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Have you ever felt overwhelmed trying to make sense of the piles of account statements from your various investments? Between your bank accounts, Demat accounts, mutual funds, and more – it can be a nightmare trying to track where your money is and how your investments are performing.
Many investors need help consolidating all their statements into one clear picture of their financial status. But what if there was an easy way to clarify about the investment statements? Enter – the consolidated account statement (CAS).
Read on to understand what a consolidated account statement is, its key benefits, and how it can simplify your investment tracking process.
The need for a consolidated account statement
An investor who invests money in different ways, like buying stocks, mutual funds, and other things, can take time to keep track of everything. You might miss something or not notice when someone charges you extra fees or does something you didn’t want them to do. It can also be hard to know how much all your investments are worth and how much money you’re making overall.
But there’s a thing called a Consolidated Account Statement that can help you. It’s like a big summary of all your investments so you can see everything in one place. This can help you keep track of your money better and make smarter decisions about how to invest it.
What is the consolidated account statement?
The Consolidated Account Statement, or CAS, is a single, comprehensive report of an investor’s holdings and transactions across assets. Introduced by SEBI in 2015, it integrates investments in:
- Demat accounts
- Mutual funds
- Any other listed securities
It provides a holistic picture of the investor’s portfolio to track overall performance, spot issues, and make suitable financial decisions for optimisation. Some key information included in the CAS:
- List of securities held and their latest valuations
- Purchase and sale transactions during the month
- Brokerage/commission charged by intermediaries
- Details of corporate actions like dividends, bonuses, mergers, etc.
By allowing investors to monitor their overall portfolio at a glance, it enhances transparency and enables smart reviewing.
Key benefits of the CAS
Consolidating scattered investment information into one accessible report offers investors several advantages:
1. Streamlines portfolio monitoring
With all instruments in one place, investors save significant time and effort tracking performances, spotting churns, identifying loss-making assets, etc. The single report allows informed decisions.
2. Helps detect unauthorised transactions
Sudden changes in holdings value due to unauthorised trades can be spotted on time due to regular monthly reporting. Investors can take up the issues with relevant intermediaries.
3. Provides portfolio valuation and returns estimate
The CAS provides capital appreciation across different holdings, which helps ascertain the overall performance of the portfolio. Investors get a better sense of their net worth.
4. Saves paperwork and digitises record-keeping
Since everything is available in one statement online, the need for paper-intensive records has reduced considerably. Digitisation results in better storage, too.
How are CAS statements generated?
The genesis of CAS lies in collating data from multiple sources involved in the investment process.
Depository participants like CSDL and NDSL hold investor securities data, including purchase cost, latest market price, corporate actions, etc. They provide this information to the depositories.
Asset Management Companies have investment data related to mutual fund schemes – NAVs, unit holdings, etc. which they share with registrars like CAMS and Karvy.
The depositories and registrars consolidate their respective data and furnish comprehensive reports to the trustees associated with the SEBI.
Finally, these trustees email or post CAS statements to investors by the 10th of each month. This aggregated data helps investors track overall portfolio positions.
What does the CAS statement include?
A CAS statement is like a summary of an investor’s financial assets, but it’s very detailed and structured to make it easy to understand. It gives you a quick snapshot of where you stand financially and can help you make an informed decision about your investments.
Some key constituents are:
1. Demat account holdings
The section provides the latest values of securities held in the demat account along with cost value and profit/loss versus purchase price. It also shows transactions in the past month.
2. Mutual fund schemes position
This segment displays the number of units held under different mutual fund schemes along with their latest NAV and value. It also captures new purchases and redemptions.
3. Portfolio valuation summary
A critical section provides capital appreciation and absolute returns on the overall investment portfolio, including mutual funds and equities.
4. Total holdings value
This summarises the total current value of all holdings across demat and mutual fund investments to convey the net worth from market-linked assets.
CAS helps investors make better investment decisions by providing a clear portfolio overview. It helps identify underperforming assets, balance investments, track returns, and avoid investing too much money in any instrument.
How to access your CAS statement?
SEBI mandates that all demat account holders receive a monthly CAS statement via email or physical copy without charge. Here’s a brief guide to accessing your report:
1. Email statement
If you had opted for e-CAS while opening your demat and mutual fund accounts, you would receive the CAS in your registered email as a PDF document. Apart from the monthly statement, half-yearly statements are also sent.
2. Physical copy
If you did not opt for email CAS, the depository participant would send a physical printed copy each month to your registered postal address at no charge.
3. Online access
Some companies let you download your investment statement, called a CAS statement, online. To access it, you must log in to your account on their website. CAMS also provides this service. The statement is usually in a digital format that you can save.
Conclusion
As an investor looking to maximise returns, having a holistic view of your portfolio is critical. While individual statements have their uses, the unified perspective reveals where your investments stand overall. The Consolidated Account Statement is an invaluable ally in your investing journey as it integrates data points that provide consolidated insights on your holdings and transactions.
FAQs
The Consolidated Account Statement (CAS) is a summary of all your investments, like stocks and mutual funds. It helps you track your portfolio’s performance, identify issues early, and make informed investment decisions.
As per SEBI guidelines, demat account holders receive the Consolidated Account Statement monthly in their registered email or physical address without any charges. Additionally, a half-yearly statement is provided if there were no transactions in the previous month. This regular reporting helps investors stay updated on portfolio health.
The CAS offers investors several advantages, including easy tracking of overall investments, early detection of unauthorised transactions, a better understanding of portfolio returns through capital appreciation details, lower paperwork due to digitisation and a clearer picture of net worth through total asset value reporting.
CAS combines investors’ securities and mutual fund details from various sources like NSDL, CSDL, CAMS, and trustees associated with SEBI for accurate and up-to-date information.
Yes, many depository participants allow investors to log into their online demat account and access past CAS statements to view or download as required. This aids in monitoring long-term portfolio performance or retrieving specific transaction data.