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Find answers to common questions about 13Foresight data, platform features, and institutional tracking.

13F Filing Coverage Performance Analytics Data Accuracy

General & Platform

What is 13Foresight?
13Foresight is a professional-grade institutional intelligence platform that tracks and analyzes SEC Form 13F filings. We normalize raw filings from thousands of hedge funds and asset managers into clean, queryable data β€” and layer on top a full suite of analytics: strategy backtesting, performance rankings, portfolio construction, crowding scores, and capital flow signals. Whether you're a retail investor researching what Berkshire Hathaway is holding or a professional PM benchmarking manager alpha, 13Foresight gives you institutional-level tools without the institutional price tag.
What are 13F filings?
Form 13F is a quarterly disclosure required by the SEC for any institutional investment manager controlling $100 million or more in U.S. equity securities. It must be filed within 45 days of each calendar quarter-end (March, June, September, December). The filing lists all long equity positions, exchange-traded options, and convertible bonds held at quarter-end β€” but does not include short positions, cash, bonds, or non-U.S. listed securities. It's essentially a quarterly snapshot of the "public" side of a fund's portfolio.
How many funds and filings are in the database?
Our database covers over 5,000 active institutional managers and tens of thousands of historical filings going back to the late 1990s when the SEC began accepting electronic submissions. Every quarter, several hundred new filings arrive from newly registered managers. All filings are parsed, normalized, and enriched with price data and ticker mapping before being made available on the platform.
What is the data coverage period?
Our database provides full historical coverage for every fund from the first day they began submitting electronic 13F filings. For the majority of institutional managers, this includes normalized data going back as far as 1999.

Examples of funds with deep history in our system:
How often is the data updated?
13Foresight processes new 13F filings continuously as they are submitted to SEC EDGAR. Managers file throughout the 45-day window after each quarter-end, so the platform is updated daily during the filing season. The main filing windows close around February 14, May 15, August 14, and November 14 each year. Once a new filing is detected, it is typically processed and live on the platform within minutes.
Who needs to file a 13F β€” and who doesn't?
Any investment manager whose U.S. equity portfolio exceeds $100 million on any trading day during the year must register with the SEC and begin filing 13Fs. This includes hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, family offices, insurance companies, banks, and endowments. Managers who fall below $100M for four consecutive quarters can deregister and stop filing. This means our database is skewed toward larger, more established managers β€” very small or early-stage funds are not required to disclose.

Data Quality & Accuracy

Why does a fund's portfolio sometimes not add up to 100%?
There are several legitimate reasons: (1) The 13F only covers U.S. long equity positions β€” cash, fixed income, foreign-listed stocks, and private holdings are excluded and can represent a large part of a fund's actual portfolio. (2) Some holdings list options (calls/puts) which are reported at notional value, distorting the percentage breakdown. (3) A very small percentage of holdings may fail ticker mapping (especially for delisted or obscure securities) and are excluded from weight calculations. For most large equity-focused funds, the disclosed positions represent 90–100% of their actual publicly-held portfolio.
Why are some holdings showing as "N/A" for ticker?
Each 13F holding is identified by a CUSIP (a 9-character security identifier), not a ticker. 13Foresight maps every CUSIP to its corresponding ticker symbol via a comprehensive securities database. Unresolved cases are typically: (1) Delisted stocks β€” companies that went bankrupt, were acquired, or went private after the filing date. (2) Foreign private issuers β€” ADRs or OTC-traded foreign stocks with non-standard CUSIPs. (3) Rare or obscure instruments β€” certain warrants, rights, or structured products. These N/A holdings are still counted in AUM calculations but excluded from performance backtesting.
What does the "Value" column in holdings mean?
Per SEC 13F reporting rules, the "value" field is reported in thousands of U.S. dollars. A value of 1,500 means $1.5 million. 13Foresight converts these to absolute dollar figures everywhere on the platform so you always see the actual dollar amount, not the raw thousands. The value reflects the fair market value of the position at the end of the quarter.
Are options (puts/calls) included in the holdings?
Yes, put and call options on U.S.-listed equities are required to be disclosed on Form 13F. 13Foresight displays them in the holdings table with the option type flagged. However, for backtesting and performance calculations, we exclude options from the simulated long portfolio because replicating an options strategy is not feasible for most investors and would produce misleading performance numbers. Only direct equity positions (shares) are used in the backtest engine.
How accurate is the AUM figure shown for each fund?
The AUM shown on 13Foresight reflects the total market value of disclosed long U.S. equity positions as reported in the most recent 13F. This is the "13F AUM" β€” not the fund's total assets under management. Most hedge funds have a broader portfolio (including bonds, cash, foreign equities, and short positions) that is not captured in the 13F. For pure long-only equity managers, the 13F AUM is a very close approximation of total AUM. For multi-strategy or global macro funds, the 13F AUM may be a fraction of total assets.
Does 13Foresight show intra-quarter trades?
No β€” and this is a fundamental limitation of Form 13F itself, not a platform limitation. The 13F only captures a single snapshot at quarter-end. If a fund bought and sold a position entirely within a quarter, it will not appear in the filing. This is why a manager with high portfolio turnover may appear deceptively "stable" on paper β€” the disclosed holdings only reflect what they held at the end of Q, not what they traded during the quarter.

