BALTIMORE, April 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
NEWS
T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ-GS: TROW) has introduced three new equity
funds that use a quantitative management style to select the stocks
they hold. The new funds are:
- T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Value Equity Fund,
- T. Rowe Price QM U.S. Small & Mid-Cap Core Equity Fund,
and
- T. Rowe Price QM Global Equity Fund.
In addition, the company has renamed the T. Rowe Price
Diversified Small-Cap Growth Fund as the T. Rowe Price QM U.S.
Small-Cap Growth Equity Fund to better reflect its quantitative
management style. All four funds are a part of the new T. Rowe
Price Quantitative Management (QM) series and are available in
Investor Class, Advisor Class, and I Class shares.
While T. Rowe Price is well known and respected for its
fundamental research capabilities, the company has also developed a
quantitative research program and has managed strategies with a
quantitative focus and process for the last 10 years. Designed for
long-term investors, the QM funds aim to deliver capital growth
through the use of systematic, data-driven stock-selection models.
These proprietary models analyze a multitude of fundamental metrics
drawn primarily from company financial statements. In this way, and
through close collaboration among the company's investment
professionals, T. Rowe Price's quantitative research process is an
effective complement to its longstanding strength in fundamental
research.
T. Rowe Price's quantitative investment approach is based on
identifying stocks that are outperformers over multiple market
cycles in most global markets. These tend to be stocks that are
undervalued relative to industry peers and the broader universe.
There is a preference for companies that earn high returns on
capital employed and those with high earnings quality, in part
because these companies often experience more moderate declines in
down markets. Because of this value-oriented preference, it is
possible that T. Rowe Price's QM strategies could underperform in
periods when valuation and quality characteristics are not rewarded
by the market.
T. ROWE PRICE QM U.S. VALUE EQUITY FUND DETAILS
- The fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity
securities of U.S. companies, and up to 10% in foreign stocks.
- While multiple metrics are employed in stock selection, the
investment approach can be expected to have a strong value tilt
relative to the Russell 1000 Value Index benchmark.
- The fund will hold approximately 125–135 stocks.
- An expected annual portfolio turnover of less than 50% reflects
the fund's long-term orientation and should hold down
trading-related transaction costs.
- The net expense ratio is capped at 0.69% for the Investor Class
shares, 0.94% for the Advisor Class, and 0.54% for I Class shares
(with a 0.05% operating expense cap).
- The fund is managed by Farris Shuggi, CFA, who has been a
member of T. Rowe Price's quantitative research team since
2008.
T. ROWE PRICE QM U.S. SMALL & MID-CAP CORE EQUITY FUND
DETAILS
- The fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity
securities of U.S. companies, and up to 10% of its assets in
foreign stocks.
- The investment approach favors stocks featuring a combination
of relatively inexpensive valuations, strong profitability,
evidence of prudent capital allocation, and price trends that
indicate positive market recognition.
- The fund will hold approximately 350 stocks benchmarked to the
Russell 2500 Index. The fund will be well diversified, with a
maximum size of any position expected to be lower than 1%.
- An expected annual portfolio turnover of less than 50% reflects
the fund's long-term orientation and should hold down
trading-related transaction costs.
- The net expense ratio is capped at 0.84% for the Investor Class
shares, 1.09% for the Advisor Class, and 0.69% for I Class shares
(with a 0.05% operating expense cap).
- The fund is managed by Boyko
Atanassov, CFA, Ph.D., who has been a member of T. Rowe
Price's quantitative research team since 2010.
T. ROWE PRICE QM GLOBAL EQUITY FUND DETAILS
- The fund will invest at least 40% of its net assets in
companies outside the U.S. and up to 20% in emerging market
countries.
- The investment approach favors stocks featuring a combination
of relatively inexpensive valuations, strong profitability,
evidence of prudent capital allocation, and price trends that
indicate positive market recognition.
- The fund will hold approximately 350–375 stocks benchmarked to
the Morgan Stanley Capital International All Country World Index
(MSCI ACWI).
- An expected annual portfolio turnover of less than 50% reflects
the fund's long-term orientation and should hold down
trading-related transaction costs.
- The net expense ratio is capped at 0.74% for the Investor Class
shares, 0.99% for the Advisor Class, and 0.59% for I Class shares
(with a 0.05% operating expense cap).
- The fund will be managed by Sudhir
Nanda, CFA, Ph.D., who heads T. Rowe Price's Quantitative
Equity Group and has over 15 years of investment experience at T.
Rowe Price. Prashant Jeyaganesh, CFA, a 10-year veteran of T. Rowe
Price, will serve as associate portfolio manager.
