TROW Price T Rowe Group Inc - 10-K

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

An investment in our common stock involves various risks, including those mentioned below and those that are discussed from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC. Investors should carefully consider these risks, along with the other information contained in this report, before making an investment decision regarding our common stock. There may be additional risks of which we are currently unaware, or which we currently consider immaterial. Any of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, reputation, and value of our common stock.

RISKS RELATING TO OUR BUSINESS AND THE FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY.

Our revenues are based on the market value and composition of the assets under our management, all of which are subject to fluctuation caused by factors outside of our control.

We derive our revenues primarily from investment advisory services provided by our subsidiaries to individual and institutional investors. Our investment advisory fees typically are calculated as a percentage of the market value of the assets under our management. As a result, our revenues are dependent on the value and composition of the assets under our management, all of which are subject to substantial fluctuation due to many factors, including:

• Investment Performance. If the investment performance of our managed investment products is less than that of our competitors or applicable third-party benchmarks, we could lose existing and potential clients and suffer a decrease in assets under management. Poor performance relative to other competing products tends to result in decreased sales and increased redemptions with corresponding decreases in our revenues.

• General Financial Market Declines. We derive a significant portion of our revenues from advisory fees on managed investment products. A downturn in financial markets would cause the value of assets under our management to decrease, and may also cause investors to withdraw their investments, thereby further decreasing the level of assets under our management.

• Investment Concentration. Our fees vary depending on product offering, and our assets under management may be overly concentrated within limited market segments or strategies, which could impact our revenues should these fees be impacted.

• Investor Mobility. Our investors may generally withdraw their funds at any time, without advance notice and with little to no significant penalty. Any redemptions and other withdrawals from, or shifting among, our investment products could reduce our assets under management. These could be caused by investors reducing their investments in our products in general or in the market segments in which we focus; investors taking profits from their investments; product risk characteristics, which could cause investors to move assets to other investment managers; and investor and market sentiments.

• Capacity Constraints. Prolonged periods of strong relative investment performance and/or strong investor inflows has resulted in, and may result in, capacity constraints within certain strategies, which can lead to, among other things, the closure of those strategies to new investors.

• Investing Trends. Changes in investing trends, particularly investor preference for passive or alternatives investment products as well as changes in retirement savings trends, may reduce interest in our products and may alter our mix of assets under management.

• Interest Rate Changes. Investor interest in and the valuation of our fixed income and multi-asset investment products are affected by changes in as well as uncertainty about interest rates.

• Geo-Political Exposure. Our managed investment products may have significant investments in markets that are subject to risk of loss from political or diplomatic developments, government policies, wars, conflicts or civil unrest (such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, recent events in Venezuela and the on-going conflicts in the Middle East), trade policies, wars or tariffs (including those imposed or threatened by the U.S. and retaliatory tariffs by U.S. trading partners), currency fluctuations, market volatility, illiquidity and capital controls, and changes in legislation related to ownership limitations.

• Government Shutdown. The U.S. federal government periodically experiences funding gaps that result in partial or complete shutdowns of government operations. A prolonged shutdown could adversely impact the U.S. economy, financial markets, and our business directly and indirectly. During a shutdown, many federal agencies, such as the SEC, suspend or delay regulatory approvals. A delay in the approval of new products

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which we intend to offer could materially impact our performance and the timing with which we begin to attract investors. Additionally, a shutdown could have broader negative effects on consumer and business confidence, the financial markets, and the overall economy. Uncertainty regarding the duration or frequency of government shutdowns may contribute to market volatility and increased redemptions from our products.

A decrease in the value of our assets under management, or an adverse change in their composition, particularly in market segments where our assets are concentrated, could have a material adverse effect on our investment advisory fees and revenues. For any period in which revenues decline, net income and operating margins will likely decline by a greater proportion because certain expenses will be fixed over that finite period and may not decrease in proportion to the decrease in revenues.

A majority of our revenues are based on contracts with commingled vehicles that are subject to termination without cause and on short notice.

We provide investment advisory, distribution, and other administrative services to commingled vehicles under various agreements. Investment advisory services are provided to each collective investment fund under individual investment management agreements, which can be terminated on short notice. In addition, the Board of each T. Rowe Price U.S. mutual fund and ETF must annually approve the terms of the investment management and service agreements. If a collective investment fund seeks to lower the fees that we receive or terminate its contract with us, we would experience a decline in fees earned from the collective investment funds, which could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and net income.

We operate in an intensely competitive industry. Competitive pressures may result in a loss of clients and their assets or compel us to reduce the fees we charge to clients, thereby reducing our revenues and net income.

We are subject to competition in all aspects of our business from other financial institutions. Some of these financial institutions have greater resources than we do and may offer a broader range of financial products across more markets. Some competitors operate in a different regulatory environment than we do which may give them certain competitive advantages in the investment products and portfolio structures that they offer. We compete with other providers of investment advisory services primarily based on the availability and objectives of the investment products offered, investment performance, fees and related expenses, and the scope and quality of investment advice, other client services and technology offerings. Some institutions have proprietary products, distribution channels or technology offerings that make it more difficult for us to compete with them. In addition, in recent years, there has been continued consolidation in the asset management industry, which continues to alter our competitive landscape, has led to fee compression, and requires us to modify or adapt our product offerings to attract and retain customers. Substantially all of our investment products are available without sales or redemption fees, which means that investors may be more willing to transfer assets to competing products. If our clients reduce their investments with us, and we are not able to attract new clients, our AUM, revenue and earnings could decline.

The market environment in recent years has led investors to increasingly favor lower fee passive investment products. As a result, investment advisors that emphasize passive products have gained and may continue to gain market share from active managers like us. While we believe there will always be demand for strong performing active management, we cannot predict how much market share these competitors will gain.

Furthermore, many aspects of the asset management industry are seeing increased regulatory activity and scrutiny, in particular related to transparency and unbundling of fees, inducements, conflicts of interest, risk management, cybersecurity, technology, privacy and data protection, sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion, and compensation. We may respond to these regulatory matters or may be impacted by these actions in a manner different from our competitors, which may impact our AUM or result in the loss of clients and their assets.

As part of our continued efforts to attract and retain clients, we develop and launch new products and services, which may require expenditure of resources and may expose us to new regulatory or compliance requirements as well as increased risk of operational or client service errors.

In the event that we decide to reduce the fees we charge for investment advisory services in response to competitive pressures, which we have done selectively in the past, revenues and operating margins could be adversely impacted. Fee reductions may vary depending on strategy and product offerings, which could result in investment rebalancing or reallocation adversely impacting revenues and operating margins.

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The failure or negative performance of products offered by competitors may cause our products, which are similar, to be impacted irrespective of our performance.

Many competitors offer similar products to those offered by us, and the failure or negative performance of competitors’ products could lead to a loss of confidence in similar products we offer, irrespective of the performance of such products. Any loss of confidence in a product type could lead to withdrawals, redemptions and liquidity issues in such products, which may cause our AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.

Our operations are complex and a failure to properly execute operational processes could have an adverse effect on our reputation and decrease our revenues.

We provide global investment management and administrative services to our clients. In certain cases, we rely on third-party service providers for the execution and delivery of these services. There can be no assurance that these service providers will properly perform these processes or that there will not be interruptions in services from these third parties. Failure to properly execute or oversee these services could have an adverse impact on our business, financial results and reputation, and subject us to regulatory sanctions, fines, penalties, or litigation.

New investment strategies, investment vehicles, distribution channels, advancement in technology and digital wealth and distribution tools, or other evolutions of or additions to our business may increase the risk that our existing systems may not be adequate to control the risks introduced by such changes. Business changes may require us to update our processes or technology and may increase risk to meeting our business objectives. In addition, our existing information systems and technology platforms might not be able to accommodate our business operations, and the cost of maintaining or upgrading such systems might increase from its current level. If any of these scenarios were to arise, it could disrupt our operations, increase our expenses or result in financial exposure, regulatory inquiry, litigation or reputational damage.

Our business model is dependent on our personnel, who as part of their roles support disclosure and internal controls, compliance, supervision, technology and training to provide comfort that our activities do not violate applicable guidelines, rules and regulations or adversely affect our clients, counterparties or us. We also rely on the personnel of others involved in our business, such as third-party service providers, intermediaries or other vendors. Our personnel and the personnel of others involved in our business may make errors or engage in fraudulent or malicious activities, that are not always immediately detected or that cannot be easily remediated, which may disrupt our operations, cause losses, lead to regulatory fines or sanctions, litigation, or otherwise damage our reputation.

The quantitative models we use may contain errors, which could result in financial losses or adversely impact product performance and client relationships.

We use various quantitative models (including ones supported by AI and machine-learning algorithms) to support investment decisions and investment processes, including those related to portfolio management and portfolio risk analysis, as well as those related to client investment or savings advice or guidance. Any errors in the underlying models or model assumptions could have unanticipated and adverse consequences on our business and reputation.

Any damage to our reputation could harm our business and lead to a loss of revenues and net income or access to capital.

We have spent many years developing our reputation for integrity, strong investment performance, and superior client service. Our brand is a valuable intangible asset, but it is vulnerable to a variety of threats that can be difficult or impossible to control, and costly or even impossible to remediate, if damaged. Regulatory inquiries and rumors can tarnish or substantially damage our reputation, even if those inquiries are satisfactorily addressed. Our global presence and investments on behalf of our clients around the world could also lead to heightened scrutiny and criticism in an increasingly fragmented geopolitical landscape.

Misconduct by our personnel or third-party service providers could likewise adversely impact our reputation and lead to a loss of client assets. While we maintain policies, procedures, and controls to reduce the likelihood of unauthorized activities, we are subject to the risk that our personnel or third parties acting on our behalf may circumvent controls or act in a manner inconsistent with our policies and procedures. Real or perceived conflicts

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between our clients’ interests and our own, as well as any fraudulent activity or other exposure of client assets or information, may impair our reputation and subject us to litigation or regulatory action. In addition, should we be subject to a cybersecurity event or data breach, or the target of cyber criminals who seek to defraud our clients, our reputation could be harmed and we could suffer financial loss. Any damage to our brand could impede our ability to attract and retain clients and key personnel, and reduce the amount of assets under our management, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and net income.

Failure to comply with client contractual requirements and/or investment guidelines could result in costs of correction, damage awards or regulatory fines and penalties against us and loss of revenues due to client terminations.

Many of the agreements under which we manage assets or provide products or services specify investment guidelines or requirements, such as adherence to investment restrictions or limits, that we are required to observe in the provision of our services. Laws and regulations impose similar requirements for certain investment products. While we maintain various compliance procedures and other controls to seek to prevent, detect and correct such errors, any failure to comply with these guidelines or requirements could result in damage to our reputation or in our clients seeking to recover losses, withdrawing their assets or terminating their contracts. Regulators likewise may commence enforcement actions for violations of such requirements, which could lead to fines and penalties against us. Any such events could cause our revenues and profitability to decline, and significant errors for which we are responsible could have a material adverse impact on our reputation, results of operations, financial condition or liquidity.

Our alternatives products include investments in private credit, real estate, infrastructure and private companies, which may expose us to new or increased risks and liabilities and to reputational harm.

Our alternatives products include investments in private credit, real estate, infrastructure and private companies, which may expose our investment products, clients and us to new or increased risks and liabilities. These may include:

• risks related to the potential illiquidity, valuation, concentration and disposition of such investments;

• risks related to emerging and less established companies that have, among other things, short operating histories, not yet achieved or sustained profitability, new technologies and products, nascent control functions, quickly evolving markets and limited financial resources;

• credit risks, including interest-rate movements and an issuer’s ability to make principal and interest payments on the debt it issues;

• risks related to investment in “distressed” securities, including abrupt and erratic market movements and above-average price volatility;

• risks relating to the use of leverage, including as a result of changes in interest rates or an inability to timely obtain and effectively deploy leverage;

• failures on the part of third-party managers, service providers or sub-contractors appointed in connection with investments or projects to adequately perform their contractual duties or operate in accordance with applicable laws;

• exposure to stringent and complex foreign, federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations;

• risks related to the availability, cost, coverage and other limitations on insurance; and

• the financial resources of tenants or loan counterparties; and contingent liabilities on disposition of investments.

These (and similar) risks may expose our investment products, clients and us, to the extent of our investment in such investment products, to expenses and liabilities, including costs associated with delays or remediation and increased legal or regulatory costs, all of which could impact the returns earned by our investment products and clients. These risks could also result in direct liability for us by exposing us to losses, regulatory sanctions or litigation, including claims for compensatory or punitive damages. The occurrence of any such events may expose us to reputational harm, or cause our AUM, revenues and net income to decline.

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Our expenses are subject to significant fluctuations that could materially decrease net income.

Our operating results are dependent on the level of our expenses, which can vary significantly for many reasons, including:

• expenses incurred in connection with our multi-year strategic plan to strengthen our long-term competitive position;

• variations in the level of total compensation expense due to changes in, among other things, bonuses, stock-based awards, employee benefit costs due to regulatory or plan design changes, labor market conditions, our employee count and mix, competitive factors, market performance, and inflation;

• changes in the level of our advertising and promotion expenses, including the costs of expanding investment advisory services to investors outside of the U.S. and further penetrating U.S. distribution channels;

• expenses and capital costs incurred to maintain and enhance our administrative and operating services infrastructure, such as technology assets, depreciation, amortization, and research and development;

• changes in the costs incurred for third-party service providers that perform certain administrative and operating services, including as a result of changes in market conditions, labor costs and inflation;

• changes in expenses that are correlated to our assets under management, such as distribution and servicing fees;

• a future impairment of investments that is recognized in our consolidated balance sheet;

• a future impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets that is recognized in our consolidated balance sheet;

• unanticipated material fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates applicable to the costs of our operations abroad;

• unanticipated costs incurred to protect investor accounts and client goodwill;

• future changes to legal and regulatory requirements and potential litigation; and

• disruptions of infrastructure and third-party services such as communications, power, cloud services, transfer agent, investment management, trading, and accounting systems.

