The Top 10 Stocks Held by Democrats and Republicans in Congress

Democrats and Republicans certainly have their differences, even when it comes to investing

The political differences between the two major parties in the United States are clear and stark, and that is no surprise to anyone who has paid even the least bit of attention in recent years.

But what may surprise some people is how differently the parties invest and what the top 10 stocks among Democrats and Republicans are.

Thanks to two relatively new ETFs provided by asset manager Subversive Capital, we know how the members of the two political parties invest their own money. Here is a look at the top 10 stocks held by Democrats, and the top 10 stocks held by Republicans.

Democrats prefer NVIDIA, big tech stocks

For its two ETFs, launched in 2023, Subversive tapped into a data provider called Unusual Whales, which tracks the trades made by members of Congress, as required by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, (STOCK) Act.

The ETF that tracks Democrats holdings is the Subversive Unusual Whales Democratic ETF (CBOE:NANC) includes about 750 stocks that are held by Democratic members of Congress and their families.

The holdings are weighted using a proprietary system that calculates which stocks have the most invested in them. Here are the top 10 holdings:

1. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) — 13.1%
2. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) — 9.4%
3. Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) — 4.8%
4. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) — 4.7%
5. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) — 4.6%
6. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) — 4.5%
7. PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF (NYSEARCA:MINT) — 3.4%
8. First American Government Obligations Fund (NASDAQ:FGXXX) — 2.7%
9. Crowdstrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD) — 2.3%
10. Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) — 2.2%

Among the more prominent names, the stocks owned by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who the ticker refers to, are included in this ETF.

In recent weeks, Pelosi and her husband Paul Pelosi, a hedge fund manager, made some major trades, according to Capital Trades. Among them, they sold 2,500 shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and 2,000 shares of Visa (NYSE:V). The Pelosis added 20 shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), at the pre-stock split price, and 10,000 shares of NVIDIA at the post-stock split price.

Republicans favor JPMorgan Chase, energy stocks

Subversive’s Republican-oriented ETF is called the Subversive Unusual Whales Republican ETF (CBOE:KRUZ). This ETF has fewer holdings, about 490 stocks, but it is more diversified, with only 27% of assets in the top 10 names compared to 52% of assets in the top 10 for the Democratic ETF.

It is also more conservative, with several value stocks, along with a few energy names among its top 10 holdings. Here are the top 10 stocks in the portfolio:

1. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) — 3.9%
2. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) — 2.7%
3. Comfort Systems USA (NYSE:FIX) — 2.6%
4. Arista Network (NYSE:ANET) — 1.9%
5. United Therapeutics (NASDAQ:UTHR) — 1.8%
6. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) — 1.7%
7. Elevance Health (NYSE:ELV) —1.5%
8. National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) — 1.5%
9. Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) — 1.4%
10. Shell (NYSE:SHEL) — 1.3%

Among the more recent trades by Republican Congress members, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) added positions in ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML), Costco (NASDAQ:COST), and CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD), to name a few, according to Capital Trades. Further, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) recently added shares of Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC).

Which has outperformed?

Both year-to-date and over the past 12 months, the Democratic ETF has outperformed the Republican ETF.

The Democratic ETF is up 22.2% YTD and 32.1% over the past 12 months, beating the S&P 500 in both cases. It also has more assets under management with about $158 million, so it has been more popular with investors.

The Republican ETF has underperformed the S&P 500, with a YTD return of 11.6% and a one-year return of 20.7%. The S&P 500 is up 18.9% YTD and 26.7% over the past year. The Republican ETF only has about $30.3 million in AUM.

The Democratic ETF has certainly gained from its large positions in high-flying tech stocks, like NVIDIA. But it is much pricier, with a P/E ratio of 32 compared to 18 for the Republican ETF. It could also be prone to more volatility, as more than 50% of its assets are in the top 10 holdings.

With just one-year track records, it is hard to say which is the better option. But it is clear over the past year that the Democratic ETF is more geared toward growth while the Republican ETF is more value-oriented.