Robeco BP US Premium Equities I USD

Mr. Ramallo is the senior portfolio manager for Boston Partners Premium Equity product.  Previously, Mr. Ramallo was the assistant portfolio manager for the Small Cap Value products.  Prior to his portfolio management role, Mr. Ramallo was a research analyst for Boston Partners.  He joined the firm from Deloitte & Touche L.L.P., where he spent three years, most recently in their Los Angeles office.  Mr. Ramallo holds a B.A. degree in economics/business from the University of California at Los Angeles and an M.B.A. from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA.  He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.  He is also a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).  He has twenty years of investment experience.

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 via exclusions, ESG integration, a carbon target, engagement and voting. Through exclusions the fund avoids investments 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 the sustainability risk profile of companies. In the stock selection the fund limits exposure to elevated sustainability risks. The fund also targets a lower carbon footprint compared to the reference index. 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.

Equity markets in the United States as measured by the S&P 500 Index climbed 1.56% higher in the first month of the second quarter. Looking at the Russell equity indices, value outperformed core and growth in the large-cap and mid-cap space, while trailing in the small-cap part of the market.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 0.64%. Robeco BP US Premium Equities underperformed the Russell 3000 Value Index in April, with sector allocation impacting the fund. The fund slightly underperformed the Russell 3000 Value Index as a result of sector allocation during the month, a fallout of the bottom-up stock selection process. Overweight exposure to information technology, the worst-performing sector falling -5.5%, was the largest detractor from relative returns, while having underweight exposure to consumer staples and communication services also weighed on the relative performance. On a positive note, from a stock selection perspective, the fund added most value in the financials, healthcare and energy sectors. Within financials, the fund's insurance holdings rebounded from the previous month, led by Aflac, AIG, RenaissanceRe and White Mountains, while healthcare, a sector where the fund added most value in 2022, saw the fund's managed care companies – Centene, Humana and Molina – climbing 9% or more in the month. Integrated majors, Shell and BP, rose 6% and 8% respectively, adding to relative returns, while avoiding refiner Valero Energy was also additive, as the stock fell -18%.

Worries continue around the US regional banks, with First Republic being the latest casualty. Whether this was the last bank to fail, remains unclear. While definite progress has been made in reducing headline inflation, core inflation readings remain elevated and 'sticky', as the Fed's favored measure, the Core PCE, stands at 4.6% and well above the Fed target of 2%, and not much lower than the February 2022 peak level of 5.4%. By the end of April, 261 of the S&P 500 companies had reported Q1 earnings results. Earnings reported were a negative -2.3% on a year-over-year basis, that was +6.6% better than estimates for those companies reporting. Adding those results to the expectations for the remaining companies left to report, puts the S&P 500 on pace for a -3.77% drop in Q1 earnings on a year-over-year basis, much better than the -6.59% forecast entering the Q1 reporting period. The fund remains well positioned with holdings that reflect Boston Partners' three-circle characteristics – attractive valuations, solid business fundamentals, and identifiable catalysts.