The HedgeWatch 13F blog: how institutional ownership filings actually work
plain, evidence-first guides to SEC Form 13F — the quarterly disclosure that reveals what institutions own. every guide is read straight from the raw EDGAR filings, with examples you can verify yourself.
why some 13F positions show up 1,000× too small
the unit-convention bug, explained: since 2023 the SEC requires 13F values in whole dollars, but some funds still file in the old thousands convention — so every screener shows those positions 1,000× too small. with verifiable Q1 2026 filings.
how to read a 13F filing
A field-by-field walkthrough of an SEC Form 13F — issuer, CUSIP, value, shares, and the unit convention that quietly distorts position sizes — read straight from the raw EDGAR XML.
13F filing deadlines
When are 13F filings due? The SEC's 45-day rule, the four quarterly deadlines, and why the most signal-dense filings cluster in the final hours of each window.
13F vs 13D vs 13G
13F, 13D, and 13G all disclose institutional ownership — but on different triggers, timelines, and thresholds. A side-by-side guide to reading each one correctly.
CUSIP to ticker
13F filings identify holdings by CUSIP, not ticker. Here's how to convert a CUSIP to a ticker symbol, the free and paid lookups, and exactly where the mapping fails.
find a 13F on SEC EDGAR
Step-by-step: search SEC EDGAR for a manager's 13F-HR filing, open the information table XML, and read the holdings directly from the source — for free.
track hedge fund positions
A practical guide to following hedge fund holdings from public 13F filings — what you can see, the 45-day lag, and how to catch new positions the moment they file.
reading conviction in a 13F
How to read conviction from a 13F: position size, portfolio weight, and quarter-over-quarter change — and why a fund's biggest holding isn't always its real bet.
institutional ownership in micro-caps
Micro-cap institutional ownership hides in plain sight — thin coverage, CUSIP gaps, and filing errors break 13F data exactly where the edge is biggest.
common 13F filing errors
The unit-convention bug isn't the only flaw in 13F data. Five recurring filing errors — stale CUSIPs, omitted holdings, misvalued rows — and how to spot each one.
what 13F filings don't show
13F filings reveal only long US equity positions, 45 days late. Here's what they omit — shorts, options, cash, and foreign holdings — and how the gaps mislead.