T. Rowe Price Review

One of the largest investment brokerage firms in the world, T. Rowe Price has investment clients in 43 countries around the world. Founded in 1937, the company has more than 6,000 associates and has $776.6 billion in assets under management.

T. Rowe Price is perhaps best known for its mutual funds. They offer 126 no-load mutual funds, including 54 stock funds, 34 bond funds, 34 asset allocation funds, 25 target date funds, and 8 money market funds. More important, the company claims that over 85% of their mutual funds beat their 10-year Lipper average (as of 9/30/16).

Each customer has access to Dedicated Investment Specialists, which is a complementary guidance service. Investment Specialists will work closely with you to identify your financial goals and review your current investment strategy. They are experienced investment professionals who can help you with various investment needs that include portfolio assessment and reallocation, fund comparison and selection, account rollovers, and IRAs.

Opening an Account With T. Rowe Price

Opening an account with T. Rowe Price uses a four-step process:

• Step 1: Create your profile and select account type – You enter your address and contact information, and then you select the account type you would like.

• Step 2: Select investment types – You select a list of mutual funds. You will also be allowed to research mutual funds before starting the process.

• Step 3: Determine funding – To enable you to invest electronically, you’ll supply your personal bank account number and your bank’s routing numbers. You will also need to answer a few questions to verify your identity. But if you prefer, you can also send a check to fund your account.

• Step 4: Review and submit – Here you establish a username and a password that enables you to view your account immediately.

Once your account has been established you can then use the Automatic Asset Builder (AAB) service to make monthly contributions of as little as $100 per transaction, after the minimum to open an account is satisfied (see account minimum information below).

T. Rowe Price Features and Benefits

Here is just a summary of some of the more significant features and benefits offered by T. Rowe Price:

Available account types. You have a choice of two account types, T. Rowe Price Mutual Funds, and T. Rowe Price Brokerage. T. Rowe Price Mutual Funds is specifically to hold T. Rowe Price mutual funds, while the T. Rowe Price Brokerage account can hold all types of investments.

T. Rowe Price offers both individual and joint accounts, as well as custodial and trust accounts. They also provide three kinds of college savings plans, including the T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan, the University of Alaska College Savings Plan, and the Maryland College Investment Plan.

For retirement, they offer Traditional and Roth IRAs, including rollover IRAs. For the self-employed and small business owners, they offer SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 403(b) plans, individual 401(k)s (“Solo 401(k)s” ), and small business 401(k) plans.

T. Rowe Price mutual funds.

You can choose from 126 T. Rowe Price no-load mutual funds. These include funds invested in U.S. and international stocks, bonds, blended assets, money market mutual funds, and other investment portfolios that are designed to meet the varied and changing needs and objectives of personal investors.

Target Date Funds.

Each of the actively managed choices is a diversified fund-of-funds portfolio, professionally managed to meet a specific retirement date.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

T. Rowe Price offers any ETF traded on an exchange through T. Rowe Price Brokerage. The most common ETFs include:

• iSHARES – Offer investors access to one of the broadest lineups of indexes available through ETFs.

• QQQ shares – Representing the performance of the Nasdaq 100.

• SPDRs– Sometimes called “Spiders”, these are a series of ETFs that invest in the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, and various style-specific sectors.

• DIA (or DIAMONDS) – These funds are linked to the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

• HOLDRs – Offered by Merrill Lynch, which are portfolios that track a selected group of stocks representing particular market subsectors, such as biotechnology. They are structured as a grantor trust and are not registered with, or regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

T. Rowe Price’s online Brokerage center provides access to tools and research to help you make the right ETF selections for your portfolio. Also, dividend reinvestment is available for ETF investments, subject to certain restrictions.

Minimum Initial Deposit

The minimum amount needed to open an account is $2,500 for a regular investment account (non-retirement). Custodial accounts require a minimum initial deposit of only $1,000. IRA accounts also require an initial minimum deposit of $1,000.

Advisory Planning Services

This is a service offered by T. Rowe Price to customers who have at least $100,000 on deposit with the company. It can help provide you with advice in regard to your retirement plans or to do a portfolio evaluation.

