T. Rowe Price

T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.
Type Public (NASDAQTROW)
S&P 500 Component
Industry Investment Management
Founded 1937
Headquarters Baltimore, Maryland USA
Key people James A.C. Kennedy, President and CEO
Brian C. Rogers, Chairman, Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager
Edward C. Bernard, Vice Chairman; President, T. Rowe Price Investment Services
Michael C. Gitlin, Director of Fixed Income
William Stromberg, Director of Global Equity and Global Equity Research
Christopher D. Alderson, President of International Equity
John D. Linehan, Head of U.S. Equity
Products Investment management, mutual funds, subadvisory services, retirement planning
Revenue $2.36 Billion USD (2010)
Net income $672.2 Million USD (2010)
Employees 5,162 (June 30, 2011)
Website www.troweprice.com

T. Rowe Price (NASDAQTROW) is a publicly owned Investment firm, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1937 by Thomas Rowe Price, Jr.. The company offers mutual funds, subadvisory services, and separate account management for individuals, institutions, retirement plans, and financial intermediaries. Additionally, the organization offers investment planning and guidance tools.

The company's founder may be best known for developing the growth stock philosophy of investing,[1] emphasizing companies whose earnings and dividends could be expected to grow faster than inflation and the overall economy. Instead of charging a commission, as others in the business did at the time, Price charged a fee based on the assets under management.

Contents

Corporate affairs

Business

Currently, there are over 5,000 people employed by T. Rowe Price around the world. Investors outside the U.S. now account for more than 12% of assets under management. The company has more than 28 domestic stock funds, 28 bond funds, 18 international funds, 20 asset allocation funds, and six money market funds.

Offices

T. Rowe Price has offices around the world in Buenos Aires, Sydney, Toronto, Copenhagen, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Singapore, Dubai, and Zurich. U.S. offices are located in Baltimore and Owings Mills, Md.; Tampa, Fla., Colorado Springs, Colo.; and San Francisco and Long Beach, Calif. Additionally, walk-in Investors Centers are located across the U.S. in Walnut Creek and Century City, Calif.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Washington, D.C.; Boca Raton and Tampa, Fla.; Oak Brook and Northbrook, Ill.; Baltimore and Owings Mills, Md.; Wellesley, Mass.; Short Hills and Paramus, N.J.; Garden City, N.Y. and Tysons Corner, Va.

History

20th century

In 1937, Firm established. In 1950, First mutual fund launch, T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Fund. In 1951, Introduction of first institutional client account. In 1960, Expansion into U.S. small-cap equity investments, beginning an industry trend toward specialized mutual fund management. In 1969, New Era Fund launched, a mutual fund that invests in natural resources. In 1971, George Collins is hired to develop the fixed-income management division. In 1974, Introduction of the firm's first retirement accounts in the U.S. In 1979, Partnering with U.K.-based Robert Fleming & Co., expands international investments to U.S. clients. In 1986, Initial public offering. In 1987, Establishes research office in Hong Kong, soon followed by offices in Buenos Aires and Singapore. In 1994, Partners with third parties to deliver products and services to a wider audience. In 2000, Acquires complete ownership of Rowe Price-Fleming International to form the new entity—T. Rowe Price International, Inc.

From 1982 to 1991 Roger McNamee worked at the company, first as an analyst and eventually promoted to run the Science & Technology Fund. Under McNamee's leadership, the fund returned about 17% annually to investors[2] and, in a move atypical for mutual funds, he made venture capital investments in Electronic Arts (which went public in 1989) and Sybase (which had its IPO in 1991).[3]

21st century

In 2001, the company launched T. Rowe Price Funds SICAV, domiciled in Luxembourg, for non-U.S. institutional investors and financial intermediaries. Two years later it created target-date retirement funds. In 2004, it established an office in Amsterdam and Sydney.

In early 2008, T. Rowe Price announced the addition of two new buildings, located in Owings Mills, Maryland, near their headquarters. In April 2009 the firm announced that due to economic conditions the completion of the buildings would be delayed until later in 2010. In addition, the firm laid off 288 employees or about 5.5% of their labor force.[4]

As of June 30, 2011, T. Rowe Price had $520.9 billion in assets under management globally. It was ranked one of the "top twenty" Investment firms in the world[5] and was recognized as one of BusinessWeek’s Customer Service Champs.[6]

In September 2009, Twitter disclosed it had received $100 million in funding from several investors, including T. Rowe Price, which valued the company at one billion dollars.[3] According to Dow Jones VentureSource, the Twitter investment was the eighth time since 2005 that the company has invested in venture-capital backed firms, and only the second time (the other being Slide.com) that T. Rowe Price had invested in a purely Internet-related company.[3]

Conflicts

In 2008, T. Rowe Price "Retirement Plan Services" alerted and informed 35,000 clients that their names and Social Security numbers were compromised in files on computers that were stolen from one of their service providers. However, to deal with the crisis, the company offered those affected a free one-year subscription to an online credit monitoring service and up to $25,000 of identity theft insurance, as well as tips on protection from identity theft.

References

External links