Of more than 29 lakh investors lost during April 2013 to January 2014, most of the folio closures were seen in the equity portfolio despite the efforts of the mutual fund industry to educate investors about staying invested for the long-term. According to Sebi data on total investor accounts with 45 fund houses, the number of folios fell to around 3.99 crore at the end of January 2014 from 4.28 crore in the last fiscal (2012-13), indicating a decline of 29.41 lakh. Folios are numbers designated to individual investor accounts, although one investor can have multiple folios.
Market participants attributed the sharp fall in the number of folios to profit-booking and various merger schemes in the mutual fund industry, among other reasons.
They further said that the trend of folio closures is expected to decline in the coming months as investors are getting confident about the economy and the market in general. During April-January, the number of investor folios in equity schemes fell by over 35 lakh. The total number of folios were 2.96 crore at the end of January 2014 against 3.32 crore at March 2013. The mutual fund industry has been facing consistent equity folio closures for the past few months. Sebi chairman U K Sinha had also raised concerns over the continuous decline in folios.
The decline in equity folios during the first 10 months of the current fiscal (April-January) coincides with BSE's barometer index Sensex climbing 8.9 per cent during the period.
Market participants attributed the sharp fall in the number of folios to profit-booking and various merger schemes in the mutual fund industry, among other reasons.
They further said that the trend of folio closures is expected to decline in the coming months as investors are getting confident about the economy and the market in general. During April-January, the number of investor folios in equity schemes fell by over 35 lakh. The total number of folios were 2.96 crore at the end of January 2014 against 3.32 crore at March 2013. The mutual fund industry has been facing consistent equity folio closures for the past few months. Sebi chairman U K Sinha had also raised concerns over the continuous decline in folios.
The decline in equity folios during the first 10 months of the current fiscal (April-January) coincides with BSE's barometer index Sensex climbing 8.9 per cent during the period.