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Tuesday, April 28, 2015 Baltimore Fundsters Are Open For Business Yesterday riots broke out across downtown Baltimore, and at least five mutual fund firms — Brown Advisory [profile], Croft-Leominster [profile], D. F. Dent and Company [profile], Legg Mason [profile], and T. Rowe Price [profile] — are based within blocks of some of the rioting. The National Guard has now deployed, and citizens are cleaning up. The two big fund firms in the city remain open for business, though one's headquarters remains closed. The Baltimore Sun has a map of the damage from the riots. A spokesperson for Croft-Leominster declined to comment for this story. A spokesperson for Brown was not immediately able to comment for this story. And MFWire could not immediately reach D. F. Dent president Matthew Dent for comment for this story. Brian Lewbart, a spokesman for T. Rowe, confirms that the publicly-traded mutual fund giant "remains open for business on Tuesday." Yet its headquarters at 100 East Pratt Street (the closest reported damage from the rioting was at Gold Apple Jewelry, four blocks away) is still closed, and it urged employees in another location to go home early. Lewbart sent MFWire the following statement: As always, the safety and security of our associates remains our paramount concern. While T. Rowe Price remains open for business on Tuesday, our offices at 100 E. Pratt Street in downtown Baltimore will be closed. In addition, given new and credible information regarding the possibility for disruptive activity in the vicinity of Owings Mills Mall, we have advised associates working in Owings Mills today to leave their office by 2 p.m. We are taking this step to ensure our associates have the opportunity to commute home safely prior to any possible activity taking place. To maintain operations and continue serving our clients, we have implemented standard business continuity procedures, including shifting activities to alternate locations and asking our associates to work remotely or from other offices. These business continuity procedures are working as designed and there has been no disruption in client service. While our walk-in investor centers Downtown and in Owings Mills have been closed, clients can continue to reach us by phone or online. We have maintained communications with our associates during this time and will continue to do so as circumstances warrant. We will also continue to monitor the situation in consultation with local authorities to determine what additional steps, if any, may need to be taken.1,262 T. Rowe employees worked in its headquarters as of March 31. Mary Athridge, a spokeswoman for Legg Mason, confirms that the publicly-traded multi-boutique asset manager's headquarters at 100 International Drive (the closest reported rioting damage was at a CapitolMac branch about a dozen blocks away) "is open" today. "But people are encouraged to work from home if they can," Athridge says. "We're monitoring the situation in real-time." About 300 Legg employees are based in its downtown Baltimore headquarters. Yet, Athridge notes, none of Legg's boutiques (it calls them "investment affiliates") are based in Baltimore. Brown's headquarters is at 901 South Bond Street, about four blocks from that same damaged CapitolMac branch. Croft-Leominster's headquarters is at 300 Water Street, about half a dozen blocks from that same Gold Apple Jewelry. D. F. Dent's headquarters is at 2 East Read Street, about four blocks from multiple reports of property damage near the intersection of Centre Street and Charles Street. Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=51652 Copyright 2015, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |