Unusual Whales Subversive Democratic Trading ETF

NANC

Market cap $251M

It's no secret: Members of Congress often buy and sell stocks, just like the rest of us. But while most of us have no inside information on the companies whose shares we buy or sell, U.S. representatives and senators often do have such information.

NANC's methodology tracks Democratic Congress trades, but reporting lags and a lack of structural alpha limit its edge. Portfolio composition is similar to the S&P 500, with higher top-10 concentration and vulnerability to idiosyncratic, high-turnover bets. Performance outperformance versus the S&P 500 appears accidental and not driven by political insight; future returns are unpredictable.

ETFs that combine investing and politics tap into investors' polarized views. Why they shouldn't get your vote.

NANC ETF leverages trades by Democratic Congress members but suffers from time lags, making it risky. The ETF has a high expense ratio of 0.74% and a low dividend yield of 0.22%, making it costly compared to SPY. NANC's aggressive asset allocation, with 37.58% in technology and top 10 holdings comprising 47.15% of the portfolio, increases its risk profile.

If you want exposure to what elected officials are trading, there are two ways to do that.

Fund managers sometimes struggle to outperform the S&P 500 Index, and often tout their previous year's record when sometimes exceeding it by 5% or so.

The NANC and KRUZ ETFs supposedly allow retail traders to follow the market-beating trades of Congresspersons like Nancy Pelosi and Ted Cruz. Assuming their allocations remain static, President Trump's policies should be more beneficial for / less detrimental to the KRUZ ETF. However, tariffs remain a wildcard, as it is unclear which ETF would be more impacted by potential inflation and economic weakness.

Though perhaps not as trendy as they were years ago, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are nonetheless a core investment vehicle—and still an exceedingly popular one, at that. As of 2023, there were more than 10,000 ETFs listed across the globe, up by nearly a quarter from just three years earlier.

Whether or not members of Congress have insider knowledge of a business is irrelevant: they certainly have insider knowledge of the government, legislation, and foreign affairs that will impact the stock market and the stocks they own. That's why members of Congress so often outperform the broad market and why more investors than ever are following their trades.

The Unusual Whales Subversive Democratic ETF allows retail investors to mimic Democratic Congress members' trades, leveraging their insider knowledge for potential gains. The ETF's portfolio is built using STOCK Act filings, with holdings weighted based on the trading activity of Democratic Congress members. NANC has outperformed the S&P 500 since its February 2023 IPO, driven by a technology-heavy portfolio, but allocations can change based on congressional trading patterns.