Old mutual fund investments can sometimes disappear from a family’s financial records. The investment may have been made years ago through physical forms, an old bank account, or a distributor. The investor may have changed address or mobile number, or the family may simply not know that the investment exists. This becomes more difficult after the death of an investor, especially when family members do not have the folio number or old statements. However, there are now ways for investors, nominees and legal heirs to trace such investments.
Start with the MITRA platform
SEBI introduced the Mutual Fund Investment Tracing and Retrieval Assistant (MITRA) to help investors find inactive and unclaimed mutual fund folios across the industry.
MITRA provides a searchable database of such folios and is available through links on SEBI, AMFI, MF Central, CAMS, KFintech and mutual fund websites. It can also help a rightful legal claimant identify investments made by another person.
Under SEBI rules, a mutual fund folio is considered inactive when no investor-initiated financial or non-financial transaction has taken place for the last 10 years, but units are still available in the account. This does not mean the investment has lost its value. The units may still be invested in the scheme.
What details may help in the search?
An investor or family member should first collect whatever information is available. Old mutual fund statements, emails, bank statements showing SIP deductions, dividend credits, tax records, and documents kept by the investor can provide useful clues.
MITRA uses investor credentials to search for old investments. PAN is an important identifier, while verification may also involve details such as date of birth and registered contact information. In some cases, an OTP may be sent to the mobile number or email registered with the folio.
What should a nominee do after finding the investment?
Finding the investment is only the first step. If the original investor has died, the units must be transferred to the eligible claimant through a process called transmission.
According to AMFI, a deceased investor’s mutual fund units can be transmitted to the nominee or legal heirs, depending on the circumstances. Typically, the claimant may need to provide a transmission request, death certificate, KYC details, bank details, and other supporting documents. The exact documents depend on whether there is a registered nominee, surviving joint holder or legal heir.
SEBI and AMFI have standardised transmission procedures, and AMFI provides forms and a document checklist for different situations. If the units are held in demat form, the transmission process is generally handled through the depository participant rather than directly through the mutual fund folio.
Check unclaimed dividends
Families should also check whether any money became unclaimed after a redemption or dividend payment failed.
Mutual fund houses provide details of unclaimed redemption and dividend amounts on their websites. AMFI also provides facilities for checking such amounts. Information about unclaimed money and its current value may also appear in periodic statements or the Consolidated Account Statement.
This is different from an inactive folio where the investor may still own units in the mutual fund scheme.
Keep investment records updated
Once an old investment is found, families should update KYC, mobile number, email, bank details, and nomination wherever required. It is also useful for investors to keep a simple list of mutual fund folios and other investments and tell at least one trusted family member where the records are stored.
A forgotten folio does not necessarily mean lost money. With PAN-based records, MITRA, and standardised transmission procedures, tracing old mutual fund investments has become easier. The important part is to search systematically and then complete the claim or transmission process with the concerned AMC or registrar.