Coattail Investing

What Does Coattail Investing Mean?
An investment strategy in which investors mimic the trades of well-known and historically successful investors. 

Investopedia explains Coattail Investing
This copycat investing can be very good - why not follow the best?  This investing strategy works the best when the money manager or institution being mimicked buys companies with a buy-and-hold mentality.  If the manager is buying the company for a short period of time, the delay between the purchase and the release of the information to the public may render the particular purchase a bad one. However, many money managers buy companies with a buy-and-hold mindset.