Under our agreements with the U.S. mutual funds, we charge the funds certain administrative fees and related expenses based upon contracted terms. If we fail to accurately estimate our underlying expense levels or are required to incur expenses relating to the U.S. mutual funds that are not otherwise paid by the funds, our operating results will be adversely affected. While we are under no obligation to provide financial support to our investment products, any financial support provided would reduce capital available for other purposes and may have an adverse effect on revenues and net income.

Our hedging strategies utilized to mitigate risk may not be effective, which could impact our net income.

We employ hedging strategies related to our deferred compensation plans in order to hedge the liability related to the plans. In the event that our hedging strategies are not effective, the resulting impact may adversely affect our net income.

Changes in tax laws or exposure to additional tax liabilities may impact our financial position or the marketability of the products and services we offer our clients.

We are subject to income taxes as well as non-income-based taxes and complex tax regimes in both the United States and various foreign jurisdictions in which we operate. We cannot predict future changes in the tax regulations to which we are subject, and any such changes could have a material impact on our tax liability or result in increased costs of our tax compliance efforts.

Additionally, changes in the status of tax deferred investment options, including retirement plans, tax-free municipal bonds, the capital gains and corporate dividend tax rates, and other individual and corporate tax rates could cause investors to view certain investment products less favorably and reduce investor demand for products and services we offer, which could have an adverse effect on our assets under management and revenues.

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Examinations and audits by tax authorities could result in additional tax payments for prior periods, which could impact our financial results.

Based on the global nature of our business, from time to time we are subject to tax audits in various jurisdictions. The calculation of our tax liabilities involves dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax regulations in a multitude of jurisdictions across our global operations. Tax authorities may disagree with certain positions we have taken and assess additional taxes (and, in certain cases, interest, fines, or penalties). We have a process to evaluate whether to record tax liabilities for anticipated tax audit issues based on our estimate of whether, and the extent to which, additional income taxes will be due, and adjust these liabilities in light of changing facts and circumstances. Due to the complexity of some of these uncertainties, however, the ultimate resolution may result in a payment that is materially different from our estimates and impact our financial results.

We have contracted with third-party financial intermediaries that distribute our investment products and such relationships may not be available or profitable to us in the future.

Third-party financial intermediaries we contract with generally offer their clients various investment products in addition to, and in competition with, our investment products, and have no contractual obligation to encourage investment in our products. It would be difficult for us to acquire or retain the management of those assets without the assistance of the intermediaries, and we cannot assure that we will be able to maintain an adequate number of investment product offerings and successful distribution relationships.

In addition, some investors rely on third-party financial planners, registered investment advisers, and other consultants or financial professionals to advise them on the choice of an investment adviser and investment products. These professionals and consultants may favor a competing investment product for reasons we cannot control. We cannot assure that our investment products will be among their recommended choices in the future. Further, their recommendations can change over time and we could lose their recommendation and their clients' assets under our management. Increasing competition for these distribution and sales channels as well as regulatory changes and initiatives may cause our distribution costs to rise, could cause further cost increases in the future, or could otherwise negatively impact the distribution of our products. Mergers, acquisitions, and other ownership or management changes could also adversely impact our relationships with these third-party intermediaries. As a result of these changes, more of our revenues may be concentrated with fewer intermediaries, which may impact our dependence on these intermediaries. A failure to maintain our third-party distribution and sales channels, or a failure to maintain strong business relationships with our distributors and other intermediaries, may impair our distribution and sales operations. Any inability to access and successfully sell our products to clients through such third-party channels could have a negative effect on our level of AUM and adversely impact our business. Moreover, we can provide no assurance that we will continue to have access to the third-party financial intermediaries that currently distribute our products on favorable terms or at all, or that we will continue to have the opportunity to offer all or some of our existing products through them. The presence of any of the adverse conditions discussed above would reduce revenues and net income, possibly by material amounts.

Natural disasters and other unpredictable events could adversely affect our operations and financial results.

The occurrence of extreme events, such as armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, epidemic, pandemic or disease outbreaks (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), infrastructure failures, natural disasters or extreme weather events, and other events outside of our control could adversely affect our revenues, expenses, and net income by:

• decreasing investment valuations in, and returns on, the investment products that we manage;

• causing disruptions in national or global economies that decrease investor confidence and make investment products generally less attractive;

• incapacitating or inflicting losses of lives among our personnel;

• interrupting our business operations or those of critical service providers or other providers;

• affecting the availability of infrastructure upon which our operations depend, such as road networks and electrical power grids;

• triggering technology delays or failures; and

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• requiring substantial capital expenditures and operating expenses to remediate damage, replace our facilities, and restore our operations.

A significant portion of our business operations are concentrated in the Baltimore, Maryland region; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Fort Worth, Texas; New York City, New York; and London, England. In addition, we maintain offices with our personnel in many other global locations, including Sydney, Australia; Hong Kong; Singapore; Tokyo, Japan; and Luxembourg, some of which are in areas that are particularly vulnerable to extreme events. We have developed various backup systems and contingency plans, but we cannot be assured that those preparations will be adequate in all circumstances that could arise, or that material interruptions and disruptions will not occur. We also rely to varying degrees on outside service providers for service delivery in addition to technology and disaster contingency support, and we cannot be assured that these service providers will be able to perform in an adequate and timely manner. If we lose the availability of any personnel, or, if we are unable to respond adequately to such an event in a timely manner, we may be unable to service our clients or timely resume our business operations, which could lead to financial losses, a tarnished reputation and loss of clients that could result in a decrease in assets under management, lower revenues, and materially reduced net income, particularly if our responses to such events are less adequate than those of our competitors.

Our business, financial condition, and results of operation may be adversely affected by pandemics, epidemics or disease outbreaks.

Pandemics, epidemics or disease outbreaks, as well as measures enacted to prevent their spread, may create significant volatility, uncertainty and disruption to the global economy and may impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. Concerns and uncertainty regarding pandemics, epidemics or disease outbreaks could lead to increased volatility in global capital and credit markets, adversely affect our operations, key executives and other personnel, clients, investors, service providers and other vendors, suppliers, and other third parties, and negatively impact our assets under management, revenues, income, business and operations. Since our revenue is based on the market value and composition of the assets under our management, the impact of such events on global financial markets and our clients’ investment decisions could adversely affect our revenue and operating results.

Furthermore, while we have in place robust and well-established plans for operational resiliency and business continuity, no assurance can be given that the steps we have taken will continue to be effective or appropriate against future pandemics, epidemics or disease outbreaks. In the event that our personnel become incapacitated by pandemics, epidemics or disease outbreaks, our business operations may be impacted, which could lead to reputational and financial harm.

The soundness of other financial services institutions could adversely affect us or the client portfolios we manage.

Financial services institutions are interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, counterparty or other relationships. We, and the client portfolios that we manage, have exposure to many different counterparties, and routinely execute transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry. Many of these transactions expose us or such client portfolios to credit risk in the event of default of its counterparty. While we regularly conduct assessments of counterparty risks, the risk of non-performance by such parties is subject to sudden swings in the financial and credit markets. Such non-performance could produce a financial loss for us or the products we manage. In addition, concerns regarding the soundness of other financial services institutions may generate public concerns regarding us or the financial services industry more broadly, which could harm our reputation and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition, even if the underlying matters impacting other financial institutions are of limited or no direct applicability to us.

We may review and pursue strategic transactions in order to maintain or enhance our competitive position and these could pose risks.

From time to time, we consider strategic opportunities, including potential acquisitions, dispositions, consolidations, organizational restructurings, partnerships, any of which may impact our business. We cannot be certain that we will be able to identify, consummate and successfully complete such transactions, and no assurance can be given with respect to the timing, likelihood or business effect of any possible transaction. These initiatives typically involve a number of risks and present financial, managerial and operational challenges to our ongoing business operations. In addition, acquisitions and related transactions involve risks, including unanticipated problems regarding integration

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of investor account and investment security recordkeeping, additional or new regulatory requirements, operating facilities and technologies, and new personnel; adverse effects on our earnings in the event acquired intangible assets or goodwill become impaired; distracting management and other key personnel from our existing businesses; and the existence of liabilities or contingencies not disclosed to or otherwise known by us prior to closing a transaction.

Climate change-related risks could adversely affect our business, products, operations and clients, which may cause our AUM, revenues and earnings to decline.

Our business and the assets we manage on behalf of clients could be impacted by climate change-related risks. Climate change may present risk to our business through changes in the physical climate or from the process of transitioning to a lower-carbon economy. Climate-related physical risks arise from the direct impacts of a changing climate in the short-, medium- and long-term. Such risks may include an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, changes in temperature, rising sea levels and increase of wildfires, which may damage infrastructure and facilities, increase energy costs, negatively impact workforces, as well as disrupt connectivity or supply chains. Within our investment products, changes in weather patterns around the world can impact companies in which we invest on behalf of our clients. Weather pattern changes may cause investment professionals to re-evaluate investments in affected companies. Valuations may be impacted resulting in declines in asset values and potential loss of revenue. Climate-related transition risks arise from exposure to the transition to a lower-carbon economy through policy, regulatory, technology and market changes. For instance, new regulations and changes in existing regulations may lead to increased compliance costs, enhanced reporting obligations, regulation of existing products and/or services, exposure to litigation, and aggressive or inconsistent levels of regulatory enforcement globally. Additionally, climate change may influence client preferences by increasing the demand for investment products oriented toward climate change mitigation. Conversely, a climate-related backlash could negatively impact demand for climate or transition related products. Climate change may also impact our reputation if we are perceived to fall short of our own corporate commitments or stakeholder expectations. Any of these risks may have a material adverse effect on our AUM, revenue and earnings.

We are exposed to risks arising from our international operations.

We operate in a number of jurisdictions outside of the United States. Our international operations require us to comply with complex legal and regulatory requirements of various foreign jurisdictions that at times may be contradictory and expose us to political environments and risks that can compare less favorably than those in the United States. Our foreign business operations are also subject to the following risks:

• difficulty in managing, operating, and marketing our international operations;

• the inability to transact in various investments or to repatriate the proceeds from our investments from countries outside the U.S.;

• the potential nationalization of our property or that of the companies in our investment products;

• fluctuations in currency exchange rates which may result in substantial negative effects on assets under our management, revenues, expenses, and assets in our U.S. dollar based financial statements; and

• significant adverse changes in international legal and regulatory environments.

Our investment income and asset levels may be negatively impacted by fluctuations in our investment portfolio.

Separately from the investments we manage for our clients, we currently have a substantial investment portfolio

in a variety of asset classes including equities, fixed income products, multi-asset products, financial instruments, real estate and alternative investments. Investments in these products are generally made to establish a track record, meet purchase size requirements for trading blocks or demonstrate economic alignment with other investors in our funds. All of these investments are subject to investment market risk, and our non-operating investment income could be adversely affected by the realization of losses upon the disposition of our investments or the recognition of significant impairments or unrealized losses on these investments. In addition, related investment income has fluctuated significantly over the years depending upon the performance of our corporate investments, including the impact of market conditions and interest rates, and the size of our corporate money market and longer-term collective investment fund holdings. Fluctuations in other investment income are expected to occur in the future. Redemptions and other withdrawals from, or shifting among, client portfolios also reduce our investment

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income. These changes could be caused by investors reducing their investments in client portfolios in general or in the market segments in which we focus; investors taking profits from their investments; and portfolio risk characteristics, which could cause investors to move assets to other investment managers. Poor performance relative to other competing products tends to result in decreased sales and increased redemptions with corresponding decreases in our revenues, which may have a material adverse effect on us.

HUMAN CAPITAL RISKS.

Our success depends on our key personnel and our investment performance and financial results could be negatively affected by the loss of their services.

Our success depends on our highly skilled personnel, including our portfolio managers, investment analysts, sales and client relationship personnel, technology and operations professionals, and corporate officers, many of whom have specialized expertise and extensive experience in our industry. Professionals with financial services experience across functional areas are in demand, and we face significant competition for highly qualified personnel. Changes in workplace environment, such as return to office arrangements and remote and hybrid work models, have presented challenges to attracting and retaining talent. While our personnel can generally terminate their employment with us at any time, with most required to provide little to no notice, we have recently adopted more significant notification requirements for certain key positions, which may cause some personnel or candidates to be less willing to continue their employment with us or join our firm. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to attract or retain key personnel. In addition, due to the global nature of our investment advisory business, our key personnel may have reasons to travel to regions susceptible to higher risk of civil unrest, organized crime or terrorism, and we may be unable to ensure the safety of personnel traveling to these regions.

We have near- and long-term succession planning processes, including programs to develop our future leaders, which are intended to address future talent needs and minimize the impact of losing key talent. However, in order to retain or replace our key personnel, we may be required to increase compensation, which would decrease net income. The loss of key personnel could also damage our reputation and make it more difficult to attract and retain personnel and investors, and in turn cause our assets under management to decrease, which could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and net income.