It provides the following services:

• One-on-one discussions with an Advisory Counselor to review your financial situation and identify your investment and retirement goals.

• Sophisticated analysis that tests your strategy through many market scenarios.

• Specific advice to help you meet your retirement goals by providing a recommended savings rate, portfolio allocation, and retirement income strategy.

• Ongoing annual Checkups to ensure your strategy stays on track to reach your goals.

Customer Service

You can contact an Investment Specialist by toll-free phone, on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time. You can contact them by secure email, but you must log in in order to do this.

You can also use Tele*Access, T. Rowe Price’s 24-hour automated phone service that can help you access your account information, including balances, checking prices, yields, and total returns for any T. Rowe Price mutual fund, buying and selling securities and options, or retrieve real-time quotes.

T. Rowe Price Mobile App

You have a choice between T. Rowe Price Personal App for iPad or iPhone. The company offers two mobile-optimized websites, the T. Rowe Price Mobile Website and the mobile-friendly Workplace Retirement Website.

With T. Rowe Price mobile apps you can view account balances, asset allocations, and historical charts. perform transactions within your accounts, conduct investment research, and check both the status of recent and pending transactions.

Asset Protection

T. Rowe Price and Pershing (T. Rowe Price’s clearing agency) are members of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which means that your account is protected for up to $500,000 (of which $250,000 can be claims for cash awaiting reinvestment). SIPC does not protect against any loss due to market fluctuation, but rather in the event of broker failure.

In addition to SIPC, Pershing also provides coverage in excess of SIPC limits from Lloyd’s of London, in conjunction with other insurers. The excess of SIPC coverage provides the following protection for assets held in custody by Pershing and its London-based affiliate, Pershing Securities Limited:

• An aggregate loss limit of $1 billion for eligible securities—over all client accounts.

• A per-client loss limit of $1.9 million for cash awaiting reinvestment—within the aggregate loss limit of $1 billion.

Account Security

T. Rowe Price uses Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) technology to establish an encrypted connection between your browser and our Web applications. They also make use of website verification by requiring you to select an image and input a phrase. They use a 2-Factor Authentication, which requires you to enter your password plus a one-time Access Code to provide greater security during the login process.

T. Rowe Price Tools and Calculators

Some of the tools and calculators that T. Rowe Price offers include:

Mutual Fund Compare Tool. This tool allows you to compare your fund from over 15,000 fund families based on performance, expenses and fees, fund characteristics, and volatility.

Morningstar Portfolio Manager. This tool enables you to monitor your portfolio’s performance and view its underlying holdings with the on-screen X-Ray and Stock Intersection features.

Future Path. This is a new retirement planning resource that helps you understand your financial goals and develop a plan to achieve them. It calculates a personalized number that helps you monitor your progress toward meeting your retirement goals.

The calculations are based on various inputs, including your current salary,

retirement age

, predictable retirement income sources (such as Social Security and any pension income you might be entitled to), your future income needs, and your desired retirement age.

Future Path uses an analytical tool known as Monte Carlo to model future uncertainty based on probability. It allows Future Path to evaluate a wide range of potential investment outcomes by simulating how they may perform under 1,000 various market scenarios. For example, Monte Carlo considers rates of return on various asset allocations, investment expenses, and expected rates of inflation in developing your future income and asset projections.

Mutual Fund Research Tool. This tool filters funds by category, objective, or Morningstar rating. You can sort by rolling over a mutual fund and using the arrows to find key information about each fund. It allows you to compare important information, such as fund performance and asset allocation by rolling over individual funds and clicking the “Add to Compare” box.

Stock Screener. You can conduct searches based on industry, performance, size, growth, value, earnings forecasts, and more.

ETF Screener. Enables you to conduct searches based on fund classification, asset type, performance, risk, market cap, sector, and more.

T. Rowe Price Fees

Annual Fees. An annual fee of $20 is charged for each T. Rowe Price mutual fund account with a balance below $10,000. Investors may qualify for a waiver of the account service fee in any of the following three ways:

1. Subscribe to electronic delivery of statements, confirmations, prospectuses, and shareholder reports.

2. Maintain an individual combined balance of $50,000 or more for all T. Rowe Price accounts (including mutual funds, Brokerage, and Small Business Retirement Plans).

