According to the SEC, “the purpose of this disclosure requirement is to collect and disseminate to the public information about the holdings and investment activities of institutional money managers in order to assist investors, issuers and government regulators.” (In the Matter of Quattro Capital Management, LLC, August 15, 2007)

In the Quattro release, the SEC also stated the goal of Section 13(f) is to create a central depository of historical and current data about the investment activities of institutional investment managers. The information is gathered to assist investors and government regulators. Such information is valuable to the SEC because it allows the SEC to analyze the influence and impact of institutional investment managers on the securities markets. The SEC can use the information to determine changes in public policy and the implications of the influence institutional investment managers can have.

According to the instructions on Form 13F, “the purpose of Form 13F is to provide a reporting and disclosure system to collect specific information and to disseminate such information to the public about the holdings of institutional investment managers who exercise investment discretion over certain accounts of equity securities … (generally, exchange traded or NASDAQ-quoted securities) having, in the aggregate, a fair market value of at least $100,000,000. [The SEC] believe[s] that investors will find Form 13F report information useful in tracking institutional investor holdings in their investments and that issuers, too, will find detail as to institutional investor holdings useful because much of their shareholder list may reflect holdings in ‘street name’ rather than beneficial ownership.”