RobecoSAM QI Global SDG & Climate Beta Equities F EUR

Wilma de Groot is Head of the Core Quant Equities capability and Deputy Head of Quant Equity. She is responsible for Enhanced Indexing, Active Quant and Sustainable Beta strategies and specializes in asset pricing anomalies, portfolio construction and sustainability integration. She has published in various academic publications including the Journal of Impact and ESG Investing, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of International Money and Finance, Journal of Empirical Finance and the Financial Analysts Journal. She is a guest lecturer at several universities. Wilma joined Robeco as a Quant Researcher in 2001. Wilma has a PhD in Finance from Erasmus University Rotterdam and holds a Master’s in Econometrics from Tilburg University. She is a CFA® charterholder. Tim Dröge is Portfolio Manager Quantitative Equities. He focuses on managing Core Quant strategies, both Enhanced Indexing and Active Quant portfolios. Tim specializes in quantitative stock selection, portfolio construction and Emerging Markets. Previously, he held positions as Portfolio Manager Balanced Investments and Account Manager institutional clients. Tim has been working as a Portfolio Manager since 2001. He started his career at Robeco in 1999. He holds a Master's in Business Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Machiel Zwanenburg is Portfolio Manager Quantitative Equities. He focuses on managing Core Quant strategies, both Enhanced Indexing and Active Quant portfolios and specializes in quantitative stock selection and portfolio construction. One of his areas of expertise is sustainability integration within quantitative equities. Previously, he held positions as Risk Manager at RobecoSAM and Head of Client Portfolio Risk at Robeco. He joined Robeco in 1999 as a member of the Quant Research team. He holds a Master's in Econometrics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a Master's in Economics from the London School of Economics. Jan de Koning is Portfolio Manager Quantitative Equities. He focuses on managing Core Quant strategies, both Enhanced Indexing and Active Quant strategies and specializes in quantitative stock selection, portfolio construction and sustainability integration. He is also the author of a book on quantitative investing and has published in The Journal of Impact and ESG Investing. Before joining Robeco in 2015, he worked as a fiduciary manager at NN Investment Partners. He started his investment career in 2005 with Centuria Capital and was a Portfolio Manager at Somerset Capital Partners. Jan holds a Master's in Organizational Studies from Tilburg University, is a CFA®, CAIA®, CIPM® and CMT charterholder. He is also a PhD Researcher at the University of Amsterdam focusing on index capitalism in the age of sustainable investing. Han van der Boon is Portfolio Manager Quantitative Equities. He focuses on managing Core Quant strategies, both Enhanced Indexing and Active Quant portfolios and specializes in quantitative stock selection and portfolio construction. He was a Technical Portfolio Manager and Operational Portfolio Manager with a focus on equities in the period 2009-2018. He joined Robeco in 1997 as a Business Controller. He holds a Master's in Business Administration from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Vania Sulman is Portfolio Manager Quantitative Equities and focuses on managing the Core Quant strategies. She specializes in the stock selection and sustainability integration in customized portfolios. She rejoined Robeco in 2022. Previously, she worked as a data scientist for three years and prior to that as a Quant Researcher at Robeco with a focus on quantitative stock selection. She joined the industry and Robeco in 2016. She holds a Master's (cum laude) in Quantitative Finance from Erasmus University Rotterdam.

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 0.05% 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.

The fiscal consequences of investing in this fund depend on the investor's personal situation. For private investors in the Netherlands real interest and dividend income or capital gains received on their investments are not relevant for tax purposes. Each year investors pay income tax on the value of their net assets as at 1 January if and inasmuch as such net assets exceed the investor’s tax-free allowance. Any amount invested in the fund forms part of the investor's net assets. Private investors who are resident outside the Netherlands will not be taxed in the Netherlands on their investments in the fund. However, such investors may be taxed in their country of residence on any income from an investment in this fund based on the applicable national fiscal laws. Other fiscal rules apply to legal entities or professional investors. We advise 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’s sustainable investment objective is to advance the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals and contribute to keeping global temperature rise well-below 2°C by reducing the carbon footprint of the fund. SDG, climate change and sustainability considerations are incorporated in the investment process via exclusions, ESG integration, ESG and environmental footprint targets as well as voting. Firstly, 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. This includes activity-based exclusions of Article 12 of the EU regulation on Climate Transition Benchmarks, EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks and sustainability-related disclosures for benchmarks. In addition, the fund excludes stocks issued by companies that have a negative impact on the SDGs. The impact of issuers on the SDGs is determined by applying Robeco's internally developed three-step SDG Framework. Secondly, financially material ESG factors are integrated in the portfolio construction to ensure the ESG score of the portfolio is at least 10% better than that of the reference index. By restricting the GHG emissions the carbon footprint of the fund is made lower than that of the Paris-Aligned benchmark to ensure alignment with the desired decarbonization trajectory of 7% year on year. Water use and waste generation are made at least 20% lower than that of the reference index. With these portfolio construction rules, stocks issued by companies with better ESG scores or environmental footprints are more likely to be included in the portfolio while stocks issued by companies with worse ESG scores or environmental footprints are more likely to be divested from the portfolio. Thirdly, 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.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was -0.59%. The portfolio's ESG risk is significantly lower than that of the index, while its footprints for water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste generation are significantly reduced. The return of the Global SDG and Climate Beta strategy was in line with the benchmark.

The Global SDG and Climate Beta strategy aims to offer investors exposure close to an index, with a significantly improved sustainability profile. The strategy applies many small overweight and underweight positions versus the index, resulting in a low tracking error. The portfolio overweights stocks with a better sustainability profile. The portfolio's ESG risk is significantly lower than that of the index, while its footprints for water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste generation are reduced.