If You Invested in These Congressional-Trading ETFs at Launch, Here’s What You’d Have Today

Unusual Whales Subversive Democratic Trading ETF (NYSEArca: NANC) and Unusual Whales Subversive Republican Trading ETF (NYSEArca: GOP) launched in February 2023 with a simple but provocative premise: give retail investors a way to mirror the stock trades disclosed by members of Congress. The funds, built on data from the Unusual Whales platform, aggregate public congressional disclosure filings and construct portfolios from the equities that legislators and their families are buying.

A Tech-Heavy Bet Versus the “Real Economy”

The thesis was never really about insider knowledge. From the Democratic side, it turned out to be a roundabout way to own a concentrated basket of mega-cap technology stocks. Nvidia leads that portfolio at 9.0%, followed by Microsoft at 7.6%, Amazon at 5.2%, Salesforce at 4.2%, and Alphabet at 3.9%. That lineup reads like a who’s who of the AI infrastructure boom, and the fund rode that wave hard from 2023 through 2025.

Rather than chasing the AI fervor, the Republican-aligned fund found its strength in the “real economy” sectors that benefited from infrastructure spending and deregulation themes. Its top holdings featured a solid base of financial and energy giants like JPMorgan (4.4%) and Chevron (2.1%), paired with industrial mainstays such as Caterpillar and defense leaders like Lockheed Martin (less than 1.0% each). While it didn’t capture the same explosive volatility as the mega-cap tech basket, the fund provided a steadier, dividend-focused performance that appealed to those betting on a resurgence in domestic manufacturing and traditional energy dominance.

The funds are not without structural quirks. A 45-day disclosure lag means each portfolio reflects past congressional decisions rather than real-time positioning. Their expense ratios are 0.74%, far above the cost of a plain index fund. Critics have argued the outperformance of the Democratic funds was accidental, a byproduct of tech concentration rather than any genuine informational edge from tracking lawmakers.

How Much Your $1,000 Became

These funds have been publicly traded since February 7, 2023. Here is how a $1,000 investment in each would look today across available time horizons.

Note that the S&P 500 is up 74.70% since the funds launched, 34.89% over the past year, and 4.10% year to date.

Since their launch, both funds have delivered strong growth, though only one of them outperformed the S&P 500 over the same period. NANC has turned a $1,000 initial investment into $1,884.90 (an 88.49% return), significantly outpacing GOP’s $1,643.10 result. However, the momentum has shifted recently, with GOP posting a superior 12.43% year-to-date return compared to NANC’s modest 2.0% and the S&P 500’s 4.10%.

Key Risks and Considerations

Investors evaluating these funds should weigh the 0.74% expense ratio against the cost of a plain index fund, which delivers at a fraction of the price. The Democratic fund has grown to roughly $260 million in assets and its Republican rival to $72 million, reflecting genuine retail interest in the congressional-tracking concept.

A significant regulatory risk looms: the Stop Insider Trading Act, introduced in January 2026, would prohibit congressional stock trading entirely, which would eliminate the fund’s core investment thesis. The 45-day disclosure lag also limits the fund’s responsiveness in fast-moving markets. Investors seeking pure tech exposure may find a low-cost Nasdaq index fund a more direct vehicle, while other investors may want to consider ETFs focused on the energy, financial, or manufacturing sectors or on infrastructure plays.

There is real regulatory uncertainty, and the structural advantage of these funds is limited. And, of course, past performance is not indicative of future results.