When FiduciaryNews.com published a story that, despite the provocative title, merely relayed the fairly uniform feelings of many financial advisers (see "Have Mutual Fund Rating Agencies Lost Their Mojo?" FiduciaryNews.com, January 15, 2013), no one expected the Spanish Inquisition.

In the piece, we quoted a source who said, "Morningstar was honest enough to state exactly that in a recently published article on their site where they pointed out that their proprietary star rating system is not a valid indicator of future investment performance or even relative performance." To be clear, the article didn't single out Morningstar, although this particular quote did.

Within hours, FiduciaryNews.com received an e-mail from Morningstar stating we "take exception" to that particular quote. Furthermore, they insisted "it's simply not true." In researching the original article, so many sources said the same thing we did not expect the quote to be challenged.

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Christopher Carosa

Chris Carosa has been writing a weekly article and monthly column for BenefitsPRO online and BenefitsPRO Magazine since 2011 and is a nationally recognized award-winning writer, researcher and speaker. He’s written seven books, including From Cradle to Retire: The Child IRA; Hey! What’s My Number? – How to Increase the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort; A Pizza The Action: Everything I Ever Learned About Business I Learned By Working in a Pizza Stand at the Erie County Fair; and the widely acclaimed 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions. Carosa is also Chief Contributing Editor of the authoritative trade journal FiduciaryNews.com and publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper he founded in 1989. Currently serving as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and with more than 1,000 articles published in various publications, he appears regularly in the national media. A “parallel” entrepreneur, he actively runs a handful of businesses, including a small boutique investment adviser, providing hands-on experience for his writing. A trained astrophysicist, he also holds an MBA and has been designated a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. Share your thoughts and story ideas with him through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christophercarosa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ChrisCarosa).