RobecoSAM QI Global SDG & Climate Multi-Factor Credits FH USD

Patrick Houweling is Co-Head of Quant Fixed Income and Lead Portfolio Manager of Robeco’s quantitative credit strategies. Patrick has published seminal articles on Duration Times Spread, factor investing in credit markets, corporate bond liquidity and credit default swaps in various academic journals, including the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Journal of Empirical Finance and the Financial Analysts Journal. The article 'Factor Investing in the Corporate Bond Market' he co-authored received a Graham and Dodd Scroll Award of Excellence for 2017. Patrick is a guest lecturer at several universities. Prior to joining Robeco in 2003, he was Researcher in the Risk Management department at Rabobank International where he started his career in 1998. He holds a PhD in Finance and a Master's (cum laude) in Financial Econometrics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Mark Whirdy is Portfolio Manager Quant Fixed Income. His areas of expertise include portfolio optimization, credit markets, credit derivatives modelling and quant investment process development. Prior to joining Robeco, Mark was Portfolio Manager in the Quant Credit team at Pioneer Investments and Analyst in the Quantitative Equities team at that firm. He is a graduate from University College Dublin, and holds a Master’s in Business from University of Ulster. Johan Duyvesteyn is Portfolio Manager Quant Fixed Income. His areas of expertise include government bond market timing, credit beta market timing, country sustainability and emerging-market debt. He has published in the Financial Analysts Journal, the Journal of Empirical Finance, the Journal of Banking and Finance, and the Journal of Fixed Income. Johan started his career in the industry in 1999 at Robeco. He holds a PhD in Finance, a Master's in Financial Econometrics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and 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 0.05% 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. Firstly, the fund does not invest in credits 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 credits 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 equal or 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 also made at least equal or lower than that of the reference index. With these portfolio construction rules, credits issued by companies with better ESG scores or environmental footprints are more likely to be included in the portfolio while credits issued by companies with worse ESG scores or environmental footprints are more likely to be divested from the portfolio. Thirdly, 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 Solactive Paris Aligned Global Corporate Index posted a credit return of -0.12%, as credit spreads widened. The euro-hedged total return was -0.50%, as underlying government bond yields increased. Credit spreads reversed the tightening of June and July, and began widening out in August, with the exception of US high yield, which remained flat over the month. Stagflation fears were kept alive due to uncertainty over the inflation outlook, with inflation in services sectors remaining stubbornly high, notwithstanding falls in core CPI, coupled with negative PMIs and other economic data. The number of corporates on rating watch negative has exceeded the number on rating watch positive. S&P 500 sold off before rallying into month-end, with VIX moving in sympathy. Sovereign yield curves remained inverted and steepened slightly, notwithstanding the compressed bond market volatility expectations as indicated by the MOVE Index. In China, Country Garden Holdings narrowly avoided a default, which coupled with struggling exports, falling prices, and rising unemployment undermined global market sentiment further.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was -0.32%. Based on closing prices, the fund posted a relative return of +0.07% versus the benchmark. Issue(r) selection delivered a strong positive contribution and beta allocation also contributed slightly positively. SDG score allocation contributed slightly positively. The value factor made the largest positive contribution, followed by smaller positive contributions from size and low-risk/quality. The momentum factor contributed neutrally. Sector allocation delivered a small positive contribution, mainly due to the overweight in the technology sector and the underweight in the banking sector. Currency allocation delivered a positive contribution, primarily due to the overweight in AUD bonds. Country allocation contributed slightly positively due to the overweight in the United States; the underweight in Belgium slightly detracted. The allocation to subordination groups contributed slightly positively, due to the overweight in senior corporates. Rating allocation contributed slightly positively, primarily due to the off-benchmark position in BAs.

RobecoSAM QI Global SDG & Climate Multi-Factor Credits invests systematically in predominantly investment grade bonds of companies that advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and contribute to maintaining the global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius. The selection of these bonds is based on a number of quantitative factors. In the long term, we expect the portfolio to outperform its Paris Aligned benchmark with a similar risk profile by systematically harvesting factor premiums.