Investing in the most popular companies in the portfolio of American congressmen could have earned 19.28 percent until September 10. The S&P 500 rose less, 14.7 percent, up to that date.
Federal law requires disclosure of stock trading by members of Congress, corporate lobbying spending and government contracts, but that information can be difficult for retail investors to collect and analyze. Public disclosures have shown that US politicians have traded stocks in recent years during major events, such as just before the COVID-19 lockdown, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the collapse of a Silicon Valley bank, and Nvidia's stock price rally.
To emulate their strategies, the eToro platform offered the Congress-Buys portfolio. It will include the 10 most recently purchased stocks by members of Congress by purchase volume over the past 100 days, based on reported purchase volume. The initial allocation included shares of companies such as Nvidia and Simon Property Group. The year-to-date return on September 10 was 19.28 percent, compared to 14.7 percent for the S&P 500 index.
In addition to the Congressman Portfolio, a new feature is the Lobbyist Spending Portfolio, which includes the 10 companies with the fastest growing U.S. federal lobbying spending over the quarter. The initial allocation involved shares of companies such as eBay and Roblox.
DC-Insider's portfolio includes companies that spend large sums of money on corporate lobbying, hold large government contracts and are often traded by members of Congress. The initial allocation includes stocks in companies such as AT&T and Ford Motor.
With investors increasingly interested in the inner workings of the U.S. legislature, public data on which companies hire lobbyists to influence lawmakers to adopt favorable policies and which companies win lucrative government contracts can be valuable in shaping investment strategies.