Should you copy Berkshire's portfolio?

Every quarter Berkshire Hathaway files a Form 13F listing its US-listed stock holdings. Apps and websites turn it into a ready-made portfolio. It's tempting: why not simply own what Buffett owns?

Four problems with copying

It's late. A 13F can be filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends, so the positions you see may be nearly five months old by the time you act, and Berkshire may already have changed them.

It's not all Buffett. Since 2010 investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler have run part of the portfolio, and the filing doesn't say who chose what. Greg Abel became chief executive in January 2026.

It's missing context. You don't see the price Berkshire paid, why it bought, whether it's trimming, or what it owns outside US shares. The largest part of Berkshire, its wholly owned businesses like BNSF and its insurers, doesn't appear at all.

It's built for someone else. Berkshire's holdings reflect the constraints of a company with hundreds of billions to invest. That's a very different problem from yours.

What to use it for instead

The 13F is a good reading list. A company Berkshire has held for years has passed serious scrutiny, and studying why can teach you a lot. Use it to find businesses to research, then do the research: understand how the company makes money, check whether the moat shows up in the numbers, value it, and decide whether the price leaves you a margin of safety at your own scale.

Replicly's Berkshire tracker shows the latest filing with changes since the previous quarter, and links each holding to a Buffett-style analysis so you can do exactly that.