Demat account

A demat account holds shares, bonds and ETFs in electronic form instead of paper certificates. It is opened through a broker, but the actual holdings sit with a depository, either NSDL or CDSL, depending on which one the broker uses.

Mutual funds can also be held in demat form, though many investors hold them by folio instead, through the fund house directly. A single demat account can hold securities bought through multiple brokers, as long as they route to the same depository.