Robeco Multi Asset Sustainable D EUR

In October, most equity markets delivered a decent return. It was a tougher month however for most fixed income assets. The exception within fixed income was emerging market debt. Both emerging market equities and emerging market debt were amongst the best-performing assets classes in October. Risky assets reacted positively to the easing of political/trade tensions and encouraging economic developments. After months of disappointment we are finally starting to see some stabilization in the overall economic picture. Not that we are out of the woods, far from that, as there remain sufficient pockets of weakness. The manufacturing sector in Europe remains a concern. A positive is that corporate sentiment in emerging markets as measured by the purchasing manager index seems to have bottomed. Another supportive factor is that US company earnings held up reasonably well. In addition, a growing number of central banks is running supportive monetary policies. The main trigger that tilted market sentiment towards positive was the easing of trade and political uncertainty. Not only has no-deal Brexit fear eased but trade talks between China and the US also seem to be back on track.

Except for the active currency positions, currency risks are partly hedged to the base currency of the fund (EUR).

This share class of the fund does not distribute dividend.

Robeco Multi Asset Sustainable integrates ESG at different stages of the investment process. We use sustainability performance rankings to focus our fundamental analysis on companies that have demonstrated superior sustainability performance compared to their peers. We then analyze the impact of financially material ESG factors to a company’s competitive position and value drivers. We believe that this enhances our ability to understand existing and potential risks and opportunities of a company. If ESG risks and opportunities are significant, the ESG analysis could impact a stock’s fair value and the portfolio allocation decision. Throughout the investment process, we strive for a low environmental impact, as measured by GHG emissions, energy consumption, water use and waste generation, with the aim of realizing 20% better levels than the index. In addition to ESG integration, Robeco conducts proxy voting and engagement activities focused on specific themes, such as climate change, aiming to improve a company’s sustainability profile. Furthermore, the fund will not invest in companies exposed to the following controversial sectors or business practices: military contracting, controversial weapons, fire arms, UN Global Compact breaches, tobacco, palm oil and thermal coal, according to strict revenue thresholds.

Robeco Multi Asset Sustainable is an actively managed global multi-asset fund, fully focused on sustainability. The fund has a moderate risk profile and mainly invests in sustainable equity and bond funds of Robeco and RobecoSAM that meet the highest standards of sustainable investment. The portfolio management team can also use other investment instruments to enhance the risk-return profile of the fund. The fund is managed by an experienced team of specialists in multi-asset investing with a proven track record of more than 20 years. The investment strategy also relies on the sustainability research of RobecoSAM. RobecoSAM is an investment specialist focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing with more than 20 years of experience in sustainability, thematic and impact investing.

Risk management is fully embedded in the investment process to ensure that the fund's positions remain within set limits at all times.