T. Rowe Price got a big boost from a big name last month.

Goldman Sachs invested $1 billion in the Baltimore firm — saying it would buy up roughly 3.5% of its stock — as the two companies announced a strategic partnership in early September.

“I’m really enthusiastic about this opportunity,” Robert W. Sharps, T. Rowe’s board chairman, president and chief executive officer, said during a quarterly earnings call Friday. “I think Goldman is going to be a great partner.”

The partnership was the latest alliance between financial firms looking to unite retirement accounts with private investments.

President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to make those private market alternatives more accessible. In August, he signed an executive order loosening restrictions on private investments.

The average person’s retirement account generally includes funds that mostly invest in publicly traded bonds and stocks, and there have long been limitations on accessing private markets. Accredited investors, however, did not face the same restrictions.

But Trump has pushed for “democratizing access to alternative assets.” Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins supports the measure, too, although he has said that “appropriate guardrails” need to be in place.

“So, the idea here is that retail investors are missing out on these private investments, and the argument is that these private investments help to diversify your portfolio, or can be superior investments that generate better returns than public stock and bonds,” said Russell Wermers, a professor at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

The concern, however, is that the “opaqueness” of private investments makes them too risky, he said.

The bulk of T. Rowe Price’s managed assets are in retirement accounts. It plans to launch new products in the coming months with Goldman Sachs, which is known for its capital-raising expertise for private investments.

Sharps telegraphed a potential move during a May earnings call, saying the company has had “substantial discussions with a number of alternative investment firms.”

He said Friday that the collaboration with Goldman “aims to deliver a range of diversified public and private market solutions designed for the unique needs of retirement and wealth investors.”

Executives also discussed Friday cost-cutting measures, including a round of layoffs in July. Headcount at the company, which relocated its global headquarters to Harbor Point in March, was down 4% on Sept. 30 as compared to Dec. 31, 2024, said chief financial officer Jen Dardis.

The company had 8,158 associates at the end of last year, meaning it is now down more than 300 employees.

One analyst on the call described the past few months as a “really good belt-tightening quarter.” Sharps countered that characterization, instead saying that the company’s efforts were on driving efficiency “in order to have the resources to invest in our strategic priorities.”

For example, Sharps said: “We are freeing up resources to invest in our AI capabilities enterprise-wide.”

T. Rowe Price also recently launched its first cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund. Head of global investments Eric Veiel said crypto will become an “important building block” for the company.

“We’re really happy to be a part of it, and think that we’ve got something innovative here,” he said.

T. Rowe Price’s stock did not move much Friday morning. During the quarter overall, the firm increased its assets under management to roughly $1.8 trillion, but it still suffered net client outflows of about $8 billion.