RobecoSAM Global SDG Engagement Equities YE CHF

Michiel Plakman is Lead Portfolio Manager and member of the Global Equity team. He is responsible for fundamental global equities with a focus on SDG investing and on companies in information technology, real estate and portfolio construction. He has been in this role since 2009. Previously, he was responsible for managing the Robeco IT Equities fund within the TMT team. Prior to joining Robeco in 1999, he worked as a Portfolio Manager Japan at Achmea Global Investors (PVF Pensioenen). From 1995 to 1996 he was Portfolio Manager European Equities at KPN Pension Fund. He holds a Master's in Econometrics from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and he is a CFA® charterholder. Daniela da Costa is responsible for the team’s investments in Brazil and the African consumer sector. Prior to joining Robeco in 2010, she was Portfolio Manager Latin American Equities at Nomura in London. Before that, Daniela worked at HSBC and with the Petrobras pension fund in Brazil. She started her career in the industry in 1997. Daniela holds a Master's in Economics from the Brazilian Capital Markets Institute in Rio de Janeiro (IBMEC-RJ) and a MBA certificate in pension fund asset management from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (COPPE-UFRJ). She is board member of AMEC, the Brazilian stewardship agency and a member of Robeco’s SDG committee and Biodiversity Task Force. Peter van der Werf is Manager Engagement at Robeco. He leads the corporate and sovereign engagement program in the Active Ownership team and is involved in further integration of active ownership in Robeco’s investment products. With his engagement work he has challenged sustainability leadership at more than 200 global companies to align their environmental and social strategy with Robeco’s sustainable investing philosophy. As Portfolio Manager SDG Engagement Equities, Peter contributes to impact investing in listed equity. He is also an Advisory Board member of the Finance for Biodiversity foundation. Peter started his career in 2007 and holds a Master’s in Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University.

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 by the means of a target universe, exclusions, ESG integration and engagement. The fund solely invests in stocks issued by companies with a low negative to low positive impact on the SDGs. The impact of issuers on the SDGs is determined by applying Robeco's internally developed three-step SDG Framework. The outcome is a quantified contribution expressed as an SDG score, considering both the contribution to the SDGs (positive, neutral or negative) and the extent of this contribution (high, medium or low). The fund actively engages with 100% of the corporate holdings typically for a period of three to five years. 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. 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.

After a euphoric mood at the start of the year, enthusiasm in global equity markets eased somewhat in February (flat in EUR, -2% in USD). Interestingly, better-than-expected macro data during the month underscored the battle on inflation might not be settled yet. Moreover, the much feared recession not yet truly materializing either also means that the end of peak rates is also likely delayed, meaning central banks will keep conditions tight for the time being. With macro still the dominating force of market direction and after the recent equities re-rating, it seems most investors err on the side of caution at this stage. Without any imminent recession, equity drawdown risk might decline too perhaps, hopefully directing investors' focus back towards bottom-up stock picking and credible self-help stories to find alpha. Since we still walk a fine line, navigating a multitude of market anxieties, it is best to sit still or at least remain very selective on where to join in.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was -2.15%. Our strategy underperformed the market in February, mostly due to weak contributions from Electronic Arts, which warned that revenue growth for the full year will be below previous expectations, and Adobe Software, where there will be more regulatory scrutiny of its proposed acquisition of Figma. Also, Rio Tinto gave up some of its gains, as commodity prices have started to ease due to a slowdown in global economic growth. On the positive side, we had very good contributions from both STMicroelectronics and Meta Platforms. STM continues to perform strongly on the back of a strong outlook for semi sales into electric vehicles. Meta is rebounding after a very difficult year. The company is cutting capital and operating spending in order to defend margins.

As it stands, some of the recent equity rally may hold as long as growth stays resilient. But that's exactly where the crux lies: we have too many conflicting macro data points to confidently points us in either direction. What we do know is that equities in general, and the US market in particular, are trading at probably too rich multiples. With inflation proving stickier than many hoped and expected, most equities are starting to price in a rather quick reversal to more normalized levels, something we see as unlikely to happen in the near term. For a further market re-rating we still have a few tall hills to climb. As mentioned in our previous commentaries, we think China remains the wild card of hope with recent upticks in its PMIs, meaning the 'factory engine of the world' is slowly coming back to life. Whether this comes with a roar remains to be seen, but it can certainly have a positive trickle-over effect for other economies as well. Our cautious positioning in the higher quality areas of the market seems to be back in favor again. Hence it is an approach we clearly want to hang onto.