A quarterly filing required of every institution managing over $100 million in US equities, listing its positions. It is filed within 45 days of quarter end, so it is a delayed picture, not a live one.
What these filings are
13F filings (13F) are mandatory reports filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission by every institution that manages $100 million or more: a list of its stock holdings at the end of each quarter. They are the public's only regular window into the books of the biggest managers.
Read its limits before its contents
Delayed: filed up to 45 days after quarter-end, so a reported position may have been sold months ago. Incomplete: they show no short selling, most derivatives or cash, so you see only the long half of the book. A snapshot: one day in every ninety, and what happens between is unseen. Anyone who ignores these three limits reads an old, partial map with the confidence of a live one.
What you can actually read from them
Collective trends say more than single positions: a sector that ten large institutions build together over two quarters is a story of institutional conviction. Changes say more than levels: a new build or a full exit tells you more than a steady holding. And big names piling into a small stock is a sign of attention worth investigating.
Hypothetical example
Three value firms known for their patience build new positions in a neglected sector over two straight quarters. That is not a recommendation, but it is a map of where patient professionals see value, and a better starting point for research than a random scan.
Common mistake
Copying a single, delayed trade: buying what a famous manager bought four months ago, at a higher price and without knowing his offsetting hedges, is not investing in his footsteps. It is buying an old picture of a book you have only half seen.
Where to see it on the platform
The institutional flows module collects the filings and reads their collective changes by sector, with credit to the SEC.
