Robeco Next Digital Billion I USD

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. Besides this role, Michiel is a Board member of a Hong Kong based Fintech startup offering regulated software services (SaaS) for Independent ?nancial advisors globally. 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. Bryan Satterly is Portfolio Manager Next Digital Billion and a member of the Robeco Trends Equities team. Prior to this role, Bryan was an investment manager for Robeco’s Private Equity group where he was responsible for group exposures in emerging markets, venture capital and co-investments. He joined Robeco in 2018. Before that he was an investment analyst in Washington D.C. for the Venture Capital Group at IFC, the World Bank Group’s private sector investment arm, investing into technology companies across emerging markets. He started his career in 2013 as an investment banking analyst at BMO Capital Markets in New York, working on a variety of equity, debt and M&A transactions in the Healthcare and Real Estate sectors. Bryan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

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 0.01% 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.

Investors who are not subject to (exempt from) Dutch corporate-income tax (e.g. pension funds) are not taxed on the achieved result. Investors who are subject to Dutch corporate-income tax can be taxed for the result achieved on their investment in the fund. Dutch bodies that are subject to corporate-income tax are obligated to declare interest and dividend income, as well as capital gains in their tax return. Investors residing outside the Netherlands are subject to their respective national tax regime applying to foreign investment funds. We advise individual 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.

Emerging markets experienced a relatively broad-based recovery in January, with China as the clear leader. China's reopening is going smoother than expected, and Chinese equities saw the largest cumulative 4-week net buying activity in its history of tracked data. While the initial innings of this rally may have been largely tactical and positioning related, we believe the next phase of a possibly continued rally in China-related equities will be more valuation focused. In addition, company-specific events changed dynamics positively for a few portfolio holdings. Most notably in Brazil, large retailer and e-commerce player Americanas released news of an accounting scandal. This same domino effect benefited NDB holdings MercadoLibre and Magazine Luiza, which compete with Americanas in the e-commerce sector.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 9.80%. January was a positive month for our portfolio holdings, both in absolute and in relative terms. Internet platforms contributed most positively to performance, with almost all stocks reporting a positive monthly absolute return. The largest contributor was MercadoLibre. The fintech portion of the portfolio was a slightly positive contributor to returns, and there was a very wide range of share price performance across our holdings in this segment. StoneCo had the largest positive impact, while VEF was one of the worst performers in the category. The B2B/enterprise-focused portion of the portfolio made a slightly negative contribution to performance. Our biggest positions in this category, including EPAM Systems and Globant, contributed negatively to performance over the month. Endava was a positive contributor in this category. Mobility/e-logistics made a negative contribution to the fund's performance, driven by our largest holding in this category, ESR Group, which was down 5% for the month. Overall, ICT & enabler companies made a neutral contribution to the fund's results. The online consumer & media segment made a positive contribution to the fund's results.

Many stocks in our portfolio suffer from negative price momentum. With the overall market still experiencing bearish sentiment, we expect continued volatility for the coming months. Quarterly results reported by our portfolio holdings highlight that long-term trends are intact and fundamentals are strong. Individual company's operational performance remains robust, and we are cautiously positioning the portfolio to benefit from a rebound in the future. Within our high conviction approach, we remain diversified across geographies. We continue to re-evaluate fundamental theses on individual positions within the portfolio and we believe that the Next Digital Billion trend remains compelling for the long term.