Robeco Sustainable Emerging Credits IBx USD

Reinout Schapers is Portfolio Manager Investment Grade in the Credit team. Prior to joining Robeco in 2011, Reinout worked at Aegon Asset Management where he was a Head of European High Yield. Before that, he worked at Rabo Securities as an M&A Associate and at Credit Suisse First Boston as an Analyst Corporate Finance. Reinout has been active in the industry since 2003. He holds a Master's in Architecture from the Delft University of Technology. Christiaan Lever is Portfolio Manager High Yield and Emerging Credits in the Credit team. Before assuming this role in 2016, he was Financial Risk Manager at Robeco, focusing on market risk, counterparty risk and liquidity risk within fixed Income markets. Christiaan has been active in the industry since 2010. He holds a Master's in Quantitative Finance and in Econometrics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Based in Singapore, Thu Ha Chow is Head of Fixed Income Asia and Portfolio Manager with a focus on Asian credits. Prior to joining Robeco in 2022, she was Portfolio Manager and Asia Strategist at Loomis Sayles & Co and Head of Asian Credit at Aberdeen Asset Management, both in Singapore. Previously Thu Ha worked for 15 years in London where she held senior fixed income positions at Deutsche Asset Management and Threadneedle Asset Management in addition to 3 years in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston. She started her career in 1998 after obtaining a Master’s in Economics and Philosophy from London School of Economics. The RobecoSAM Emerging SDG Credits fund is managed within Robeco's credit team, which consists of eight portfolio managers and twelve credit analysts (of which four cover the financial sector). The portfolio managers are responsible for the construction and management of the credit portfolios, whereas the analysts cover the team's fundamental research. Our analysts have long term experience in their respective sectors which they cover globally. Each analyst covers both investment grade and high yield, providing them an information advantage and benefiting from inefficiencies that traditionally exist between the two segmented markets. Furthermore, the credit team is supported by three dedicated quantitative researchers and four fixed income traders. On average, the members of the credit team have an experience in the asset management industry of sixteen years, of which eight years with Robeco.

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.

Sustainability is incorporated in the investment process by the means of a target universe, exclusions, ESG integration, and a minimum allocation to ESG-labeled bonds. The fund invests in credits issued by companies with a positive, neutral or low negative impact on the SDGs. The exposure to credits issued by companies with a low negative impact is at max 20% and the average SDG score of the fund must be greater than zero. The impact of issuers on the SDGs is determined by applying Robeco's internally developed three-step SDG Framework. The outcome is quantified with a proprietary SDG score methodology, considering both the contribution to the SDGs (positive, neutral or negative) and the extent of this contribution (high, medium or low). In addition, the fund does not invest in credit 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 security analysis to assess the impact on the issuer's fundamental credit quality. Furthermore, the fund invests at least 5% in green, social, sustainable, and/or sustainability-linked bonds. Lastly, where a credit issuer is flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to exclusion.The following sections display the ESG-metrics that are relevant 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 [Index name].

The rally in credit spreads that we saw in the previous months reversed in August, with the CEMBI spread widening 12 bps to 3.38%. The US economy is not showing any signs of a significant slowdown. On a positive note, inflation numbers are coming down but remain above the Fed's target. However, markets fear that rates need to stay higher than previously expected. 5-year Treasury yields rose 7 bps to 4.25. In Europe, economic indicators point to weakness, while inflation numbers remain high. The Chinese economy remains weak and the PBoC cut rates in August. Chinese property developers continue to struggle, but this is not impacting broader markets. Economic data in China continues to disappoint and the housing market continues to suffer from the unresolved crisis in the property development sector. Sentiment in broader Asia is weaker on the back of this. EM corporate primary market activity marked the slowest supply month for the year at USD 10.6 bln. August is usually a low-volume month, with the past 5-year average at USD 17 bln, and while issuance came in well below this figure, it was a touch higher than last August (USD 7.1 bln).

A buy-on-dips (and sell-the-rally) strategy from a conservative basis remains our preferred approach. Rates and recession fears are the key drivers in this cycle. And although 10-year US yields seem close to the cycle peak, volatility and uncertainty remain. The Chinese economy has trouble finding its way up in the absence of stimulus and that makes the outlook for commodities less attractive. Valuations are still around their long-term average, but are tighter than earlier in the year. For now, we have taken some chips off the table. With an outlook of either higher rates or a recession, an unclear outlook for China and valuation in no-man's land, markets are between a rock and a hard place. Technicals remain tough for the period to come. The Fed and ECB continue to be hawkish as inflation remains higher than desired. Both central banks are continuing their quant tightening programs, which are taking liquidity out of the market. In our opinion, it is more important to look at the change in purchasing by central banks, which has become negative. We have reduced the portfolio beta to just above neutral.