Frequently Asked Questions (2024)

What is a 13F?

Form 13F is a filing that all institutional investors who manage over $100 millionin assets must submit to the SEC no later than 45 days after the end of the March,June, September, and December quarters.The 13F is essentially a list of holdings that large investors own.

Individual activists or "whales" are also required to file Form 13F. These includesuccessful investors such as Warren Buffett (see Berkshire Hathaway),T Boone Pickens (see BP Capital),Carl Icahn, and Eddie Lampert (see RBS Partners).By comparingcurrent holdings with previous quarters, one may infer which stocks arebeing bought and sold by the "whales".

When are filings due?

13F filers aren't required to file until 45 days after the end of the quarter.If this falls on a weekend then filings are due the following Monday.While they can obviously file early, most filers tend to wait untilthe last minute to submit their filing. Of course there are alwaysstragglers that don't file for days or even weeks after that.

What kind of assets must be reported on Form 13F?

Any asset that is considered a 13F asset by the SEC must be reported on Form 13F. The official list can be found at http://www.sec.gov/divisions/investment/13flists.htm. Basically anything that is traded on an exchange as well as certain equity options and warrants, shares of closed-end investment companies and certain convertible debt securities.

Why can't I find my favorite mutual fund?

The shares of open-end investment companies (i.e., mutual funds) are not Section 13(f) securities

I found an error in one of your filings. What gives?

Please remember that the import process is not perfect. It is entirely automatedand done in real-time. So within an hour of the SEC releasing a filing,WhaleWisdom imports and displays it. The risk with providing real-timeaccess such as this is that the filing may contain mistakes or the importprocess incorrectly parses the filing. If you have doubts about the validity of certain filings then please check with the actual SEC filing. Links are provided back to every 13F filing used by the site. And if you find an error, pleasereport it to us so we may correct it for others.

How up-to-date are the filings on WhaleWisdom?

WhaleWisdom checks with the SEC every hour to see if any new 13F filings havebeen posted. As soon as any are found they are automatically processedand released. You can see the latest filings byclicking here

How far back does the WhaleWisdom database go?

The database goes back to the March 31, 2001 quarter. Only the last 9 quarters are available for free to everyone. Please contact us for pricing information to gain access to earlier time periods.

What do the designations PRN, CALL and PUT mean?

These are to segregate holdings by class. PRN indicates principal amount on convertible debt securities. If the holdings being reported are put or call options, then the designation "PUT" or "CALL" is used as appropriate.

Why don't stock prices in backtester match the securities actual closing price?

Prices used in backtests are the "total returns" price for the end of day. The total returns price includes dividends, spinoffs, and other adjustments so it likely won't match the actual closing price for the stock.

What is "Estimated Avg Price Paid"? How is it determined?

Estimated Avg Price uses the stock price at the quarter end date to determine the average price paid. It also takes into account past quarterly 13F transactions and adjusts with the funds buying/selling over time. It's just a guesstimate since the fund could have purchased the position at any time during the quarter.

The quarter ended 2-weeks ago, why hasn't the Heat Map/WhaleIndex/Stats page been updated yet?

The Heat Map/WhaleIndex/13F statistics pages are not updated until 1-2 days AFTER the 13F filing deadline. The deadline for 13F's is 45-days after the end of the quarter.