TECHNOLOGY RISKS.

We require significant quantities and types of technology to operate our business and would be adversely affected if we or our third party providers fail to maintain adequate, resilient and secure technology to conduct or expand our operations or if our technology became inoperative or obsolete.

We depend on significant quantities of technology and, in many cases, highly specialized, proprietary or third-party licensed technology to support our business functions, including among others:

• securities analysis,

• securities trading,

• portfolio management,

• client service,

• accounting and internal financial reporting processes and controls,

• data security and integrity, and

• regulatory compliance and reporting.

All of our technology systems, including those provided or operated by third-party service providers, are not fully redundant and are vulnerable to disability or failures due to cyberattacks, natural disasters or extreme weather events, power failures, acts of war or terrorism, sabotage, coding errors, system outages, and other causes. An outage, suspension or termination of vendor-provided services, software licenses or related support, upgrades, and maintenance could cause system delays or interruption. Although we believe we have robust business and disaster recovery plans, if our technology systems, including those provided or operated by third-party service providers, were to fail and we were unable to recover in a timely way, we would be unable to fulfill critical business functions, which could lead to a loss of clients and could harm our reputation. A technological breakdown or disruption in

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services could also interfere with our ability to comply with financial reporting and controls and other regulatory requirements, exposing us to regulatory action and liability to our clients, potentially resulting in financial losses that may not be sufficiently mitigated by insurance coverage.

In addition, our continued success depends on our ability to effectively integrate operations across many systems and/or countries, and to adopt new or adapt existing technologies to meet client, industry, and regulatory demands, including, for example, generative AI technology. We might be required to make significant capital expenditures to maintain a competitive technology stack. If we are unable to upgrade our technology stack in a timely fashion, we may lose clients and fail to maintain regulatory compliance, which could affect our results of operations and severely damage our reputation.

A cyberattack or a failure to implement effective information and cybersecurity policies, procedures and capabilities could disrupt operations and cause financial losses.

We are dependent on the effectiveness of the information and cybersecurity policies, procedures and technology-based capabilities we maintain to protect our systems and data. An externally caused data security incident, such as a cyberattack, social engineering attacks (including phishing, impersonation and identity takeover attempts), virus, ransomware attack, denial-of-service attack, or an attack launched from within our systems could compromise the integrity of personal data of clients, personnel and other parties, as well as confidential client or competitive information and materially interrupt our business operations. In addition, our third-party service providers and other intermediaries, with which we conduct business, could also be subject to cyberattacks or other data security events, and we cannot ensure that such third parties have all appropriate controls in place to protect the integrity, confidentiality and security of our data that is in their custody or to allow them to continue their business operations, including their services to us, in a timely manner.

There have been increasing numbers of publicized cybersecurity incidents in recent years impacting financial services firms as well as firms in other industries, including incidents of increasing sophistication and scope, all of which have resulted in greater harm. Our use of third-party service providers could heighten this risk. Should the technologies on which we rely be compromised, we may have to make significant investments to upgrade, repair or replace our technology infrastructure or third-party service providers and may not be able to make such investments on a timely basis. Although we maintain insurance coverage, under terms that we believe are reasonable, prudent and adequate for the purpose of our business, it may be insufficient to protect us against all losses and costs stemming from breaches of security, cyberattacks and other types of unlawful activity, or any resulting disruptions from such events.

We could be subject to losses if we fail to properly safeguard and maintain confidential data or our intellectual property.

As part of our normal operations, we maintain and transmit personal and confidential data about our clients, personnel and other parties, as well as proprietary data and intellectual property relating to our business operations. Our business operations rely on such data being available as and when needed, and not being subjected to loss or unauthorized access or alteration. We maintain a system of internal controls designed to provide reasonable assurance that both inadvertent errors and fraudulent activity, including misappropriation of assets, fraudulent financial reporting, and unauthorized access to personal or confidential sensitive data, is either prevented or detected in a timely manner. We also leverage cloud-based solutions for the transmission and storage of data. Our systems, or those of the third-party service providers we use to maintain or transmit such data, could be accessed by unauthorized users or corrupted by computer viruses or other malicious software code. Additionally, authorized persons could inadvertently or intentionally release or alter confidential or proprietary data. Any of these types of events could, among other things:

• seriously damage our reputation,

• result in a loss of confidence in our business and products,

• allow competitors access to our proprietary business data,

• materially impair our business operations,

• subject us to liability for a failure to safeguard data of clients, personnel, and other parties,

• result in the termination of contracts by our existing clients,

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• subject us to disclosure obligations, regulatory investigations, actions or fines, and potential litigation involving regulators, stockholders, or other members of the public, and

• require significant capital and operating expenditures to investigate and remediate the breach, and organizational costs to mitigate against future incidents.

Furthermore, if any person, including any of our personnel, negligently disregards or intentionally overrides or circumvents our established controls with respect to personal or confidential data, or otherwise mismanages or misappropriates that data, we could be subject to significant monetary damages, regulatory enforcement actions, fines and/or criminal prosecution in one or more jurisdictions and any insurance we have may not be sufficient to cover our liability which would impact our financial results.

The recent advancements in and increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) present risks and challenges that may adversely impact our business.

We or our third-party vendors, clients or counterparties have developed, and may continue to develop or incorporate AI technology in certain business processes, services or products. The development and use of AI present a number of risks and challenges to our business. The legal and regulatory environment relating to AI is uncertain and rapidly evolving, in the U.S., and internationally, and includes regulation targeted specifically at AI technology, as well as provisions in intellectual property, privacy, consumer protection, employment and other laws applicable to the use of AI. For example, any failure to properly safeguard and maintain personal data in connection with our use of AI creates potential risk of violating applicable privacy laws and regulations in jurisdictions we operate in, and could subject us to disclosure obligations, regulatory investigations, actions or fines, and litigation. These evolving laws and regulations could require changes in our implementation of AI technology, increase our compliance costs and the risk of non-compliance, and restrict or impede our ability to develop, adopt and deploy AI technologies efficiently and effectively. AI models, particularly generative AI models, may produce output or take action that is incorrect or outdated, that result in the release of personal, confidential or proprietary information, that reflect biases included in the data on which they are trained or introduced during the training or fine tuning process, that infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, or that is otherwise harmful. In addition, the complexity of many AI models makes it challenging to understand why they are generating particular outputs. This limited transparency increases the challenges associated with assessing the proper operation of AI technology, appreciating the risks and monitoring the capabilities of the AI technology developed by third parties, and, to that extent, are dependent in part on the manner in which those third parties develop and train their models, including for example, risks arising from the inclusion of any unauthorized material in the training data for their models, and the effectiveness of the steps these third parties have taken to limit the risks associated with the output of their models, matters over which we may have limited visibility. Further, the use of AI technologies requires ongoing operational controls and procedures and the development and deployment of appropriate protections and safeguards. AI technologies may also disrupt the competitive landscape for investment management and technology services, including in commercial and operational areas such as data aggregation and quantitative models. Any of these risks could expose us to liability or adverse legal or regulatory consequences and harm our reputation and the public perception of our business or the effectiveness of our security measures. Furthermore, we may face competition from investment managers who use AI in lieu of human managers, which may lead to lower cost solutions which could impact our business.

In addition to our use of AI technologies, we are exposed to risks arising from the use of AI technologies by bad actors to commit fraud and misappropriate funds and to facilitate cyberattacks. Generative AI, if used to perpetrate fraud or launch cyberattacks, could result in losses, liquidity outflows, or other adverse effects at a particular financial institution or exchange. If our use of AI becomes controversial, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, or legal liability.

LEGAL AND REGULATORY RISKS.

Compliance within a complex regulatory and legal environment which continues to evolve imposes significant financial and strategic costs on our business, and non-compliance could result in fines and penalties.

There is uncertainty associated with the regulatory and compliance environments in which we operate. Our business is subject to extensive and complex, overlapping and/or conflicting, and frequently changing rules, regulations, policies and legal interpretations, around the world. Additionally, over the past several years the pace

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and scope of new rules, regulations, executive orders, directives, policies and legal interpretations has increased both in the U.S. and globally, which requires additional resources and expense in order for us to digest and institute processes to comply.

Furthermore, in recent years several governments have proposed or enacted policies, legislation, and executive actions relating to sustainability and human capital initiatives for the private sector. More recently, interested parties on both sides of the debate have sought to utilize the courts, social media and other means to change the practices of companies. We communicate certain approaches regarding environmental, social, human capital, and other related matters in our regulatory filings or in other public disclosures. We could be criticized for the accuracy or completeness of the disclosure and for the scope or nature of such initiatives or approaches, or for any changes to them over time.

In addition, the U.S. administration and other foreign governments have pursued deregulation measures that may create regulatory uncertainty for our business, and potentially create divergent regulatory frameworks, as other state and local governments may take action to fill the vacuum. Any changes in the regulatory framework applicable to our business, may impose additional costs, require the attention of our senior management, result in limitations on the manner in which business is conducted, or may ultimately have an adverse impact on the competitiveness of our business.

If we are unable to maintain compliance with applicable laws and regulations, we could be subject to criminal and civil liability, the suspension of our personnel, fines, penalties, sanctions, injunctive relief, exclusion from certain markets, or temporary or permanent loss of licenses or registrations necessary to conduct our business. A regulatory proceeding, even if it does not result in a finding of wrongdoing or sanctions, could consume a substantial amount of time, management attention, and expense. Any regulatory investigation and any failure to maintain compliance with applicable laws and regulations could severely damage our reputation, adversely affect our ability to conduct business and decrease revenue and net income, and potentially result in complex and costly litigation.

Legal and regulatory developments in the mutual fund, retirement and investment advisory industry could increase our regulatory burden, impose significant financial and strategic costs on our business, and cause a loss of, or impact the servicing of, our clients and product shareholders.

Our regulatory environment is frequently altered by new laws and regulations and by revisions to, and evolving interpretations of, existing regulations. New laws and regulations present areas of uncertainty susceptible to alternative interpretations; regulators and prospective litigants may not agree with reasoned interpretations we adopt. C ertain new regulatory proposals that may impact or relate to our business, include cybersecurity disclosures, sustainability, privacy and data protection, financial products, fiduciary and fund-related reforms, digital assets, tax compliance, and other investment management disclosure and compliance requirements. F uture changes could require us to modify or curtail our investment offerings and business operations which may impact our expenses and profitability. Additionally, some laws and regulations may not directly apply to our business but may impact the capital markets, service providers, or have other indirect effects on our ability to provide services to our clients.

Potential impacts of current or proposed legal or regulatory requirements include, without limitation, the following:

• There has been increasing focus on the framework of the U.S. retirement system at the federal and state levels. We could experience adverse business impacts if legislative and regulatory changes limit retirement plans to certain products and services, or favor certain investment vehicles that we do not offer, materially limit retirement savings opportunities or foster substantial outflows from retirement savings plans for non-retirement purposes.

• There has been substantial regulatory and legislative activity at federal and state levels regarding standards of care for financial services firms, related to both retirement and taxable accounts. Actions taken by applicable regulatory or legislative bodies may impact our business activities and increase our costs.

• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulations may limit the ability of certain investment products to use futures, swaps, and other derivatives. We have registered certain subsidiaries with the CFTC, subjecting us to additional regulatory requirements and costs, but also providing us with additional flexibility to utilize such products. Nonetheless, there are still certain limitations on our investment products due to CFTC rules.

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• There has been increased global regulatory focus on the manner in which intermediaries are paid for distribution of mutual funds or other collective investments funds. Changes to long-standing market practices related to fees or enhanced disclosure requirements may negatively impact sales of mutual funds or other collective investments funds by intermediaries, especially if such requirements are not applied to other investment products.

• We remain subject to various state, federal and international laws and regulations (and associated judicial decisions) related to privacy, data collection and use, including the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and laws enacted by a growing number of U.S. states; cybersecurity; current and emerging technology, including AI and automated decision-making technologies; storage, localization, retention and destruction of data; disclosure, transfer, availability, security and integrity of data; notification of regulators and/or impacted parties regarding adverse data-related events, including the SEC’s cybersecurity disclosure rules; amended Regulation S-P; and other similar matters that can concern the data of our clients and/or personnel. Requirements in these areas continue to expand and evolve throughout the globe, most commonly in ways that increase the complexity and costs of compliance. Future changes to laws and regulations in these areas could impose significant limitations on our operations, require changes to our business, or restrict our collection, use or storage of data or related technologies, which may increase our compliance expenses and make our business more costly or less efficient to conduct.

• Regulators have imposed certain clearing, margin, trade reporting, electronic trading and recordkeeping requirements on market participants aimed at market stabilization and risk reduction, such as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and related regulations in the U.S. and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation in the EU. These requirements have introduced operational complexity and additional costs to derivatives products.

• New laws or regulations involving sustainability integration and disclosure may materially impact the asset management industry, including the EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and similar initiatives proposed or adopted by various U.S. states. Conversely, some U.S. states and foreign governments have adopted or proposed legislation or otherwise have taken official positions restricting or prohibiting government entities from doing certain business with entities they believe are discriminating against particular industries or considering sustainability factors in their investment processes and proxy voting. As jurisdictions globally continue to develop legal frameworks on sustainability and sustainability regulations, our industry and business may face increasingly fragmented regulatory frameworks, which may result in complex and potentially conflicting compliance obligations and legal and regulatory uncertainty.

