Superinvestor Portfolio: What the Data Tells Value Investors
A superinvestor portfolio is a stock portfolio managed by a fund manager with a long-term track record of beating broad market indices through fundamental value analysis. The term comes from Warren Buffett's 1984 essay documenting nine such managers, all trained under Benjamin Graham, who each outperformed the S&P 500 over periods ranging from 13 to 28 years. Understanding how these portfolios are actually constructed, what they hold, how concentrated they are, and how they turn over, tells you more about building a sound investment portfolio than most textbooks on the subject.
This post analyzes the structural data behind superinvestor portfolios, from the original Graham-trained managers through to the 13-F filings of their successors today.
Key Takeaways
- Superinvestor portfolios are typically highly concentrated, with the top 5 holdings representing 40% to 80% of total assets.
- Annual portfolio turnover is low, generally below 20%, reflecting hold periods of 3 to 10 years on individual positions.
- Sector allocation tilts heavily toward consumer staples, financials, and healthcare, away from speculative technology and commodities.
- The aggregate 13-F data across major superinvestor-style funds shows consistent overweighting of low P/E, high ROIC businesses.
- Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, the most scrutinized superinvestor portfolio in history, has returned 19.8% annually since 1965 against the S&P 500's 10.2%.
- The ValueMarkers guru tracker aggregates current 13-F holdings from superinvestor-style managers across 73 global exchanges.
How to Write a Portfolio Analysis Report
Before analyzing superinvestor portfolios, it helps to understand what a rigorous portfolio analysis report contains. Professional reports examining a superinvestor portfolio typically cover:
Composition analysis: What are the current holdings, their sizes as a percentage of the portfolio, and how have those sizes changed over the past 4-8 quarters?
Valuation snapshot: What is the weighted average P/E, P/B, EV/EBITDA, and free cash flow yield across the portfolio?
Quality metrics: What is the weighted average ROIC, return on equity, and Piotroski F-Score across holdings?
Concentration and diversification: What percentage of the portfolio do the top 5, 10, and 15 positions represent?
Sector and geographic allocation: How is the portfolio distributed across sectors and geographies relative to the benchmark?
Turnover analysis: What did the manager buy, add to, trim, or exit in the most recent quarter?
Running this analysis on a quarterly 13-F filing takes approximately 30 minutes with a structured data source. We built the ValueMarkers guru tracker to make this analysis available without requiring you to manually parse SEC filings.
The Structure of a Classic Superinvestor Portfolio
The portfolio structures Buffett documented in 1984 were strikingly different from what modern portfolio theory recommends.
| Manager | Approximate Holdings | Top 3 Position Weight | Annual Turnover |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Buffett (Partnership era) | 7-15 names | 60-75% | 10-15% |
| Charlie Munger (Wheeler Munger) | 3-8 names | 70-80% | 5-10% |
| Walter Schloss | 80-100 names | 15-20% | 15-25% |
| Bill Ruane (Sequoia) | 12-20 names | 50-65% | 15-20% |
| Rick Guerin (Pacific Partners) | 10-20 names | 45-60% | 20-30% |
The outlier is Schloss, who held 80-100 names. His diversification was not a concession to portfolio theory. It was a response to his research process: he bought cheap assets quickly and held them until they were no longer cheap, without spending time visiting management or modeling business fundamentals in depth. His breadth was a function of his edge (statistical cheapness) rather than risk management.
Munger's 3-8 name portfolio is the extreme case on the other end. During 1973-74, Wheeler Munger fell roughly 31% as concentrated positions declined. Munger did not exit. The subsequent recovery produced returns that more than compensated for the drawdown. The lesson is not that concentration is always right but that it is only defensible when position sizing reflects deep analytical conviction.
Berkshire Hathaway: The Most Documented Superinvestor Portfolio
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) is the most scrutinized superinvestor portfolio in history and the longest-running. From 1965 to 2025, Berkshire's per-share book value compounded at 19.8% annually against the S&P 500's 10.2%, generating cumulative returns of approximately 5,500,000% against the S&P 500's 39,000%.
