T. Rowe Price will establish a separate US-based entity and platform that will house several of its strategies, promoting a veteran to lead the venture and a new team.
Stephon Jackson, currently associate head of US equity, will become head of the new entity, T. Rowe Price Investment Management (TRPIM), from 1 January 2021.
TRPIM will have six US equity and fixed income strategies under its banner by the end of June 2022. US Capital Appreciation, US Mid-Cap Growth Equity, US Small-Cap Core Equity, US Small-Cap Value Equity, US Smaller Companies Equity and US High Yield Bond Strategies will shift to TRPIM.
The strategies collectively have some US$167 billion of assets under management. About 100 employees will be classified under the new entity, but there are no planned portfolio manager changes associated with this transition, the company said.
“There will be no impact to the structure or approach of the firm’s target date portfolios or other multi-asset products,” it said.
In building out the research platforms, T. Rowe Price has flagged its intention to make additional hires over the next year. It also promoted a number of employees who will work alongside Jackson under TRPIM.
Jackson has been with T. Rowe Price since 2007, joining as an equity portfolio specialist. He moved up the ranks to become director of equity research for developed Europe and North America.
Steven Krichbaum and Thomas Watson join Jackson as directors of research. Tammy Wiggs will be head of equity trading, while Ric Weible will become director of operations and business management.
“The firm does not expect the transition to be deemed a change of control or management of T. Rowe Price Associates (TRPA), nor does the firm expect any changes to fees or services provided to the funds and client accounts,” T. Rowe Price said.
President and chief executive William J. Stromberg commented: “We recognise that this is a change for our clients, and in keeping with our custom of carefully communicating major investment and leadership shifts well in advance, we’ll take the next 18 months to fine-tune and execute our operating plans while working with our clients to help them prepare for the changes. A cross-functional team has been hard at work putting everything in place to ensure a smooth transition.”
Having two strong, yet separate, research platforms will enable us to continue delivering excellent investment performance for clients, he added.
