Top holdings

Top holdings are the largest positions in a fund's portfolio ranked by weight, most often the top ten, as disclosed in the factsheet or monthly holdings file. Each entry gives the security name, its percentage of net assets and, in better disclosures, the security's own ISIN. The combined weight of the top ten is a quick concentration gauge: it may be under 15% for a broad global index fund and above 50% for a concentrated active equity fund.

ETFs typically publish their full holdings daily; actively managed funds usually disclose only the top ten monthly, with the full list appearing in semi-annual reports.

Why it matters

Holdings tell you what a fund actually owns rather than what its name suggests. They are the raw material for portfolio look-through, for overlap analysis between funds, for concentration limits in compliance monitoring and for explaining performance to clients. Many global and US equity funds share the same largest positions, so overlap between apparently different products is common.

In the API

The holdings list is returned as topHoldings, with the total position count and a concentration summary alongside.

json
{
  "topHoldings": [
    { "name": "Example Corp", "weight": 4.9, "isin": "US0000000001" },
    { "name": "Sample Holdings plc", "weight": 3.7 }
  ],
  "keyFacts": { "holdings": 1350 },
  "profile": { "concentration": "diversified" }
}

Example values. Weights are percentages of net assets as of dataAsOf; isin is present only when the fund house publishes it. See the ETF holdings API guide for aggregation code.

Common pitfalls

• For synthetic ETFs the listed holdings may be the substitute basket, not the index. Check the replication method.
• Funds of funds list underlying funds, so a second level of look-through is needed to reach securities.