• Recently, several significant administrative law cases were decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, most notably Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overruled Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. In Loper Bright, the Supreme Court held that the U.S. Administrative Procedure Act required courts to exercise their independent judgment when deciding whether an agency had acted within its statutory authority, and that courts may not defer to an agency interpretation solely because a statute is ambiguous, overruling the long-held Chevron decision that had required that courts defer to reasonable agency interpretations of statutes and agency action. These decisions may result in additional legal challenges to regulations and guidance issued by federal regulatory agencies that we or the companies our products invest in have relied on and intend to rely on in the future. Any such challenges, if successful, could have a material impact on our business because we may make decisions based on legal guidance that may be overruled. In addition to potential changes to regulations and agency guidance as a result of legal challenges, these decisions may result in increased regulatory uncertainty and delays in and other impacts to the agency rulemaking process, any of which could adversely impact our business and operations.

We cannot predict the nature of future changes to the legal and regulatory requirements ap plicable to our business, nor the extent of the impacts that will result from current or future proposals. However, any such changes are likely to increase the costs of compliance and the complexity of our operations, as well as result in changes to our product or service offerings. The changing regulatory landscape may also impact a number of service providers that provide services to us and, to the extent such service providers alter their operations or increase their fees, it may impact our expenses or those of the products we offer.

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We may become involved in legal and regulatory proceedings that may not be covered by insurance.

We are subject to regulatory and governmental inquiries and civil litigation. An adverse outcome of any such proceeding could involve substantial financial penalties and costs. From time to time, various claims against us arise in the ordinary course of business, including employment-related claims. There also has been an increase in litigation and in regulatory investigations in the financial services industry in recent years, including client claims, class action suits, and government actions claiming substantial monetary damages and penalties.

We carry insurance in amounts and under terms that we believe are appropriate, however, we cannot be assured that our insurance will cover every liability and loss to which we may be exposed, or that our insurance policies will continue to be available at acceptable terms and fees. Certain insurance coverage may not be available or may be prohibitively expensive in future periods. As our insurance policies come up for renewal, we may need to assume higher deductibles or co-insurance liabilities, or pay higher premiums, which would increase our expenses and reduce our net income.

Net capital requirements may impede the business operations of our subsidiaries.

Certain of our subsidiaries are subject to net capital requirements imposed by various federal, state, and foreign authorities. Any significant change in the required net capital, an operating loss, or an extraordinary charge against net capital could adversely affect the ability of our subsidiaries to expand or maintain their operations if we were unable to make additional investments in them, which could impact our earnings.

We may be impacted adversely by claims or litigation, including claims or litigation relating to our fiduciary responsibilities.

Our businesses involve the risk that clients or others may sue us, claiming that we or third parties for whom they say we are responsible have failed to perform under a contract or otherwise failed to carry out a duty perceived to be owed to them. Our trust and investment management businesses are particularly subject to this risk. Claims made or actions brought against us, whether founded or unfounded, may result in lawsuits, injunctions, settlements, damages, fines, or penalties, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations or require changes to our business. Even if we defend ourselves successfully, the cost of litigation is often substantial, and public reports regarding claims made against us may cause damage to our reputation among existing and prospective clients or negatively impact the confidence of counterparties, rating agencies and stockholders, consequently affecting our earnings negatively.

We may be adversely affected by increased governmental and regulatory scrutiny or negative publicity.

Political and public sentiment regarding financial institutions has in the past resulted, and may in the future result, in a significant amount of adverse press coverage, as well as adverse statements or charges by regulators or other government officials. Press coverage and other public statements that assert some form of wrongdoing (including, in some cases, press coverage and public statements that do not directly involve us) often result in some type of investigation by regulators, legislators and law enforcement officials or in lawsuits. Responding to these investigations and lawsuits, regardless of the ultimate outcome of the proceeding, is time-consuming and expensive and can divert the time and effort of our senior management from our business. Penalties and fines sought by regulatory authorities have increased substantially and certain regulators have been more likely in recent years to commence enforcement actions or to support legislation targeted at the financial services industry. Governmental authorities may also be more likely to pursue criminal or other actions, including seeking admissions of wrongdoing or guilty pleas, in connection with the resolution of an inquiry or investigation to the extent a company is viewed as having previously engaged in criminal, regulatory or other misconduct. Adverse publicity, governmental scrutiny and legal and enforcement proceedings can also have a negative impact on our reputation and on the morale and performance of our personnel, which could adversely affect our businesses and results of operations. The financial services industry generally and asset management in particular have been subject to negative publicity. Our reputation and businesses may be adversely affected by negative publicity or information regarding our businesses and personnel, whether or not accurate or true, that may be posted on social media or other internet forums or published by news organizations.

As noted above, we are subject to numerous laws and regulations governing privacy and the protection of personal or other data in the U.S., EU and other jurisdictions we operate in . Any failure to properly safeguard and maintain confidential data creates risk that we could be found to be in violation of laws and regulations and subject us to

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disclosure obligations, regulatory investigations, actions or fines, and litigation, and our insurance may not be sufficient to cover our liability which would impact our financial results.

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

OVERVIEW.

Our revenues and net income are derived primarily from investment advisory services provided globally to individual and institutional investors in a broad range of investment solutions across equity, fixed income, multi-asset, and alternatives capabilities. We also provide certain investment advisory clients with related administrative services, including distribution, mutual fund transfer agent, accounting, and shareholder services; participant recordkeeping and transfer agent services for defined contribution retirement plans; brokerage; trust services; and other advisory services.

Investment advisory fees depend largely on the total value and composition of our assets under management. Accordingly, fluctuations in financial markets and in the composition of assets under management affect our revenues and results of operations.

We incur significant expenditures to develop new products and services and improve and expand our capabilities and distribution channels in order to attract new clients and additional investments from our existing clients. These efforts often involve costs that precede any future revenues we may recognize from an increase to our assets under management.

The investment management industry continues to evolve and face challenging trends, including the shift in market share from traditional active strategies to passive products, persistent downward fee pressure, demand for lower cost investment vehicles, and an ever-changing regulatory landscape. In this environment, we maintain ample liquidity and resources that allow us to take advantage of attractive growth opportunities and deliver new capabilities that meet the evolving needs of our clients globally. At the same time, we have developed a broad and ongoing plan to further align our expense growth with our anticipated revenue growth, which will allow us to realign resources and continue investing in existing and future capabilities.

In 2025, we took several steps to execute on this plan, including targeted role eliminations, outsourcing and expanding some of our technology capabilities through trusted vendor partnerships, and the decision to exit certain owned buildings with plans to dispose of the properties in 2026.

The impact of these actions has been recorded as a restructuring charge in the consolidated statements of income and is discussed later in Item 7. and Item 8. These measures also help offset ongoing inflationary pressures on compensation and contractual spending. Our strategic investments include hiring investment and distribution professionals, adopting new technologies, offering new products, and growing and diversifying our business through innovative global partnerships.

MARKET TRENDS.

Major U.S. stock market indices rose in 2025. After a challenging start to 2025 stemming from new U.S. tariff and trade policies, equities advanced starting in April, as the U.S. and China made efforts to improve their trade relationship, economic growth and corporate earnings remained favorable, investors favored artificial intelligence-related businesses and other high-growth companies, and Congress passed tax legislation that should provide some fiscal stimulus to the economy. In addition, signs of a weakening labor market in the latter part of the year prompted the Federal Reserve to reduce short-term interest rates, despite continued elevated inflation. The central bank lowered rates in September, October, and December.

Developed non-U.S. equity markets outperformed U.S. stocks in U.S. dollar terms, helped by a weaker dollar versus major non-U.S. currencies. In Europe, equity markets were mostly positive in dollar terms. Stocks in Spain and Austria fared best, surging 80%, while equities in Finland, Ireland, and Italy advanced close to 60%. UK stocks rose 35%. Developed Asian markets were also mostly positive with stocks in Hong Kong climbing 35% and Japanese stocks rising 25%.

Stocks in emerging markets outperformed equities in developed markets in U.S. dollar terms. In the emerging Asian, Latin American, and the emerging Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) regions, markets were mostly positive.

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Returns of several major equity market indexes for 2025 are as follows:

S&P 500 Index

NASDAQ Composite Index (1)

Russell 2000 Index

MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australasia, and Far East) Index

MSCI Emerging Markets Index

(1) Returns exclude dividends

Global bond returns were positive in 2025. In the U.S., Treasury bill yields, which tend to track the federal funds target rate, declined about 70 basis points (0.70%) for the year, as the Federal Reserve reduced the federal funds target rate by 25 basis points (0.25%) three times in the final months of the year. At the end of the year, the federal funds target rate was in the 3.50% to 3.75% range. Short- and intermediate-term U.S. Treasury yields had a comparable decline, but the 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield fell 40 basis points (0.40%), from 4.58% to 4.18%. The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond yield rose modestly for the year.

In the U.S. investment-grade bond universe, mortgage-backed securities performed best, but corporate bonds and non-agency commercial mortgage-backed securities also did well. Treasuries and asset-backed securities slightly lagged. Tax-free municipal bonds underperformed taxable bonds, but high yield corporates outperformed the investment-grade bond market.

Bonds in developed non-U.S. markets produced positive returns in U.S. dollar terms, helped by a weaker dollar versus major non-U.S. currencies. In the eurozone, longer-term bond yields increased in many countries, though policymakers for the European Central Bank reduced short-term interest rates four times in the first half of 2025. In the UK, longer-term bond yields fell slightly for the year, as the Bank of England reduced the Bank Rate by 25 basis points (0.25%) four times in 2025. The euro strengthened more than 13% versus the U.S. dollar, while the British pound rose more than 7%. In Japan, long-term government bond yields climbed as the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate to 0.50% in January and to 0.75% in December. Bond yields were also pressured higher by late-year concerns that new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will pursue aggressive fiscal stimulus funded by debt issuance. The yen rose marginally versus the dollar.

Emerging markets bonds produced strong positive returns in U.S. dollar terms. Bonds denominated in local currencies generally outperformed dollar-denominated bonds, as many emerging markets currencies appreciated versus the dollar, boosting returns to U.S. investors.

Returns of several major bond market indexes for 2025 are as follows:

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index

J.P. Morgan Global High Yield Index

Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index

Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Ex-U.S. Dollar Bond Index

J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Plus

Bank of America US High Yield Index

Credit Suisse Leveraged Loan Index

ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT. (1)

Assets under management ended 2025 at $1,775.6 billion, an increase of $169.0 billion from the end of 2024. This increase was driven by net market appreciation and income, net of distributions not reinvested, of $216.7 billion, offset by net cash outflows of $56.9 billion. Beginning on July 1, 2025, assets under management include managed account - model delivery portfolios assets, which had $9.2 billion in assets as of that date, and are reflected in the increase from December 31, 2024.

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The following table details changes in our assets under management, by asset class, during the last three years:

(in billions)

Equity

Fixed income, including money market

Multi-asset (2)

Alternatives (3)

Total

Assets under management at December 31, 2022

Net cash flows prior to manager-driven distributions

Manager-driven distributions

Net cash flows

Net market appreciation (depreciation) and income (4)

Change during the period

Assets under management at December 31, 2023

Net cash flows prior to manager-driven distributions

Manager-driven distributions

Net cash flows

Net market appreciation (depreciation) and income (4)

Change during the period

Assets under management at December 31, 2024

Managed account - model delivery assets (5)

Net cash flows prior to manager-driven distributions

Manager-driven distributions

Net cash flows

Net market appreciation (depreciation) and income (4)

Change during the period (net cash flows and market appreciation (depreciation) and income)

Assets under management at December 31, 2025

(1) Includes assets in which T. Rowe Price and its affiliates have full discretionary authority and, beginning in 2025, managed account - model delivery assets.

(2) The underlying assets under management of the multi-asset products have been aggregated and presented in this category and not reported in the equity and fixed income columns.

(3) The alternatives asset class includes strategies authorized to invest more than 50% of its holdings in private credit, leveraged loans, mezzanine, real assets/CRE, structured products, stressed/distressed, non-investment grade CLOs, special situations, business development companies, or that have absolute return as its investment objective. Generally, only those strategies with longer than daily liquidity are included. Unfunded capital commitments were $21.6 billion at December 31, 2025, $16.2 billion at December 31, 2024, and $11.6 billion at December 31, 2023, and are not reflected in fee basis AUM above.

(4) Includes net distributions not reinvested of $6.8 billion in 2025, $5.9 billion in 2024, and $2.9 billion in 2023.

(5) Amount represents the net assets as of July 1, 2025 and all activity for the second half of 2025 is presented in the lines that follow.

Investment advisory clients outside the United States account for 8.8% of our assets under management at December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024 and 8.6% at December 31, 2023.

The following table details our assets under management and net flows in our target date retirement products, which are included in the multi-asset column shown above:

(in billions)

Assets under management

Net cash flows

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Our net cash outflows in 2025 were driven primarily by growth-oriented equity strategies. These outflows were partially offset by net cash inflows in fixed income, target date retirement products, and alternatives strategies. Financial intermediaries and institutional clients were the main sources of net outflows in 2025. From a geography perspective, net outflows were predominantly from U.S. clients invested in equity strategies, though all regions experienced net outflows. For 2024, net outflows were driven primarily by growth-oriented equity strategies and a multi-asset sub-advised variable annuity outflow. These outflows were partially offset by net cash inflows in our target date retirement products, fixed income and alternatives strategies. Financial intermediaries were the main sources of net outflows in 2024. Geographically, while the EMEA and APAC regions experienced net inflows, these were outweighed by outflows in the Americas. For 2023, net outflows were driven primarily by our growth-oriented equity strategies sourced from Americas financial intermediaries and institutional clients. These outflows were partially offset by net cash inflows in our multi-asset strategies, predominately our target date retirement products, and alternatives strategies. From a geography perspective, net outflows were predominantly from U.S. clients invested in equity strategies, though all regions experienced net outflows.

