When my cousin, Rahul started investing around 5 years ago, he heard of mutual fund (MF) folio for the first time. The MF folio number is the unique code allocated for investments in MF which can be used as a reference for future investments too. However, he did not pay much attention to this and over the past 5 years, he now has investments in around 5 funds with 17 different folio numbers. This was because, in the case of same AMC, he had a debt fund under one folio, SIP in second, equity in third, fourth from one bank account then another from another. This led to huge mess in his holdings and its management. To avoid this mess, I advised him to consolidate his MF Folio. What is consolidation of MF folio numbers? While making investments in Mutual Funds, one may find that one has numerous folio numbers across Funds. At times investors forget what they hold and face difficulties when changes have to be made in folios or at the year-end while filing returns. It would be worthwhile for investors to take stock of their holdings, check if there are numerous folios in the same fund and get the same consolidated into one single folio number for the Fund. Mutual Funds and Registrars have given investors the option to consolidate all their folios in the same Mutual Fund into one single folio. Consolidation is the merger of two or more folios into one single folio. Requirements for consolidation of MF folios Basically the below details should be uniform in all the folios:

• All Holders' names - should be in the same order in all folios
• Address
• Bank Details
• Tax Status of the Investor
• Holding nature - Joint or either or survivor
• Nominee registered in the folios
• Dividend option of the same scheme should be same i.e. either Re-invest or Payout

If the above details are the same in your folios, the same can be consolidated into one single folio called the 'Target folio'. Some Mutual Funds may have other guidelines and investors may contact the Mutual Fund or Registrar to get more information on these details. How is the consolidation confirmed to you? A Statement of Account of the consolidated (target) folio will be sent to investors along with covering letter confirming the processing of the request. If the folios are consolidated into one, will a statement reflect all transactions for all schemes of the folios? Yes! The statement of the 'Target' folio will contain all the details of all the transactions of schemes in all your previous folios. If you wish to make a transaction in the same Mutual Fund in future, please mention the folio number in future transaction slips and any new investment will be created in the same folio. How to consolidate MF Folios? The Process There is no standard format of consolidation of MF folios. You can use the facility available on the CAMs website for consolidation of 2 MF. Point to note: The name appears exactly the same in all folios The Target folio’s PAN, bank details and addresses will be considered If you want to update the same- give an application along with consolidation itself.