The investing portfolios of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris may differ, with a preference of individual stocks versus exchange traded funds.
What Happened: With President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 election, Harris is the favorite to secure the Democratic Party nomination and has received endorsements from many people, including Pelosi.
While they are both Democrats and key political figures, Harris and Pelosi differ when it comes to investing.
Pelosi and her venture capitalist husband Paul Pelosi prefer to buy individual stocks and options, often in the technology sector. Compare that to the investment style of Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, who have their money parked in mutual funds and ETFs.
Benzinga recently polled readers to see which investment style could be better.
"Kamala Harris' investments include mutual funds and S&P 500 holdings, while Nancy Pelosi and her husband have purchased stocks like Nvidia, Apple and Tesla. Who do you think is a better investor?" Benzinga asked.
The results were:
- Kamala Harris: 34%
- Nancy Pelosi: 66%
The Benzinga Government trades page for Pelosi shows recent purchases of NVIDIA Corporation NVDA, Broadcom AVGO and Palo Alto Networks PANW.
According to a report from Barrons, Harris and Emhoff have between $2.9 million and $6.6 million in investments and cash based on financial disclosures. Among the investments include Harris having between $250,000 and $500,000 in a Target Date 2030 fund and between $100,000 and $250,000 in an S&P fund and large-cap growth fund.
Emhoff has investments in several ETFs, including the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF IEFA.
A Quiver Quant report shows the Vanguard Growth ETF VUG and the Vanguard Value ETF VTV as two of the largest holdings by the vice president and first gentleman. The Vanguard Growth ETF is heavily weighting in technology stocks, making up 60% of the ETF.
One thing the two political figures have in common with their investments is a preference to large cap stocks and not having large weightings of small cap stocks in their portfolios.
Why It's Important: The net worth of Harris and Emhoff pales in comparison to her 2024 election opponent Donald Trump, who is a billionaire thanks to his investments and large stake in Trump Media & Technology Group DJT.
"Does the difference in wealth between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump make her a more or less appealing candidate?" Benzinga asked.
The results were:
- More appealing: 32%
- Less appealing: 4%
- Makes no difference to me: 64%
The poll found that potential voters don't care too much that Trump is worth significantly more than Harris. A larger amount of respondents said Harris is more appealing than less appealing based on her lower wealth amount.
Benzinga also asked if people were surprised by the $2.9 million to $6.6 million figure that is being reported for Harris and her husband's wealth.
The results were:
- More than I expected: 29%
- Less than I expected: 34%
- About what I expected: 37%
The poll results were close, with the majority of respondents indicating that Harris’s wealth was in line with their expectations. Additionally, about one-third of the respondents felt that the amount was less than they anticipated.
Disclosures of investments for political figures has been a hot topic in recent years, with calls to ban members of Congress from trading stocks and options. The significant allocation to ETFs and mutual funds indicates that Harris has not been actively buying and trading individual stocks like some members of Congress and their spouses.
Harris and Pelosi may have investment commonalities of preference for technology and large-cap stocks, while both also mostly avoid small-cap stocks.
Interested in learning more about small-cap stocks and ETFs? Then you don’t want to miss Benzinga Small Cap Conference, Oct. 10 in Chicago. Click here for more information.
Read Next:
The study was conducted by Benzinga in July 2024 and included the responses of a diverse population of adults 18 or older. Opting into the survey was completely voluntary, with no incentives offered to potential respondents. The study reflects results from 172 adults.
Image created with photos from Shutterstock and Midjourney.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
