Few US Congress members, Republicans and Democrats alike, made a large gains in the stock market in 2024, outperforming the benchmark S&P 500 by a wide margin, with five of them doubling their returns, a report by financial data platform Unusual Whales showed this week.
The website calculated the active stock portfolio returns of each Congress member based on the value of stock held during 2024, and the data revealed that many members managed to beat the 24.9% annual return of S&P 500 index last year.
The report showed that the portfolio of trading Democrat members rose by 31% to beat the index, with the Republican portfolio too beating the index with 26% gains. Democrats edged ahead partly due to their tech holdings, while Republicans backed financials and commodity plays.
At 52, David Cheston Rouzer, US representative for North Carolina's 7th congressional district and a Republican, emerged as the leading outperformer among Congress members. Rouzer's folio rose on the back his Nvidia bet, along with Mastercard, Visa, and aviation-related US Global Jets ETF.
The report showed that five US Congress members mopped up more than 100% growth in their stock portfolio in 2024, including David Rouzer, Debbie Schultz, Ron Wyden, Roger Williams and Morgan McGarvey.
The outsized gains of Congress members in 2024 were riding on technology shares, most of which were purchased in previous years, and also helped by legislations such as Joe Biden's CHIPS Act and the TikTok ban. While the Republicans holding showed the share of tech stocks at 15.8% last year, Democrats' portfolio was overwhelmingly skewed towards tech with a 49.4% allocation.
The report also mentioned former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, regarded as a 'skilled options trader', who had an 'almost cult-like following' for her financial disclosures. Unusual Whales said Pelosi 'buys deep in the money' in tech stocks after a large drop and her disclosure reveals focus on mega cap names. Pelosi made a 71% return on her portfolio during 2024. Her personal investment exceeded $1 million in Databricks, an unlisted AI company with which Amazon has a five-year pact. The report also cited that Nancy Pelosi and husband Paul have an investment in a hotel that had received nearly $9 million as Covid-19 relief funds during 2020 and 2021.
Unusual Whales underscored that it is highlighting the stock gains made by US Congress members while still being in office. "By sharing these findings, we hope to draw attention to potential conflicts of interest and the need for greater accountability," the report said.
The report disclosed that only about 100 members of the Congress actively traded in stocks, and only half of them beat the S&P 500.
Unusual Whales' Congressional Trading report for 2024, fifth in the series, was released on January 7. The findings on market activity of US politicians raised a key question about fairness and public interest. "The stock market is already a challenging arena for ordinary investors. When Congress members consistently outperform benchmarks like the S&P 500, it raises serious questions about fairness. It’s time for lawmakers to focus on serving the public interest, not their portfolios," the report said.
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