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New ETF Filing Aims to Capitalize on 'Government Grift'
A provocative new ETF filing aims to capitalize on what it bluntly calls 'government grift.'
The Tuttle Capital Government Grift ETF (GRFT) was filed with the SEC this week and proposes a strategy built around tracking the investment activity of U.S. political insiders, including members of Congress and individuals close to the president.
According to the prospectus, the fund 'is grounded in the belief that political actors … can influence market outcomes or possess information that materially affects security pricing.'
GRFT would scan public disclosures, including STOCK Act filings (known as Periodic Transaction Reports or PTRs), which require members of Congress to report securities trades made by themselves or their spouses. These are filed within 30 to 45 days of a transaction and are available to the public.
Tuttle's strategy would systematically download, aggregate and rank these filings based on historical excess returns over three years. Individuals with the most consistent outperformance would have their trades analyzed to estimate current implied holdings. Stocks most frequently bought by these top traders would be considered for inclusion in the portfolio.
But GRFT doesn't stop at Congress.
The fund would also seek to invest in companies with 'demonstrated ties to Presidential influence.' That includes firms with executives or directors affiliated with the current administration or businesses that receive praise from the president. The manager would also monitor real-time presidential commentary—speeches, tweets, interviews—and adjust exposure accordingly using ETFs or derivatives.
The fund plans to hold a concentrated portfolio of 10 to 30 positions, which may include common stocks, ETFs or total return swaps. Position size would reflect both the scale of congressional trading and the perceived materiality of presidential backing. In times of uncertainty or political opacity, GRFT could hold up to 100% of its assets in cash or Treasurys.
GRFT builds on a theme popularized by the Unusual Whales Subversive Democratic Trading ETF (NANC) and the Unusual Whales Subversive Republican Trading ETF (GOP), which invest in stocks purchased by Democrat and Republican members of Congress, respectively.
But while NANC and GOP are also actively managed and base their portfolios on trades disclosed by sitting members of Congress, they tend to be more systematic in nature and hold broader baskets of between 100 to 200 stocks, compared to GRFT's more concentrated and discretionary approach.
By combining congressional trades with presidential sentiment analysis, GRFT introduces more subjectivity into its strategy. Whether that works in practice remains to be seen.
Since launching in February 2023, NANC has returned 66%, outpacing the S&P 500's 54% gain over the same period. GOP, by contrast, has lagged with a 35% return.
GRFT isn't Tuttle Capital's first foray into unconventional strategies. The firm previously launched the Inverse Cramer Tracker ETF (SJIM) and the Long Cramer Tracker ETF (LJIM), which sought to bet against or follow CNBC host Jim Cramer's stock picks.
Those funds garnered a lot of buzz but ultimately struggled with execution, largely due to the difficulty of systematically tracking and trading on a fast-talking TV personality's evolving takes. Both were eventually shut down.
GRFT could face similar challenges if its strategy proves too discretionary or difficult to implement. But with retail investors increasingly skeptical of political elites, the concept is bound to turn | © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved
