As an ordinary investor, in the face of thousands of stocks in the US stock market, will you also have trouble choosing? Which stocks are actually worth your time to study in depth?

When you have no clue, you may also want to see what other investors in the market, especially celebrity fund managers (investment gurus), are buying or selling. Maybe you can get some investment inspiration from them.

For example, if you arevalue investorsYou should be curious to know what the famous value investor Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (Berkshire Hathaway) is buying recently. If your focus isChina SecuritiesYou'll probably also want to take a look at the holdings of Hillhouse Capital (Hillhouse Capital), the largest private equity fund in Asia.

So, where can you find and see changes in the positions of these top institutions?

The answer is the 13F file.

Definitions:The US Securities Regulatory Commission (SEC) stipulates that for institutions that manage assets exceeding 100 million US dollars, fund managers are required to provide their funds to the SEC at the end of the quarter after each quarterPosition Report.

How to understand:The original purpose of establishing the 13F document was to balance the previous relationships between large investment institutions and small and medium-sized investors, with the aim of increasing the confidence of American investors in the financial markets.Today, 13F has become the main way for small to medium investors to spy on the flow of “smart capital” and decipher institutional investment logic and trends.

The holding position mentioned here refers to the institutional long position, that is, what the institution has bought, what has increased its holdings, and what has been reduced. However, it does not include short positions, that is, the positions of institutions shorting a certain stock, which cannot be seen.

It is worth noting that since the 13F is a document required by the US Securities Regulatory Commission, the positions announced in the 13F document are only for the US stock market.For example, Gao Lin Capital's investment involves the three markets of US stocks, Hong Kong stocks, and A shares, yet the 13F document published by Gao Lin only shows its holdings in US stocks, not its Hong Kong stock and A share holdings.

Definitions:The agency must beWithin 45 days after each quarterFile 13F with the SEC.

How to understand:There are four quarters in a year. In other words, what is the frequency with which the agency publishes 13F documentsFour times a year, after natural years Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, respectively.

Due to SEC regulations after the quarterwithin 45 daysSince documents are submitted, the time for submission of 13F is not the same for different agencies. Some institutions submit on the first day after the quarter ends, while others wait until the 45th day after the quarter ends to submit. If the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, the due date is postponed to the next business day.

For example, the end date of Q1 2022 is March 31, and institutions are required to submit their Q1 quarter position reports by May 15 at the latest. Since May 15 is a Sunday, agencies can submit reports at the latest by May 16.

By analyzing the 13F report, investors had the opportunity to observe changes in US stock styles and learn strategies from successful investment experts.

First, 13F has the significance of being a weather vane for US stocks.Stock investment, in a sense, is a game process where money is used to vote. Therefore, on the 13F, you can see how the group of people with the most “voting rights” in this market view this market.

For example, everyone has been reducing their holdings of stocks in a certain sector in a certain quarter, which may mean that people are currently not optimistic about this industry. If several top institutions are buying a certain stock, it may indicate that the company is doing well and has the value of in-depth research.

Second, 13F can help investors learn the investment ideas and investment strategies of investment masters.In the US stock market, there are quite a few well-known celebrity fund managers, such as Buffett, Munger, David Tepper, Bill Ackman, etc. There are also Gao Lin Capital and Jinglin Capital, which domestic investors are familiar with. They all have their own distinct investment styles and investment strategies, as well as industries they are good at and which they are not good at.

By tracking their positions over a long period of time, you can observe their investment methods, thereby learning their investment ideas and their investment strategies.

Of course, 13F is not omnipotent; it also has shortcomings. The biggest drawback is that the data in the 13F file is lagging and there is no short position data.

First, the 13F position data may be lagging.Since the SEC requires institutions to submit 13F reports 45 days after the end of the quarter, the positions of institutions may be lagging behind.

For example, if an institution buys a certain stock on January 1, this is a Q1 position change; if the institution sells that stock on April 1, it is a Q2 position change. Institutions can publish the Q1 13F report on May 15. When investors see that institutions have bought the stock, they have actually sold it.Therefore, it is important to keep track of changes in institutional positions over a long period of time.

Second, the 13F document does not require institutions to announce short positions.Since the 13F document only announces long positions and no short positions, for some institutions that use hedging as a strategy, changes in their positions may have little reference significance. If the hedge fund's strategy is mainly shorting, the fund may hold more short positions than long positions.Therefore, when reading the 13F report, it is important to understand the investment style and investment strategy of the institution.

On the SEC's official website, you can find the 13F file. However, the official documents are relatively difficult to read, not intuitive enough, and very unfriendly to users.

Users can view a list of institutional positions Futubull. The specific path is to click on the “Opportunities” section on the “Market” page to find the “Agency Tracking” function.

Summarize

Since information on US stocks is extremely transparent, investors can see changes in positions of modern investment experts, but position changes based on a 13F report alone are not enough to support an investment decision. Because even celebrity fund managers sometimes make mistakes.

However, by looking at these top institutions and the methods of investment gurus over a long period of time, you will have a chance to learn about their investment ideas and their investment strategies. Studying this kind of strategy is far more important than watching which stock they buy.