View from the top with T. Rowe Price’s Nataline Terry: The winning side

Nataline Terry, head of distribution UK and Ireland at T. Rowe Price, on why marketing and distribution are two sides of the same coin

Nataline Terry
3 minutes

“From a young age, I always wanted to work in the City. My father worked in the City, so I followed in his footsteps.”

T. Rowe Price’s Nataline Terry tells Portfolio Adviser: “I went to university at Loughborough where I studied banking and finance and, after three years, I joined the City working at a private bank on their graduate scheme.

“It was there that I realised I enjoyed the marketing side of things, which actually, has been the case throughout most of my career.”

After holding marketing roles at the likes of Threadneedle Investments (now Columbia Threadneedle) and UBS Global Asset Management, as well as spending more than 18 years as a marketing director at BlackRock, Terry moved to T. Rowe Price in 2017. Almost five years into her role as head of EMEA marketing, she was asked to take on the role of distribution head for UK and Ireland.

“I had thought about it previously, but it had never felt like the right time to move. But at this point, I thought: ‘Why not?’. So, I moved across and I have been involved with leading the distribution team for two and a half years.”

See also: View from the top with SJP’s Justin Onuekwusi: It’s important to be a good communicator

Founded in 1937, T. Rowe Price is a global asset management firm providing equity, fixed income and multi-asset solutions. While the majority of its investment professionals are based in the US, the company has significant presence in the UK, with a team of 169. It also has investment professionals located in Australia, China, Japan, Singapore, Italy, Denmark and Switzerland.

A substantial portion of T. Rowe Price’s equity assets under management is concentrated in US equities amounting to $728.1bn (£551.5bn). However, the firm also manages $56.5bn in global equity funds, $29.4bn in emerging market equities and $109.8bn in other international investments.

In addition, T. Rowe Price has a strong bond portfolio, managing $259bn invested in fixed income assets across various categories including government bonds, corporates, global high yield, emerging market debt and cash-type instruments.

As at the end of July, the firm has more than $1.5trn of assets under management.

So, no mean feat for Terry’s inaugural role as head of distribution UK and Ireland.

“For me, the role as a leader in both [marketing and distribution] camps is very similar. You’re inspiring a team, you’re setting a plan that meets the needs of the clients, you’re providing focus, you’re leading people and you’re managing. All of those attributes are the same, whether you’re in sales or marketing,” she explains.

“I have a wonderful sales team who receive exceptional feedback. I’m not there to do that role. My role is to enable them to do what they do as brilliantly and effectively as they can, to break down any personal challenges, to make things happen for our clients; I facilitate them doing the great job they do.

Read the rest of this article in the September issue of Portfolio Adviser magazine