what are holdings 
the term holdings refers to the contents of an investment portfolio held by an individual or an entity such as a mutual fund holdings can be any type of investment product including stocks bonds mutual funds options futures and exchange traded funds etfs having multiple holdings or asset classes can help diversify an investor s investment portfolio holdings are acquired and disposed of by making trades notably by buying and selling them understanding holdingsas noted above holdings are assets that an investor buys and holds in their investment portfolio investors may be individuals or organizations such as mutual funds or pension funds assets that are classified as holdings can include stocks bonds mutual funds etfs options and derivatives among others the number and types of holdings within a portfolio contribute to its diversification diversification is a risk management strategy that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio a portfolio constructed of different assets on average yields higher long term returns and lowers the risk of any individual holding or security a well diversified portfolio contains a mix of distinct asset types and investment vehicles this may include a mix of stocks across different sectors bonds with different maturities and other investments a portfolio with concentrated holdings in a handful of stocks within a single sector is considered to be of very limited diversification the proportion of holdings within a portfolio has a significant impact on its overall return the performance of the largest holdings within the portfolio has a bigger influence on the overall portfolio return than any small or medium sized holdings in the portfolio an investor s investment strategy risk tolerance and goals often determine what holdings they have in their financial portfolio special considerationsretail investors routinely scour the lists of the holdings of top money managers to piggyback on their trades and hopefully their success investors may seek to replicate the trading activity of the most successful portfolio managers by buying stocks where the manager has initiated a long position or added significantly to an existing position and selling positions when the manager has exited a stake this strategy may not always be successful for the average investor given the considerable time lag between the time when the manager completes the trades and the time when the fund s holdings are made available to the general public the holdings of famous and smaller fund managers are published quarterly through a securities and exchange commission sec filing known as a 13f investors have 45 days until the end of the quarter to report their holdings for the previous quarter this requirement applies only to long stock positions however which means other holdings such as short positions options and foreign holdings are not disclosed holdings vs holding companiesinvestment holdings are different from holding companies a holding company holds the outstanding shares of other companies but doesn t provide other services such as the production of goods or services or engage in business directly rather it only serves as an ownership vehicle of other companies or investments sometimes when it is intended to be a pure holding company it identifies itself as such by adding the word holding or holdings at the end of its name berkshire hathaway is a famous example it started as a textile manufacturing company in the early nineteenth century while the company was successful in its first decades it suffered with the decline of the textile industry after world war i warren buffett began buying the company s stock in the 1960s with enough to take control and oust the owner since the company s last textile operation was shut down in 1985 berkshire hathaway became a holding company used to acquire hold and sell investments in other companies some of berkshire hathaway s key holdings include benjamin moore and geico 1in some cases investors may choose to create a limited liability company llc that can then own all of their investments they may do so to reduce their own exposure to risk minimize their taxes or pool their investments with other people such as business associates or family members 