There is a lot of misconception that the process of cloning means following a superinvestor blindly into a position. Even Mohnish Pabrai, the great shameless cloner, advises against this.
“Cloning is simply a starting point of beginning research. Cloning is not that you go to dataroma and 5 minutes later you put in a buy order. You would get your head handed to you in that scenario more likely than not. And from my vantage point you would deserve to have your head handed to you.”
Mohnish Pabrai
There are many filters(low PE, 52 week low, etc.) that narrow your investing universe. I simply choose the cloning filter because it can help reduce your error rate by choosing only stocks that have already ran through a superinvestors rigorous filter. This is a starting point!!! You have to do your own research to gain conviction in the position. This is imperative in weathering any downturns.
However, assuming that you found the right superinvestor and you have the necessary behavioral traits to systematize the portfolio(yes, these are both heroic assumptions), you could probably still do well by blindly cloning them. This is evident through the performance of Pabrai’s “Shameless Cloner Portfolio” and the Berkshire backtest study https://www.valuewalk.com/2016/03/imitation-sincerest-form-flattery-warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway/
But that’s no fun.
The Rational Cloner 