The portfolio's current composition, as of the most recent 13-F filings, shows:
| Position | Approximate % of Portfolio | Key Fundamental |
|---|---|---|
| Apple (AAPL) | 41% | P/E 28.3, ROIC 45.1% |
| American Express (AXP) | 14% | P/E 18.2, ROE 32% |
| Bank of America (BAC) | 11% | P/B 1.1, dividend yield 2.5% |
| Coca-Cola (KO) | 9% | P/E 23.7, yield 3.0%, 60+ year dividend streak |
| Chevron (CVX) | 5% | P/E 12.4, yield 4.1% |
| All others | 20% | Mixed |
Berkshire itself trades at a P/E near 9.8 and P/B near 1.5. Buffett has stated that he considers BRK.B a buy below 1.2 times book value, making the P/B his personal margin of safety threshold for his own conglomerate.
The AAPL concentration (41%) is the most discussed aspect of the portfolio. At P/E 28.3 and ROIC 45.1%, Apple does not meet classic Graham entry criteria, but it reflects Munger's influence: pay a fair price for an exceptional business with durable competitive advantages rather than a bargain price for a mediocre one. Berkshire's Apple position generated approximately $3.5 billion in dividends in 2025 on a cost basis of roughly $31 billion, a yield on cost above 11%.
What Aggregate 13-F Data Shows About Sector Tilts
When you aggregate the 13-F holdings of the top 20 superinvestor-style funds by assets under management, a consistent sector pattern emerges. Value-oriented managers systematically overweight certain sectors relative to their market-cap weights in the S&P 500.
| Sector | S&P 500 Weight | Superinvestor Average Weight | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Staples | 5.9% | 14.2% | +8.3% |
| Financials | 13.2% | 21.8% | +8.6% |
| Healthcare | 12.1% | 16.4% | +4.3% |
| Energy | 4.0% | 7.1% | +3.1% |
| Technology | 29.8% | 16.2% | -13.6% |
| Communication Services | 8.6% | 4.1% | -4.5% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 10.2% | 7.8% | -2.4% |
The technology underweight is the most striking. At a broad market P/E in excess of 30 for the sector, value investors consistently find better combinations of price, earnings power, and balance sheet quality in consumer staples, financials, and healthcare.
Coca-Cola (KO) is the archetype. At a P/E of 23.7 and a dividend yield of 3.0%, KO sits at a P/E above Graham's 15x ceiling, but it compensates through a 60-plus year dividend growth streak, pricing power, and a return on equity near 42%. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) at a P/E of 15.4 and dividend yield of 3.1% fits the classic template more precisely and appears in multiple superinvestor-style portfolios.
How to Start Building a Stock Portfolio Using Superinvestor Methods
Building a superinvestor-style portfolio from scratch requires a process, not a stock tip. Here is the sequence:
Step 1: Define your universe. Start with the 13-F filings of 5 to 10 superinvestor-style managers whose philosophy you understand. Positions they share across multiple funds are worth deeper analysis.
Step 2: Apply the valuation screen. For each shared position, calculate the current P/E, Graham Number, and free cash flow yield. Eliminate anything trading above the Graham Number or with a P/E above 20, unless the ROIC justifies a quality premium.
Step 3: Run the quality filters. Check the Piotroski F-Score (require 7 or above), ROIC (require 10%+ for five consecutive years), and debt-to-equity (require below 0.7 for non-financial companies).
Step 4: Estimate intrinsic value. Build a conservative DCF model using normalized free cash flow, a 6-8% growth rate for stable businesses, and a 10-12% discount rate. The ValueMarkers DCF calculator runs four model variants to show you the range of intrinsic value estimates.
Step 5: Set position sizes by conviction. If your top idea passes every filter and trades at a 40%+ discount to your intrinsic value estimate, a 15-20% position is defensible. A marginal pass at a 15% discount warrants 5-8%.
Step 6: Define sell criteria before you buy. Superinvestors sell when the stock reaches intrinsic value, when the fundamental thesis changes, or when a significantly better opportunity appears. Price alone is not a sell signal.
How to Build a Million Dollar Stock Portfolio
The math of compounding is the answer. A $100,000 starting portfolio compounding at 15% annually for 20 years becomes $1.6 million. At 20% annually for the same period, it becomes $3.8 million. The superinvestors' records suggest 15-20% annual returns are achievable for disciplined investors over full market cycles, though past performance from this specific group may not reflect what a single investor can achieve.
