Robeco New World Financials D USD

Patrick Lemmens is Lead Portfolio Manager within the Trends Equities team. He has a focus on financials/fintech. Prior to joining Robeco in 2008, he managed the ABN AMRO Financials fund from October 2003 to December 2007. Previously, he held the position of Analyst of Global Financials at ABN AMRO and was Global Sector Coordinator of the Financial Institutions Equities Group at ABN AMRO. Patrick Lemmens started his career in the investment industry in 1993. He holds a Master's in Business Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and is a Certified European Financial Analyst. Michiel van Voorst is Co-Portfolio Manager within the Trends Equities team. He has a focus on financials/fintech/next digital billion. In 2019, Michiel rejoined Robeco from Union Bancaire Privée in Hong Kong where he was CIO Asian Equities. Prior to that, Michiel spent 12 years at Robeco in several senior positions including senior portfolio manager Rolinco Global Growth fund and Robeco Asian Stars. Prior to joining Robeco in 2005, Michiel was Portfolio Manager US Equity at PGGM and Economist with Rabobank Netherlands. Michiel started his career in the investment industry in 1996. Michiel van Voorst holds a Master’s in Economics from University of Utrecht and is a CFA® charterholder. Koos Burema is Co-Portfolio Manager within the Trends Equities team. He has a focus on financials/fintech. Koos was an Analyst with the Emerging Markets team covering Korea and technology in Taiwan and Mainland China. Besides this, he was responsible for the integration of ESG in the investment process. Before joining the team in January 2010, he worked as a Portfolio Manager for different sector teams within Robeco. He started his career in the industry in 2007. Koos holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Groningen and is a CFA® charterholder.

The fund is established in Luxembourg and is subject to the Luxembourg tax laws and regulations. The fund is not liable to pay any corporation, income, dividend or capital gains tax in Luxembourg. The fund is subject to an annual subscription tax ('tax d'abonnement') in Luxembourg, which amounts to 0.05% of the net asset value of the fund. This tax is included in the net asset value of the fund. The fund can in principle use the Luxembourg treaty network to partially recover any withholding tax on its income.

The fiscal consequences of investing in this fund depend on the investor's personal situation. For private investors in the Netherlands real interest and dividend income or capital gains received on their investments are not relevant for tax purposes. Each year investors pay income tax on the value of their net assets as at 1 January if and inasmuch as such net assets exceed the investor’s tax-free allowance. Any amount invested in the fund forms part of the investor's net assets. Private investors who are resident outside the Netherlands will not be taxed in the Netherlands on their investments in the fund. However, such investors may be taxed in their country of residence on any income from an investment in this fund based on the applicable national fiscal laws. Other fiscal rules apply to legal entities or professional investors. We advise investors to consult their financial or tax adviser about the tax consequences of an investment in this fund in their specific circumstances before deciding to invest in the fund.

The fund incorporates sustainability in the investment process through exclusions, ESG integration, engagement and voting. The fund does not invest in issuers that are in breach of international norms or where activities have been deemed detrimental to society following Robeco's exclusion policy. Financially material ESG factors are integrated in the bottom-up investment analysis to assess existing and potential ESG risks and opportunities. In the stock selection the fund limits exposure to elevated sustainability risks. In addition, where a stock issuer is flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to engagement. Lastly, the fund makes use of shareholder rights and applies proxy voting in accordance with Robeco's proxy voting policy.The following sections display the ESG-metrics for this fund along with short descriptions. For more information please visit the sustainability-related disclosures.The index used for all sustainability visuals is based on MSCI All Country World Financials Index (Net Return, USD).

In just three months, the US 10-year yield surged from below 4% to above 5% in October, causing equity markets to correct by almost 10% during that timeframe. Unfortunately, October did not provide any relief, as bond yields continued to approach multi-year highs, and the MSCI AC World reported a -3.0% return in USD. The MSCI AC World Financials Index also experienced a 3.4% correction in October. Notably, bond prices maintained a persistently negative momentum, which should give investors reason for caution. In the realm of Digital Finance, both Visa and Mastercard showcased resilience in their results, despite the slowdown in US payment volumes. On the other hand, in Emerging Finance, China's challenges persist, exemplified by Standard Chartered's provision for its exposure to the Chinese real estate market. Meanwhile, companies in Latin America have demonstrated strong performance, with Nu Holdings reaching 90 million customers across Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, and MercadoLibre achieving an impressive 66.0% revenue growth in the third quarter.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was -4.32%. In October, Robeco New World Financials underperformed the benchmark. The best contributors to performance were NU Holdings, T&D Holdings and Tradeweb Markets. The best-performing trend was Aging Finance, followed closely by Digital Finance. The Emerging Finance trend was the worst contributor and only trend with a negative contribution to the relative performance. The industry groups banks and capital markets made the best positive contributions to performance, while financial services, insurance and IT services detracted the most. In January 2023, we met with Morningstar for an update, and the Bronze rating was confirmed.

2023 to date has developed differently than many market participants expected. Global equities have performed strongly, although financials initially struggled to keep up, lagging the MSCI World All Countries substantially. Since the end of May, financials have enjoyed a substantial recovery. So what is the outlook for the remainder of 2023? There is still a recession risk as central banks have tightened monetary policy substantially. So far, labor markets and earnings remain surprisingly resilient. From a macro point of view, following global liquidity conditions will be crucial, as it may signal the return of risk appetite. With a very inverted yield curve and tight liquidity conditions, the outlook for risk assets, including equities, is not great. The key question is if and when these conditions will start to improve, but when they do, we think there are good reasons to be constructive on financials.