What if you had copied Icahn Capital?
Carl Icahn
The verdict
Copying Icahn Capital's 13F filings from Feb 2020 would have turned $10,000 into $6,288, 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 −6.7% a year against +14.4% for the S&P 500, 21 points a year behind. Its worst fall was 66.4%, from Feb 15, 2023 to Apr 8, 2025. 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 Icahn Capital$6,288
- S&P 500$24,639
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded$10,120
If you had bought their first portfolio and never traded, you would have ended at $10,120, so following every move cost $3,831.
- $10,000 copied
- $6,288
- −37.1%, −6.7% a year
- In the S&P 500
- $24,639
- +146.4%, +14.4% a year
- No trading
- $10,120
- Bought their first portfolio and never traded
- Worst fall
- −66.4%
- Feb 15, 2023 to Apr 8, 2025
- Trades
- 46
- 29 buys, 17 sales over 27 filings; about 27% of the copy traded a year
The moves that made the most
- CVICvr Energy+$1,247
Held since Feb 2020, the stock up 94%
Held from Feb 2020 to May 2022, the stock up 69%
- LNGCheniere Energy+$796
Held from Feb 2020 to Aug 2023, the stock up 200%
- SWXSouthwest Gas+$219
Held from Nov 2021 to May 2026, the stock up 50%
- ECHOEchostar+$190
Held since Nov 2025, the stock up 51%
- UANCvr Partners+$157
Held since May 2024, the stock up 73%
The moves that cost the most
- IEPIcahn Enterprises−$6,668
Held since Feb 2020, the stock down 74%
- BHCBausch Health Cos−$511
Held from Feb 2021 to Nov 2025, the stock down 80%
- XRXXerox−$203
Held from Feb 2020 to Nov 2023, the stock down 50%
- NWLNewell Brands−$107
Held from Feb 2020 to May 2024, the stock down 49%
- HPQHP−$90
Held from Feb 2020 to Aug 2020, the stock down 18%
- CNDTConduent−$40
Held from Feb 2020 to Aug 2024, the stock down 26%
Year by year
| Year | Copy | S&P 500 | Gap, pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020from Feb 2020 | −14.5% | +13.1% | −27.6 |
| 2021 | +22.1% | +28.7% | −6.7 |
| 2022 | +23.1% | −18.2% | +41.3 |
| 2023 | −44.2% | +26.2% | −70.3 |
| 2024 | −27.7% | +24.9% | −52.6 |
| 2025 | +18.5% | +17.7% | +0.8 |
| 2026to Nov 2026 | +2.3% | +11.5% | −9.2 |
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.