T. Rowe Price to launch Aussie equity capability

T. Rowe Price has announced the launch of its Australian equity capability, which is likely to happen at the end of November, according to director for Australia and New Zealand Murray Brewer (pictured).

Brewer said the company had $510 billion in funds under management, $70 billion of which came from non-United States-based investors.

Launching the Aussie equity capability would help T. Rowe Price in its goal to grow the non-US client base.

Brewer said there hadn’t been many players in the market who started up Aussie equity boutiques after the global financial crisis, which he said may have been caused by the increased number of boxes investors now wanted ticked.

“People are looking at stability of the organisation, risk framework and debt; our view is that unless you are globally integrated with your research (that is, getting information daily) you’re not going to be able to cover those stocks as well,” he said.

Brewer added that for the past year T. Rowe Price had been building its equity capability team, which is currently being integrated with the rest of the company.

Viral Patel has recently been appointed as associate director of research in the new Aussie equities team, while Randal Jenneke, who moved from Schroder Investment Management, has been recruited as portfolio manager.

Brewer said the launch of the company’s Australian equity capability had been four years in the making.