T. Rowe Price closed its $21 billion high-yield bond strategy to flows from new institutional and retail investors, effective April 30, confirmed Heather McDonold, a spokeswoman for the company.
In a news release, Mark Vaselkiv, a portfolio manager and head of T. Rowe's taxable high-yield bond team, warned that continued strong investor flows into the company's high-yield bond vehicles could “eventually strain our ability to invest efficiently and result in an overdiversified fund with a less effective investment strategy.”
As of March 31, there was $9.2 billion in assets in T. Rowe Price's High Yield fund and $2.5 billion in its institutional high-yield fund, with the remainder in other vehicles, including separate accounts and trusts, Ms. McDonold said.
T. Rowe's high-yield strategy was last closed to new investors in February 2004 and reopened in February 2007.
The news release showed heavier inflows over the past five quarters for T. Rowe's institutional fund, at $1.07 billion, than for its retail fund, which pulled in $378 million.
“The funds will continue to accept additional investments from existing shareholders and direct rollovers from qualified retirement plans into new T. Rowe Price IRAs,” according to the news release.
