What stocks do politicians invest in? Here’s how you can find out where they’ve put their cash!

What stocks do politicians invest in? Is it possible to know? Can politicians own shares at all? Yes and yes to the latter two questions. But the first question is not an easy answer. In this article, we look at how you can find out what stocks politicians invest in.

How to find out ‘What stocks do politicians invest in?’

The easiest way is to go into MPs disclosure sections on the parliament house website. MPs have to disclose properties they own, shares they own, other assets they own and potentially investments owned by their spouses, partners or children. It is natural that all MPs would have exposure to stocks by mere virtue of having super funds, because super funds invest in stocks alright. But of course, many own shares in their own right.

According to OpenPolitics, politicians declared at least 430 shareholdings in over 230 listed companies in the most recent round of disclosures, in July 2024. Since the Albanese government came to power, ministers of the crown have been banned from owning shares and so Coalition MPs have 54% of all holdings despite only making up 38% of the parliament.

The most popular company is Telstra, declared by 25. NAB & CBA are next with 15 each followed by BHP with 13, Westpac with 12 and Wesfarmers and ANZ with 11 each. Looking at industries, 102 have shareholdings in a ‘materials’ company (mostly mining), followed by banks with 62, then consumer staples with 27. The MP who owned the most is Labor Victorian MP Ged Kearney who owns 38, a figure that has gone down by 10 since the 2022 election.

What about state politicians you might ask? There are equivalent disclosure laws and registers with state politicians through their parliaments, although the exact laws as to share ownership and disclosure vary between different jurisdictions.

Can MPs own shares?

Obviously they can, otherwise this wouldn’t be an article. Nonetheless, crown ministers are banned even though their families and staff have no restrictions.

What about conflicts of interest? The very purpose of public records are,’ To place on the public record Members’ interests which may conflict, or may be seen to conflict, with their public duty’. Obviously if MPs were proven to have made decisions to advance their own interests (i.e. their investments) rather than the public, then that would be a crime – as the case study of Eddie Obeid showed when he contacted a government official to secure an expanded tenure at a restaurant at Circular Quay that his family-owned.

Of course, conflicts of interest cannot only arise from share ownership. Since the Albanese government came to power, it has been accused of acting overly favourably to Qantas and it has been pointed out that the majority of MPs, on both sides of politics, own membership of the Chairmans Lounge. Some might say this is just as extreme as if MPs owned shares in Qantas itself and were making decisions while owning shares – who would they choose to serve, their own interest at the expense of others (I..e those wanting cheaper fares), or others’ interests at their own expense.

Should you buy stocks politicians invest in?

Well, not by mere virtue of politicians owning them. There are no doubt some great companies held by politicians, but there are some bad ones too – and it is up to you to deduce for yourself. We don’t imagine it would make a loss on a stock more tolerable, just because a politicians suffered the same loss as you.

Conclusion

It is easy to tell which shares politicians invest in…as long as they disclose of course. You just need to do your due diligence. Or just wait for others to do the work for you but you may wait until it reaches the media headlines.

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