What Is a 13F Filing? Everything You Need to Know About Tracking What Wall Street Owns

Every quarter, ~6,000 institutional investors must publicly disclose their U.S. stock holdings through a form called 13F-HR. It's filed with the SEC, it's free to access, and it lets you see exactly what Berkshire, Vanguard, and thousands of hedge funds own. Here's the complete beginner's guide. The basics Who files : Any institutional investment manager with $100M+ in qualifying U.S. equity securities. What they disclose : Every long position in U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs — name, shares held, and market value. When : Within 45 days of each quarter end (Feb 14, May 15, Aug 14, Nov 14). Where : SEC EDGAR — publicly available, free. Who files 13F? The filer universe includes: Category Examples What their 13F shows Hedge funds Berkshire, Bridgewater, ARK Active stock-picking decisions Asset managers Vanguard, Fidelity, BlackRock Mostly index-driven holdings Banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Trading desk + wealth management Insurance cos Northwestern Mutual, MetLife Investment portfolio backi