Robeco Global SDG Engagement Equities I USD

Michiel Plakman is Lead Portfolio Manager and member of the Global Equity team. He is also Co-Head of Robeco’s Global Equity team. He is responsible for fundamental global equities with a focus on SDG investing and on companies in the information technology, real estate & communication services sectors, as well as 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 Japanese Equities 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 co-portfolio manager of Robeco's Global SDG Engagement fund and has a research focus on 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 Head of 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. Thomas Globe is Portfolio Manager and member of the Global Equity team. He is responsible for fundamental global equities with a focus on SDG investing and portfolio construction. He is also Deputy Lead Portfolio Manager Global SDG Engagement Equities. Prior to joining Robeco in 2024, he worked as portfolio manager for Premier Miton Investors. Previous to that, he worked at Premier Asset Management as portfolio manager and analyst. He joined the industry in 2011. Thomas holds a first class Bachelor of Arts (Joint Honours) in Business and Law from Staffordshire University. He is a CFA® Charterholder.

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.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 All Country World Index (Net Return, USD).

The slightly positive return for global equity markets in August masked an otherwise turbulent month. Japan was at the epicenter of the initial market rout after the Bank of Japan announced a slight rate hike, triggering large outflows with the so-called yen-carry-trade unwind. In conjunction with a tepid US payrolls report and the first cracks in the AI theme, markets all over the world quickly moved into panic mode. Calm returned, though, as incoming data dismissed any meltdown fears in fundamentals and equities quickly returned higher to finish the month in green. But calm returned and markets recovered. Sectors such as healthcare, staples and real estate outperformed, while areas within consumer discretionary, commodities and higher-beta industrials lagged.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 2.89%. The portfolio outperformed the MSCI ACWI in August. Industrials was the standout positive contributor at sector level with consumer staples taking second place. Financials was the biggest detractor. Following a weaker July, market turmoil in early August saw Hitachi fall further before rebounding impressively, pushing it to the largest contributor on an individual stock basis. Trane Technologies also had a good month reporting strong second quarter results. Seeing particular strength in commercial HVAC, management raised their full-year revenue guidance. Samsung Electronics was the largest individual detractor amidst broader regional and sector weakness.

The summer period is notoriously tricky, with less liquid markets often causing very erratic price action. August was no exception, seeing sharp corrections and new highs. When it comes to the US, with growth softening, but not collapsing, and inflation receding further, markets have been moving back into frothy mode again by expecting the Fed to deliver more rate cuts in the short term than what's realistically likely. Although borrowing costs have come down, we still see scant evidence of a pickup in activity levels in the interest-sensitive parts of the market. Furthermore, as several popular themes around AI and anti-obesity drugs are looking tired and momentum is waning, we stay cognizant of a potential change in market leadership. While we have added slightly more into the less expensive corners of the market on the margin, we remain up the Quality curve in terms of positioning.