RobecoSAM Smart Energy Equities I EUR

Global stock markets remained volatile, but recovered part of the losses from the beginning of the year and ended the month on a positive note. The war in Ukraine continues to dominate the market and the risk sentiment. With the escalation, energy prices continued to rise. Natural gas prices in Europe in particular jumped, as supply fears increased substantially. Oil prices retreated from their decade high price towards the end of the quarter, as the US government announced the biggest ever release of US oil reserves. Non-energy commodities are on the rise as well, as the war in Ukraine negatively impacted an already tight supply situation. While news related to Omicron is fading away in the Western economies, it is still negatively disrupting the supply chain in China as e.g. Shanghai is in a renewed lockdown. Corporate earnings continued to be solid and overall, the outlook for 2022 looks supportive for the equity markets. Rising energy prices and increased uncertainty on energy supply led to a renewed focus on renewable energy companies. The already ambitious targets to decarbonize are now getting an additional boost from an energy security angle.

The fund is allowed to pursue an active currency policy to generate extra returns and can engage in currency hedging transactions.

In principle the fund does not intend to distribute dividend and so both the income earned by the fund and its overall performance are reflected in its share price.

The fund's sustainable investment objective is to further the transformation and decarbonization of the global energy sector. The transformation and decabonization of the energy sector and sustainability considerations are incorporated in the investment process by the means of a target universe definition, exclusions, ESG integration, and voting. The fund only invests in companies that have a significant thematic fit as per Robeco's thematic universe methodology. Through screening on both Robeco's internally developed SDG Framework and Robeco’s exclusion policy, the fund does not invest in issuers that have a negative impact on the SDGs, are in breach of international norms or where products have been deemed controversial. Financially material ESG factors are integrated in the bottom-up fundamental investment analysis to assess existing and potential ESG risks and opportunities. In addition, where a stock issuer is flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to exclusion. Lastly, the fund makes use of shareholder rights and applies proxy voting in accordance with Robeco's proxy voting policy.

RobecoSAM Smart Energy Equities is an actively managed fund that invests globally in companies providing technologies for clean energy production, distribution, power management infrastructure and energy efficiency. The selection of these stocks is based on fundamental analysis. The fund's objective is to achieve a better return than the index. The fund has sustainable investment as its objective within the meaning of Article 9 of the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. The fund furthers the transformation and decarbonization of the global energy sector through investments in clean energy production sources, energy efficient products and infrastructure as well as technologies supporting through the electrification of the industrial, transportation and heating sectors. This is done by investing in companies that advance the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs): Affordable and clean energy, Decent work and economic growth, Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Sustainable cities and communities, Responsible consumption and production, and Climate action. Alongside proxy voting and engagement, the fund applies Robeco’s Exclusion Policy of excluding investments in companies exposed to controversial behavior and controversial products (including weapons, tobacco, palm oil, fossil fuel, military contracting, firearms, nuclear power, cannabis, alcohol, gambling, adult entertainment and cannabis). The strategy integrates sustainability criteria as part of the stock selection process and through a theme-specific sustainability assessment. The portfolio is built on the basis of an eligible investment universe that includes companies whose business models contribute to the thematic investment objectives. The assessment regarding relevant SDGs uses an internally developed framework, more information on which can be obtained at www.robeco.com/si. Benchmark: MSCI World Index TRN. The majority of stocks selected will be components of the benchmark, but stocks outside the benchmark may be selected too. While the investment policy is not constrained by a benchmark, the fund may use one for comparison purposes. The fund can deviate substantially from the issuer, country and sector weightings of the benchmark. There are no restrictions on the deviation from the benchmark. The benchmark is a broad market-weighted index that is not consistent with the sustainable objective of the fund.

Risk management is fully integrated into the investment process to ensure that positions always meet predefined guidelines.