Our multi-asset investment division provides advisory solutions that include investment insights, strategic asset allocation design, tactical asset allocation recommendations, and portfolio rebalancing services. The assets in these solutions, predominantly in the United States, were $27.8 billion at December 31, 2025, compared with $8.0 billion at December 31, 2024.

We provide participant accounting and plan administration for defined contribution retirement plans that primarily invest in our U.S. mutual funds, collective investment trusts and funds managed outside of the our complex. As of December 31, 2025, our assets under administration were $314 billion, of which $178 billion were assets we manage.

INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE. (1)

Strong investment performance and brand awareness is a key driver to attracting and retaining assets—and to our long-term success. Our performance disclosures include specific asset classes, assets under management weighted performance, U.S. fund performance against passive peers, and composite performance against benchmarks. The following tables present investment performance for the one-, three-, five-, and 10-years ended December 31, 2025. Past performance is not a guarantee nor a reliable indicator of future performance.

% of U.S. funds that outperformed Morningstar median (2),(3)

1 year

3 years

5 years

10 years

Equity

Fixed income

Multi-asset

All funds

% of U.S. funds that outperformed passive peer median (2),(4)

1 year

3 years

5 years

10 years

Equity

Fixed income

Multi-asset

All funds

% of composites that outperformed benchmarks (5)

1 year

3 years

5 years

10 years

Equity

Fixed income

All composites

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AUM Weighted Performance

% of U.S. funds AUM that outperformed Morningstar median (2),(3)

1 year

3 years

5 years

10 years

Equity

Fixed income

Multi-asset

All funds

% of U.S. funds AUM that outperformed passive peer median (2),(4)

1 year

3 years

5 years

10 years

Equity

Fixed income

Multi-asset

All funds

% of composites AUM that outperformed benchmarks (5)

1 year

3 years

5 years

10 years

Equity

Fixed income

All composites

As of December 31, 2025, 68 of 141 (48.2%) of the firm's rated U.S. mutual funds (across primary share classes) received an overall rating of 4 or 5 stars. By comparison, 32.5% of Morningstar's fund population is given a rating of 4 or 5 stars (6) . In addition, 60.4% (6) of AUM in the firm's rated U.S. mutual funds (across primary share classes) ended 2025 with an overall rating of 4 or 5 stars.

(1) The investment performance reflects that of T. Rowe Price U.S. mutual funds, ETFs, and composites.

(2) Source: © 2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein: 1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; 2) may not be copied or distributed; and 3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

(3) Source: Morningstar. Primary share class only. Excludes money market mutual funds, funds with an operating history of less than one year, T. Rowe Price passive funds, and T. Rowe Price funds that are clones of other funds. The top chart reflects the percentage of T. Rowe Price funds with 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, and 10 year track record that outperformed the Morningstar category median. The bottom chart reflects the percentage of T. Rowe Price funds AUM that has outperformed for the time periods indicated. Total AUM included for this analysis includes $329B for 1 year, $319B for 3 years, $317B for 5 years, and $316B for 10 years.

(4) Passive Peer Median was created by T. Rowe Price using data from Morningstar. Primary share class only. Excludes money market mutual funds, funds with an operating history of less than one year, funds with fewer than three peers, T. Rowe Price passive funds, and T. Rowe Price funds that are clones of a retail fund.This analysis compares T. Rowe Price active funds with the applicable universe of passive/index open-end funds and ETFs of peer firms. The top chart reflects the percentage of T. Rowe Price funds with 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, and 10 year track record that outperformed the passive peer universe. The bottom chart reflects the percentage of T. Rowe Price funds AUM that has outperformed for the time periods indicated. Total AUM included for this analysis includes $272B for 1 year, $262B for 3 years, $260B for 5 years, and $252B for 10 years.

(5) Composite net returns are calculated using the highest applicable separate account fee schedule. Excludes money market composites. All composites compared to official GIPS composite primary benchmark. The top chart reflects the percentage of T. Rowe Price composites with 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, and 10 year track record that are outperforming their benchmarks. The bottom chart reflects the percentage of T. Rowe Price composite AUM that has outperformed for the time periods indicated. Total AUM included for this analysis includes $1,565B for 1 year, $1,557B for 3 years, $1,551B for 5 years, and $1,512B for 10 years.

(6) The Morningstar Rating™ for funds is calculated for funds with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. Morningstar gives its best ratings of 5 or 4 stars to the top 32.5% of all funds (of the 32.5%,10% get 5 stars and 22.5% get 4 stars). The Overall Morningstar Rating™ is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with a fund’s 3, 5, and 10 year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating™ metrics.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

The following table and discussion set forth information regarding our consolidated financial results for 2025, 2024 and 2023 on a U.S. GAAP and a non-GAAP basis. The non-GAAP basis adjusts for the impact of our consolidated investment products, the impact of market movements on the deferred compensation liabilities and related economic hedges, investment income related to certain other investments, acquisition-related amortization and costs, impairment charges, and certain nonrecurring charges and gains, including the restructuring charges.

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2025 compared to 2024

2024 compared to 2023

(in millions, except per-share data)

$ Change

% Change (1)

$ Change

% Change (1)

U.S. GAAP basis

Investment advisory fees

Capital allocation-based income (2)

Net revenues

Operating expenses

Net operating income

Non-operating income (loss)

Net income to T. Rowe Price Group

Diluted earnings per common share

Weighted average common shares outstanding assuming dilution

Adjusted basis (3)

Operating expenses

Operating expenses, excluding accrued carried interest related compensation

Net operating income

Non-operating income (loss)

Net income to T. Rowe Price Group

Diluted earnings per common share

Assets under management (AUM) (in billions)

Average AUM

Ending AUM

Investment advisory annualized effective fee rate (EFR) (in bps)

EFR without performance-based fees

EFR with performance-based fees

(1) n/m - the percentage change is not meaningful.

(2) Capital allocation-based income represents the change in accrued carried interest.

(3) See the reconciliation to the comparable U.S. GAAP measures at the end of the Results of Operations section of this Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Results Overview - 2025 compared to 2024

Net revenues consist of investment advisory revenues; performance-based advisory fees; administrative, distribution, services, and other fees; and capital allocation-based income. More than 90% of our net revenues are related to investment advisory fees. Total net revenues were $7,314.8 million in 2025, a 3.1% increase compared to $7,093.6 million in 2024. The increase was driven primarily by higher investment advisory fees on higher average assets under management, as well as higher capital allocation-based income, which was partially offset by lower performance-based advisory fees.

Investment advisory fees are generally earned based on the value and composition of our assets under management, which change based on fluctuations in financial markets and net cash flows. As our average assets under management increase or decrease in a given period, the level of our investment advisory fee revenue for that same period generally fluctuates in a similar manner. Our annualized effective fee rates can be impacted by market or cash flow related shifts among asset classes and products, including those with tiered-fee structures, along with price changes we make in existing products.

The average annualized effective fee rate earned for 2025 declined from 2024 primarily due to client flows and transfers shifting assets under management toward lower-fee strategies and products, partially offset by market appreciation.

Capital allocation-based income will fluctuate quarter-to-quarter to reflect the adjustment to accrued carried interest for the change in value of certain affiliated funds assuming the funds’ underlying investments were realized as of the end of the period.

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Operating expenses on a U.S. GAAP basis were $5,126.0 million in 2025, an increase of 7.7% compared to $4,760.3 million in 2024. On a non-GAAP basis, operating expenses were $4,666.5 million, an increase of 3.7% compared to $4,498.8 million in 2024.

Compared to 2024, the increase in U.S. GAAP operating expenses was primarily due to the restructuring charge as well as higher technology and facility costs, compensation and related costs, and distribution and servicing costs. These increases were partially offset by lower advertising and promotion costs. The drivers of the increase in non-GAAP operating expenses were the same as those for the increase in U.S. GAAP operating expenses with the exception of the restructuring charge, which is excluded from our non-GAAP operating expenses measures.

We currently estimate our 2026 non-GAAP operating expenses, excluding non-GAAP accrued carried interest compensation, will grow in the range of 3%-6% from the 2025 amount of $4,608.0 million. We could elect to adjust our expense growth should unforeseen circumstances arise, including significant market movements.

Operating margin was 29.9% in 2025 compared to 32.9% in 2024. The decrease is primarily driven by the restructuring charge recognized in 2025, which largely contributed to operating expense growth exceeding net revenue growth.

Diluted earnings per share was $9.24 in 2025 compared to $9.15 in 2024. The increase in GAAP basis diluted earnings per share was primarily due to higher non-operating income and fewer outstanding shares, partially offset by lower operating income.

On a non-GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share was $9.72 in 2025 compared to $9.33 in 2024. The increase was primarily due to fewer outstanding shares and higher net income.

See our non-GAAP reconciliations later in this Management's Discussion and Analysis section.

Results Overview - 2024 compared to 2023

Investment advisory fees are earned based on the value and composition of our assets under management, which change based on fluctuations in financial markets, investment performance, and net cash flows. As our average assets under management increase or decrease in a given period, the level of our investment advisory fees for that same period generally fluctuate in a similar manner. Our annualized effective fee rates can be impacted by market or cash flow related shifts among asset and share classes, shifts among vehicles, price changes in existing products, and asset level changes in products with tiered-fee structures.

Investment advisory fees earned in 2024 increased 12.1% compared to 2023 as average assets under management increased $199.6 billion, or 14.7%, to $1,561.9 billion.

The average annualized effective fee rate, excluding performance-based advisory fees, earned on our assets under management was 41.0 basis points in 2024, compared to 41.9 basis points earned in 2023. Our effective fee rate has declined largely due to a mix shift in assets toward lower fee products and asset classes from client flows and transfers, partially offset by higher market returns. The average annualized fee rate, excluding performance-based fees, was 40.5 basis points for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Operating expenses were $4,760.3 million in 2024, an increase of 6.4% compared to 2023. The increase was primarily driven by higher compensation costs, distribution and servicing costs, and advertising and promotion costs. Additionally, 2023 included a $82.4 million reduction in operating expenses related to the remeasurement of the contingent consideration liability compared to a $13.4 million reduction in 2024.

On a non-GAAP basis, operating expenses were $4,498.8 million, an increase of 5.6% compared to 2023. The increase in our non-GAAP operating expenses was primarily driven by higher costs across compensation and benefits, distribution and servicing, advertising, professional fees, and a nonrecurring recovery of general and administrative costs recognized in 2023. These increases were partially offset by lower external research fees, lower accrued carried interest compensation, and higher capitalized labor. In 2024, the firm changed its approach to paying for external research, consistent with regulations and general industry practice.

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Operating margin was 32.9% in 2024 compared to 30.7% in 2023. The increase is primarily driven by net revenue growth outpacing operating expense growth primarily due to higher average assets under management.

Diluted earnings per share was $9.15 in 2024 compared to $7.76 in 2023. The increase in GAAP basis diluted earnings per share was primarily due to higher operating income and a lower effective tax rate.

On a non-GAAP basis, diluted earnings per share was $9.33 in 2024 compared to $7.59 in 2023. The increase was primarily due to higher operating income and a lower effective tax rate.

See our non-GAAP reconciliations later in this Management's Discussion and Analysis section.

Net revenues

2025 compared to 2024

2024 compared to 2023

(in millions)

$ Change

% Change (1)

$ Change

% Change (1)

Investment advisory fees

Equity

Fixed income, including money market

Multi-asset

Alternatives

Performance-based advisory fees

Capital allocation-based income

Change in accrued carried interest

Acquisition-related amortization and impairments

Administrative, distribution, services, and other fees

Administrative and other fees

Distribution and servicing fees

Net revenues

Average AUM (in billions):

Equity

Fixed income, including money market

Multi-asset

Alternatives

Average AUM

Investment advisory annualized effective fee rate (EFR) (in bps)

EFR without performance-based fees

EFR with performance-based fees

(1) n/m - the percentage change is not meaningful.

Investment advisory fees. The relationship between the change in average assets under management and the change in investment advisory fees for 2025, 2024 and 2023 are presented above.

For 2025 and 2024, the increases in investment advisory fees were due to higher average AUM as stronger market returns and appreciation were slightly offset by net outflows in each of the last two years.

Performance-based advisory fees in each period were primarily from alternatives strategies, and the decline in 2025

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from prior periods were primarily related to lower overall market returns.

Capital allocation-based income includes the change in accrued carried interest along with acquisition-related amortization and impairments. For 2025, the change in accrued carried interest increased net revenues by $149.5 million compared to $134.1 million for 2024. The year‑over‑year change reflects relative performance and market impacts between 2025 and 2024. Additionally, the decrease in acquisition-related amortization and impairments for 2025 compared to 2024 period was primarily due to higher impairments recognized in 2024.The firm realized carried interest of $117.8 million compared to $139.6 million in 2024.

For 2024, capital allocation-based income increased net revenues by $46.6 million. This amount includes an increase of $134.1 million in accrued carried interest from investments in affiliated investment funds, partially offset by $87.5 million of non-cash amortization and impairments related to acquisition-date asset basis differences. Impairments recognized in 2024 were $36.6 million. The firm realized carried interest of $139.6 million compared to $109.8 million in 2023.

