Exclusive-T. Rowe Price's head of governance Donna Anderson to retire at year-end

Svea Herbst-Bayliss

Thu, Mar 13, 2025, 5:04 AM 3 min read

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donna Anderson, who heads firm governance astatine T. Rowe Price and has been a almighty dependable connected a scope of hot-button topics successful the concern world, intends to discontinue astatine the extremity of this year, the plus manager told Reuters.

T. Rowe Price, 1 of the world's astir almighty concern firms with $1.6 trillion successful assets nether management, confirmed accusation from 3 sources acquainted with the substance that Anderson plans to permission her position.

"Donna Anderson has informed america of her determination to discontinue from her relation ... effectual astatine the extremity of this year, and we person begun transitioning her enactment to a successor," Eric Veiel, Head of Global Investments and Chief Investment Officer astatine T. Rowe Price, told Reuters successful an email.

Anderson, 56, did not respond to a petition for comment.

T. Rowe Price has not yet named a successor for Anderson, who joined the Baltimore-headquartered plus manager successful 2007.

For astir 2 decades, Anderson spearheaded T. Rowe Price's interactions with hundreds of companies arsenic issues including main enforcement pay, the make-up of firm boards, and environmental, societal and governance policies, became progressively important.

"She is an incredibly well-respected leader, not lone successful institution committee rooms and the plus absorption industry's firm governance circles, but besides wrong the walls of T. Rowe Price," wherever she protects the involvement of the company's shareholders, Veiel wrote. "She volition beryllium missed."

Every spring, investors and corporations alike jockeyed to triumph enactment from T. Rowe Price successful firm elections and Anderson was the enforcement who often helped marque the last telephone connected however the concern steadfast formed its vote.

In the tiny and tight-knit governance world, Anderson played a captious relation successful shaping voting policies and past laying them retired publically sometimes astatine conferences specified arsenic this week's Council of Institutional Investors gathering successful Washington.

"Donna Anderson has been an important unit successful the stewardship satellite and has ever been consenting to telephone it arsenic she sees it," said Jessica Wirth Strine, managing spouse and main enforcement serviceman astatine consulting steadfast Jasper Street Partners. "She has not conscionable followed the pack."

While T. Rowe Price actively invests clients' wealth successful status and assemblage savings portfolios, it is not an activistic capitalist that pushes companies connected societal oregon nationalist involvement issues.

During her career, Anderson often faced disconnected against salient investors including billionaire activistic Nelson Peltz and firm chiefs similar Exxon Mobil's caput Darren Woods, but ne'er sought the limelight adjacent arsenic she was considered to beryllium a luminary successful her ain right, lawyers, bankers, and investors said.