Pelosi Outperforms Wood as Congressional Trading Bets Go Head-to-Head

Nancy Pelosi and Cathie Wood are two of the most-watched stock pickers in the market, but their trading strategies couldn't be more different. While Pelosi's husband Paul has built a portfolio that compounds near 21% annually since May 2014, Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) has returned about 13.4% annualized since its October 2014 launch.

The Pelosi strategy relies on call options in large technology companies, which provides significant leverage but is hard for small investors to replicate. In contrast, ARKK's transparency and timely disclosures allow investors to see the fund's holdings in real-time.

The two strategies have both benefited from their focus on technology and crypto themes, but Pelosi's strategy still outperforms with a maximum drawdown of near 37% compared to ARKK's 67% loss in 2022.