Analytics & Backtesting

Can I try the backtester without creating an account?
Yes β€” our Live Demo gives you full, unrestricted access to the backtester on three real funds with no signup required. You'll see the complete premium experience: full historical depth (not truncated), all weighting modes (Equal Weight and Manager Weight), benchmark comparisons against SPY, QQQ, IWM, and DIA, and all risk metrics β€” Sharpe Ratio, Max Drawdown, Alpha, Beta, Calmar Ratio, and more. It's the real thing, not a watered-down preview.
How does the Backtester handle the 45-day SEC filing delay?
To ensure realistic, tradeable results, 13Foresight's backtester uses the filing date as the portfolio entry point β€” not the quarter-end date. If a 13F for Q4 2023 was filed on February 12, 2024, the backtest simulates entering those positions on February 12, 2024 (not December 31, 2023). This accurately captures the real-world experience of a copycat investor who acts on the disclosed data the moment it becomes public.
What is the difference between Equal Weight and Manager Weight?
Equal Weight allocates the same percentage of capital to every holding in the portfolio, regardless of the manager's actual position sizes. This removes the fund's conviction signal but produces a more diversified simulation.

Manager Weight replicates the manager's actual allocation, proportionally sized based on their reported dollar values. If a manager had 35% of their portfolio in one stock, your simulated portfolio also has ~35% in that stock. Manager Weight is more faithful to the original strategy but introduces concentration risk β€” and is a Premium-only feature.
How is Sharpe Ratio calculated?
We compute the Sharpe Ratio as: (Average Monthly Return βˆ’ Risk-Free Rate) Γ· Standard Deviation of Monthly Returns Γ— √12, annualized. The risk-free rate is sourced from the 13-week U.S. Treasury Bill yield (^IRX), updated monthly. A Sharpe above 1.0 is generally considered good; above 2.0 is excellent. Values near zero or negative indicate the fund's returns do not justify the volatility taken.
How is Alpha calculated?
Alpha is calculated using the standard CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) formula:
Alpha = Fund Return βˆ’ [Risk-Free Rate + Beta Γ— (Market Return βˆ’ Risk-Free Rate)]

The market benchmark is SPY (S&P 500 ETF). A positive Alpha means the fund outperformed what CAPM would predict given its level of market exposure. For example, an Alpha of +5% means the fund delivered 5 percentage points of return above what its Beta-adjusted market exposure would suggest.
What is Max Drawdown?
Max Drawdown (MDD) measures the largest peak-to-trough decline in the simulated portfolio's value over the entire backtest period. For example, an MDD of βˆ’38% means the portfolio at some point fell 38% from its highest value before recovering. It is the single most important metric for understanding downside risk and loss tolerance. A fund with a high Sharpe but a βˆ’60% drawdown may not be suitable for an investor who can't stomach large temporary losses.
What is the Calmar Ratio?
The Calmar Ratio is Annualized Return Γ· |Max Drawdown|. It tells you how much annualized return you get per unit of maximum pain endured. A Calmar of 1.0 means you earned 1% of annual return for every 1% of max drawdown. Higher is better. It's particularly useful for comparing two strategies with similar returns but different risk profiles β€” the one with the smaller drawdown will have the higher Calmar.
Does your data include short positions?
No. The SEC only requires managers to disclose their long equity positions, put/call options, and convertible bonds. Short positions, foreign stocks not listed on U.S. exchanges, bonds, and cash holdings are not reported in 13F filings. This is why many hedge fund 13Fs look like "long-only" portfolios even if the fund is net short. Always interpret a manager's disclosed 13F as the long book only.
Why do some metrics show "N/A"?
Metrics like Sharpe Ratio, Alpha, Beta, and Calmar require a minimum backtest history to be statistically meaningful. We require at least 8 months of monthly return data (roughly 2 full quarters after the first quarter lag). If a fund is newly filing, has significant holding gaps, or fewer than 3 resolved equity positions per quarter, we display N/A to avoid presenting misleading statistics.

