Feb 5 (Reuters) - Asset manager T Rowe Price ( TROW )

missed Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on

Wednesday as capital outflows countered the gains from a

rallying equities market.

Investors have been opting for the low-cost offerings of

passively managed funds over active managers such as T Rowe,

resulting in 15 consecutive quarters of capital outflows for the

firm.

The Federal Reserve's 100-basis-point rate cuts in the later

half of 2024 have boosted investor interest in passive offerings

further, as it becomes harder for active managers to beat

booming benchmark index returns.

The equity rally boosted Baltimore, Maryland-based company's

average assets under management (AUM), which determine its

investment advisory fees, by 19.2% to $1.64 trillion in the

quarter, despite $19.3 billion of net outflows. Total net

outflows for the year were $43.2 billion.

T Rowe's investment advisory fees, the primary driver of its

revenue, rose 16.1% to $1.67 billion for the three months ended

Dec. 31.

Adjusted profit rose to $484.8 million, or $2.12 per share,

for the quarter, compared with analysts' expectations of $2.20

per share.

The company had posted an adjusted profit of $394.7 million,

or $1.72 per share, a year earlier.

Peers Invesco ( IVZ ) and Franklin Templeton beat

profit estimates last week, helped by rising investment fees as

their AUM expanded.