Frequently Asked Questions

GiantSight is a service that analyzes and provides 13F reports filed by institutional investors with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). You can easily track portfolio changes of renowned hedge funds and institutional investors such as Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and Ray Dalio's Bridgewater.

A 13F is a quarterly report required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that must be filed by institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets under management. The report discloses long positions in U.S.-listed stocks and some U.S.-listed ETFs. It must be filed within 45 days after the end of each quarter and is published immediately on the SEC EDGAR system upon filing.

13F reports allow you to see what stocks the world's best investors are buying or selling. This can help you discover investment ideas and identify market trends. However, these reports should be used as reference only—avoid blindly following them and always conduct your own analysis and due diligence.

Not necessarily. 13F reports are filed within 45 days after the quarter ends, so by the time you see the data, it's already 1.5-3 months old. Additionally, you don't have insight into the investor's overall strategy, risk management, or position sizing, making it risky to simply copy their trades. Use 13F reports as a starting point for investment ideas, but always consider your own investment goals and risk tolerance.

No. 13F reports only disclose long positions in U.S.-listed stocks and some U.S.-listed ETFs. Cash, bonds, private equity, short positions, foreign stocks/ETFs, and options are not included. Additionally, investors can request confidential treatment (CTR) from the SEC for sensitive positions, but approval is at the SEC's discretion and not guaranteed.

13F reports are filed quarterly, within 45 days after the end of each quarter. Each filing is published immediately on the SEC EDGAR system upon submission—there's no batch release. Reports are published sequentially as institutions file them, typically starting from mid-February (Q4), mid-May (Q1), mid-August (Q2), and mid-November (Q3). It's important to understand that these are snapshots of past holdings, not real-time information.

Institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets under management are required to file 13F reports. This includes hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, and investment banks. Individual investors and smaller investment firms are not required to file.

Use 13F reports as a tool for discovering investment ideas, keeping these tips in mind: (1) Look for stocks that multiple renowned investors are buying simultaneously, (2) Track trends in a specific investor's portfolio changes, (3) Identify when investors enter new industries or sectors. However, never make investment decisions based solely on 13F data—always conduct comprehensive analysis of company fundamentals, valuation, and market conditions.

All GiantSight data comes directly from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official website (SEC.gov). This is the official government database where all institutional investors are required to file their 13F reports. We retrieve this original data and organize it in an easy-to-read format for you.

GiantSight uses official SEC data directly, so the data itself is identical to the government's official records. However, occasionally investors may submit incorrect information by mistake or file amended reports later. Since we present the original SEC data as-is after organizing it, any errors in the source data will be reflected here as well. For important investment decisions, we recommend verifying the information by checking the original reports on the SEC website.

13F reports show portfolio holdings as of the last day of each quarter. For example, reports released in mid-February show holdings as of December 31 (October-December), May reports show March 31 holdings (January-March), August reports show June 30 holdings (April-June), and November reports show September 30 holdings (July-September). This means the data we see is at least 1.5 to 3 months old—it's not real-time. Investors may have sold or bought more shares since then, so keep this delay in mind.