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Securities and Exchange Commissioners Paul Atkins and Roel Campos continue to publicly voice their opposing viewpoints on the value of requiring mutual fund companies to have Independent Board Chairmen, even as the rule itself continues to be tweaked, according to The Wall Street Journal. The rule, passed in 2004, which required fund boards to be 75% independent and lead by a non-fund-company affiliate, has been overturned in federal court twice. Last week, Atkins called justification for the independent chairman rule “tenuous” before a Washington audience. Last month, Campos gave a speech to fund directors in which he claimed, “The economic studies and current rulemaking record would fully support a 75% independent board and chair requirement.” Industry groups are likewise divided. Even the SEC’s Office of Economic Analysis concluded that “optimal governance structures are likely to vary from fund to fund,” in a December report. Fidelity Management & Research Company hired a Harvard Law professor to analyze the benefits. The result was a 100-page report submitted as part of the SEC’s request for comments that said even the SEC’s Office of Economic Analysis December assessment of the rule’s benefits shoed “optimal governance structures are likely to vary from fund to fund.” The Investment Company Institute-affiliated Independent Directors Council said in its statement that the reports failed to prove a financial root for the rule, and that funds should be able to choose for themselves. The Mutual Fund Director’s Forum, on the other hand, said that the reports actually bolster the case for independent directors in order to avoid conflicts of interest arising between fund companies and their shareholders. “Independent fund boards are ideally positioned to oversee and, if necessary, manage and resolve conflicts of interest,” the organization said in its statement. Likewise, Chicago-based fund rater Morningstar noted that interested directors have caused an erosion in the effectiveness of many boards. “As long as those conflicts exist, shareholders are not being serves as well as possible,” said Morningstar Analyst Laura Lutton. Shareholder groups such as Fund Democracy and the Consumer Federation of America have argued that the study fails to show that adding independent directors poses a burdensome cost for fund companies. The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will host another roundtable on extensible business reporting language (XBRL) beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 19 at its Washington headquarters, with a simultaneous webcast open to all.

Having made a number of changes to its 529 college savings plan in 2006, Missouri announced Thursday that assets in its plan have now topped $1 billion.

Portfolio managers who concentrate on China obviously are proponents of the region, but even following the one-day 9% meltdown in China’s markets, many remain bullish, Investor’s Business Daily reports.

Weak long-term performance, inconsistent returns and a greater focus on advisers than on investors at mutual fund companies are prompting wealthy investors to turn elsewhere, The Wall Street Journal reports. Only 11 of 38 top fund families, or less than one-third, have the loyalty of affluent investors, according to a report from Cogent Research.

Although Morningstar has the finances to take on another acquisition—it recently completed four, three of them in 2006 and one last month—the company has no immediate plans to do so, CEO Joe Mansueto tells Reuters.

Much as in the U.S., small investors in Europe and Asia are flocking to hedge funds through windows such as hedge funds-of-funds and publicly traded investment firms that invest in hedge funds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Kurt Wolfgruber, chief investment officer at OppenheimerFunds, has been promoted to president. Wolfgruber will retain his responsibilities as CIO while also taking on the added oversight in the president’s role for the company’s retail and wealth management units.

Although hedge funds only recently began to lobby Congress and other Washington powerhouses to encourage them to back off on regulation, their efforts already appear to be making big strides, the International Herald Tribune reports.

As competition from hedge funds, private equity and alternative investments heats up, mutual funds are beginning to shake off their apathy for sound corporate management and taking a more active role in oversight of the companies in which they invest. Their hope is to improve returns.