You invested in a mutual fund five years ago. Then the fund house came out with an New Fund Offer and you bought into it. You have also invested in a fixed maturity plan from the asset management company. Plus there is this systematic investment plan in a tax plan. Result: you have four different folios for investments in the same mutual fund. And four times the paperwork to do as well.
But there is hope. You can merge the four different investments into a single folio number. This will not only reduce your paperwork but help you get a better idea of your investments by presenting a consolidated picture. Multiple folios mean multiple headaches. Bringing everything under one umbrella will make life much simpler.
The benefits don't end there. If you wish to alter your personal data—such as a change of bank account or your postal address—you don't need to submit four different applications. Just one missive will be enough. For instance, from 1 January 2011, all investments in mutual funds will have to comply with the know-your customer (KYC) rules.
However, consolidation of folios is possible only for investments in the same fund house. Also, the details provided in all accounts must match. If one folio has a different bank account, it won't be merged. If there are multiple unit holders, their names should also be in the same order.
Besides, you can get a consolidated statement for all the funds that are registered with CAMS, Karvy and FTAMIL. You only need to provide the email ID mentioned by you in the application form at the time of investing to access the statement.
Here's how to go about it: log in to www.camsonline.com and click on online service for investors. Then click on "Manage your portfolio" and submit your email address and password. Within minutes you will receive an email. For opening the link, you need the password you keyed in while filling up the online form. Once this is done, you get a consolidated list of your investments.
These details are updated daily and is a 24x7 service. However, there is a limit of three statement requests in a day and 15 requests in a month per email ID.
Also, this will only be available for the funds where you have provided your email address. If you have missed out on this detail, get it registered with the respective fund house. A senior CAMS official says the service has got a good response from investors. From 10,000-15,000 requests a month in 2009, the company is now getting nearly 2 lakh requests a month.
3 steps to consolidation
Know your folio— A unique 10-digit number corresponding to investments made in a mutual fund.
Club all folios so that:
• You get a consolidated record of investments.
• Changes (like address etc) need to be updated just once.
• Makes adhering to KYC process simpler for fresh investments on quoting old folio number.
But keep in mind:
• You cannot consolidate investments in different mutual fund houses.
• 'Mandatory' info (address, bank details, etc) should be same across all funds.
