Guides
How to get alerted when a hedge fund's new 13F posts, and act on it in your account
How to get alerted when a hedge fund's new 13F posts, and act on it in your account.
I'm Chris, one of the co-founders of Autopilot. An alert tells you something happened. It doesn't do anything about it. Most people who want 13F alerts actually want the second part, so here's both.
One thing first, because we're an SEC-registered investment adviser and I have to say it. Autopilot is the app. The actual investment advice comes from Autopilot Advisers, LLC. If you want the full legal version of anything in here, it's on our disclaimer page.
When filings land, and how to watch for them
Institutional managers over the reporting threshold file a Form 13F within 45 days of each calendar quarter's end. That puts the deadlines in mid-February, mid-May, mid-August and mid-November, and plenty of firms file on the last possible day.
EDGAR is the primary source and it's free. You can pull a firm's filing history by its CIK number, and EDGAR offers full-text search and RSS feeds you can subscribe to. If you want alerts and nothing else, that's the free, first-party way to get them, and I'd rather tell you that than pretend you need us for it.
How to read one once it arrives is in How to read a 13F filing, and what the form does and doesn't include is in What's a 13F, and can you actually see what Warren Buffett bought last quarter?.
The part an alert doesn't solve
You get the alert. Now you have to open the filing, work out what changed since last quarter, decide what that means in your own proportions, place the trades, and remember to do the same thing in three months. Most people do this once and then don't.
That gap between knowing and doing is the entire reason a tracker Portfolio exists.
What following does instead
You pick a tracker Portfolio built on a firm's filings. When a new filing posts, the Portfolio updates and your account follows it. You give Autopilot Advisers limited authority to send orders to the account you already have. When the Portfolio changes, we send them and your broker fills them. The money stays put.
No alert to act on, because the acting is the product. What the Portfolios are and which firms they cover is in The hedge fund and Wall Street Portfolios.
The delay, said out loud
Nothing here beats the filing calendar. A 13F can be filed 45 or more days after the quarter closes, so the position you follow is one the manager may have already changed. Anyone offering you a fund's trades faster than the filing is not working from public information. That's true of an alert, a tracker and a table alike.
Frequently asked questions
13F filing alert app
EDGAR itself offers full-text search and RSS feeds, free, and that's the primary source. What an alert can't do is act on the filing, which is what a tracker Portfolio does.
app that trades when a new 13F is filed
That's what a tracker Portfolio on Autopilot does. When a new filing posts the Portfolio updates and your account follows it in the brokerage you already have.
How do I know when a hedge fund files a new 13F?
Watch the firm's CIK on EDGAR, or subscribe to its filing feed. Deadlines fall 45 days after each quarter ends, so mid-February, mid-May, mid-August and mid-November.
When are 13F filings due?
Within 45 days of the end of each calendar quarter. Many firms file on the final day, which is why the whole market of trackers moves at once in those weeks.
Since Autopilot Advisers is an SEC-registered investment adviser, we have to put disclaimers on stuff like this. They're below, and the full version is on our disclaimer page.
Disclosures
© Autopilot Holdings Corporation 2026 — All rights reserved. “Autopilot” refers to Autopilot Holdings Corporation and its wholly-owned, and separately managed subsidiaries, including Autopilot Advisers, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. All investing is subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal invested, and past performance is not indicative of future results. View our Customer Relationship Summary and other important information at joinautopilot.com/disclaimer.
This information is provided by Autopilot for educational and illustrative purposes only and is not a recommendation, an offer to sell or the solicitation to buy any security. Autopilot relies on information from various sources believed to be reliable, including information from Clients, Pilots and other third parties, but cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of that information. Autopilot does not provide tax or legal advice and you are encouraged to consult with professionals before making investment decisions.
Autopilot is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by the companies listed, described, or featured on its site. Company logos or trademarks used do not imply endorsement and are the property of their respective owners.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. You should carefully consider your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and time horizon before investing through Autopilot.
Autopilot Advisers, LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Additional information about Autopilot is available in our Form ADV Part 2A, available at adviserinfo.sec.gov or joinautopilot.com/adv.
Autopilot provides limited investment advisory services focused on Portfolio selection and suitability assessment. Our services are not intended to replace comprehensive financial planning. We recommend consulting with a qualified financial advisor regarding your complete financial situation.
This content is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment, legal, or tax advice and should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision. You should consult with qualified professionals regarding your specific circumstances.
Autopilot does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. You should consult with qualified tax and legal professionals regarding your specific circumstances.
Autopilot does not hold client assets. All investments are held at the brokerage firm you select and connect to Autopilot. Your brokerage firm is responsible for trade execution, custody, and reporting. Autopilot is not responsible for your broker-dealer’s services, fees, or execution quality.
Autopilot’s services depend on technology systems, third-party APIs, and internet connectivity. System outages, API disruptions, or connectivity issues may temporarily affect service availability or trade execution timing.
Client account holdings are designed to track the Portfolio you’ve selected, but your actual holdings and performance may differ from the Portfolio due to execution timing, market conditions, brokerage capacity constraints, fractional share availability, and other factors outside Autopilot’s control.
For Portfolios inspired by publicly disclosed trading activity, there may be a delay between when a Pilot executes a trade and when that trade becomes publicly available and is incorporated into the Portfolio. This timing delay may affect the suitability or performance of trades when executed in client accounts.
Form 13F filings are public documents published by the SEC. Autopilot's tracker Portfolios are created and managed by Autopilot Advisers, LLC from those public filings; the firms described do not manage these Portfolios and have no relationship with Autopilot or its clients. References to disclosed positions describe public filings and are not a performance claim or a recommendation.