At T. Rowe Price, a Research Analyst is at the absolute center of our active investment management philosophy. Unlike passive index funds, our business relies on proprietary, fundamental research to identify mispriced securities and generate superior long-term returns for our clients. As a Research Analyst, you are not just analyzing numbers; you are a strategic partner to our portfolio managers, providing the high-conviction investment recommendations that drive our global portfolios.

Our research organization is globally integrated, meaning you will collaborate with colleagues across Baltimore, London, Hong Kong, and other major financial hubs. You will focus on a specific sector or geographic region, developing deep domain expertise, building relationships with corporate management teams, and conducting rigorous primary research. Your work directly impacts billions of dollars in assets under management (AUM) and influences the financial futures of millions of individual and institutional investors.

This role is highly demanding but deeply rewarding. It requires a rare combination of intellectual curiosity, quantitative rigor, and the communication skills necessary to defend your ideas against intense, constructive pushback. If you thrive on autonomy, continuous learning, and a culture that values intellectual honesty above all else, the Research Analyst position at T. Rowe Price offers an unparalleled platform to build your career in buy-side investment management.

Our interview questions are designed to assess your investment acumen, analytical rigor, communication skills, and alignment with our collaborative culture. The questions below are representative of what real candidates have faced during our global recruitment process and are organized by core evaluation categories.

Investment Philosophy & Firm Knowledge

These questions evaluate your understanding of T. Rowe Price as an active asset manager and your genuine interest in our investment approach.

• Why do you want to work at T. Rowe Price specifically, rather than a hedge fund or another long-only asset manager?
• What is T. Rowe Price's current stock price, and how has our stock performed over the last twelve months?

To succeed in our recruitment process, you must understand the specific traits and skills we look for in our future investment professionals. We evaluate every candidate across four primary pillars.

Fundamental Investment Acumen – You must demonstrate a deep, natural passion for investing. This means having a highly developed framework for analyzing businesses, understanding competitive advantages (moats), evaluating financial statements, and identifying valuation discrepancies.

Analytical Rigor & Quantitative Reasoning – We expect you to be highly comfortable with numbers. This includes the ability to build detailed financial models, perform mental math, structure complex estimation problems, and logically defend your assumptions.

Communication & Persuasion – Your research is only as valuable as your ability to convince others to act on it. You must be able to articulate complex investment theses clearly, concisely, and persuasively, both in writing and during intense oral presentations.

Cultural Alignment & Intellectual Humility – At T. Rowe Price, we value collaboration over individual egos. You must demonstrate the ability to accept constructive criticism, admit when you are wrong, adapt your thesis based on new data, and work seamlessly across diverse global teams.

The interview process for the Research Analyst position is highly rigorous and designed to evaluate both your technical capabilities and your cultural fit over several stages. While the exact steps can vary slightly by location (such as our Baltimore headquarters versus our London or London-adjacent offices), the overall structure remains highly consistent.

Initially, the process begins with an online application and resume screening, followed by standardized psychometric testing, which includes both numerical reasoning and situational judgment tests. Candidates who meet our benchmarks are invited to a pre-recorded video interview where you will have a limited amount of time to prepare and record answers to competency-related questions. This is typically followed by a structured phone interview with HR or our external recruiting partners to assess your background, motivation, and fundamental understanding of equity research.

The final stage is an intensive, multi-round interview day—often referred to as a Superday or an Assessment Centre. This stage involves five separate interviews with different Research Analysts, Associate Directors, and Portfolio Managers. In addition, you will complete a practical evaluation, which may consist of a team stock pitch project using provided data, or a formal case study and presentation to a hiring panel.

The timeline above outlines the typical progression from your initial application to the final decision. You should expect the entire process to take anywhere from four to eight weeks, depending on the volume of applicants and the specific hiring cycle. Use this timeline to pace your preparation, ensuring your technical skills and stock pitches are fully polished by the time you reach the final rounds.

Stock Pitching

The stock pitch is the most critical component of the Research Analyst interview process. It is the primary vehicle through which you demonstrate your investment philosophy, analytical depth, and presentation style.

You must be prepared to deliver an oral stock pitch of one or two personal recommendations. Your pitch should not sound like a generic sell-side report; it must highlight a clear variant perception—what you believe the market is currently mispricing and why.

Be ready to go over:

• The Business Model – A clear, concise explanation of how the company makes money and its competitive positioning.
• The Thesis – The 2-3 key structural drivers that will re-rate the stock, supported by your own primary research.
• Valuation and Downside – A robust valuation framework (using multiple methodologies) and a clear assessment of the key risks and what your downside protection looks like.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Debt-covenant analysis for highly leveraged names, regulatory change impacts, or complex supply chain dependencies.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "What specific data point or channel check would make you immediately change your mind and sell this stock?"
• "If the management team of this company decided to cut capital expenditures by 50% next year, how would that affect your long-term terminal value assumption?"

T. Rowe Price & Industry Knowledge

We expect our candidates to have a deep respect for and understanding of our firm, our corporate history, and our position within the broader asset management ecosystem.

You must demonstrate that you have done your homework on T. Rowe Price. This goes beyond knowing our corporate values; it means understanding our business model, our financial performance, and our investment strategies.

Be ready to go over:

• Our Corporate Metrics – Familiarize yourself with our current stock price, our recent financial earnings, and our total assets under management (AUM).
• Active vs. Passive Dynamics – A sophisticated perspective on the structural shift toward passive investing and how active managers like T. Rowe Price can continue to add value.
• Our Collaborative Culture – An understanding of our consensus-driven, long-term investment approach and how it differs from a typical hedge fund environment.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How has our stock performed relative to our publicly traded peers over the last quarter, and what do you think is driving that trend?"
• "How would you explain the value of paying an active management fee to a retail client who is considering moving all their money into passive index funds?"

Mental Math & Analytical Reasoning

Our analysts must be able to process quantitative data quickly and accurately under pressure, without relying on spreadsheets or calculators during live conversations.

You will face questions designed to test your mental math, estimation capabilities, and structured logical thinking. The goal is not always to get the exact right number, but to demonstrate a highly structured, logical approach to solving complex problems.

Be ready to go over:

• Market Sizing and Estimation – Breaking down a large, ambiguous estimation question into logical, manageable assumptions.
• Financial Metric Sensitivity – Understanding how changes in operational variables (e.g., pricing, volume, input costs) flow through to valuation multiples and cash flow yields.
• Probability and Expected Value – Calculating basic probability outcomes and expected values for different investment scenarios.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through the mental math to estimate the total annual revenue of all commercial airports in the United States."
• "If a company's operating margin drops from 20% to 15% due to supply chain inflation, but revenue increases by 10%, what is the net percentage impact on operating income?"