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.

Markets in the United States as measured by the S&P 500 Index rallied to start the year, climbing 6.28% higher, as investor optimism has improved with signs of inflation slowing. Growth led value over the month, but all the Russell value indices produced positive gains, led by small caps, which rose 9.54% as measured by the Russell 2000 Value Index.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 4.92%. Robeco BP US Premium Equities marginally trailed the Russell 3000 Value Index in the first month of the year. Detraction from stock selection came mainly from the healthcare, financials and communication services sectors. Within healthcare, positions in providers and services companies such as UnitedHealth Group, Elevance and Centene detracted from the relative performance, as did inexpensive biotech holding AbbVie. In financials, the fund's positioning in capital markets firm Charles Schwab and insurer AIG lagged. In communication services, not owning Walt Disney and Meta Platforms (sold in Q4 2022) impacted relative returns. On a positive note, stock selection was strong in the industrials and consumer discretionary sectors of the market. From a sector allocation perspective, the fund's avoidance of the utilities sector, underweight exposure to consumer staples and overweight exposure to information technology contributed to relative returns. This was offset slightly by the fund's avoidance of real estate, underweight exposure to communication services and overweight exposure to healthcare.

The Federal Reserve continues to face a dilemma: while CPI and PCE headline inflation readings are falling, largely due to goods disinflation, core inflation readings remain elevated and are showing only minor progress towards the Fed's 2% target as consumers swap from 'buying things' to 'having experiences', putting upward pressure on services inflation. With geopolitical risk rising and earnings expectations falling, one would expect the markets to take a more cautionary tone. The fund remains well positioned with holdings that reflect Boston Partners' three-circle characteristics – attractive valuations, solid business fundamentals and identifiable catalysts.