strong defense of the stability and safety of the asset management industry, Investment Company Institute President and CEO Paul Schott Stevens told the Mutual Fund and Investment Management Conference that not only are asset managers and the funds that they offer not sources of risk to the overall financial system, but some misguided efforts to regulate them as such may do vastly more harm than good.  Mr. Stevens' remarks were a reaction to reports recently issued by the Office of Financial Research (OFR) and others concluding that asset management firms and the activities in which they engage can introduce vulnerabilities that could pose, amplify, or transmit threats to financial stability.  Stevens worries that the conclusions of the OFR report and a similar report by the Financial Stability Board, "could be the predicate for new, bank-style prudential regulation of the asset management industry—which could significantly harm funds and the investors who use them."