The NAV lag: Why your mutual fund platform and CAS values don't match

If you check your mutual fund holdings report on a broker or wealth-management platform and then compare the value with your Consolidated Account Statement (CAS), you may notice that the two figures are different.

This does not necessarily mean there is an error in your mutual fund holdings. One possible reason for the difference is the date of the Net Asset Value (NAV) being used to calculate the value of your investments.

In other words, the number of mutual fund units you hold may be the same, but the value displayed can differ if the platforms are using NAV data from different dates.

What is a CAS?

A Consolidated Account Statement, or CAS, is a combined statement that provides details of an investor’s financial transactions across mutual funds and securities held in demat accounts. It is consolidated using the investor’s Permanent Account Number (PAN).

According to the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), a monthly CAS includes mutual fund folios in which a financial transaction has taken place during that month, provided the required PAN details are available.

It can include transactions such as purchases, redemptions, switches, SIPs, systematic withdrawal plans (SWPs), and systematic transfer plans (STPs).

For investors whose PAN is common between mutual fund registrars and depositories, the CAS is generated and sent by the depositories, NSDL or CDSL. In such cases, it can include details of both mutual fund folios and securities held in demat accounts.

What does a mutual fund platform report show?

The key factor is the timing of the NAV data available to the platform.

For example, Zerodha mentioned on its website that “the current mutual fund value on Console is based on the T-2 days NAV”.

The broker mentioned that for most mutual funds, asset management companies (AMCs) typically declare the NAV after the end of the trading day, usually around 11 PM.

“This information is then transmitted to AMFI, which updates its data by midnight or sometimes as late as 3-4 AM on the following day, which we refer to as T+1 day,” the broker noted.

The timing also varies across schemes. For equity schemes, NAVs are announced by around 9 PM on the same trading day, while liquid schemes announce NAVs by around 11 PM.

For international schemes, “a report known as the Bhav copy, containing daily trading data for Mutual Funds, is generated by T+1 day at 3 PM,” the broker noted.

Zerodha uses this information to calculate mutual fund profit and loss on Console. As a result, the broker mentioned that by T+2 day, the information displayed on Console accurately represents the mutual fund’s value as of T-day.

Zerodha adds that this approach is intended to provide investors with the “most precise and up-to-date representation” of their holdings.

What does it mean for investors?

Investors should not immediately assume that a difference in the holdings value between the CAS and a mutual fund platform means that their mutual fund holdings are incorrect.

A difference in the displayed value can simply reflect a difference in the timing of the data or the NAV used to calculate the investment value.

Disclaimer: This is purely for educational/informational purposes and should not be taken as any sort of investment advice. Always consult a SEBI-registered advisor before making any investment decisions.