A portion of the capital allocation-based income is passed through to employees and recognized in compensation and related costs, with the unpaid amount reported as non-controlling interest in the consolidated balance sheet. In 2025, we recognized compensation expense of $30.8 million, consisting of $58.5 million related to the change in accrued carried interest offset in part by $27.7 million in amortization and impairment charges. For 2024, we recognized compensation expense of $5.4 million, consisting of $42.5 million related to the change in accrued carried interest offset in part by $37.1 million in amortization and impairment charges.

Administrative, distribution, services, and other fees in 2025 were $593.9 million, an increase of $5.9 million compared to 2024. The increase was primarily driven by higher recordkeeping and transfer agent servicing activities provided to the T. Rowe Price mutual funds. Beginning in the third quarter of 2025, revenue from managed account model delivery assets and certain other advisory services is reported in investment advisory fees. This change muted the increases mentioned above, as more than $28 million of revenue in the second half of 2025 is now reported in investment advisory fees.

For 2024, the increase was primarily driven by higher average assets on which we earn non-discretionary advisory services revenue and higher transfer agent servicing activities provided to the T. Rowe Price mutual funds.

Net revenues are presented after the elimination of $4.2 million for 2025, $3.6 million for 2024, and $2.1 million for 2023, earned from our consolidated investment products. The corresponding expenses recognized by these consolidated investment products were also eliminated from operating expenses.

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Operating expenses

2025 compared to 2024

2024 compared to 2023

(in millions)

$ Change

% Change (1)

$ Change

% Change (1)

Compensation, benefits, and related costs

Acquisition-related retention agreements

Capital allocation-based income compensation (2)

Market-related change in deferred compensation liabilities

Total compensation and related costs

Distribution and servicing

Advertising and promotion

Product and recordkeeping related costs

Technology, occupancy, and facility costs

General, administrative, and other

Change in fair value of contingent consideration

Acquisition-related amortization and impairment costs

Restructuring charge

Total operating expenses

Total adjusted operating expenses (3)

(1) n/m - The percentage change is not meaningful.

(2) Capital allocation-based income compensation represents the change in accrued carried interest compensation along with acquisition-related, non-cash amortization and impairments.

(3) See the reconciliation to the comparable U.S. GAAP measures at the end of the Results of Operations section of this Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Compensation, benefits, and related costs were $2,644.3 million for 2025, an increase of $40.9 million, or 1.6%, compared to 2024. The increase was driven by higher salaries, benefits and long-term incentive compensation. These increases were partially offset by lower temporary personnel costs, net of capitalized labor, and other employee-related costs. The firm employed 7,773 associates at December 31, 2025, a decrease of 4.7% from the end of 2024. The average headcount for first half of 2025 was 8,089, an increase of 2.5% compared to the first half of 2024. Additionally, the average headcount for 2025 was 7,969, a decrease of 0.2% compared to 2024. The decrease in associates from 2024 was primarily driven by the workforce action in July 2025 as part of our broad plan to reduce expense growth and realign resources.

For 2024, compensation, benefits, and related costs were $2,603.4 million, an increase of $152.7 million, or 6.2%, compared to 2023. The increase was driven by a higher bonus pool on an increase in revenue and higher salaries and related benefits partially offset by higher capitalized labor and lower other employee related costs.

Distribution and servicing costs were $383.5 million for 2025, an increase of $29.4 million, or 8.3%, compared to $354.1 million in 2024. For 2024, distribution and services costs were $354.1 million, an increase of $64.2 million, or 22.1%, compared to 2023. The increases in 2025 and 2024 were primarily driven by higher average assets under management distributed through intermediaries.

The costs in this expense category include amounts paid to third-party intermediaries that source the assets of certain share classes of our U.S. mutual funds, ETFs, and our international products, such as our Japanese ITMs and SICAVs. These costs are offset entirely by the investment advisory revenue we earn from these products, or in the case of the Advisor and R share classes of the U.S. mutual funds are recognized in administrative, distribution, services, and other fees.

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Advertising and promotion costs were $107.4 million for 2025, a decrease of $22.2 million, or 17.1%, compared to 2024. The decrease was primarily driven by lower media spending from the absence of the prior year’s elevated media costs related to a specific campaign and broader marketing initiatives.

For 2024, advertising and promotion costs were $129.6 million, an increase of $15.4 million, or 13.5%, compared to 2023. The increase was primarily driven by higher media advertising.

Product and recordkeeping related costs were $312.9 million for 2025, an increase of $15.4 million, or 5.2%, compared to 2024. The increase was primarily driven by higher recordkeeping related costs and higher custody fees related to our trust products from higher assets under management.

For 2024, product and recordkeeping related costs were $297.5 million for 2024, an increase of $6.5 million, or 2.2%, compared to 2023. The increase was primarily driven by higher product related costs to be reimbursed from our sponsored investment products partially offset by lower recordkeeping related costs.

Technology, occupancy, and facility costs were $723.6 million for 2025, an increase of $79.5 million or 12.3%, compared to 2024. The increase was driven by higher technology-related costs, including hosted solutions and depreciation, as well as higher occupancy and facility costs related to our new corporate headquarters, which we began occupying in March 2025.

For 2024, technology, occupancy, and facility costs were $644.1 million, an increase of $11.5 million or 1.8%, compared to 2023. The increase was due to ongoing investment in our technology capabilities, primarily hosted solutions, partially offset by lower facility costs as 2023 included the rent cost of two London facilities until we occupied our new building in September 2023.

General, administrative, and other expenses were $441.9 million for 2025, an increase of $8.1 million or 1.9%, compared to 2024. The increase was primarily driven by higher charitable contributions and other general and administrative costs, partially offset by lower travel-related expenses and lower external research fees.

For 2024, general, administrative, and other expenses were $433.8 million, an increase of $12.5 million or 3.0% compared to 2023. The increase was primarily due to a cost recovery recognized in 2023 that did not recur in 2024, higher professional fees and travel costs. These increases were partially offset by lower external research fees and other general and administrative costs. In 2024, the firm changed its approach to paying for external research, consistent with regulations and general industry practice.

Change in fair value of contingent consideration. Our contingent consideration consists of an earnout arrangement as part of the 2021 acquisition of OHA in which additional purchase price may be due to the sellers upon satisfying or exceeding certain defined revenue targets. Each reporting period, we record the fair value of the contingent consideration due under this arrangement. Reduced revenue expectations resulted in a reduction in the fair value of the contingent consideration liability of $13.4 million in 2024 and $82.4 million in 2023. The fair value of the contingent consideration liability as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 is zero.

Acquisition-related amortization and impairment costs primarily relate to the indefinite- and definite-lived intangible assets identified and separately recognized, at fair value, on acquisition date. In 2025, we recognized acquisition-related amortization and impairment costs of $111.3 million, a decrease of $45.4 million or 29.0%, compared to 2024. The decline was largely due to impairment charges recorded in 2024 for the trade name intangible asset that did not recur in 2025, as well as lower amortization expense resulting from the reduced carrying amount of our definite‑lived intangible asset base.

For 2024, we recognized acquisition-related amortization and impairment costs of $156.7 million, an increase of $22.5 million, compared to 2023. The increase was primarily driven by impairment charges related to the trade name intangible asset.

The impairment charges in all periods were the result of reduced growth expectations for both investment management and incentive fees compared to when the acquisition closed in 2021.

The remaining weighted average amortization period for our definite-lived intangible assets is 2.8 years. Should conditions that led us to recognize impairment charges worsen, additional impairments may be recognized in future

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periods.

Restructuring charge of $177.3 million for 2025 relates to actions taken under our previously announced broad and ongoing expense management program, which is designed to reduce expense growth and realign resources to support investment in existing and future capabilities. The charge includes accelerated depreciation and impairment charges related to certain owned real estate of $127.3 million as well as compensation‑related costs, primarily severance.

Non-operating income (loss)

Non-operating activity for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 are as follows:

(in millions)

2025 compared to 2024

2024 compared to 2023

$ Change

$ Change

Net gains (losses) from non-consolidated investment products

Cash and discretionary investments

Dividend income

Market-related gains (losses) and equity in earnings (losses)

Total cash and discretionary investments

Seed capital investments

Dividend income

Market-related gains (losses) and equity in earnings (losses)

Total seed capital investments

Total cash, discretionary, and seed investments

Net gains (losses) recognized upon deconsolidation

Investments used to hedge the deferred compensation liabilities

Total net gains (losses) from non-consolidated investment products

Other investment income

Net gains (losses) on investments

Net gains (losses) on consolidated investment products

Other gains (losses), including foreign currency gains (losses)

Non-operating income (loss)

Adjusted non-operating income (loss) (1)

(1) See the reconciliation to the comparable U.S. GAAP measures at the end of the Results of Operations section of this Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Higher average cash balances increased dividend income in 2025 despite declining money-fund yields from 2024 and 2023. Market returns remained positive, contributing to continued gains within our investment portfolio.

The table above shows the net investment income of the underlying products of the consolidated investment products, not just the income from our ownership share. The table below displays how consolidated investment products affected the individual lines of our consolidated statements of income and the portion attributable to our interest.The impact of consolidating investment products on the individual lines of our consolidated statements of income for 2025, 2024, and 2023 is as follows:

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2025 compared to 2024

2024 compared to 2023

(in millions)

$ Change

$ Change

Operating expenses reflected in net operating income

Net investment income (loss) reflected in non-operating income

Impact on income before taxes

Net income (loss) attributable to our interest in the consolidated investment products

Net income (loss) attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests (unrelated third-party investors)

Impact on income before taxes

Provision for income taxes

The following table reconciles the statutory federal income tax rate to our effective tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023:

Statutory U.S. federal income tax rate

State income taxes, net of federal income tax benefits

Net (income) losses attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests (1)

Net excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation plans activity

Valuation allowances

Other items

Effective income tax rate

Adjusted effective tax rate

(1)     Net income attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests represents the portion of earnings held in the firm's consolidated investment products, which are not taxable to the firm despite being included in pre-tax income.

Our effective tax rate for 2025 was 23.2%, compared to 24.3% for 2024 and 26.3% for 2023. The decrease in our effective tax rate in 2025 from 2024 was primarily due to lower state taxes resulting from prior period settlements. Additionally, the impact of redeemable non-controlling interest contributed to the lower U.S. GAAP effective tax rate compared to 2024.

For 2024, the decrease in our effective tax rate from 2023 was primarily due to lower valuation allowances recognized in 2024. These favorable impacts were slightly offset by higher state taxes.

The non-GAAP tax rate primarily adjusts for the impact of the consolidated investment products, including net income attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests.

Our effective tax rate will continue to experience volatility in future periods due to, among other things, the impact on the stock-based compensation tax benefits recognized from market fluctuations in our stock price, changes in the mix of our earnings among countries with differing tax laws or rates, and changes in the valuation allowance of foreign-based deferred tax assets. As of December 31, 2025, total valuation allowances recorded were $130.1 million, of which nearly all is related to UK-based deferred tax assets. We intend to continue maintaining a full valuation allowance on these and future UK- based deferred tax assets until there is sufficient evidence to support the reversal of all or some portion of these allowances.

Our U.S. GAAP effective tax rate is also impacted by changes in the proportion of net income that is attributable to our redeemable non-controlling interests and non-controlling interests reflected in permanent equity.

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We currently estimate our effective tax rates for the full-year 2026 will be in the range of 23.0% to 27.0% on a GAAP basis, and 24.0% to 27.0% on a non-GAAP basis.

The Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has issued Pillar Two Model Rules (Pillar Two) introducing a global 15% minimum tax effective January 1, 2024 within certain countries in which we operate. In addition, on January 5, 2026, the OECD published administrative guidance (the “side-by-side package”) designed to simplify the Pillar Two tax regime for multinational enterprise groups with an ultimate parent entity in certain countries, primarily the U.S. Our current assessment is that Pillar Two should have no material impact on the company's consolidated results of operations, cash flows, and overall financial position. We will continue to evaluate the impact of Pillar Two as its rules evolve.

NON-GAAP INFORMATION AND RECONCILIATION.

We believe the non-GAAP financial measures below provide relevant and meaningful information to investors about our core operating results. These measures have been established in order to increase transparency for the purpose of evaluating our core business, for comparing current results with prior period results, and to enable more appropriate comparison with industry peers. However, non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for financial measures calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP and may be calculated differently by other companies.

