T. Rowe Price Is Concerned With Consolidation and Market Fragmentation

T. Rowe Price
100 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

Assets under management:

A little less than $300 billion in equity and fixed-income assets globally.

Fund(s) for which you trade:

T. Rowe Price equity income fund, T. Rowe Price value fund, capital appreciation fund, balanced fund and some for our high-yield funds (when convertible securities are involved).

Types of products traded:

We have a broad product line. We trade fixed income, money markets, high yield, municipal and equity products.

Daily volume in equities:

That's one of those questions I'm not sure how to answer. We're a known and established player. We're an active long-term investor with a relatively low turnover.

Structure of trading department:

We are a group of nine traders, and we have four trading assistants. We are structured by portfolio manager and product line. We naturally have some sector orientation, because we trade different portfolios. If you trade for the health science fund, you probably have a better handle on biotech stocks than someone who trades for a value fund. We believe this gives us the generalist ability and a product and sector expertise that we can leverage as a desk and a firm. We are comfortable with the direct relationship that we have with portfolio managers, as we think it provides clear accountability and better communication and service orientation.

Previous Positions:

I started at T. Rowe in 1980 and have been here ever since. I started on the desk as a junior person. At the time, the company wanted someone with work experience, but not in the business. They preferred to teach someone the business rather than retrain someone. And that's what they did with me.

Education:

B.A. in history from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., and some executive education from University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

The enormous growth of hedge funds is a concern, considering their influence in the markets. I continue to be astounded that there is little regulation over this segment. Another one just exploded a few weeks ago [Amaranth] and caused consternation in the markets. At some point you'd think there'd be oversight of this very growing area.