Robeco QI Long/Short Dynamic Duration DH USD

Olaf Penninga is Portfolio Manager Quant Fixed Income. He has been Portfolio Manager for the Dynamic Duration strategy since 2005 and Lead Portfolio Manager since 2011. These are all quantitative fixed income strategies. His previous positions with Robeco include that of Lead Portfolio Manager for Robeco’s fundamentally-managed Euro Government Bonds strategy and Researcher with responsibility for fixed income allocation research. Olaf was employed by Interpolis as Investment Econometrician for one year before returning to Robeco in 2003. He started his career in 1998 at Robeco. He holds a Master's in Mathematics (cum laude) from Leiden University. Lodewijk van der Linden is Portfolio Manager Quant Fixed Income. He joined Robeco in August 2018. In the period 2015-2018 Lodewijk worked at Aegon Asset Management where he was Risk associate and Team Manager Client Reporting. Lodewijk started his career at PwC as an actuarial consultant in 2013. He holds a Master's in Actuarial Science from the University of Amsterdam and a Master's in Econometrics and Management Science from Erasmus University Rotterdam. 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. Robeco QI Long/Short Dynamic Duration is managed within Robeco’s Rates team, which consists of four portfolio managers. The team is focused on government bond strategies including quantitative duration strategies. The team works closely together with four dedicated quantitative researchers and four fixed income traders. On average, the members of the rates team have an experience in the asset management industry of sixteen years, of which ten years with Robeco.

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 incorporates sustainability in the investment process via exclusions, negative screening, ESG integration, limits on investments in companies and countries based on ESG performance as well as engagement. For government and government-related bonds, the fund complies with Robeco’s exclusion policy for countries, excludes the 15% worst ranked countries following the World Governance Indicator 'Control of Corruption', and ensures the fund has a minimum weighted average score of 6 following Robeco's proprietary Country Sustainability Ranking. The Country Sustainability Ranking scores countries on a scale from 1 (worst) to 10 (best) based on 40 environmental, social, and governance indicators. For corporate bonds, 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. Financially material ESG factors are integrated in the portfolio construction to ensure the fund limits exposure to issuers with an elevated sustainability risk profile. Lastly, where issuers are flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to engagement.

Government bond yields rose in July, especially in Japan. The Bank of Japan increased the flexibility of its yield curve control: 10-year yields will be allowed to rise above 0.5%, but not above 1%. US and German yields rose in early July on strong labor market data, but fell back when US inflation declined more than expected. Yields rose again towards the end of the month on better US growth. Two-year yields declined and curves steepened as both the Fed and the ECB raised rates by 25 bps, but did not commit to a further rate hike in September. Japanese government bonds returned -1.4% in July, US Treasuries -0.5% and German Bunds -0.35% (all returns hedged to euro).

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 0.69%. The fund performed strongly in July. This performance was generated by the short duration positions in German and US futures that were in place for the full month. Year-to-date, the fund has generated a positive total return and it has outperformed the index strongly by benefiting from lower yields in the US in the first weeks of the year and in Japan in the first half of the year, and by protecting against rising yields in Germany and the US in February, April and June-July. All active duration positions are based on the outcomes of our quantitative duration model.

The fund's duration policy is driven by the outcomes of our proprietary quantitative duration model. At the end of July, the model predicts rising yields for US and German bonds, driven by the inflation, monetary policy, growth, trend, valuation and low-risk variables. The model outcome is neutral for Japanese bonds, mainly due to the more favorable scores on the valuation and monetary policy variables.