Rankings & Scoring

How is the Manager Rankings score calculated?
The 13Foresight Rankings Score is a composite metric that weighs multiple performance and risk dimensions: 3-year annualized return, Sharpe Ratio, Alpha vs SPY, Max Drawdown, and Calmar Ratio. Each metric is normalized against all other funds in the database (percentile rank), then combined into a single 0–100 score. This means a fund ranked #1 excels across all dimensions simultaneously β€” not just raw returns. A high-return fund with a βˆ’80% drawdown will score lower than a moderately-returning fund with consistent, low-volatility performance.
What time period do the Rankings cover?
By default, Rankings use the trailing 3-year performance window to balance recency with statistical significance. You can filter Rankings by investment style (Concentrated, Diversified, ETF-heavy), AUM bracket, and minimum number of holdings to focus on managers relevant to your use case. The leaderboard is recalculated quarterly after each new batch of 13F filings is fully processed.
Why isn't a certain well-known fund in the Rankings?
There are three common reasons: (1) The fund may have recently re-registered or changed its CIK, resetting its tracked history below our minimum threshold. (2) The fund may hold fewer than a minimum number of resolvable long equity positions (e.g., a fund that mostly holds bonds or foreign stocks will have very few mappable 13F positions). (3) The fund's most recent 13F may still be processing. If you can't find a fund in Rankings, try searching for it directly in the main fund search β€” it may have a full profile page but not yet enough history for the ranking engine.
What is the Crowding Score?
The Crowding Score measures how many institutional managers hold a given stock and what percentage of the total 13F-reported institutional capital is concentrated in it. A high crowding score means a stock is widely held by hedge funds and has become a consensus position. Heavily crowded positions are often subject to violent unwinds during market stress β€” when one fund sells, others following the same thesis may rush for the exit simultaneously, amplifying the price decline.

Free vs Premium Access

What are the limits of the Free Tier?
The Free Tier is designed for retail exploration and includes:
  • Latest 8 quarters (2 years) of holdings history per fund.
  • Backtesting limited to a 2-year history window.
  • Portfolio Builder limited to 3 funds with Equal Weighting only.
  • Standard Sector Allocation chart (last 6 quarters).
  • Up to 10 saved favorites.
  • Access to all fund profile pages and basic search.
What do I get with a Premium Subscription?
Premium Users unlock the full power of 13Foresight:
  • Full historical archive β€” every quarter since fund inception, not just the last 2 years.
  • Unrestricted Backtesting β€” any fund, any time range, any benchmark.
  • Manager Weighted portfolios β€” replicate the fund's actual conviction sizes.
  • Full Manager Rankings with composite scoring.
  • Advanced Analytics β€” Crowding Scores, Conviction Dynamics, Sector Rotation Signals, Position Change alerts.
  • Portfolio Builder β€” unlimited funds, correlation matrix, ENB diversification analysis.
  • Data Export to CSV/Excel for professional analysis.
  • Unlimited Favorites.
What's the difference between Premium and the Demo?
The Live Demo is limited to three pre-selected funds and is read-only β€” you can explore but can't save results, change funds, or access any other features. A free account unlocks all 5,000+ fund profiles with 2 years of history. A Premium subscription removes all depth and feature limits across the entire platform.
Can I integrate 13Foresight data via API?
Data export to CSV/Excel is available for all Premium subscribers on any holdings or backtest results page. For programmatic/API access, please contact us β€” we offer enterprise data integrations for institutional clients, quant funds, and platforms that need normalized 13F data delivered directly to their systems.

Investing & Disclaimer

Is 13Foresight financial advice?
No. 13Foresight is a data and analytics platform, not a registered investment adviser. All information on the platform β€” including backtest results, rankings, crowding scores, and performance metrics β€” is provided for informational and research purposes only. Past simulated performance does not guarantee future results. Nothing on this platform should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Always conduct your own due diligence and consult a qualified financial professional before making investment decisions.
Can I just copy a fund's 13F portfolio and expect the same returns?
No β€” and this is a critical distinction. A 13F-based "copycat" strategy has several structural disadvantages compared to the fund itself: (1) 45-day lag β€” by the time the filing is public, the manager may have already exited the position. (2) No short book β€” most hedge funds hedge their longs with shorts that are never disclosed. (3) No intra-quarter trades β€” the disclosed portfolio may look very different from what the manager actually owned during the quarter. The backtests on 13Foresight explicitly model these constraints β€” our results are an honest simulation of what a copycat investor could have achieved, not a replication of the fund's actual P&L.
Why do top-ranked managers sometimes underperform in the next quarter?
Rankings are backward-looking by definition. A fund that ranks #1 based on the last 3 years excelled in the market conditions of those 3 years β€” there is no guarantee that its strategy will continue to outperform in a changed environment. Markets rotate, factor premiums compress, and manager skill can be indistinguishable from luck over short periods. Use Rankings as a screening tool to identify historically disciplined, consistent managers β€” not as a prediction of future performance.