Almost every time we run this exercise with a new client, something turns up. A fund started in 2009 through a colleague who was selling on the side. A tax-saving scheme from a year somebody needed a deduction in a hurry. Units from a bank relationship that ended when the relationship manager moved on. The money didn't go anywhere. Nobody was looking at it.
The good news is that finding all of it takes one request and about ten minutes.
The one document that shows everything
A consolidated account statement lists your mutual fund holdings across every fund house in a single document, pulled together against your PAN. It's the closest thing to a complete picture that exists, and it's free.
You request it from either of the two registrars that between them service most fund houses, using your PAN and the email address registered on your folios. It arrives by email as a password-protected file, and the password is usually your PAN in a specified format.
Two versions are generally available. One shows current holdings and valuations, the other shows transactions over a period. If you're trying to work out what you own, start with the holdings version, and pull the transaction version later if you need to reconstruct history for tax purposes.
What to do if the email doesn't work
This is where most people get stuck, and it's a common problem rather than a sign that something is wrong.
If the folios were opened years ago, the registered email might be an address you stopped using, one your employer owned, or one a distributor set up on your behalf. The statement will go there and you'll never see it.
The fix is to update the contact details on the folios first, which is its own short process with each fund house or through the registrar, and generally needs identification and a signed request. Annoying, but it only happens once, and it also unblocks every other update you might want to make later.
If a distributor's email is sitting on your folio instead of yours, change it. Not because anything improper is happening, but because you should receive your own statements directly from the registrar, always.
What usually turns up
Four things, in roughly this order of frequency.
- A tax-saving scheme somebody bought in a rush in March one year, then forgot entirely. The lock-in ended long ago and the units are still sitting there.
- Folios with no nominee. Very common on anything opened before nomination became routine, and this is the one worth fixing the same week.
- An old bank account on the folio. Nothing breaks until you try to redeem, at which point it becomes the reason your money is delayed by two weeks.
- Duplicate folios at the same fund house, usually created because the application was made through a different route or with a slight name variation.
None of these are emergencies. All of them are much easier to fix now than during the situation that eventually forces the issue.
What to fix, in order
Once the statement is in front of you, work through it in this order rather than starting with the interesting part.
First, nomination on every folio. Not the ones you remember, all of them. Our guide on adding or changing a nominee covers the process, and if a folio belonged to someone who has passed away, the transmission process is a separate matter with its own steps.
Second, contact details and bank account. Current mobile, current email, an account that's actually open. This is the boring one that determines whether anything else works when you need it to.
Third, consolidation. Duplicate folios at the same fund house can often be merged, which makes everything afterwards simpler. Worth asking about rather than assuming it's not possible.
Last, and only last, what you actually hold. Whether the schemes still suit you is a real question, and it's the one everybody wants to start with. Start with it and you'll never get to the other three.
The other places money hides
A consolidated account statement covers mutual funds, and it is the biggest single win. It does not cover everything else, and if you are doing this exercise properly there are three other places worth checking.
- Old employer provident fund accounts. People change jobs and leave balances behind, sometimes several.
- Shares in a demat account you stopped using, including anything received in a corporate action years ago.
- Small savings certificates and old deposits in a drawer at home, which mature and then simply sit.
None of these is a mutual fund matter and we cannot help you with them, but the same afternoon that produces the statement is the right time to make the list.
If a folio has a distributor you no longer deal with
This turns up frequently on old folios, and people assume they are stuck. You are not.
A folio can be moved to a different distributor, or you can choose to hold it without one, and there is a defined process for each. It does not require the existing distributor's cooperation, and it is not a redemption, so nothing is sold and no tax event is created.
Worth knowing before anybody tells you the only way to change the arrangement is to redeem and reinvest. That would be a costly way to do something the paperwork handles for free.
Don't redeem just because you forgot about it
There's a reflex worth resisting here. Finding a forgotten holding creates an urge to do something about it, and "do something" usually means redeem.
A holding you forgot about has been left alone for years, which is not the worst thing that can happen to an investment. Before selling, check the exit load position and the holding period, work out what the tax would be, and ask whether the scheme is genuinely unsuitable or just unfamiliar. Our guide on stopping a SIP and redeeming units covers what a redemption actually costs.
Sometimes the answer is yes, sell it. Often the answer is that it's fine, it now has a nominee, and you can go back to ignoring it with a clear conscience.
One warning about who you share it with
A consolidated account statement is a complete map of what you own. Treat it accordingly.
Request it yourself, from the registrar, to your own email. Do not have somebody else pull it on your behalf and forward you a copy, and be wary of anyone who asks you to share the file before they have explained why they need it. There is nothing wrong with a distributor reviewing your statement with you, including us, but you should be the one who obtained it.
Do it once a year
Pull the statement every year around the same time. Once you've done the cleanup properly, the annual version takes ten minutes and mostly confirms nothing has changed.
It's also the single easiest way to make sure your family isn't left searching. A folder with one recent statement in it does more for your household than any amount of scheme selection.
If you'd rather somebody went through yours with you, that's routine work at our end and there's no charge for the review. Myfolios is an AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor (ARN-145870) working since 2014. Get in touch, and if you're doing this on behalf of retired parents, our page on planning for senior citizens covers what usually needs attention.
