when are 13F filings due?

a 13F is due within 45 calendar days after the end of each calendar quarter. that puts the four standard deadlines around may 15, august 14, november 14, and february 14 — shifting to the next business day when the date falls on a weekend or holiday.

what is the 45-day rule for 13F filings?

section 13(f) gives institutional managers 45 days after quarter-end to file their holdings report. the clock starts on the last day of the quarter, so the data is already up to 45 days old by the time it becomes public.

what quarter-end does each 13F cover?

the may filing covers Q1 (march 31), august covers Q2 (june 30), november covers Q3 (september 30), and february covers Q4 (december 31). the period-of-report field on the filing states the exact quarter-end date.

why do most funds file on the last day?

managers have little incentive to disclose early and every incentive to wait — filing on the deadline minimizes how long competitors can see and copy their positions. as a result, filings cluster heavily in the final days of each 45-day window.

what happens if a fund files its 13F late?

late or amended filings (13F-HR/A) do occur. they can correct errors or add positions that had confidential treatment. a late filing is worth watching because corrections often reveal exactly the data issues that distort the original.

13F filing deadlines: the 45-day rule and the quarterly calendar

the 45-day rule, the four quarterly deadlines, and why the most signal-dense filings land in the last hours of the window.

by hedgewatch researchpublished june 22, 20267 min read

13F filings are due 45 calendar days after the end of each quarter. that gives four predictable windows a year, with deadlines around may 15, august 14, november 14, and february 14. the 45-day rule is also why 13F data is always stale — and why the most signal-dense filings land in the last hours of each window, when funds file at the deadline to avoid tipping their hand.

// key_takeaways

→the rule: file within 45 days of each calendar quarter-end.
→standard deadlines: ~may 15, aug 14, nov 14, feb 14 (next business day if a weekend/holiday).
→the data is up to 45 days old the moment it's public.
→filings cluster at the deadline — the busiest hours are the most information-rich.

the_quarterly_calendar

The four 13F filing windows: quarter covered, the period-end date, and the standard 45-day deadline.
quarter	period ends	deadline (≈45 days)	covers
Q1	march 31	may 15	jan–mar holdings
Q2	june 30	august 14	apr–jun holdings
Q3	september 30	november 14	jul–sep holdings
Q4	december 31	february 14	oct–dec holdings

when a deadline falls on a weekend or federal holiday, it rolls to the next business day. the exact quarter is always stated in the filing's periodOfReport field — never assume it from the filing date alone.

why_the_45_day_lag_matters

the clock starts on the last day of the quarter, so by the time a filing is public the holdings are between 45 and roughly 135 days old. a fund could have exited a position you see as "current." this lag is the defining limitation of 13F-based analysis — covered in full in what 13F filings don't show.

the_deadline_clustering_effect

everyone files at once

managers gain nothing by filing early and lose edge by doing so — early disclosure just gives rivals more time to copy their book. so the overwhelming majority file in the last days, often the last hours, of the window. the result is a firehose of filings hitting EDGAR simultaneously around each deadline.

why that concentration is a signal window

that same crush is where data problems concentrate. when thousands of filings land in a narrow window, the ones using the pre-2023 thousands convention hide in the volume — real positions rendered 1,000× too small, buried under everything else filed that day. HedgeWatch's detector polls EDGAR every 60 seconds precisely so the deadline crush is read in real time rather than days later.

the most valuable hours of the 13F year are the deadline hours. that is when the most filings — and the most distortions — arrive at once, and when speed of reading matters most.

from_calendar_to_tracking

knowing the calendar is step one; turning it into an ongoing watch is step two. the workflow for catching new positions as they file — across many funds, in real time — is in how to track hedge fund positions.

faq

when are 13F filings due?: a 13F is due within 45 calendar days after the end of each calendar quarter. that puts the four standard deadlines around may 15, august 14, november 14, and february 14 — shifting to the next business day when the date falls on a weekend or holiday.
what is the 45-day rule for 13F filings?: section 13(f) gives institutional managers 45 days after quarter-end to file their holdings report. the clock starts on the last day of the quarter, so the data is already up to 45 days old by the time it becomes public.
what quarter-end does each 13F cover?: the may filing covers Q1 (march 31), august covers Q2 (june 30), november covers Q3 (september 30), and february covers Q4 (december 31). the period-of-report field on the filing states the exact quarter-end date.
why do most funds file on the last day?: managers have little incentive to disclose early and every incentive to wait — filing on the deadline minimizes how long competitors can see and copy their positions. as a result, filings cluster heavily in the final days of each 45-day window.
what happens if a fund files its 13F late?: late or amended filings (13F-HR/A) do occur. they can correct errors or add positions that had confidential treatment. a late filing is worth watching because corrections often reveal exactly the data issues that distort the original.

related_reading

get_access

hedgewatch reads every 13F-HR the second it files — detecting the unit-convention error that hides real institutional positions, and surfacing the true size with the filing receipts attached. access is invite-only and reviewed by hand.

or read the api reference and pricing.

// hedgewatch research

the hedgewatch research desk parses every 13F-HR filing on SEC EDGAR as it lands — comparing each holding's reported value against shares × quarter-end price. these guides come from reading the raw filings directly, not from secondary summaries.

this page is informational and educational only and does not constitute investment advice. all figures are derived from public SEC EDGAR filings; quarter-end prices are approximate. verify every figure against the primary filing before acting on it.