The name Thomas Rowe Price Junior should have been consigned to the investing scrap heap. Born in 1898, Price’s career was just hitting its stride as the Great Depression hit and hit hard. At the time, he was the head of investment for the broking firm MacKubin, Legg and Co., but instead of developing great hate for markets, he fell even more in love with them. That inspired him to start T. Rowe Price and Associates in 1937, with a then-revolutionary focus on growth investing. His guiding philosophy was that by investing in well-managed companies operating in deep pools of opportunity, he could generate returns ahead of inflation and the overall economy. It’s a philosophy that would earn Price the moniker the “Father of growth investing”. T. Rowe Price still operates to this day and manages around US$1.6 trillion globally. So, how would Price’s philosophy stack up today? Probably pretty well. From 1990-2020, growth stocks delivered an average annual return of about 12%, compared to around 9% for value stocks. Over the journey, growth investing has shown resilience during economic downturns, as companies with strong fundamentals and innovative products tend to recover faster and maintain their competitive edge. With all this in mind, we asked ten of Australia’s brightest investment minds, covering both ASX and global stocks, for their top growth pick in 2025.

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