A folio number is a very relevant concept in the lexicon of Mutual Funds. Like a bank account number, it is a unique number to identify your holdings with the respective mutual fund. The unique number differs from fund house to fund house. Only an existing investor is deemed to have a folio number, not the new ones. While filling the form, a new investor should ignore the column of folio number because he will be allotted one only after making the investment. An investor can make multiple purchases by using the same folio number within the same Mutual Fund. This saves a lot of inconvenience for tracking your investments in the long run.
A folio number may be asked by the fund house from an investor to ensure accuracy of the investor. The folio number is always present in the account statements provided to the investor alongwith other details. The number is also very beneficial for Mutual Funds, since it helps them maintaining a credible record system of every investor.