Meet the Manager: T. Rowe Price

BDO Private Wealth is pleased to have Sam Ruiz of T. Rowe Price join us for the second instalment of Meet the Manager for 2023.

BDO Private Wealth is pleased to have Sam Ruiz from the T. Rowe Price Global Equity Fund join us in this instalment of our Meet the Manager series.

Sam is vice president at T. Rowe Price and the portfolio specialist in its international equity division. He has been with T. Rowe Price since 2020, beginning in the Equity division, working on Global and Australian equity strategies. Sam's investment experience began in 2008, and prior to joining T. Rowe Price, he worked on strategy at Macquarie Investment Management in the Equities division.

As one of the world’s oldest and largest asset managers, T. Rowe Price has a rich history of successfully managing investments since 1937. The T. Rowe Price global equity strategy began in 2008 with lead portfolio manager Scott Berg and has continued to be led by him since.

Investment philosophy and approach

With a team of approximately 200 investment analysts located all over the world, T. Rowe Price has a unique edge in identifying the best companies in diverse markets. The leadership team’s investment philosophy is rooted in the belief that consistent and strong returns can be generated by conducting thorough bottom-up fundamental research on individual stocks and companies. Sam says that at T. Rowe Price, their team avoids making top-down predictions about central bank decisions, country, or currency performance, and instead focuses on understanding the products, services, and industry dynamics of each company.

The T. Rowe Price investment strategy involves conducting in-depth research to identify opportunities in diverse markets, companies with long-term growth potential, and purchasing them at a good and fair price. Through this approach, T. Rowe Price’s team aim to generate consistent and strong returns for investors. They also prioritise risk management by diversifying across a large number of companies, sectors, and geographic regions to create a more consistent and durable performance experience for investors.

Inflation, supply chains, and the global market

There are many issues to consider when reviewing the current global market. “Supply chains are the key issue we have for inflation right now,” Sam states.

“Effectively, we have supply chains that are distressed… and we also have excess demand because central banks around the world gave out so much excess free money to get us through the pandemic that it created really strong demand. At the same time, we just didn't have enough supply.”

To prevent inflation from becoming entrenched, central banks are trying to recalibrate demand, encouraging people to buy fewer goods and go on fewer holidays. According to Sam, this will suppress demand and help bring it back in line with the currently suppressed supply.

While the COVID-19-induced supply chain issues are starting to dissipate, the impact of global conflict on supply chains, particularly those related to energy and soft commodities, is proving harder to predict. Sam says that the uncertainty around energy supply from Russia and other sources is leading to enormous inflation in gas prices and could potentially induce a deep recession in Europe. While it may be difficult to fix these issues in the near term, there are positive signs that the original COVID-19-related supply chain issues are starting to peak and go away.

To hear more about the global market from Sam and learn more about T. Rowe Price, watch the full interview now.

Should you wish to discuss how your portfolio is positioned in the context of your investment objectives and market risks, please speak to your local BDO Private Wealth adviser.

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