The following schedules reconcile certain U.S. GAAP financial measures to non-GAAP financial measures for each of the last three years:

(in millions, except per-share amount)

Operating expenses

Net operating income

Non-operating income (loss)

Provision (benefit) for income taxes (6)

Net income attributable to T. Rowe Price Group

Diluted earnings per share (7)

U.S. GAAP Basis (FS line item)

Non-GAAP adjustments:

Acquisition-related:

Investment and NCI amortization and impairments (1) (Capital allocation-based income and Compensation and related costs)

Acquisition-related retention arrangements (1) (Compensation and related costs)

Intangible assets amortization and impairments (1)

Total acquisition-related

Deferred compensation liabilities (2) (Compensation and related costs)

Restructuring charge (3)

Consolidated investment products (4)

Other non-operating income (5)

Adjusted Basis

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(in millions, except per-share amount)

Operating expenses

Net operating income

Non-operating income (loss)

Provision (benefit) for income taxes (6)

Net income attributable to T. Rowe Price Group

Diluted earnings per share (7)

U.S. GAAP Basis (FS line item)

Non-GAAP adjustments:

Acquisition-related:

Investment and NCI amortization and impairments (1) (Capital allocation-based income and Compensation and related costs)

Acquisition-related retention arrangements (1) (Compensation and related costs)

Contingent consideration (1)

Intangible assets amortization and impairments (1)

Total acquisition-related

Deferred compensation liabilities (2) (Compensation and related costs)

Consolidated investment products (4)

Other non-operating income (5)

Adjusted Basis

(in millions, except per-share amount)

Operating expenses

Net operating income

Non-operating income (loss)

Provision (benefit) for income taxes (6)

Net income attributable to T. Rowe Price Group

Diluted earnings per share (7)

U.S. GAAP Basis (FS line item)

Non-GAAP adjustments:

Acquisition-related:

Investment and NCI amortization and impairments (1) (Capital allocation-based income and Compensation and related costs)

Acquisition-related retention arrangements (1) (Compensation and related costs)

Contingent consideration (1)

Intangible assets amortization and impairments (1)

Total acquisition-related

Deferred compensation liabilities (2) (Compensation and related costs)

Consolidated investment products (4)

Other non-operating income (5)

Adjusted Basis

(1)      These non-GAAP adjustments remove the impact of acquisition-related amortization of intangible assets, the recurring fair value remeasurements of the contingent consideration liability, if any, amortization of acquired investment and non-controlling interest basis differences and amortization of compensation-related arrangements. We believe adjusting for these charges helps the reader's ability to understand our core operating results and increases comparability period to period.

(2)     This non-GAAP adjustment eliminates the compensation expense impact from market valuation changes in deferred compensation liabilities, including the supplemental savings plan and, starting in Q4 2024, restricted fund units, and the related net gains (losses) on investments used as economic hedges against the related liabilities. The liabilities are adjusted

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based on the performance of hypothetical investments selected by participants. We use investment products to economically hedge the market risk associated with the supplemental savings plan liability and the expected settlement value of unvested restricted fund units. We believe it is useful to offset the non-operating investment income (loss) of the hedges against the related compensation expense and remove the net impact to help the reader's ability to understand the firm's core operating results and to increase comparability period to period.

(3)      This non-GAAP adjustment removes accelerated depreciation and impairment charges related to certain owned real estate, as well as compensation expenses, primarily severance, resulting from actions taken as part of our broad and ongoing plan to reduce expense growth and realign resources to invest in existing and future capabilities. We believe this adjustment helps the reader’s ability to understand our core operating results and increases comparability period to period.

(4)      This non-GAAP adjustment removes the impact of the consolidated investment products by adding back their operating expenses and subtracting their investment income. The operating expense adjustment represents their operating expenses net of related investment advisory and administrative fees. The adjustment to net income attributable to T. Rowe Price Group represents the consolidated investment products' net income, net of redeemable non-controlling interests. We believe this adjustment helps the reader’s ability to understand our core operating results and increases comparability period to period.

(5)      This non-GAAP adjustment removes non-operating income (loss) earned on those investments that are not economic hedges for the deferred compensation liabilities and are not part of the cash and discretionary investment portfolio. We retain gains from cash and discretionary investments in our non-GAAP measures, as they are considered part of our core operations. We believe adjusting for the remaining non-operating income (loss) helps the reader’s ability to understand the firm's core operating results and increases comparability period to period. Additionally, we do not emphasize this portion of non-operating income (loss) when assessing the firm's performance.

(6)      The income tax impacts were calculated in order to achieve an overall non-GAAP effective tax rate of 24.3% for 2025, 24.5% for 2024 and 27.2% for 2023.

(7)     This non-GAAP measure was calculated by applying the two-class method to adjusted net income attributable to

T. Rowe Price Group divided by the weighted-average common shares outstanding assuming dilution. The calculation of adjusted net income allocated to common stockholders is as follows:

Year ended

(in millions)

Adjusted net income attributable to T. Rowe Price Group

Less: adjusted net income allocated to outstanding restricted stock and stock unit holders

Adjusted net income allocated to common stockholders

CAPITAL RESOURCES AND LIQUIDITY.

Stockholders' equity attributable to T. Rowe Price Group increased to $10.9 billion at December 31, 2025 from $10.3 billion at December 31, 2024, and tangible book value increased to $7.9 billion at December 31, 2025 from $7.3 billion at December 31, 2024.

Sources of Liquidity

We have ample liquidity, including cash and investments in T. Rowe Price products, as follows:

(in millions)

Cash and cash equivalents

Discretionary investments

Total cash and discretionary investments

Redeemable seed capital investments

Investments used to hedge the deferred compensation liabilities

Total cash and investments in T. Rowe Price products attributable to T. Rowe Price Group

Our discretionary investment portfolio is primarily comprised of short duration bond funds, which typically yield higher than money market rates. Of our cash and cash equivalents, $730.6 million at December 31, 2025 and $653.9 million at December 31, 2024 were held by subsidiaries located outside the U.S. Our cash and discretionary investment portfolio experienced market gains and dividends of $177.5 million in 2025 and $148.7 million in 2024.

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Given the availability of our financial resources and cash expected to be generated through future operations, we do not maintain an available external source of additional liquidity.

Our seed capital investments are redeemable, although we generally expect to be invested several years for the products to build an investment performance history and until unrelated third-party investors substantially reduce our relative ownership percentage.

The cash and investment presentation on the consolidated balance sheet is based on the accounting treatment for the cash equivalent or investment item. The following table details how T. Rowe Price Group’s interests in cash and investments relate to where they are presented on the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2025.

(in millions)

Cash and cash equivalents

Investments

Net assets of consolidated investment products (1)

Total

Cash and discretionary investments

Redeemable seed capital investments

Investments used to hedge the deferred compensation liabilities

Total cash and investments in T. Rowe Price products attributable to T. Rowe Price Group

Investments in affiliated private investment funds (2)

Investments in affiliated collateralized loan obligations

Investment in UTI and other investments

Total cash and investments attributable to T. Rowe Price Group

Redeemable non-controlling interests

As reported on the consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2025

(1) The consolidated investment products are generally those products we provided seed capital at the time of their formation and we have a controlling interest. These products generally represent U.S. mutual funds, ETFs, and funds regulated outside the U.S. The $893.7 million represents the total value at December 31, 2025 of our interest in the consolidated investment products. The total net assets of the T. Rowe Price investment products at December 31, 2025 of $1,929.7 million includes assets of $1,951.0 million, less liabilities of $21.3 million as reflected in the consolidated balance sheets in Item 8. Financial Statements of this Form 10-K.

(2)     Includes $157.1 million of non-controlling interests in consolidated entities held by related parties, which we cannot sell in order to obtain cash for general operations.

Our consolidated balance sheet reflects the assets and liabilities of those investment products we consolidate, as well as redeemable non-controlling interests for the portion of these investment products that are held by unrelated third-party investors. Although we can redeem our net interest in these investment products at any time, we cannot directly access or sell the assets held by the products to obtain cash for general operations. Additionally, the assets of these investment products are not available to our general creditors. Our interest in these investment products was primarily used as initial seed capital and is recategorized as discretionary when it is determined by management that the seed capital is no longer needed. We assess the discretionary products and, when we decide to liquidate our interest, we seek to do so in a way as to not impact the product and, ultimately, the unrelated third-party investors.

Uses of Liquidity

We paid $5.08 per share in regular dividends in 2025, an increase of 2.4% over the $4.96 per share paid in 2024. Further, we expended $624.6 million in 2025 to repurchase nearly 6.2 million shares, or 2.8%, of our outstanding common stock at an average price of $101.15 per share. These dividends and repurchases were funded using existing cash balances and cash generated from operations. While opportunistic in our approach to stock buybacks, we will generally repurchase our common stock over time to offset the dilution created by our equity-based compensation plans.

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Since the end of 2022, we have returned $4.6 billion to stockholders through stock repurchases and regular quarterly dividends, as follows:

(in millions)

Recurring dividend

Stock repurchases

Total returned to stockholders

Total

We anticipate property, equipment, software and other capital expenditures, including internal labor capitalization, for the full-year 2026 to be about $270 million, of which more than three-quarters is planned for technology initiatives. We expect to fund our anticipated capital expenditures with operating cash flows and other available resources.

Cash Flows

The following tables summarize the cash flows for 2025, 2024 and 2023, that are attributable to T. Rowe Price Group, our consolidated investment products, and the related eliminations required in preparing the consolidated statement of cash flows.

(in millions)

Cash flow attributable to T. Rowe Price Group

Cash flow attributable to consolidated investment products

Eliminations

As reported

Cash flows from operating activities

Net income (loss)

Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

Depreciation, amortization and impairments of property, equipment and software

Amortization and impairment of acquisition-related assets and retention agreements

Stock-based compensation expense

Net (gains) losses recognized on investments

Total non-cash adjustments

Net (investments) redemptions in sponsored investment products used to economically hedge deferred compensation liabilities

Net change in trading securities held by consolidated investment products

Other changes

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents of consolidated investment products

Net change in cash and cash equivalents during year

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year

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(in millions)

Cash flow attributable to T. Rowe Price Group

Cash flow attributable to consolidated investment products

Eliminations

As reported

Cash flows from operating activities

Net income (loss)

Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

Depreciation, amortization and impairments of property, equipment and software

Amortization and impairment of acquisition-related assets and retention agreements

Fair value remeasurement of contingent consideration liability

Stock-based compensation expense

Net (gains) losses recognized on investments

Total non-cash adjustments

Net (investments) redemptions in sponsored investment products used to economically hedge deferred compensation liabilities

Net change in trading securities held by consolidated investment products

Other changes

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents of consolidated investment products

Net change in cash and cash equivalents during year

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year

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(in millions)

Cash flow attributable to T. Rowe Price Group

Cash flow attributable to consolidated investment products

Eliminations

As reported

Cash flows from operating activities

Net income (loss)

Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

Depreciation, amortization and impairments of property, equipment and software

Amortization and impairment of acquisition-related assets and retention agreements

Fair value remeasurement of contingent consideration liability

Stock-based compensation expense

Net (gains) losses recognized on investments

Total non-cash adjustments

Net (investments) redemptions in sponsored investment products used to economically hedge deferred compensation liabilities

Net change in trading securities held by consolidated investment products

Other changes

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents of consolidated investment products

Net change in cash and cash equivalents during year

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year

Operating activities

During 2025, operating activities attributable to T. Rowe Price Group provided cash flows of $2,489.5 million, an increase of $175.6 million from $2,313.9 million provided during 2024. The increase was primarily driven by a $162.0 million increase in cash flows related to timing differences associated with the cash settlement of our assets and liabilities. Additionally, net investments in 2025 into investment products that economically hedge our deferred compensation liabilities were $58.6 million lower than made in 2024. These increases to operating cash flows were offset in part by a $13.0 million decrease in net income and a $32.0 million decrease in the add-back for non-cash items as detailed in the 2025 table above. The remaining change in reported cash flows from operating activities was attributable to the net change in trading securities held in our consolidated investment products’ underlying products.

During 2024, operating activities attributable to T. Rowe Price Group provided cash flows of $2,313.9 million, an increase of $255.3 million from $2,058.6 million provided during 2023. The increase was primarily driven by a $311.4 million increase in net income and a $215.6 million increase in the add-back for non-cash items as detailed in the 2024 table above. These increases to operating cash flows were offset in part by a $158.8 million decrease in cash flows related to timing differences associated with the cash settlement of our assets and liabilities. Additionally, in 2024, we made $112.9 million more net investments in sponsored investment products used to economically hedge our deferred compensation liabilities compared to 2023. The remaining change in reported cash flows from operating activities was attributable to the net change in trading securities held in our consolidated investment products’ underlying products.

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Investing activities

Net cash provided by investing activities that are attributable to T. Rowe Price Group totaled $59.5 million in 2025 compared to net cash used in investing activities of $187.9 million in 2024. In 2025, we decreased our property and equipment expenditures by $149.2 million, primarily due to the completion of our new corporate headquarters in early 2025, and decreased our other investing activity by $83.0 million. Net investing activities from our investments in sponsored investment products generated net proceeds of $422.3 million in 2025 compared to $407.1 million in 2024. We eliminate our capital in those investment products we consolidate in preparing our consolidated statements of cash flows. The remaining change in reported cash flows from investing activities of $47.3 million is related to the net cash removed from our balance sheet from consolidating and deconsolidating investment products.

Net cash used in investing activities that are attributable to T. Rowe Price Group totaled $187.9 million in 2024 compared to $310.2 million in 2023. Net investing activities from our investments in sponsored investment products generated net proceeds of $407.1 million in 2024 compared to $36.1 million in 2023. In 2024, we increased our property and equipment expenditures by $115.5 million and our other investing activity by $133.2 million. We eliminate our capital in those investment products we consolidate in preparing our consolidated statements of cash flows. The remaining change in reported cash flows from investing activities of $41.0 million was related to the net cash removed from our balance sheet from consolidating and deconsolidating investment products.

Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities attributable to T. Rowe Price Group totaled $1,820.6 million in 2025 compared to $1,542.8 million in 2024. During 2025, we used $620.9 million to repurchase nearly 6.2 million shares compared to $337.2 million to repurchase 3.0 million shares in 2024. In 2025, cash flow related to common stock issued under stock compensation plans increased by $11.0 million compared to 2024. In addition, the $7.4 million increase in dividends paid in 2025 was a result of the 2.4% increase in our quarterly dividend per share. The remaining change in reported cash flows from financing activities is attributable to a $63.0 million decrease in net subscriptions from redeemable non-controlling interest holders of our consolidated investment products during 2025.

