What if you had copied Altimeter Capital?
Brad Gerstner
The verdict
Copying Altimeter Capital's 13F filings from Feb 2020 would have turned $10,000 into $12,769, less than the S&P 500 did.
The S&P 500 turned the same $10,000 into $24,639 over the same days. The copy returned +3.7% a year against +14.4% for the S&P 500, 11 points a year behind. Its worst fall was 67.8%, from Nov 16, 2021 to Jan 5, 2023. The S&P 500's worst fall over the test was 33.7%.
Copied Feb 18, 2020 to Nov 9, 2026 · SEC 13F filings and daily closes
What $10,000 became
- Copying Altimeter Capital$12,769
- S&P 500$24,639
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded$19,138
If you had bought their first portfolio and never traded, you would have ended at $19,137, so following every move cost $6,369.
- $10,000 copied
- $12,769
- +27.7%, +3.7% a year
- In the S&P 500
- $24,639
- +146.4%, +14.4% a year
- No trading
- $19,137
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded
- Worst fall
- −67.8%
- Nov 16, 2021 to Jan 5, 2023
- Trades
- 228
- 124 buys, 104 sales over 29 filings; about 78% of the copy traded a year
The moves that made the most
- NVDANVIDIA+$2,267
Held since Feb 2023, the stock up 688%
- METAMeta Platforms+$1,622
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 197%
- UBERUber Technologies+$1,487
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 77%
- PDDPdd Holdings+$1,378
Held from Feb 2020 to Feb 2026, the stock up 43%
- MSFTMicrosoft+$828
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 209%
- AMZNAmazon.com+$424
Held since May 2020, the stock up 150%
The moves that cost the most
- CBRSCerebras Systems−$1,639
Held since Aug 2026, the stock down 62%
- UALUnited Airlines−$1,151
Held from Feb 2020 to Aug 2022, the stock down 45%
Held from May 2020 to Feb 2022, the stock down 48%
- SNOWSnowflake−$577
Held since Nov 2020
Held from Feb 2021 to May 2023, the stock down 95%
- CRWVCoreweave−$459
Held since May 2025, the stock down 52%
Year by year
| Year | Copy | S&P 500 | Gap, pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020from Feb 2020 | +35.2% | +13.1% | +22.1 |
| 2021 | +6.2% | +28.7% | −22.5 |
| 2022 | −57.8% | −18.2% | −39.6 |
| 2023 | +68.0% | +26.2% | +41.8 |
| 2024 | +15.9% | +24.9% | −9.0 |
| 2025 | +29.8% | +17.7% | +12.1 |
| 2026to Nov 2026 | −16.6% | +11.5% | −28.1 |
A historical test on paper, before costs and taxes. It trades at the close of the first trading day after each filing comes out, up to 45 days after the quarter, and skips delisted companies, which flatters it.