Robeco Net Zero 2050 Climate Equities I USD

Chris Berkouwer is Portfolio Manager and member of the Global Equity team. He is also Deputy Lead Portfolio Manager. He is responsible for fundamental global equities with a focus on the low-carbon transition and on companies in the energy, materials and industrials sectors, as well as portfolio construction. He joined Robeco in 2010. Prior to that, he worked as an analyst for the The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies. He conducted country, industry and company research for various equity teams prior to joining the Global Equity team. He a holds Master's in Business Administration and International Public Management from the Erasmus University Rotterdam and is a CFA® Charterholder. Yanxin Liu is Portfolio Manager and member of the Global Equity team. She is responsible for fundamental global equities with a focus on information technology as well as portfolio construction. Yanxin spent 11 years with our Emerging Markets Equity team, prior to joining the Global Equity team in 2022. Within the Emerging Markets team her focus was on all sectors in Greater China. Prior to that, Yanxin worked for DSM Pension Services in the Netherlands as an analyst focusing on US large-cap equities. Yanxin has a Master’s in Finance from the Erasmus University Rotterdam and a Bachelor’s in Financial Accounting from Nankai University in Tianjin, China. She became a CFA® Charterholder in 2015 and is a native Mandarin speaker.

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’s sustainable investment objective is to contribute to keeping global temperature rise well-below 2°C by reducing the carbon footprint of the fund. Climate change and sustainability considerations are incorporated in the investment process via exclusions, ESG integration, as well as voting. Firstly, the fund does not invest in stock issuers that are in breach of international norms or where activities have been deemed detrimental to society following Robeco's exclusion policy. This includes activity-based exclusions of Article 12 of the EU regulation on Climate Transition Benchmarks, EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks and sustainability-related disclosures for benchmarks as applicable. Secondly, the fund focuses on investing in companies that have set Net Zero goals by 2050 and examines other financially material ESG factors in the portfolio construction. Thirdly, by restricting the GHG emissions, the carbon footprint of the fund is made lower than that of the Climate transition benchmark to ensure alignment with the desired decarbonization trajectory of 7% year on year. Further, 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.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 World Climate Change Index (Net Return, USD).

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 1.80%. August was a flattish month for our strategy from an absolute return perspective, slightly lagging the benchmark (-0.5% versus +0.2%, respectively). Sector-wise, the main positive contributors were materials and financials, while our positioning in consumer discretionary and healthcare detracted. In terms of stock selection, the most positive performance contribution came from Aspen Technology after it posted a good set of results including a guidance raise. Aspen is seeing strong growth in its digital grid management business, already reaping synergy benefits from its combination with Emerson Electric. On the flip side, TopBuild was the main detractor for the month as management cut its growth outlook due to a slowdown in its commercial and industrial segments. Project timing and tightness in raw material availability were mentioned as the main culprits, causing anxiety with investors whether this might affect the residential end market at some point.

After the latest upswing, markets are back on edge, laser-focused on what comes next in terms of jobs data, Fed decision-making and election news. It also seems traders are already pricing in overly optimistic expectations in terms of the Fed's rate cut pace, which makes us wary. Stocks are trading at near-record levels and for that to continue we need to see a broadening out of the market. This in turn is contingent on improving data points for cyclicals, which remains scarce. Our preference therefore lies with climate transition plays in the more defensive areas of power infrastructure, environmental consultancy and healthy lifestyles. For many renewables and cleantech plays, the US elections are clearly a major sticking point. We are of the belief that little will change to the existing IRA policies in place to only select areas around EVs and hydrogen, but until we get more clarity, sentiment swings will trump otherwise improving fundamentals. In terms of portfolio positioning, we remain up the quality curve and continue to avoid green-colored cashflow bleeders.