Two T. Rowe Price Funds Get New Managers

By Staff Writer

October 28, 2002 at 07:00 PM

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Oct. 25, 2002 — New portfolio managers will begin running T Rowe Price Financial Services Fund (PRISX) and T Rowe Price Growth and Income Fund (PRGIX) next week.

Anna Dopkin, who has overseen the Financial Services fund since its inception in 1996, will move to the Growth & Income fund, replacing Robert Sharps. Michael Holton, an analyst with the fund company, will succeed Dopkin.

Sharps, who has piloted the Growth and Income fund for two years, will continue to manage institutional and private accounts at T. Rowe Price, a company spokeswoman said. The changes become effective Oct. 31.

Holton, who joined the Baltimore-based company in 1995, has worked on the Financial Services and Growth and Income funds, and T Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Fund (PRWCX) and T Rowe Price Dividend Growth Fund (PRDGX). His new assignment marks the first time he has managed a portfolio.

Holton said he will not run the Financial Services fund differently than Dopkin. Holton said that, like Dopkin, he looks for stocks of growing companies that are selling for what he considers reasonable prices, and that he can own for two years or more.

The $289.2-million Financial Services fund was off 16.6% this year through September, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped 28.2%. The fund returned 7%, on average, for the three years ended in September, compared to a loss of 12.9% by the index.

The $1.8-billion Growth and Income fund lost 29.9% this year through Sept. 30, while its peer large-cap value funds slipped 25.8%. The fund was down 8.7% for the three years ended last month, compared to a loss of 9.8% by its peers.

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