The ability to conduct innovative research, which is often the selling point for independent mutual fund firms, would be squashed if the
"I think it's likely that a number of highly valued, independent research organizations would no longer be in business," said Canter, who is a member of the ICI board. "We would all lose valuable input which we think is integral to our investment process."
The argument for the curbing of soft dollars is that fund shareholders wind up paying more in commissions and paying for services that are normally considered the responsibility of investment managers.
Amid the ICIs proposal, companies like