What Warren Buffett Buys and How to Read Famous Investors' Portfolios (13F)
How to find out what Warren Buffett and other famous investors hold: what Form 13F is, when it is published, what it shows and what its limits are.
In short: big investors such as Warren Buffett must report their US stock positions quarterly on Form 13F. It is published at the latest 45 days after the end of the quarter, so it shows a state of the past. It is useful inspiration, but not a guide to copy. On each US stock page we show which tracked investors hold it, for example on Apple.
What Form 13F is
The US regulator SEC requires managers with assets over 100 million dollars to publish a list of their held US stocks and similar securities every quarter. They include Berkshire Hathaway, run by Warren Buffett. The document is filed electronically and is public.
When it is published
The deadline is 45 days after the end of the quarter. Data for the third quarter therefore appears in mid-November, for the fourth in mid-February and so on. Most large funds file within the deadline, which is why news about portfolios is concentrated into a few weeks a year.
What 13F shows
- which US stocks an investor holds and in what volume,
- how a position changed against the previous quarter (purchase, increase, reduction, sale),
- how large a part of the portfolio the position makes up.
What 13F does not show
- The current state. The data is delayed by weeks. The investor may have changed a position in the meantime.
- Short positions and derivatives mostly not.
- Foreign stocks and unlisted investments no.
- Reasons. You do not know why an investor bought or sold or what price target they have.
Why not to copy blindly
Buffett has a long horizon, enormous capital and tax and trading options that a small investor does not have. When you see a purchase, the price has often already travelled part of the way. As inspiration for your own analysis 13F is valuable, as a "buy now" signal it is not.
How to use it
- Look at which famous investors hold a stock on its page, for example Apple, together with the weight and the change of each position.
- Complement it with a check of the company's valuation and fundamentals, see What is the P/E ratio.
- Pay attention to the size of the position in the investor's portfolio, not only to the fact that they hold it.
If you do not want to pick individual stocks, a broad ETF is a simpler path, see What is an ETF.
Frequently asked questions
When is the next 13F published?
For the third quarter at the latest 45 days after its end, so around mid-November. Our pages are updated after publication.
Is 13F a guaranteed picture of the current portfolio?
No, it is a snapshot as of the last day of the quarter, published with a delay.
Can I imitate Buffett?
You can take inspiration, but your results will differ. Buffett has different capital, a different horizon and different access to deals.
For information only, not investment advice. Data from 13F filings is delayed.