Net cash used in financing activities attributable to T. Rowe Price Group totaled $1,542.8 million in 2024 compared to $1,437.4 million in 2023. During 2024, we used $337.2 million to repurchase nearly 3.0 million shares compared to $254.4 million to repurchase 2.4 million shares in 2023. The $13.9 million increase in dividends paid in 2024 was a result of the 1.6% increase in our quarterly dividend per share. In addition, in 2024, net distributions to non-controlling interests in consolidated entities decreased by $6.6 million and cash flow related to common stock issued under stock compensation plans decreased by $15.3 million compared to 2023. The remaining change in reported cash flows from financing activities is attributable to a $247.4 million increase in net subscriptions from redeemable non-controlling interest holders of our consolidated investment products during 2024.

MATERIAL CASH COMMITMENTS.

Our material cash commitments primarily include our obligations related to our deferred compensation liabilities, facility leases, and other contractual amounts that will be due for the purchase of goods or services to be used in our operations. Some of these contractual amounts may be cancellable under certain conditions and may involve termination fees. We expect to fund these cash commitments from future cash flows from operations.

Our obligations under our deferred compensation liabilities are disclosed on our consolidated balance sheet with more information included in Note 12 and Note 18 to the consolidated financial statements. Our lease obligations are disclosed in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements. Additionally, there are unrecognized tax benefits discussed in Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements. The note references above are in Item 8. of this Form 10-K.

While most of our other material cash commitments consist of goods and services used in our operations, these commitments primarily consist of obligations related to long-term software licensing, maintenance contracts, and outsource contracts.

We also have outstanding commitments to fund additional contributions to investment partnerships totaling $199.3 million. The vast majority of these additional contributions will be made to investment partnerships in which we have an existing investment. In addition to such amounts, a percentage of prior distributions may be called under certain circumstances.

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As part of the OHA acquisition, T. Rowe Price committed $500 million to fund OHA product launches through 2026. As of December 31, 2025, T. Rowe Price has a $287 million remaining commitment to OHA products. T. Rowe Price has also entered into certain earnout and other arrangements as part of that acquisition. For more detail on these arrangements, see Note 5 and Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8. of this Form 10-K.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES.

The preparation of financial statements often requires the selection of specific accounting methods and policies from among several acceptable alternatives. Further, significant estimates and judgments may be required in selecting and applying those methods and policies in the recognition of the assets and liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets, the revenues and expenses in our consolidated statements of income, and the information that is contained in our significant accounting policies and notes to the consolidated financial statements. These policies and estimates are considered critical because they had a material impact or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and because they require management to make significant judgments, assumptions or estimates. Making these estimates and judgments requires the analysis of information concerning events that may not yet be complete and of facts and circumstances that may change over time. Accordingly, actual amounts or future results can differ materially from those estimates that we currently include in our consolidated financial statements, significant accounting policies, and notes.

We present those significant accounting policies used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements as an integral part of those statements within this 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K. In the following discussion, we highlight and explain further certain of those policies and estimates that are most critical to the preparation and understanding of our financial statements.

Consolidation

We consolidate all subsidiaries and investment products in which we have a controlling financial interest. We are deemed to have a controlling interest when we own the majority of the voting interest of an entity or are deemed to be the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity (VIE). VIEs are entities that lack sufficient equity to finance its activities or the equity holders do not have defined power to direct the activities of the entity normally associated with an equity investment. Our analysis to determine whether an entity is a VIE or a voting interest entity (VOE) involves judgment and considers several factors, including an entity’s legal organization, capital structure, the rights of the equity investment holders, our ownership interest in the entity, and our contractual involvement with the entity. We continually review and reconsider our VIE or VOE conclusions upon the occurrence of certain events, such as changes to our ownership interest, changes to an entity’s legal structure, or amendments to governing documents. Our VIEs are primarily sponsored investment products and our variable interest consists of our equity ownership in and investment management fees earned from these entities.

We are the primary beneficiary if we have the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact its economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or the right to receive benefits from the VIE that could potentially be significant. Our SICAV funds and other investment products regulated outside the U.S. are determined to be VIEs. We have interests in certain investment partnerships that are also considered VIEs, including entities that have interests in general partners of affiliated private investment funds, which are also VIEs. We consolidate the entities that hold the interest in the general partners; however, the entities are not the primary beneficiaries of the affiliated private investment funds.

Other-than-temporary impairments of equity method investments

We evaluate our equity method investments for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the investment exceeds its fair value, and the decline in fair value is other than temporary. For our investments in our affiliated private investment funds, we consider the length of time and the extent to which market value has been less than cost, any specific events that may influence the operations of the funds and our intent and ability to retain the investment for a period of time to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value. We generally believe an assessment period of four consecutive quarters of sustained market losses is a reasonable period to allow for an anticipated market recovery.

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Intangible assets

Indefinite-lived intangible assets are tested for impairment annually, in the fourth quarter, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that it is more likely than not that the intangible asset is impaired. Management must first determine the level at which indefinite-lived intangible assets are tested for impairment (i.e., unit of account). We have concluded that the trade name and investment advisory agreement indefinite-lived intangible assets will be considered their own separate unit of account. Once the unit of account is determined, management has the option to first assess indefinite-lived intangible assets for qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to perform a quantitative impairment test. If a quantitative impairment test is required, the impairment test consists of a comparison of the fair value of an intangible asset with its carrying amount. If the carrying amount of the intangible asset exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to that excess. If required, fair value is generally determined using a discounted cash flow analysis where estimated future cash flows are discounted to arrive at a single present value amount. This approach includes inputs that require significant management judgment, the most relevant of which include revenue growth, discount rates, and effective tax rates. Changes in these inputs could produce different fair value amounts and therefore different impairment conclusions. During 2025, we recognized $3.3 million of non-cash impairment charges on the indefinite-lived investment advisory agreements intangible asset. The maximum future impairment of indefinite-lived intangible assets that we could incur is the amount recognized in our consolidated balance sheets within intangible assets, $148.3 million as of December 31, 2025.

Definite-lived intangible assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the asset group's carrying amount may not be recoverable (i.e., the carrying amount is more than the undiscounted estimated future cash flows). Management must first determine the level at which definite-lived intangible assets are tested for impairment (i.e., asset group). The determination of the asset group is judgmental and the intangible assets can be grouped based on the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of identifiable cash flows for other groups of assets. Since each affiliated private investment fund has identifiable cash flows separate from other funds, we determined that the asset group for testing is each individual affiliated private investment fund. Once the asset group is identified, we next determine whether there are any triggering events that would cause us to believe that the carrying value would not be recoverable. If there is a triggering event, then we would perform a test of recoverability. Based on that test, if the carrying value is not recoverable, then a fair value measurement is required of the asset group to determine if the fair value is less than the asset group's carrying amount. If required, fair value would be determined using a discounted cash flow analysis where estimated future cash flows are discounted to arrive at a single present value amount. This approach includes inputs that require significant management judgment, the most relevant of which include revenue growth, discount rates, and effective tax rates. Any impairment loss would be the difference between the fair value of the asset group and its carrying amount. During 2025, we recognized immaterial non-cash impairment charges on these intangible assets.

Goodwill

We internally conduct, manage, and report our operations as one reportable business segment - investment advisory business. This reflects how the chief operating decision maker allocates resources and assesses performance. Accordingly, we have one reporting unit - our investment advisory business, consistent with our single operating segment, to which all goodwill has been assigned.

We evaluate the carrying amount of goodwill in our consolidated balance sheets for possible impairment on an annual basis in the fourth quarter of each year using a fair value approach. Goodwill would be considered impaired whenever its carrying amount exceeds the fair value of our investment advisory business. Our annual testing has demonstrated that the fair value of our investment advisory business (our market capitalization) exceeds our carrying amount (our stockholders’ equity) and, therefore, no impairment exists. Should we reach a different conclusion in the future, additional work would be performed to ascertain the amount of the non-cash impairment charge to be recognized. We must also perform impairment testing at other times if an event or circumstance occurs indicating that it is more likely than not that an impairment has been incurred. The maximum future impairment of goodwill that we could incur is the amount recognized in our consolidated balance sheets, $2.6 billion as of December 31, 2025.

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Provision for income taxes

We operate in numerous states and countries through our various subsidiaries and must allocate our income, expenses, and earnings under the various laws and regulations of each of these taxing jurisdictions. Accordingly, our provision for income taxes represents our total estimate of the liability that we have incurred in doing business each year in all of our locations. Annually, we file tax returns that represent our filing positions with each jurisdiction and settle our return liabilities. Each jurisdiction has the right to audit those returns and may take different positions with respect to income and expense allocations and taxable earnings determinations. From time to time, we may also provide for estimated liabilities associated with uncertain tax return filing positions that are subject to, or in the process of, being audited by various tax authorities. Because the determination of our annual provision is subject to judgments and estimates, actual results will vary from those recognized in our financial statements. As a result, we recognize additions to, or reductions of, income tax expense during a reporting period that pertain to prior period provisions as our estimated liabilities are revised and actual tax returns and tax audits are settled. We recognize any such prior period adjustment in the discrete quarterly period in which it is determined.

We recognize deferred tax assets to the extent that we believe that these assets are more likely than not to be realized. In making such a determination, we consider all available positive and negative evidence, including

future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, projected future taxable income, tax-planning strategies, and results of recent operations. We recognize a valuation allowance for any portion of the deferred tax asset that is not expected to be realized based on the available positive and negative evidence. An increase in the valuation allowances increases the provision expense and effective tax rate. Furthermore, if we determine that we would be able to realize our deferred tax assets in the future in excess of their net recorded amount, we would reduce the deferred tax asset valuation allowance, which would reduce the provision for income taxes.

NEWLY ISSUED BUT NOT YET ADOPTED ACCOUNTING GUIDANCE.

See Note 1 - Basis of Preparation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies within Item 8. Financial Statements for a discussion of newly issued but not yet adopted accounting guidance.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION.

From time to time, information or statements provided by or on behalf of T. Rowe Price, including those within this report, may contain certain forward-looking information, including information or anticipated information relating to: our revenues, net income, and earnings per share of common stock; changes in the amount and composition of our assets under management; our expense levels; our effective tax rate; legal or regulatory developments; geopolitical instability; interest rates and currency fluctuations; and our expectations regarding financial markets, future transactions, dividends, stock repurchases, investments, new products and services, capital expenditures, changes in our effective fee rate, and other industry or market conditions. Readers are cautioned that any forward-looking information provided by or on behalf of T. Rowe Price is not a guarantee of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information because of various factors including, but not limited to, those discussed below and in Item 1A. Risk Factors, of this Form 10-K Annual Report. Further, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Our future revenues and results of operations will fluctuate primarily due to changes in the total value and composition of assets under our management. Such changes result from many factors, including, among other things: client-related cash inflows and outflows in our products, performance fees, capital allocation-based income, fluctuations in global financial markets that result in appreciation or depreciation of the assets under our management, our introduction of new investment products, and changes in retirement savings trends relative to participant-directed investments and defined contribution plans.

The ability to attract and retain investors’ assets under our management is dependent on investor sentiment and confidence; the relative investment performance of the T. Rowe Price mutual funds and other managed investment products compared to competing offerings and market indexes; the ability to maintain our investment management and administrative fees at appropriate levels; the impact of changes in interest rates and inflation; competitive conditions in the mutual fund, asset management, and broader financial services sectors; our level of success in implementing our strategy to expand our business; and our ability to attract and retain key personnel. Our revenues are substantially dependent on fees earned under contracts with the T. Rowe Price funds and could be adversely

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affected if the independent directors of one or more of the T. Rowe Price funds terminated or significantly altered the terms of the investment management or related administrative services agreements. Non-operating investment income will also fluctuate primarily due to the size of our investments, changes in their market valuations, and any other-than-temporary impairments that may arise or, in the case of our equity method investments, our proportionate share of the investees’ net income.

Our future results are also dependent upon the level of our expenses, which are subject to fluctuation for the following or other reasons: changes in the level of our advertising and promotion expenses in response to market conditions, including our efforts to expand our investment advisory business to investors outside the U.S. and to further penetrate our distribution channels within the U.S.; the pace and level of spending to support key strategic priorities; variations in the level of total compensation expense due to, among other things, bonuses, restricted stock units and other equity grants, other incentive awards, our supplemental savings plan, changes in our employee count and mix, and competitive factors; any goodwill, intangible asset or other asset impairment that may arise; fluctuation in foreign currency exchange rates applicable to the costs of our international operations; expenses and capital costs, such as technology assets, depreciation, amortization, and research and development, incurred to maintain and enhance our administrative and operating services infrastructure; the timing of the assumption of all third party research payments, unanticipated costs that may be incurred to protect investor accounts and the goodwill of our clients; and disruptions of services, including those provided by third parties, such as fund and product recordkeeping, facilities, communications, power, and the mutual fund transfer agent and accounting systems, as a result of extreme events, cyberattacks or otherwise.

Our business is also subject to substantial governmental regulation, and changes in legal, regulatory, accounting, tax, and compliance requirements may have a substantial effect on our operations and results, including, but not limited to, effects on costs that we incur and effects on investor interest in investment products and investing in general or in particular classes of mutual funds or other investments.