Kiss of Death: A 5-Star Morningstar Mutual Fund Rating?
18 Pages Posted: 28 Oct 2003
Date Written: September 2003
Abstract
We examine the effect that an initial 5-star Morningstar mutual fund rating has on future fund performance, strategy, risk-taking, expenses, and portfolio turnover. Using a sample of diversified domestic equity funds from the 1990s we find that three-years after a fund received its initial 5-star rating, fund performance severely falls off. This result is robust across different performance measures and different samples of funds. We also find that after receiving their initial 5-star rating, the risk levels of funds rise and that the funds are not able to load on momentum stocks as well as they did before receiving the 5-star rating. These results suggest that funds, to some degree, alter their portfolios after receiving a 5-star rating and that investors should be very wary about using the 5-star rating as a signal of future 3-year performance.
Keywords: Mutual Funds, Morningstar, Fund Ratings, Performance persistence
JEL Classification: G23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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