Why Is the ‘Queen of Stocks’ Stepping Down? The Pelosi Index and the PELOSI Act
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, an 85-year-old heavyweight in the U.S. Democratic Party, announced her retirement from politics. Pelosi made it official that she will not run in the next election and will conclude her term early next year. This marks the departure of a veteran politician who served as House speaker twice and, behind the scenes, exercised a great deal of influence. Pelosi was a prominent figure within the Democratic Party and firmly established in the deep-blue state of California. Alongside Hillary Clinton and the late Dianne Feinstein, she was a symbol of the party’s “feminine power.”
But Pelosi’s career was not entirely honorable. There was a darker side too. After living as an upper-class housewife, Pelosi threw herself into politics for nearly 40 years, long portraying herself as an advocate for the common folk and a “clean politician.” However, the reality of her career path seemed different from what she projected. During her time as a politician, she accumulated enormous wealth, repeatedly faced suspicion over questionable investments and also became embroiled in ethics scandals. Because of this, she has also been cited as a model of double standards. In universal terms, she is hypocritical. In slang terms, she is “the pot calling the kettle black.” Given that Pelosi is a career politician, nicknames like “political genius” or “expert negotiator” would probably suit her. Unfortunately, her nickname is “queen of stocks,” which is unrelated to her actual occupation.
After the unexpected news broke out that Pelosi would not be running for office again, media reports said that, during her 37 years as a representative, Pelosi and her husband earned over $130 million in stock profits. Converted into a rate of return, the profits amount to a whopping 16,930%. According to reports by local media, during the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average returned about 2,300%. Pelosi’s earnings would make even Warren Buffett, the legendary “Oracle of Omaha,” bow his head in respect. And thus, the term “Pelosi Portfolio” was coined. There are now even people who decide where to invest based on Pelosi’s stock holdings. Held under her husband’s name, the couple’s portfolio was concentrated in tech stocks, such as Nvidia, Alphabet and Apple. There are rumors that, just last year, their returns exceeded 50%, eclipsing those of large hedge funds.
An investment index dubbed the “Pelosi Index” and a financial product nicknamed the “Pelosi Exchange-Traded Fund” have even been created. Officially named the NANC ETF, the fund was created around the stock-disclosure reports of Democratic lawmakers and their families. However, in practice, it is mainly based on Pelosi and her husband’s investment choices and methods. As a matter of fact, the product has delivered higher return rates than even major indices like the S&P 500, exceeding customer expectations. The Pelosi family prefers options trading, and it has been said that, by exercising call options, they once bought 50,000 shares in Nvidia for a remarkably low price.
The real issue is that Pelosi is at the core of U.S. power, serving for many years as speaker of the House, which is the third-highest position in the U.S. political hierarchy. Suspicion of insider trading is an inevitable consequence of this. And of course, there are conflict-of-interest concerns as well. This is because Pelosi not only has deep insight into U.S. economic policies that shape the global economy and financial market, but she can also directly affect the legislation of these policies. Even if she remained silent and did nothing, Pelosi’s position would invite suspicion. Her long-term earnings of such high profits naturally drew even more scrutiny. Additionally, before the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act was passed, Pelosi and her husband traded large quantities of semiconductor-related stocks, sparking multiple accusations of insider trading.
Amid this controversy, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 was enacted to prevent the use of information obtained from legislative activities for stock trading. However, it did not prevent individual trading and was considered to be a “toothless law.” Starting in the 2020s, several bills aimed at Pelosi that would strengthen regulations were introduced. A bill was even coined the PELOSI Act, short for the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act. The bill included provisions that would prevent lawmakers from trading individual stocks and require them to place their holdings in blind trusts. However, it seems that regardless of whether a country is developed, lawmakers are much the same. For unclear reasons, the legislation was continuously delayed and even renamed the Halting Ownership and Non-Ethical Stock Transactions Act, or the HONEST Act.
This makes the timing of Pelosi’s decision not to run in the next election curious. It could be in response to the recently increased likelihood of the bill passing in the Senate. If the bill is enacted, then Pelosi and her husband would unfortunately no longer be able to trade such large quantities of stocks. If Pelosi were to run in the next election, it is likely that she would still win. However, when faced with increasing her political influence or growing her wealth, she might have just chosen the latter. In a few months, Pelosi and her family will even be freed from the obligation of reporting their stock trades.
Interestingly, Pelosi’s retirement from the political world will be mourned by many people. The sighs will be particularly audible from retail investors who chased investments by tracking the Pelosi Portfolio and related indices. They will no longer be able to access the invaluable information obtained from the documents the Pelosi family made public. The NANC ETF, formerly the Pelosi ETF, will likely fall in popularity now that its primary appeal is gone. In South Korea, there have also been some instances in which politicians made questionable investments or used their power and position to grow wealth. If a country wants to be called democratic or developed, shouldn’t it at least have the ability to discern two-faced politicians at the polls?
But Pelosi’s career was not entirely honorable. There was a darker side too. After living as an upper-class housewife, Pelosi threw herself into politics for nearly 40 years, long portraying herself as an advocate for the common folk and a “clean politician.” However, the reality of her career path seemed different from what she projected. During her time as a politician, she accumulated enormous wealth, repeatedly faced suspicion over questionable investments and also became embroiled in ethics scandals. Because of this, she has also been cited as a model of double standards. In universal terms, she is hypocritical. In slang terms, she is “the pot calling the kettle black.” Given that Pelosi is a career politician, nicknames like “political genius” or “expert negotiator” would probably suit her. Unfortunately, her nickname is “queen of stocks,” which is unrelated to her actual occupation.
After the unexpected news broke out that Pelosi would not be running for office again, media reports said that, during her 37 years as a representative, Pelosi and her husband earned over $130 million in stock profits. Converted into a rate of return, the profits amount to a whopping 16,930%. According to reports by local media, during the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average returned about 2,300%. Pelosi’s earnings would make even Warren Buffett, the legendary “Oracle of Omaha,” bow his head in respect. And thus, the term “Pelosi Portfolio” was coined. There are now even people who decide where to invest based on Pelosi’s stock holdings. Held under her husband’s name, the couple’s portfolio was concentrated in tech stocks, such as Nvidia, Alphabet and Apple. There are rumors that, just last year, their returns exceeded 50%, eclipsing those of large hedge funds.
An investment index dubbed the “Pelosi Index” and a financial product nicknamed the “Pelosi Exchange-Traded Fund” have even been created. Officially named the NANC ETF, the fund was created around the stock-disclosure reports of Democratic lawmakers and their families. However, in practice, it is mainly based on Pelosi and her husband’s investment choices and methods. As a matter of fact, the product has delivered higher return rates than even major indices like the S&P 500, exceeding customer expectations. The Pelosi family prefers options trading, and it has been said that, by exercising call options, they once bought 50,000 shares in Nvidia for a remarkably low price.
The real issue is that Pelosi is at the core of U.S. power, serving for many years as speaker of the House, which is the third-highest position in the U.S. political hierarchy. Suspicion of insider trading is an inevitable consequence of this. And of course, there are conflict-of-interest concerns as well. This is because Pelosi not only has deep insight into U.S. economic policies that shape the global economy and financial market, but she can also directly affect the legislation of these policies. Even if she remained silent and did nothing, Pelosi’s position would invite suspicion. Her long-term earnings of such high profits naturally drew even more scrutiny. Additionally, before the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act was passed, Pelosi and her husband traded large quantities of semiconductor-related stocks, sparking multiple accusations of insider trading.
Amid this controversy, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 was enacted to prevent the use of information obtained from legislative activities for stock trading. However, it did not prevent individual trading and was considered to be a “toothless law.” Starting in the 2020s, several bills aimed at Pelosi that would strengthen regulations were introduced. A bill was even coined the PELOSI Act, short for the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act. The bill included provisions that would prevent lawmakers from trading individual stocks and require them to place their holdings in blind trusts. However, it seems that regardless of whether a country is developed, lawmakers are much the same. For unclear reasons, the legislation was continuously delayed and even renamed the Halting Ownership and Non-Ethical Stock Transactions Act, or the HONEST Act.
This makes the timing of Pelosi’s decision not to run in the next election curious. It could be in response to the recently increased likelihood of the bill passing in the Senate. If the bill is enacted, then Pelosi and her husband would unfortunately no longer be able to trade such large quantities of stocks. If Pelosi were to run in the next election, it is likely that she would still win. However, when faced with increasing her political influence or growing her wealth, she might have just chosen the latter. In a few months, Pelosi and her family will even be freed from the obligation of reporting their stock trades.
Interestingly, Pelosi’s retirement from the political world will be mourned by many people. The sighs will be particularly audible from retail investors who chased investments by tracking the Pelosi Portfolio and related indices. They will no longer be able to access the invaluable information obtained from the documents the Pelosi family made public. The NANC ETF, formerly the Pelosi ETF, will likely fall in popularity now that its primary appeal is gone. In South Korea, there have also been some instances in which politicians made questionable investments or used their power and position to grow wealth. If a country wants to be called democratic or developed, shouldn’t it at least have the ability to discern two-faced politicians at the polls?
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