3. Qualify for T. Rowe Price Select Client Services based on higher asset levels of $100,000 or more.

Stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). $9.95 per trade for accounts with more than 30 executed trades in the prior 12 months or customers who qualify for the T. Rowe Price Select Client Services program. If not, there’s a fee of $19.95 per trade for all other accounts

Mutual funds. No Transaction-fee funds – No Charge. Load funds – stated load only. Otherwise $35 per trade.

Options. $9.95 plus $1 per contract for accounts with more than 30 executed trades in the prior 12 months or customers who qualify for the T. Rowe Price Select Client Services program. If not, there’s a fee of $19.95 plus $1 per contract for all other accounts

Bonds and Certificates of Deposit (CDs). The current fee schedule for bonds and CDs is as follows:

• Treasury Bills, $50

• Agency (FNMA, FHLMC), TIPS, Treasury and Coupon Notes and Bonds, Treasury 0% Coupon Bonds, $1 per $1,000 Bond

• GNMAs and CMOs (Minimum of $25,000), $1 per $1,000 Bond

• Corporate Bonds, $5 per $1,000 Bond

• Municipals (Minimum of $5,000), $5 per $1,000 Bond

• CDs purchased at par ($1,000)

Precious Metals. Includes gold, silver, palladium, and platinum, with commissions based on the dollar amount of the trade. For example:

• $0—$9,999, 0.025%

• $10,000—$49,999, 0.020%

• $50,000—$99,999, 0.015%

• $100,000 and over, 0.0075%

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Options

You are always free to invest through T. Rowe Price on a self-directed basis. But if you are looking for professional asset management, T. Rowe Price offers that as well. In fact, they have four different levels of investment management, based on the size of your investment portfolio held with the firm. Each offers its own set of benefits.

Preferred – With total investments of – $100,000+ – offers the following services:

• In-depth portfolio performance summary

• Discounted brokerage trades ($9.95 per trade)

• Complimentary Morningstar Premium membership – a $199/year value

Personal – With total investments of – $250,000+ – offers the following services:

• Access to experienced Client Managers

• Dedicated assistance with complex financial transactions

• Free TurboTax online products

Enhanced Personal – With total investments of – $1,000,000+ – offers the following services:

• Waived fees for Advisory Planning Services

• Personalized assistance with Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)

• Complimentary access to The Wall Street Journal Online – a $348/year value

Private Asset Management -With total investments of – $3,000,000+ – This level provides discretionary asset management services for clients who want their assets professionally managed in a separate portfolio. Private Asset Management provides separately managed portfolios for individuals and their families, as well as for trusts, endowments, foundations, and institutions.

They develop the relationship with you through personal meetings and consultations, in order to gain a full understanding of your investment objectives, return needs, risk tolerance, time horizon, liquidity needs, tax considerations, and other critical factors that define your investment guidelines.

They also conduct regular face-to-face meetings to measure progress toward goals or to adjust investment guidelines relative to changing needs. You will receive quarterly investment summaries, performance data, and investment letters as part of the service.

Will T. Rowe Price Work for You?

T. Rowe Price is an excellent investment brokerage if you’re focused on long-term investing, rather than trading. They specialize in mutual funds, and the fund family is one of the best and most popular available on the market.

They also offer professional investment management services, which are available to account holders based on progressive account sizes. This enables your service level to grow as your portfolio grows. The combination of the company’s own mutual funds, mixed with other investments, plus professional management, is an excellent mix for long-term investing success for the investor who has a more passive investment approach.

If you are an active trader, T. Rowe Price is probably not the best choice. Their trading commissions are at the higher end of the range of major investment brokerages. And you probably won’t have much need for the investment management services either.

But for all other investors, T. Rowe Price can be an excellent choice. You can start an account with them – either a mutual fund account or a brokerage account – by going to the T. Rowe Price website.

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Good Financial Cents conducts a thorough review of U.S. brokers, focusing on assets under management and notable industry trends. Our primary objective is to offer a balanced and informative assessment, assisting individuals in making informed decisions about their investment choices. We believe in maintaining a transparent editorial process.

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