Even Australians who don't display an abiding interest in American politics may have heard of Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi has been a fixture of American politics for decades. Most notably, she made history in 2007 when she was elected as the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, a role she returned to in 2019 and held until 2023.
During her tenure as Speaker, Pelosi shepherded through some of the most consequential legislation in American history, including the Affordable Care Act (also known as ObamaCare), the Dodd-Frank reforms to the US financial system and (more recently) the Chips and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
As momentous as these achievements are, Pelosi has attracted fame for another aspect of her public life, particularly amongst the investing community: Her stock-picking prowess.
Together with her husband Paul, Nancy Pelosi's stock-picking decisions have begun to raise some eyebrows over the past few years, thanks to their roaring success. American politicians aren't prohibited from investing in stocks, although they (and their spouses) are required to disclose their trades with haste. Hence our awareness of their success in the Pelosi case.
According to a report in the Australian Financial Review (AFR) this week, the Pelosi portfolio has had a rough 2024 to date, but remains up by around 700% over the past decade.
But the report names a local parliamentary rival to Pelosi, one that ASX investors can directly relate to. That Nancy Pelosi-like stock picker is none other than Ted O'Brien, Shadow Energy Minister and Liberal National Party member for the House of Representatives seat of Fairfax, Queensland.
Our very own Nancy Pelosi stock picker?
According to the report, O'Brien has the highest-performing stock portfolio in the Australian Parliament, with an average return of 64.7% between the May 2022 election and 30 June 2024.
Australian parliamentary regulations aren't as aggressive as they are in the US. Here, members and senators are only required to disclose their holdings, not every time they buy or sell ASX shares.
But even so, this means we get a glimpse into the ASX (and international) shares that O'Brien currently holds positions in.
According to the Parliament's Register of Members' Interests, O'Brien held the following stocks as of May 2022:
- Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ)
- Fortescue Ltd (ASX: FMG)
- JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH)
- Newcrest Mining Ltd (now delisted)
- One Market Ltd (now delisted)
- Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO)
- Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL)
- Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN)
- Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX: TAH)
- Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS)
- Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)
- News Corporation (ASX: NWS)
- Lottery Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLC)
- Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV)
- Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS)
- Fox Corporation (NASDAQ: FOXA)(NASDAQ: FOX)
In November of 2022, O'Brien disclosed that his spouse initiated a position in Findi Ltd (ASX: FND), a position that has probably resulted in a windfall.
Just yesterday, O'Brien reported a major portfolio update. He revealed that he has completely exited his positions in the following companies:
- Fortescue
- Rio Tinto
- Tabcorp
- Telstra
- News Corp
- Walt Disney
- Fox Corp
- Endeavour
It seems O'Brien still counts Aurizon, Woolworths, JB Hi-Fi, Lottery Corp, Super Retail and Suncorp shares in his portfolio though.
With a two-year return of 64.7%, many ASX investors will no doubt find O'Brien's holdings insightful, to say the least. Let's see if he can match Pelosi's 700% return over a decade.
