What if you had copied Elliott Investment Management?
Paul Singer
The verdict
Copying Elliott Investment Management's 13F filings from May 2020 would have turned $10,000 into $77,883, more than the S&P 500 did.
The S&P 500 turned the same $10,000 into $27,960 over the same days. The copy returned +37.3% a year against +17.2% for the S&P 500, 20 points a year ahead. Its worst fall was 23.6%, from Jun 7, 2022 to Jul 5, 2022. The S&P 500's worst fall over the test was 24.5%.
Copied May 18, 2020 to Nov 9, 2026 · SEC 13F filings and daily closes
What $10,000 became
- Copying Elliott Investment Management$77,883
- S&P 500$27,960
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded$77,216
If you had bought their first portfolio and never traded, you would have ended at $77,216, so following every move earned $666 more.
- $10,000 copied
- $77,883
- +678.8%, +37.3% a year
- In the S&P 500
- $27,960
- +179.6%, +17.2% a year
- No trading
- $77,216
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded
- Worst fall
- −23.6%
- Jun 7, 2022 to Jul 5, 2022
- Trades
- 163
- 90 buys, 73 sales over 29 filings; about 65% of the copy traded a year
The moves that made the most
- TFPMTriple Flag Precious Met+$13,695
Held since Nov 2022, the stock up 205%
- PSXPhillips 66+$11,205
Held since Aug 2023, the stock up 149%
- MPCMarathon Petroleum+$7,454
Held from May 2020 to Nov 2024, the stock up 423%
- SUSuncor Energy+$6,826
Held since May 2022, the stock up 108%
- HWMHowmet Aerospace+$5,367
Held from Aug 2020 to Aug 2025, the stock up 900%
- DELLDell Technologies+$5,365
Held from May 2020 to May 2022, the stock up 112%
The moves that cost the most
- UNITUniti−$1,209
Held since Nov 2025, the stock down 30%
Held from Feb 2024 to Aug 2025, the stock down 35%
- RIGTransocean−$310
Held since May 2024, the stock down 66%
- PYPLPayPal−$195
Held from Aug 2022 to Aug 2023, the stock down 42%
- BILL−$175
Held from Nov 2025 to May 2026, the stock down 22%
- SDRLSeadrill−$163
Held since Aug 2023, the stock down 13%
Year by year
| Year | Copy | S&P 500 | Gap, pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020from May 2020 | +50.8% | +28.4% | +22.4 |
| 2021 | +44.5% | +28.7% | +15.7 |
| 2022 | +41.0% | −18.2% | +59.2 |
| 2023 | +20.9% | +26.2% | −5.3 |
| 2024 | +10.8% | +24.9% | −14.1 |
| 2025 | +48.5% | +17.7% | +30.8 |
| 2026to Nov 2026 | +27.4% | +11.5% | +16.0 |
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.