Many would want to sell off their old investments to make decent gains. However, it may be annoying if they can't find the investment papers. With time, investors could forget about the small mutual fund investments they made. One advantage of mutual fund investments is that they are in a non-physical format. At the time of redemption, only the folio number is required, and not the account statement. There are ways in which these old investments can be traced.

Old account statements

If one finds an old account statement pertaining to the investment, be it related to the first transaction or a subsequent one, it is sufficient to track the investment. The account statement carries the investor details, holding pattern, address, bank account details registered with the fund and the folio number assigned to the investment.

Consolidated account statement

Investors who have updated PAN details with their mutual funds, receive a consolidated account statement (CAS) at the end of every half year, showing a record of all mutual fund holdings in their names across different companies. CAS includes details of investments in which there has been no transaction in the previous six months. It also includes folio numbers.

Letter to AMC or registrar

The investor can directly approach the AMC or its registrar. A letter asking for account statement and stating personal details and PAN as well as investment details (as many as can be provided) such as date of investment, amount invested, bank details can be submitted to the AMC office or investor service centre of the registrar. On the basis of the information, the AMC will trace the investment and send the statement.

Points to note

Regularly update personal details such as address, bank account, signature, name to ensure good housekeeping.

Some mutual funds may not be in existence--they are either taken over by or merged into an existing mutual fund.

This information is available on the Net.