History

Expert in fund investing

Since its founding, Robeco has stood for an ideal spread across different markets and global investment opportunities. Even when the stock market crash caused heavy losses in value shortly after Robeco started operating, the founders continued to believe in this principle. This strong vision coupled with daring and ambition mean that Robeco is frequently ahead of other players. Consequently, Robeco was a pioneer in the area of fund investment. Robeco has also been investing in emerging markets since 1930.

Highpoints in Robeco’s history:

1929 Establishment of the Rotterdamsch Beleggings Consortium and the Robeco fund by prominent Rotterdam businessmen. The portfolio is diversified globally over the Netherlands, other European countries, North and South America, and Africa

1940-1945 During WWII, more than half of the portfolio is invested in the US. As a result, Robeco’s assets increase by more than EUR 4.5 million in this period

1953 Introduction of a share-saving system, allowing people of more modest means to save up for Robeco shares

1959 New listings abroad: Paris (1959), Brussels (1960), London (1962) and numerous other European financial centers. Listing are also obtained in Hong Kong (1971) and Tokyo (1976)

1965 Foundation of Rolinco, a second investment company, for investors more interested in capital growth than taxable dividend

1974 Establishment of Rorento, Robeco’s first bond fund, as an answer to the oil crisis in 1973. Rorento quickly joins Robeco and Rolinco among the most-actively-traded stocks on the Amsterdam stock market

1975 Having taken over of its main rivals, the Robeco Group owns more than 80% of the Dutch market for investment funds in the mid 1970s. Robeco is now by far the largest fund provider on the European continent

1981 Establishment of Robeco’s own savings bank: Roparco, which shocks the traditional banking world. It is the first bank to offer Dutch small and medium-sized savers the possibility to benefit from high interest rates then available: 10%

1980s Establishment of various European offices, including those in France, Luxembourg and Switzerland

1990 The financial-services sector faces increasing competition, and companies are consolidating to realize benefits of scale. To keep up with these developments, Robeco starts its cooperation with Rabobank

1990s As a result of a number of large US takeovers, Robeco’s assets grow spectacularly in the second half of the 1990s. By the end of the 20th century, total assets under management amount to more than EUR 100 billion

1995 Robeco introduces its first sustainable product ‘Groencertificaten’, together with Rabobank

1997 Rabobank becomes 50% owner of Robeco. Within the Rabobank Group, Robeco is the center of competence in the field of asset management, with its own independent investment policy

1998 Takeover of Weiss, Peck & Greer, a New York based asset manager focusing on US fixed income, US equity and a full spectrum of alternative investments, with EUR 13 billion in assets under management at the time of acquisition

1998 Robeco acquires its first sustainable institutional mandate (which is still running)

1999 Introduction of Robeco DuurzaamAandelen [Sustainable Equities], the first sustainable investment fund in the Netherlands launched by a large asset manager

2000 Founding of Robeco Alternative Investments, Robeco’s alternative-investments platform in Europe

2000 Opening of an office in Bahrain, the Middle East

2001 Robeco becomes a full subsidiary of Rabobank, one of the few privately owned banks in the world with the highest credit rating from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s

2001 Purchase of Harbor Capital Advisors, based in Chicago. HCA selects the most suitable external manager to manage each portfolio. At the time of the takeover, HCA had EUR 16.9 billion in assets under management

2002 Acquisition of Sage Capital Management, a fund-of-hedge-funds manager with a track record going back to 1994, based in New York

2002 Acquisition of a 60% interest in Boston Partners Asset Management, a Boston-based value-equity manager. The remaining shares were acquired in 2003

2002 Acquisition of a 49% interest in Transtrend, a research-driven and system-based managed-futures trader in Rotterdam, with a track record going back to 1992. The remaining shares were acquired in 2007

2002 Opening of an office in Madrid, Spain

2003 Official introduction of Robeco Investment Management (RIM), uniting Boston Partners, Robeco-Sage and Weiss, Peck & Greer

2003 Opening of an office in Frankfurt, Germany

2004 Introduction of Robeco Sustainable Private Equity, the world’s first sustainable private-equity fund of funds, developed in cooperation with Rabobank

2005 Opening of an office in Tokyo, Japan

2006 Acquisition of a 40% stake in the Belgian company Analytic Investment Management (AIM). AIM, established in 1990, specializes in systematic intra-day currency trading on the basis of quantitative models

2006 Introduction of Robeco Clean Tech Private Equity II, an investment program aimed at clean-tech private-equity funds and co-investments, developed in cooperation with Rabobank

2006 Acquisition of a majority stake in Swiss-based Sustainable Asset Management. SAM Group and Robeco join forces to launch the global number-1 platform for sustainability investments

2006 Robeco signs the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment

2006 Robeco joins the Enhanced Analytics Initiative, a group of international asset owners and asset managers who work together to encourage investment research that considers the impact of extra-financial issues on long-term company performance

2007 Launch of Canara Robeco Asset Management in India, a joint venture with Canara Bank, one of the largest banks in India, with 30 million clients, including public-sector pension institutions

2007 Opening of a representative office in Shanghai

2007 Opening of an office in Hong Kong, serving as Robeco’s regional center for distribution and portfolio management

2007 For the Belgian market, Robeco decides to focus on third-party distribution; Robeco Bank Belgium is sold to Kaupthing Bank Luxembourg

2007 Establishment of Corestone Investment Managers AG, a Swiss-based and independently operating asset manager. Corestone manages multi-discipline open-architecture portfolios for institutional investors

2008 Opening of a sales office in Singapore, which serves as Robeco’s operating base for commercial activities in Singapore and the rest of South-East Asia

2009 Robeco and TEDA International, the financial-holding arm of Tianjin (China) government, establish Robeco TEDA (Tianjin) Investment Management Company

2009 Opening of a representative office in Seoul, Korea

2009 Opening of a sales office in Taipei City, Taiwan

2010 Robeco integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into its investment processes and introduces an exclusion policy