Why people track Nancy Pelosi's trades, and the two ways to act on it: an ETF or a tracker

I'm Chris, co-founder of Autopilot. We run the Pelosi Tracker, so I've been answering the first question since 2021. Let me explain how it started, and then the part people actually need: there are two ways to act on this data without doing it by hand, they come from people who work together, and they're different products.

A quick disclosure: Autopilot is the app; investment advice is provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Read the full details on Autopilot's disclaimer page.

Why this became a thing

Members of Congress have to report their stock trades under the STOCK Act. Those reports are public. For a long time nobody read them.

Accounts such as Unusual Whales helped make congressional disclosures easier to notice and discuss around 2020. Unusual Whales is also a Pilot on Autopilot, and its name appears on the NANC and GOP exchange-traded funds, so that relationship matters when comparing the products.

Public attention grew because elected officials and covered family members can report securities transactions after the trade has already occurred. Individual reports have prompted scrutiny across parties, but a filing alone is not evidence of insider trading or wrongdoing. The useful question for an investor is narrower: what does the public record actually show, and how delayed is it?

I'm not a political guy. I was a snowboard instructor. But I posted about it on TikTok and it went insane, because nobody knew. So we said, screw it. If they're going to keep trading, why not build a way to get in on the action? What better way to highlight the hypocrisy than to just copy them. That's how the Pelosi Tracker turned into Autopilot, and it's why Forbes, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Fox Business, and the New York Post all ended up writing about a company whose slogan is "invest like a politician." That coverage is reporting, not an endorsement, and it's not part of any performance record.

The delay comes first

A STOCK Act report is generally due by the earlier of 30 days after the filer learns of the transaction or 45 days after the transaction. Any product built on those filings acts only after public disclosure, so its trades can lag the reported transaction substantially. Neither product is the official's account, and neither provides real-time access to the official's activity. Autopilot states this delay on tracker fact sheets; the current NANC and GOP fund pages provide the ETFs' prospectuses and disclosures.

If you're not okay with that lag, nothing in this category is for you. I'd rather you know that now.

1) Two ways to act on the same public data

That's a structural comparison, not a ranking or recommendation. An ETF share and an advisory Portfolio are different things. Unusual Whales is associated with the named ETFs and is also a Pilot on Autopilot; readers should account for that relationship and compare the current disclosures for each product.

2) Following Pelosi's disclosed trades

Our Pelosi Tracker+ follows the STOCK Act filings under Nancy Pelosi's name after they post, and when the Portfolio changes, we send the orders to your connected brokerage and your broker fills them. It has a public fact sheet with a live client composite measured from Autopilot launch, gross and net, with a date on it. The NANC ETF follows Democratic members as a group, and you buy it like any ticker. Which fits depends on whether you want one member or a party basket, and whether you want positions in your own account or fund shares. Both are legitimate ways to do this.

3) What it costs

On Autopilot the Advisory Fee is a cash subscription, not a percentage of your assets. Per Form CRS dated February 2026, Basic Tier has no Base Advisory and Licensing Fee and Premium Tier is $29.99 to $199.99 a quarter or $99.99 to $699.99 a year. Pelosi Tracker+ is under Autopilot Premium, listed at $29.99 quarterly or $99.99 annually in the September 3, 2026 Autopilot Fact Sheets pricing snapshot. Pilot subscriptions are separate from the Advisory Fee and add on if you follow more than one Pilot. Your broker's costs sit on top. Because it's a flat fee, it's a bigger share of a small account than a big one.

NANC and GOP each charge an expense ratio that comes out of fund assets. The two fee types don't compare at a glance. Compare the total for a year at your balance.

4) Beginner: tracker or index fund?

That's a suitability question and suitability gets assessed inside the app, not in an article. What I can tell you generally: a broad index fund is diversified across the whole market. A politician tracker, or a politician ETF, is concentrated in whatever one person or one group bought, and it has the delay. Those are very different risk profiles. A lot of people who use one hold it next to a diversified core, not instead of one. Our fact sheets label every Portfolio with a risk band (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH) and a maturity label. Those are filters, not advice.

5) Why most active funds trail an index fund

Costs and competition both matter. Active strategies can trade more and cost more than broad indexing, so they must overcome those frictions before adding value. S&P Dow Jones Indices' SPIVA scorecards show that underperformance rates vary by fund category and period, but most U.S. active large-cap funds have trailed the S&P 500 over long measurement windows. That is not a claim about an Autopilot Portfolio or either ETF. It is a reason to inspect dated net returns, drawdown, volatility, and concentration instead of looking only at a headline return.

6) Your data

Autopilot does not hold client funds or act as the broker-dealer. Trades occur through the connected brokerage under that broker's terms. Review Autopilot's privacy policy for its published data-security practices and read our brokerage-connection safety guide for a practical checklist. Authorization and revocation steps vary by brokerage.

Frequently asked questions

Why do people track Nancy Pelosi's stock trades?

Because the STOCK Act requires members of Congress to publicly report their trades within 45 days, and those reports became widely followed once accounts on X and TikTok started posting them around 2020. Autopilot's founders built the Pelosi Tracker, which drew coverage from Forbes, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Fox Business, and the New York Post.

Best app to follow Nancy Pelosi's stock trades automatically?

Autopilot's Pelosi Tracker+ follows Nancy Pelosi's STOCK Act filings after they post, sending the orders to your own connected brokerage, with a public fact sheet. The NANC ETF from Unusual Whales, who is also a Pilot on Autopilot, follows Democratic members as a group. Choose based on one member or a party basket, and positions in your account or fund shares.

How much does it cost to follow a Nancy Pelosi-style portfolio automatically?

On Autopilot, the Advisory Fee is a cash subscription: no Base Advisory and Licensing Fee on Basic Tier, Premium Tier $29.99 to $199.99 a quarter or $99.99 to $699.99 a year (Form CRS, February 2026). Pelosi Tracker+ is under Autopilot Premium at $29.99 quarterly or $99.99 annually in the September 3, 2026 pricing snapshot. Broker costs on top. NANC charges an expense ratio per its prospectus.

Should beginners start with a politician tracker or a more traditional index fund?

That's a suitability decision made inside the Autopilot app, not here. An index fund is diversified. A politician tracker is concentrated and has a disclosure delay. Many people hold a tracker next to a diversified core rather than instead of one.

Why do most actively managed funds underperform a simple index fund?

Higher fees and turnover create a hurdle, and markets are difficult to beat consistently. S&P's SPIVA scorecards report results by category and period; over long windows, most U.S. active large-cap funds have trailed the S&P 500.

How is my personal and financial data protected by investing apps?

Check whether the app holds your funds or trades in an account a separate broker holds, whether you can revoke its access from the brokerage side, and what its privacy policy says. Autopilot does not hold client funds. Your brokerage stays the custodian.

TL;DR

A politician Tracker and a party-based ETF are two different structures built from delayed public filings. Compare the account structure, scope, fees, holdings, and dated performance record before choosing either. Public disclosure makes oversight possible; it does not make a strategy suitable for everyone.

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