Asset managers provide investment management services and ancillary services to clients as fiduciary agents. The diversity of clients' needs results in a wide variety of firm structures and business models, ranging from investment boutiques that focus on a single product or clientele to large, complex financial institutions that offer multiple services. This book provides a brief overview of the asset management industry and an analysis of how asset management firms and the activities in which they engage can introduce vulnerabilities that could pose, amplify, or transmit threats to financial stability. It also describes the mission, membership, and scope of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which was created as part of a comprehensive reform of banking and securities market regulators. It provides an analysis of several major policy issues related to the FSOC that may come before the 113th Congress.