How to Copy Warren Buffett's Portfolio (and Whether You Should)

Updated Oct 28, 2026 · 3 min read

Berkshire Hathaway has to publish its US stock holdings every quarter in a 13F filing, so anyone can see what it owns. Copying it sounds simple: buy the same stocks in the same proportions. Here's how to do it properly, and the honest answer on whether it's worth it.

Step 1: get the latest holdings

Our Warren Buffett portfolio page shows Berkshire's latest 13F: every position, its weight, and what changed since the previous quarter. The filing usually lands in mid-February, May, August and November.

Step 2: decide what to copy

Berkshire's portfolio is highly concentrated: the top five holdings are typically well over half of it. Most people copy the top 10 and scale the weights so they add up to 100%. Copying all of it adds dozens of tiny positions that barely move results but add trading costs.

Step 3: rebalance when a new 13F arrives

Buy and sell only when a new filing changes the picture, about four times a year. Trading more often adds cost and tax without adding information.

The catches

• It's old news. You're buying what Berkshire held up to 45 days before the filing, and sometimes months before that.
• It's not the whole of Berkshire. The 13F excludes its wholly owned businesses (insurance, railroads, energy), its large cash pile and its non-US holdings. A copy portfolio is a stock-picking strategy, not "Berkshire".
• Concentration cuts both ways. A single holding can be over 20% of a copy portfolio.
• Taxes. Each rebalance can realise gains. In Portugal those are taxed at 28%; other countries differ.

Does it beat the S&P 500?

We replayed copying Berkshire's top 10 the day after each 13F became public, after trading costs, including companies that were later sold or delisted. You can see the full result, year by year, on the Copy Berkshire backtest. In our tests it hasn't reliably beaten a plain S&P 500 index fund, and our verdict is "not proven". That's an important finding in itself: the famous name doesn't guarantee a better result than the simplest alternative.

A better way to try it

If you still want to follow Buffett, do it with paper money first. SignalTested runs a live Copy Berkshire paper portfolio so you can watch how it actually performs from today, with no money at risk, before deciding.