He married Joanne Baird from Invercargill in 1975. They have four children: two daughters and two sons. Morgan and his wife Joanne have ridden every continent in the world on motorcycles, as part of their "World by Bike" expeditions. His motorcycle trip through North Korea was documented in a video posted on the Vice YouTube channel in 2013. Publications. Morgan has written numerous public commentaries and  books on issues of public interest.