Think politicians have an unfair edge in the stock market? These investments can help you trade the way they do

Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or Independent, odds are you’re not a fan of politicians purchasing stocks.

Few issues have as much widespread support as ending stock picking on Capitol Hill. A University of Maryland survey found that 86% of respondents want an outright ban on stock trading for members of Congress. If American voters had their way, they’d also keep the president, vice president and Supreme Court justices from swapping shares.

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The reason for this widespread distaste is obvious: Politicians are privy to a lot of sensitive information. In fact, a previous New York Times investigation identified 97 lawmakers or relatives who made trades related to their committees.

Even though the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012 technically makes insider trading for Congresspeople illegal, enforcement remains a bit iffy and many people argue it doesn’t go nearly far enough.

On the positive side, the STOCK Act created more transparency. Members of Congress have to file their trades as Periodic Transaction Reports (PTRs) within 30 days of receiving notification of the transaction.

This wealth of information makes “Congressional copy-trading” a reality for people who want to trade like Representative Nancy Pelosi or others — and some companies have already created products that trade like politicians.

The ETFs that mimic Congressional stock pickers

The website Unusual Whales had already gained attention by publishing congressional stock disclosures before it created two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) using this data. Released alongside Subversive Capital Advisor, these actively managed ETFs entered the stock market in 2023 as the Subversive Congressional Democrats Trading ETF (BZX:NANC) Subversive Congressional Republicans Trading ETF (BZX:GOP).

Although Unusual Whales announced on X that it’s no longer part of these ETFs, the products are still available under the management of Tidal Financial Group.

According to their official website, Subversive ETFs use publicly available trading data to create funds that mimic the activities of U.S. lawmakers.