Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Despite wide public support against the practice, members of Congress invest in the stock market.
People have invested at least $55 million in two years mimicking members of Congress’ portfolios.
Pelosi’s reported trades increased 45% in value in 2023. Crenshaw’s increased in value by 41%.
An app allowing its users to trade like members of Congress and leading investors just broke $100 million in total investments. Despite its success, the app’s cofounders adamantly say they hope it leads Congress to ban themselves from trading.
Released in January 2023, Autopilot pulls trading data filed by members of Congress and allows users to copy their trades. Since the passage of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act in 2012, members of Congress are required to report each of their and their immediate family’s investments within 45 days or face financial penalties.
The app also allows its users to mimic investments made by prominent hedge fund managers like Michael Burry, the subject of the 2015 movie “The Big Short,” via their federally required 13F filings.
Chris Josephs, a cofounder of the platform who runs the popular “Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker” on X, told Business Insider the app breezed past the $100 million trading milestone on Monday, with more than $55 million copied from trades that copied congressionally filed ones.
The app doesn’t allow its users to mimic every member of Congress. Instead, it provides four legislators to copy — Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Rep. Dan Goldman, plus an amalgam of stocks from “the top 10 politician traders based on their 2022 performance.”
Josephs said the portfolios of Crenshaw and Pelosi, which the congresswoman has said are made by her husband, Paul Pelosi, are the two most popular to mirror.
Statistics within the app show that Pelosi’s reported trades increased 45% in value in 2023. Crenshaw’s increased in value by 41%.
Story continues
Asked for comment on the matter, Corry Schiermeyer, spokesperson for Crenshaw’s…
..
