S&P to award 'long-term' fund ratings

  The new award will be assigned to funds that have been rated A, AA, or AAA for five consecutive years or more and continue to hold a rating. Initially, over 260 funds across 64 fund companies will qualify for this designation, of which 30 have been rated AAA for the full five consecutive years. On a monthly basis, funds will be reviewed and new qualifying portfolios will be awarded the long-term rating. If an existing fund's rating is changed to under review (UR) / tenure review (TR) / or not rated (NR), then it will fall out of the long-term rating band. Linda Jane Coffin,...