How Are Political ETFs Doing as U.S. Election Nears?

If we at etf.com surveyed our audience and asked them how many would be honored to have an ETF ticker symbol named after them, I wonder what we’d find?  

Ted Cruz and Nancy Pelosi, a pair of long-tenured Washington D.C. political party leaders, had that honor bestowed upon them.  

Whether they were involved in the ticker symbol selection process when niche ETF firm Subversive unveiled The Unusual Whales Subversive Republican Trading ETF (KRUZ) and the Unusual Whales Subversive Democratic Trading ETF (NANC) in February of last year. That was 11 years after Congress passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act.  

NANC has attracted $164 million in assets, while KRUZ has brought in $33 million. But don’t mistake those for political polls or anything related to the non-investing aspects of political chatter.  

There are several other ETFs that are devoted to allowing investors to vote with their dollars…on the stock market, that is. And more of them are associated with assumedly Republican themes than those of the Democratic party.  

No Debate Here: ETFs for GOP, Dem Fans 

Here are a few of them, and how they are trending in price as November’s election approaches. NANC and the $38 million Democratic Large Cap Core ETF (DEMZ) are each up about 20% so far in 2024. Not far behind are the $101 million American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF) and the $22 million Point Bridge America First ETF (MAGA), whose ticker symbol needs no introduction. ACVF and MAGA are up 17% and 14% respectively so far this year, while KRUZ has gained 12%.

There have long been ETFs devoted to specific themes such as climate change, clean energy and a variety of funds that seek to screen out stocks tied to certain products, or the broader “ESG” movement. But with MAGA’s 2017 launch, followed by DEMZ and ACVF in 2020 and the other pair noted earlier in 2023, there appears to be at least a modest trend toward mixing political leanings with equity investing.  

And there are more in the works, including Tuttle Capital Management’s filing for an ETF that aims to track the best investors in Congress. There is also a potential product in the works that aims to own companies that strive to be politically neutral. 

Third Party Candidates Are Everywhere 

So, for investors who seek to align their personal values with the left or the right, or simply believe doing so is a compelling investment “factor” alongside momentum, yield, volatility and other more traditional factors, there’s something for donkeys and elephants alike. But for those who don’t want to go anywhere near the so-called “third rail” with their investments, there’s good news.  

There are more than 3,000 U.S.-based ETFs. So, in the world of Congressional and Presidential candidate-related ETFs, both sides of the aisle are in the minority. In other words, as opposed to U.S. government leadership, where most of the political class are with one of the two major parties, most ETFs aim to earn returns from other factors.