What if you had copied Gates Foundation Trust?
Gates Foundation endowment
The verdict
Copying Gates Foundation Trust's 13F filings from Feb 2020 would have turned $10,000 into $23,265, 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 +13.4% a year against +14.4% for the S&P 500, 1.0 points a year behind. Its worst fall was 28.2%, from Feb 21, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020. 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 Gates Foundation Trust$23,265
- S&P 500$24,639
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded$25,200
If you had bought their first portfolio and never traded, you would have ended at $25,200, so following every move cost $1,935.
- $10,000 copied
- $23,265
- +132.6%, +13.4% a year
- In the S&P 500
- $24,639
- +146.4%, +14.4% a year
- No trading
- $25,200
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded
- Worst fall
- −28.2%
- Feb 21, 2020 to Mar 23, 2020
- Trades
- 108
- 66 buys, 42 sales over 27 filings; about 29% of the copy traded a year
The moves that made the most
- BRK.BBerkshire Hathaway+$3,909
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 154%
- MSFTMicrosoft+$3,154
Held from Nov 2021 to May 2026, the stock up 29%
- WMWaste Management+$1,805
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 110%
- CATCaterpillar+$1,163
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 397%
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 56%
- DEDeere+$685
Held since Nov 2021, the stock up 104%
The moves that cost the most
- SDGRSchrodinger−$186
Held since May 2020, the stock down 43%
- CPNGCoupang−$98
Held since May 2021, the stock down 56%
Held from Feb 2020 to May 2022, the stock down 20%
- HRLHormel Foods−$13
Held since Feb 2023, the stock down 43%
Held since Aug 2026, the stock down 10%
Held since Nov 2022, the stock down 19%
Year by year
| Year | Copy | S&P 500 | Gap, pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020from Feb 2020 | +8.1% | +13.1% | −5.0 |
| 2021 | +21.3% | +28.7% | −7.4 |
| 2022 | −1.1% | −18.2% | +17.1 |
| 2023 | +26.2% | +26.2% | 0.0 |
| 2024 | +10.5% | +24.9% | −14.4 |
| 2025 | +15.1% | +17.7% | −2.6 |
| 2026to Nov 2026 | +11.8% | +11.5% | +0.3 |
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.