Number of Mutual Fund accounts declined by 36 lakh in 2012-13

NEW DELHI: The mutual fund industry lost more than 36 lakh investors, measured in terms of individual accounts or folios, in the 2012-13 financial year.

The last fiscal marked the fourth consecutive year of loss of folios by mutual funds (MFs). During the preceding three financial years, the MF industry had lost over 15 lakh new investor accounts.

Folios are numbers designated to individual investor accounts, although one investor can have multiple folios.

As per the latest data compiled by market regulator Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) on total investor accounts with the country's 44 fund houses, the number of folios have fallen to 4.28 crore at the end of March 2013 from 4.64 crore in the previous fiscal (2011-12), translating into a decline of 36.23 lakh new investor accounts.

In the past four financial years till 2012-13, the MF industry had lost more than 55 lakh new investor accounts.

MF sector, which held 4.75 crore folios at the end of financial year 2008-09, saw an increase of 3.66 lakh new investors account to 4.8 crore in 2009-10.

However, later the number of folios continued to witness a southward trend and tumbled to 4.28 crore during the past fiscal year.

Market participants attributed the sharp fall in number of folios to profit booking and various merger schemes in the mutual fund industry, among others.