Fidelity [profile] dodged a bullet, just missing getting the lowest Morningstar analyst rating for its flagship Magellan fund. Morningstar analyst Gregg Wolper drops that bombshell while explaining how a trio of famous but tarnished mutual funds, each with a different star rating, all received neutral ratings.

For two of these mutual funds, PM changes strongly influenced their neutral grades.

For the one-star Magellan, Wolper reveals that the former high-flying fund was penciled in for a negative rating until Fidelity swapped in new PM Jeff Feingold for Harry Lange.

And Wolper adds that Magellan might have even received a better rating, given Feingold's strong track record, except the Morningstar team is worried about Feingold's lack of PM experience with giant portfolios -- the fund boasts about $17 billion in assets.

Wolper also highlights the neutral rating for two-star Vanguard Windsor [see Vanguard's profile], dinging the famous fund for its "unremarkable" performance since the departure of star PM John Neff in 1995. Wolper writes that the Morningstar team is also worried about the fluctuating sub-advisory team at AllianceBernstein.

For three-star Columbia Value & Restructuring [see Columbia's profile], Wolper writes, solid performance was not enough to push its analyst rating above neutral. He notes the fund's low scores on pricing and regarding its parent, and he worries about the ability of retiring PM David Williams' anointed successors to replicate Williams' performance success. 

Edited by: HFD


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