T. Rowe Price ETFs Hit 3-Year Mark, Opening Doors to Allocators

The three-year mark for an ETF is not just a birthday. It unlocks access to platforms, model portfolios, and databases that require a track record of that length. T. Rowe Price crossed that threshold last month with four ETFs managed by lead portfolio manager Jodi Love: the T. Rowe Price Growth ETF (TGRT), the T. Rowe Price Value ETF (TVAL), the T. Rowe Price Small-Mid Cap ETF (TMSL), and the T. Rowe Price International Equity ETF (TOUS).

“Crossing the three-year mark across the four ETFs that I’m the lead PM on is definitely a meaningful milestone,” Love told VettaFi. “It moves us out of the new product bucket and into the universe where allocators and clients can judge us on real world decisions through multiple market environments.”

Love said the milestone expands the opportunity set for where the funds can live in client portfolios. It does not change how the team runs them day to day. The funds have performed well over the last one- and three-year periods. TMSL led the group with a 31.8% return over the past 12 months, according to ETF Database data.

Asked whether the funds’ approaches have changed since launch, Love said her process remains focused on fundamentals. What has evolved is the team’s understanding of how advisors use the funds. “Advisors are using these funds both as core building blocks, also as precise tilts,” she said. She pointed to TMSL as a dedicated SMID sleeve for some portfolios. Others use it to balance away from megacap concentration without taking a big factor bet.

TMSL gets the most client attention right now. Love, who has spent most of her career in the SMID-cap space, said she believes active management can thrive there. “TMSL is designed as a core SMID building block: diversified, bottom up, with clear tilts towards quality and sensible valuation,” she said. “Improving SMID fundamentals plays directly into what TMSL is built to do, which is to find underfollowed businesses where we think we have an edge, where earnings power over the next three to five years is underappreciated.”

On the broader franchise scale, Love expects the ETFs to slot into more strategic model portfolios. The three-year milestone should accelerate that. She emphasized that active ETFs are “genuinely active research-driven portfolios with intentional tilts,” not mutual funds in disguise.

T. Rowe Price (TROW) carries an Alpha Score of 74 out of 100, labeled Moderate, in the Financials sector. The firm’s push into active ETFs gives it a growth channel beyond its traditional mutual fund base. The milestone removes a barrier that kept some allocators on the sidelines. For more context on how active ETF strategies fit into broader portfolio construction, see our stock market analysis. The T. Rowe Price stock page includes the full Alpha Score breakdown.

The practical effect for allocators is straightforward. Before the three-year mark, many institutional platforms and model-portfolio databases simply would not list these funds. Now they qualify. That means potential inflows from advisors who require a minimum track record before adding a fund to a core allocation. Love noted that the milestone “opens a lot more doors, a lot more platforms, models and databases that require three-year track records.”

The four ETFs collectively manage roughly $1.5 billion in assets, according to T. Rowe Price’s latest filings. TMSL alone accounts for about $600 million. The SMID-cap space has been a focus for active managers because the category is less efficient than large-cap. Love’s background in SMID research gives the fund a differentiated angle. “It’s a very intuitive entry point for most portfolios,” she said.

For T. Rowe Price, the milestone comes at a time when the firm is trying to grow its ETF lineup beyond the initial four. The company has filed for additional active ETFs in fixed income and sector equity. The three-year track record on the existing funds provides a reference point for new launches. Allocators can compare performance and risk metrics across a longer horizon.

Love said the team will continue to rely on fundamental research. “Active ETFs are more than just mutual funds in disguise,” she said. “They are genuinely active research-driven portfolios with intentional tilts.” The distinction matters for advisors who want tax efficiency and intraday trading without sacrificing active management.

The next catalyst for these funds is the second-quarter earnings season, which will test the SMID thesis. If smaller companies continue to show improving fundamentals, TMSL could attract more attention. Love said the fund is built to find underfollowed businesses where earnings power is underappreciated over a three- to five-year horizon. The three-year milestone gives allocators the data to judge that claim.