The structural requirements are: low turnover (which minimizes taxes and transaction costs), concentration in high-conviction ideas (which prevents return dilution), and genuine patience through multi-year periods of underperformance relative to momentum-driven markets. The behavioral requirements are harder than the analytical ones.
Walter Schloss compounded at 21.3% for 28 years starting from a small base. His ending assets were substantial but not because of a single great year. It was 28 consecutive years of applying the same filters and holding positions long enough for intrinsic value to be realized.
Further reading: SEC EDGAR · Investopedia
Why 13-f filings value investors Matters
This section anchors the discussion on 13-f filings value investors. The detailed treatment, formula, and worked examples appear in the body of this article above. The points below summarize the most important takeaways for value investors who want to apply 13-f filings value investors in real portfolio decisions. ValueMarkers exposes the underlying data on every covered ticker via the screener and stock profile pages, so the concepts in this article translate directly into actionable filters.
Key inputs for 13-f filings value investors
See the main discussion of 13-f filings value investors in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using 13-f filings value investors alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.
Sector benchmarks for 13-f filings value investors
See the main discussion of 13-f filings value investors in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using 13-f filings value investors alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.
Related ValueMarkers Resources
- Pe Ratio — Glossary entry for Pe Ratio
- DCF Intrinsic Value — DCF captures how cheaply a stock trades relative to its fundamentals
- Graham Number — Graham Number captures how cheaply a stock trades relative to its fundamentals
- The Superinvestors Of Graham And Doddsville — related ValueMarkers analysis
- Superinvestors Of Graham And Doddsville — related ValueMarkers analysis
- Inventory Turnover Ratio — related ValueMarkers analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
how to write a portfolio analysis report
A portfolio analysis report covers composition (holdings and weights), valuation (weighted average P/E, P/B, free cash flow yield), quality (weighted average ROIC and Piotroski score), concentration (top 5 and top 10 position weights as a percentage of total), sector and geographic allocation versus a benchmark, and turnover (what changed quarter over quarter). For a superinvestor portfolio, you also include a narrative on the manager's stated thesis for each major position.
how to start building a stock portfolio
Start by defining a watchlist from 13-F filings of superinvestor-style managers you have studied. Screen each name for a P/E below 15, a price below the Graham Number, and a Piotroski F-Score of 7 or above. Estimate intrinsic value using a conservative DCF model. Buy only when the current price represents at least a 30% discount to your intrinsic value estimate, and hold until the discount closes.
how to build a strong stock portfolio
A strong stock portfolio in the superinvestor tradition holds 8 to 15 positions with concentration in the top 5 ideas, buys only at a significant discount to estimated intrinsic value, and turns over less than 20% annually. The quality filter is as important as the valuation filter. A cheap stock in a deteriorating business is a value trap. A quality business at a fair price, the Munger evolution of Graham's method, compounds reliably over decades.
how to build a stock market portfolio
Building a stock market portfolio requires three decisions: what to buy, how much to buy, and when to sell. Superinvestors answer the first question with fundamental screening (low P/E, high quality), the second with conviction-weighted position sizing (bigger positions in higher-conviction ideas), and the third with intrinsic value targets rather than price targets. The ValueMarkers screener applies 120+ indicators to help with the first decision across 73 global exchanges.
how to build a million dollar stock portfolio
A million-dollar portfolio is a compounding problem, not a stock-picking problem. Starting with $50,000 and compounding at 15% annually for 25 years produces $1.65 million. The superinvestors achieved rates in that range through low turnover, concentration, and buying below intrinsic value. The behavioral requirement is holding through 2-3 year periods of underperformance without abandoning the process.
how to build a stock portfolio in excel
In Excel, start with a table tracking each holding's ticker, shares held, cost basis, current price, and market value. Add calculated columns for current P/E, Graham Number, Piotroski score, ROIC, and your estimated intrinsic value. A column showing the discount or premium to intrinsic value at the current price tells you whether each position is at buy, hold, or sell territory. Conditional formatting on the discount column flags positions that have reached or exceeded intrinsic value.
Track the current 13-F holdings of superinvestor-style fund managers and apply their filters across 73 global exchanges through the ValueMarkers guru tracker.
Written by Javier Sanz, Founder of ValueMarkers. Last updated April 2026.
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Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.