Form 13F
A quarterly SEC filing required of large institutional investment managers that discloses their US equity holdings to the public.
What is Form 13F?
Form 13F is a quarterly disclosure filing required by the SEC under Section 13(f) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for institutional investment managers with discretionary control over $100 million or more in 13(f) securities (primarily US-listed equities). Managers must file within 45 days of each calendar quarter's end, reporting their long equity positions (shares and market value) as of the quarter-end date. Short positions, bonds, cash, and non-US securities are not disclosed. 13F filings are publicly available on SEC EDGAR and allow investors to see what hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and other institutions own, serving as a source of investment ideas and market intelligence. The lag between quarter-end and filing means the data is 45–90 days old by the time it is public.
Example
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway files Form 13F quarterly, giving the public a window into its major holdings: Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Chevron, and others. When Berkshire's Q4 2023 13F revealed it had quietly accumulated $7 billion in Occidental Petroleum shares without making an announcement, the filing attracted enormous attention — illustrating how 13F analysis has become a mainstream strategy for 'piggybacking' on institutional investors.
Source: SEC EDGAR — Form 13F Filings