Retail investors' share in assets of actively-managed, equity mutual funds has seen a drop over the last three quarters, AMFI data show. Mutual funds have been the preferred investment route for retail investors to invest in equities. Over the last few years, passively-managed equity funds have got a lot of attention. Investors have been consistently investing in index funds and ETFs. Experts say that underperformance of actively-managed large-cap funds versus their benchmark indices have contributed to the surge in the popularity of passive funds. Also a slew of new fund offers in passive funds side drew more retail investors.