What if you had copied Bridgewater Associates?
Founded by Ray Dalio
The verdict
Copying Bridgewater Associates's 13F filings from Feb 2020 would have turned $10,000 into $18,035, less than the S&P 500 did.
The S&P 500 turned the same $10,000 into $24,576 over the same days. The copy returned +9.2% a year against +14.3% for the S&P 500, 5.1 points a year behind. Its worst fall was 29.9%, from Feb 19, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020. The S&P 500's worst fall over the test was 33.7%.
Copied Feb 14, 2020 to Nov 9, 2026 · SEC 13F filings and daily closes
What $10,000 became
- Copying Bridgewater Associates$18,035
- S&P 500$24,576
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded$19,900
If you had bought their first portfolio and never traded, you would have ended at $19,900, so following every move cost $1,865.
- $10,000 copied
- $18,035
- +80.4%, +9.2% a year
- In the S&P 500
- $24,576
- +145.8%, +14.3% a year
- No trading
- $19,900
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded
- Worst fall
- −29.9%
- Feb 19, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020
- Trades
- 542
- 296 buys, 246 sales over 27 filings; about 77% of the copy traded a year
The moves that made the most
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 146%
- IVViShares Core S&P 500 ETF+$1,057
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 146%
- GOOGLAlphabet+$572
Held since Aug 2022, the stock up 94%
Held since May 2024, the stock up 219%
- COSTCostco Wholesale+$465
Held from Nov 2020 to Feb 2025, the stock up 205%
- NVDANVIDIA+$441
Held since Feb 2024, the stock up 147%
The moves that cost the most
- BABAAlibaba−$354
Held from Feb 2020 to Aug 2025, the stock down 57%
- CRMSalesforce−$171
Held from Aug 2024 to May 2026, the stock down 31%
- ADBEAdobe−$167
Held from Feb 2025 to May 2026, the stock down 44%
Held from Feb 2020 to Nov 2024, the stock down 36%
- NOWServiceNow−$150
Held from May 2025 to May 2026, the stock down 50%
- FISVFiserv−$135
Held from Feb 2024 to Feb 2026, the stock down 57%
Year by year
| Year | Copy | S&P 500 | Gap, pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020from Feb 2020 | +9.5% | +12.8% | −3.3 |
| 2021 | +8.2% | +28.7% | −20.6 |
| 2022 | −10.0% | −18.2% | +8.2 |
| 2023 | +11.4% | +26.2% | −14.8 |
| 2024 | +19.0% | +24.9% | −5.8 |
| 2025 | +18.5% | +17.7% | +0.8 |
| 2026to Nov 2026 | +7.7% | +11.5% | −3.7 |
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.