Savvy lobbyists consider money given to legislators as an investment, i.e., the deployment of capital in expectation of deriving profit from the same. But how would a corporate lobbyist gauge the performance of their investment? How would they know their payoff is paying off in the halls of power?
Strategas created an index measuring the performance of top lobbying companies against the S&P 500. The companies in the Strategas Lobbying Index have the most intensive lobbying in terms of expenditure as a percentage of their assets.
You probably won't be surprised at the results, which strongly indicate that the best investment around... is your Congressman.
The Strategas Lobbying Index has outperformed the S&P 500 by 11% per year since 2002 and by an incredible 30% in 2012.