RobecoSAM Global SDG Credits IH USD

Victor Verberk is CIO Fixed Income and Sustainability. Prior to joining Robeco in 2008, Victor was CIO at Holland Capital Management. Before that, he was Head of Fixed Income at MN Services and Portfolio Manager Credits at AXA Investment Managers. He has been active in the industry since 1997. Victor holds a Master’s in Business Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and he is a Certified European Financial Analyst. Reinout Schapers is Co-Head Portfolio Management 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.

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 solely invests in credits issued by companies with a positive or neutral 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). 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. ESG factors are integrated in the bottom-up security analysis to assess the impact of financially material ESG risk on the issuer's fundamental credit quality. Furthermore, the fund invests at least 10% 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.

In April, financial markets were relatively quiet and credit spreads traded in a narrow range, as broad measures of volatility including VIX and MOVE trended lower. Problems in the US regional banking sector continued to pop up. First Republic Bank, which is mainly active in the market for wealthy clients, was the latest victim. The bank faces similar issues as other regional banks, with large unrealized losses on "assets held to maturity". In March, a group of US banks provided USD 30 bln of uninsured deposits to shore up liquidity. This did not turn the tide for First Republic and the bank was ultimately acquired by JPMorgan in a transaction organized by the US government. Most company earnings exceeded expectations, as the latter had been guided down to relatively low levels. Inflation remains above target levels in both Europe and the US, while tighter bank lending standards led to questions about the number of rate hikes to come. In the real estate sector there continue to be defaults in office property loans due to rising vacancy rates, higher interest rates and tighter lending standards. Primary markets were relatively subdued due to the earnings calendar, despite lower rate and spread volatility.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 0.79%. The Global Aggregate Corporate Bond Index returned 0.63% (hedged in euro) this month. Excess returns for the index were 1.18%. The credit spread on the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Corporate Bond Index tightened from 153 to 149 basis points for the month. Underlying yields remained more or less the same. German 10-year yields widened by 2 basis points to 2.31%, while US 10-year yields tightened by 4 basis points to 3.42%. The fund outperformed the index. Our top-down position contributed positively to our performance, which was partially offset by our issuer selection. Euro cash bonds underperformed dollar-denominated bonds, resulting in a negative contribution for the month due to our overweight euro bonds. There was no significant performance difference between positive and negative SDG-rated issuers. Issuers that contributed to performance were NatWest Group due to a rating upgrade, TenneT, Holcim and Crédit Agricole. Names that detracted from performance were Western Digital, Deutsche Bank, Suzano and Charter Communications.

Central banks have been experimenting with monetary policy for years – and have invented a lot of new monetary instruments and strategies along the way. The result has been low or negative yields for way too long. The economic system created debt in all corners of society. A fast and aggressive hiking cycle will for sure reveal many problems. All time-series show a recession could start somewhere toward the end of the year – and we believe central banks will cause one. Recent developments in the banking sector will lead to more tightening lending standards, which will put additional pressure on the economy. We do believe risks are more skewed to the US market this time. Our concern is with leveraged sectors that might be rate sensitive like covenant-lite leveraged loans, real estate, and CLOs. We are far enough into the business and rate cycle that when markets become too bearish, buying on the dip makes sense. This time, the sell-off in AT-1 and subordinated financials led to excessive risk premiums and a buying opportunity in that segment. Valuations for non-financials are less attractive and valuations for cyclicals are not fully reflecting recession risks at the moment.