Lon Morton

Story updated at 10:50 a.m. April 20:

Lon Morton, a former minor league baseball player who pioneered the field of investing in alternative assets, has died. He was 72.

Morton founded Morton Capital Management in the early 1980s, helping wealthy investors diversify their holdings with real estate and other forms of assets that provided stable returns in a low interest rate environment. His Calabasas-based firm regularly made Barron’s Top Advisor lists and had about $1.55 billion under management.

Morton was a member of the CSU Channel Islands Foundation Board of Trustees and his firm was acquired by Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, now part of Union Bank, in 2006.

He and partners reacquired the firm after SBB&T was recapitalized during the financial crisis. Morton Capital maintained a satellite office in Santa Barbara.

Morton played in the California Angels and Cleveland Indians organizations, but left the diamond to pursue a career in finance. He was a major donor to the Conejo Valley Boys & Girls Clubs and he had served on the CI board for a number of years.

Recently, he secured funding for a Grossman Imaging Center at the university and the foundation announced that the university’s baseball diamond will be named for him. He had been undergoing treatment for a recurrence of cancer prior to his death.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 23 at the Sherwood Country Club. RSVPs are requested to longsmemorial@gmail.com for those who would like to attend.