Mutual funds in India are finally becoming popular as a household savings vehicle. Investors are pouring in money through systematic investment plans that give fund managers more elbow room to make steady investment calls than be constantly worried about selling pressure forced by hasty redemptions. That should ensure better investment return but ironically that is not the way things are shaping up. The rate of outperformance of mutual funds has been on the decline. That’s not surprising given that our market is becoming more mature making it harder for investors to find under-researched, mispriced stocks with huge potential for outperformance.