While eyebrows recently went up after the Wall Street Journal reported on Fidelity's use of a custom select list it commissioned from Morningstar, we have yet to hear a peep about BusinessWeek's reliance on fund ratings from Standard & Poor's.

The fund rater plans to publish a list of the top fund portfolio managers in the March 24 issue of BusinessWeek. New York City-based McGraw-Hill is the parent of both S&P and BusinessWeek. In a release promoting the editorial feature, the firms played up the relationship, stating that the feature will "leverage the prowess of the two McGraw-Hill Companies." Left unsaid was how BusinessWeek determined that S&P was the best provider of the info.

S&P says each fund's management team will be judged on its experience and its tendency to adhere to its stated style objectives, as well as the fund's quantitative performance.

"When you invest in a mutual fund, you are really investing in the overall expertise of the fund's management," said Phil Edwards, Standard & Poor's managing director of Global Fund Research. "The awards program will identify those fund managers that set themselves apart from their peers by successfully leading their fund through various market conditions, keeping their expenses down, and staying within their objectives. If they can accomplish all of that while meeting other essential criteria and make it through our interview process, they will be presented with an Excellence in Fund Management Award."  

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