QM U.S. SMALL-CAP GROWTH EQUITY FUND (FORMERLY T. ROWE PRICE
DIVERSIFIED SMALL-CAP GROWTH FUND)
- The fund employs a systematic, data-driven process to identify
attractive stocks within the small-cap growth universe.
- The fund normally invests at least 80% of net assets in equity
securities issued by small-cap U.S. growth companies.
- The fund currently holds an Overall Morningstar rating of five
stars for its risk-adjusted performance, as well as the 3-, 5- and
10-year periods ended January 31,
2016.1 The Overall Morningstar Rating™ is derived
from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with
the fund's 3-, 5-, and 10-year Morningstar Rating™ metrics.
- The fund has outperformed the Lipper Small-Cap Growth Funds
Average and its benchmark index, the MSCI U.S. Small Cap Growth
Index, for the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods ended December 31, 2015.2 The fund's returns
for the 1-, 3-, 5, and 10-year periods ended December 31, 2015, were 2.33%,
16.22%, 13.02%, and 9.36%,
respectively. The MSCI U.S Small-Cap Growth Index returns
for the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods ended December 31, 2015, were -3.05%,
13.62%, 11.17%, and 8.78%, respectively.
- Current performance may be higher or lower than the quoted
past performance, which cannot guarantee future results. Share
price, principal value, and return will vary, and you may have a
gain or loss when you sell your shares. To obtain the most recent
month-end performance, please call 1-800-541-8803 or go to
troweprice.com.
- The fund charges a 1% redemption fee on shares held for 90 days
or less. The performance information does not reflect the deduction
of the redemption fee; if it did, the performance would be lower.
The fund's total return figures include changes in principal value,
reinvested dividends, and capital gain distributions.
- The net expense ratio is capped at 0.85% for the Investor Class
shares.
- The fund has been managed since 2006 by Sudhir Nanda, CFA, Ph.D., head of the
Quantitative Equity Group at T. Rowe Price. He has more than 15
years of investment experience at the firm.
Download a prospectus or obtain one by calling
1-800-541-8803. The prospectus includes investment objectives,
risks, fees, expenses, and other information that you should read
and consider carefully before investing.
All funds are subject to market risk, including the possible
loss of principal.
T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., distributor, T. Rowe
Price mutual funds.
QUOTE
Sudhir Nanda, head of the
Quantitative Equity Group at T. Rowe Price and portfolio manager of
the QM Global Equity Fund and the QM U.S. Small-Cap Growth Equity
Fund:
"The launch of these new funds signals T. Rowe Price's
commitment to quantitative equity research. Collectively, our
experienced quantitative team has spent many years developing
models that have demonstrated an ability to identify stocks with a
high probability of outperformance over market cycles. Avoiding
potential underperformers is another important component that can
help a fund beat its benchmarks over time, and our models are
designed to help with that, as well."
"In addition to managing the QM funds, our quantitative team
also provides analysis for use by our fundamental research
investment professionals. Our groups collaborate well together and
complement each other. Our quantitative strategies are not 'black
box.' We use efficient, transparent, and systematic analysis of
fundamental data to drive our investment decisions as we work to
provide investors with relative outperformance in a persistent
manner."
ABOUT T. ROWE PRICE
Founded in 1937, Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., is
a global investment management organization with $763.1 billion in assets under management as of
December 31, 2015. The organization
provides a broad array of mutual funds, subadvisory services, and
separate account management for individual and institutional
investors, retirement plans, and financial intermediaries. The
company also offers sophisticated investment planning and guidance
tools. T. Rowe Price's disciplined, risk-aware investment
approach focuses on diversification, style consistency, and
fundamental research. For more information, visit troweprice.com or
our Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook sites.
Russell Investment Group is the source and owner of the
trademarks, service marks, and copyrights related to the Russell
indexes. Russell® is a trademark of Russell Investment Group.
MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations
and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI
data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further
redistributed or used as a basis for other indices or any
securities or financial products. This report is not approved,
reviewed, or produced by MSCI.
1 Morningstar rated the QM U.S. Small-Cap Growth
Equity Fund among 660, 660, 589, and 424 small growth funds for the
overall rating and the 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods (as applicable)
ended January 31, 2016, respectively.
For funds with at least a 3-year history, a Morningstar
RatingTM is based on a risk-adjusted return measure
(including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption
fees) with emphasis on downward variations and consistent
performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars,
the next 22.5% 4 stars, the next 35% 3 stars, the next 22.5% 2
stars, and the bottom 10% 1 star. Each share class is counted as a
fraction of 1 fund within this scale and rated separately.
2 Market indexes do not include expenses, which
are deducted from fund returns as well as mutual fund averages and
indexes.
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SOURCE T. Rowe Price