13F filings

Form 13F is the quarterly report that shows what large US investment managers hold. We turn the ETF positions in those filings into a list of holders for each fund and a list of funds for each firm, covering 6,870 firms.

Who files a 13F

Institutional investment managers with discretion over $100 million or more in qualifying US securities: advisers, banks, insurers, broker-dealers, pensions and hedge funds among them.

When they’re due

Within 45 days after each calendar quarter ends, so around mid-February, mid-May, mid-August and mid-November. Each filing shows positions on the last day of the quarter, so the data is always somewhat old by the time you read it.

What a 13F leaves out

• Retail investors and managers under the $100 million threshold.
• Short positions, cash and most non-US holdings.
• Positions the SEC has allowed a manager to keep confidential for a time.
• Anything bought and sold between quarter ends.

A firm’s 13F can also include assets it runs for clients, so a position isn’t necessarily the firm’s own money.