While one might expect that the mention of the most successful investors would bring Warren Buffett or Michael Burry to mind, one U.S. politician has, in recent years, been gaining ever-increasing prominence as the epitome of stock market triumph – Representative Nancy Pelosi.
Despite not being the Congressperson with the highest returns in recent years – that title belongs to New York’s 26th congressional district representative Brian Higgins – the former speaker of the house has, for example, managed to beat all major hedge funds in 2023.
Furthermore, her portfolio, according to the latest data provided on X by Insider Tracker – a platform specializing in trades made by insiders like politicians or companies’ executives – returned an impressive 91% in the last 12 months.
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For comparison, the two major U.S. stock indices – the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – returned 26.89% and 16.92%, respectively – and both are near record highs.
While it remains unknown whether Representative Pelosi’s successes stem from an uncanny stock trading talent or an uncanny access to insider information – as some, including the “Wolf of Wall Street” Jordan Belfort, have suggested – it is certain that her holdings have been performing exceptionally well.
Following this, FInbold decided to take a look at what some of the former Speaker’s biggest and most successful holdings are.
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA)
Taken at face value, an investment in the biggest semiconductor company in the world, and a leader when it comes to providing hardware to the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom – Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) – doesn’t seem suspicious or surprising.
What makes it so, however, is the timing of Pelosi’s investment as she acquired between $1 and $5 million worth of call options with a strike price of $120 late in November 2023 – not long before Nvidia entered into a significantly steeper – and ongoing – stock market rise than what has been seen in the preceding months.
In total, Representative Pelosi is estimated to have made $2 million on her NVDA investment in about 4 months – ten times her annual Congressional salary.
Looking at Nvidia itself, the company’s stock has been doing exceptionally well for more than a year. The last 52 weeks of trading saw NVDA rise 249.32%, and, year-to-date (YTD), the blue-chip chipmaker surged 70.82%, reaching multiple all-time highs in 2024 and closing the last full trading session at $822.79.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)
In a move shared with the Oracle of Omaha, Nancy Pelosi is also heavily invested in one of the biggest big tech companies in the world – Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).
By early 2024, AAPL accounted for more than a quarter of the Representative’s overall portfolios and has been one of the big gainers within it.
Apple stock rose 54% throughout 2023, significantly helping the former Speaker’s returns, and in the last 52 weeks, AAPL shares are up 16.79%, having slowed their advance and even retraced in more recent months.
Finally, since January 1, Apple actually declined by 3.22% to its press time price of $179.66.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Not missing out on any major stock market developments, Nancy Pelosi holds not only the world’s former largest company but the current one as well. By early 2024, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) accounted for approximately 20% of the Representative’s portfolio.
Much like Apple, MSFT stock has been accruing significant returns for Pelosi in recent years, but unlike the iPhone maker, MSFT has continued its strong performance into 2024.
The last 52 weeks saw Microsoft’s shares surge 61.75%, and YTD, the technology giant is up another 12.03% to the press time price of $415.50 – near its recently-reached new all-time high.
Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW)
This February brought a newcomer to Representative Pelosi’s portfolio with a trade that reminded many of her Nvidia bet – Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW).
On February 2 and February 21, the representative purchased PANW call options with a strike price of $200 and an expiration date of June 2025, worth approximately $1.2 million.
While Palo Alto has been rising in the last 52 weeks – 60.93% – and YTD – 4.67%, Nancy Pelosi’s bet on the cybersecurity company has yet to pay off, and PANW shares have actually mostly been declining since the options were purchased.
For example, the last 30 days saw Palo Alto drop 12.22% and end the latest full trading session on March 1 at $302.40.
Other Pelosi stocks
Generally speaking, Nancy Pelosi is heavily invested in the technology sector, and her portfolio, along with the major stocks already mentioned, holds giants of the industry such as Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL).
Still, her investments and success are not limited to the sector as exemplified by her reaching out to other industries with acquisitions of stocks of firms such as Disney (NYSE; DIS) and AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB).
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Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
