Publicly owned investment manager T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (TROW) in Baltimore, Md., launches and manages equity and fixed income mutual funds. The firm provides services to individuals, institutional investors, retirement plans, and financial intermediaries. Recently, the company announced plans to add strategies to its nascent bond ETF suite, including one that aims to defend portfolios from rising interest rates. It intends to launch its floating rate ETF and U.S. high yield bond ETF on or around August 1.
However, TROW has been under pressure, with CEO Rob Sharps describing the first quarter as "challenging". The company saw clients pull $18.10 billion in assets from its equity funds during the quarter amid declining investor confidence due to fears related to sky-high inflation and the Russia-Ukraine war. This took a significant toll on the company’s revenues and profits, which missed Wall Street estimates. Furthermore, the company does not expect the situation to ease anytime soon. “There are a lot of challenges that we’ll have to navigate going forward,” Sharps said. “They are complex, and they’re not the sort of things that resolve themselves quickly.” The company has cut its guidance for the full year.
