In their declaration of interests and activities to the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP), elected representatives of the National Assembly must mention possible direct financial participations in the capital of companies. From the outset, a left-right divide emerges: 58% of deputies from the LR parliamentary group declare that they hold titles, a percentage which falls to 45% for the socialist group, and below 20% for the communist and rebellious groups.
Would the right be fond of investing in stocks that the anti-liberal left loathes? Not so fast! In reality, few MPs hold securities listed on the stock exchange.
What the participations of elected officials reveal
Their tastes tend to lead them towards stone. Civil real estate companies (SCIs) are indeed flourishing in the declarations of our elected officials: they are legion at LR, but some are not left out on the left, Jérôme Guedj (PS) thus declaring participations in no less than 5 SCIs! We also find companies of an entrepreneurial nature: the 41% participation in a SELARL declared by LR Stéphane Viry thus betrays his profession as a lawyer. On the left too, we come across entrepreneur-deputies, like the LFI Carlos Martens Bilengo, sole shareholder of four companies. Sometimes also, the declarations make it possible to detect a certain commitment: the choice of a mutualist type banking establishment (Crédit Mutuel, Caisse d'Epargne, Banque Populaire) or committed investments: a mask production cooperative launched during Covid ( Murielle Lepvraud, LFI), or a renewable energy plant (Jean-Pierre Viguier, LR).
CAC 40 in portfolios
The “stock market deputies” are a rare breed. Moreover, if Marc Le Fur (LR) declares a portfolio of 35 securities held within a PEA, he specifies that it is his banker, and not himself, who manages it. A wise precaution when you feel you have neither the time nor the skills for this selection work. Its very Franco-French portfolio is well diversified sectorally with companies like Axa, Dassault Systèmes, LVMH and L'Oréal. Same taste for French values at Nicolas Ray (LR), who declares participations in 9 listed companies, all French, including FDJ, whose activity is still very oriented towards France, but also big names like Saint-Gobain or Stellantis , much more internationalized. Similarly, the portfolio of Renaissance MP Yaël Braun-Pivet betrays the same taste for the international stars of the CAC 40, including the luxury trio LVMH, Hermès International, and Kering.
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When MPs invest in stocks, they generally do well, managing to combine a patriotic touch with the choice of large exporters by nature less exposed to the French economy, which has the merit of diversifying risks well.
The shareholder deputy: a rare species
The fact remains that shareholder deputies are very rare on the right and in the center. And the taste for stocks completely disappears on the left. Oh yes, there is Antoine Léaument (LFI)! But the modest three-stock portfolio he said bears the hallmarks of risky choices typical of young investors. Looking for the “nugget” capable of getting rich quickly often leads to micro-capitalizations, attractive by the brutal upward movements that can animate them. But their stock market volatility above all reflects the absence of solid fundamentals.
And our rebellious MP made a triple mistake by choosing a biotech which, after 25 years of stock market listing, continues to consistently post losses (Nicox), a specialist in cinema special effects, owner of a beautiful brand, but perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy (Technicolor, now Vantiva), and finally a company finally liquidated (Vial Group). The lesson to be learned? Pay attention to small fashionable values, because fashion changes often.