T. Rowe Price plans to plunk down more cash to promote itself this year. In the firm's earnings release yesterday, company officials said they expect to spend 15 percent more on advertising and promotion in 2008 than they did last year.

In the first quarter of this year, T. Rowe executives said ad and promotion spending will be higher by $2 million compared to the final quarter of 2007.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, ad and promotion expenses reached $35.8 million, up from $30.8 million in the same period in 2006. For the whole of 2007, ad and promotion expenses totaled $107.9 million, up $97.3 million in 2006.

Another fund company that is comparable in size to T. Rowe, Franklin Resources, spent $46.6 million on advertising in Q4 2007, up from $34.9 million in Q4 2006. The company spent 17 percent less on advertising in Q4 2007 than in Q3 2007. Franklin executives did not include any estimates for 2008 ad spending in their earnings report.  

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE