Robeco BP US Select Opportunities Equities F USD

Mr. Pollack is the equity portfolio manager for Boston Partners Mid Cap Value Equity product.  He is in his fifteenth year with the firm.  He joined the firm from Hughes Investments where he spent twelve years as an equity portfolio manager, managing value equity across the market capitalization spectrum.  He also oversaw the outside investment managers who manage assets for Hughes' pension plan.  He began his career at Hughes as an Investment Analyst where he spent four years covering a variety of industries and sectors.  Prior to that, he was with Remington, Inc., and Arthur Anderson & Co.  Mr. Pollack is a graduate from Georgia Institute of Technology and holds an M.B.A. from The Anderson School of Management at the University of California at Los Angeles.  He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.  He has thirty-one years of investment experience. Mr. Collard is an equity analyst with Boston Partners, specializing in the aerospace & defense, transportation, housing and automobile sectors of the equity market. He joined the firm from Shellback Capital where he was a founding partner and equity analyst. Prior to that, Mr. Collard worked as a research analyst at Vinik Asset Management and Diamondback Capital Management. He began his career in investment banking, working for America’s Growth Capital. Mr. Collard holds a B.A. degree in American Studies from Middlebury College. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.  He has seventeen 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 0.05% 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, 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.

Equity markets in the United States as measured by the S&P 500 Index climbed 1.56% higher in the first month of the second quarter. Looking at the Russell equity indices, value outperformed core and growth in the large-cap and mid-cap space, while trailing in the small-cap part of the market.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 0.52%. Robeco BP US Select Opportunities outperformed the Russell Mid Cap Value Index in April, with stock selection driving relative returns. Stock selection was led by financials, materials and information technology. In financials, insurance companies Everest Re Group, Aon and Arch Capital Group contributed positively to the relative performance. Within materials, chemical companies PPG Industries and Axalta Coating Systems both added value. In technology, avoiding underperforming semiconductor names such as First Solar and Wolfspeed benefited relative returns. Holding Microchip Technology in the semis space offset some of the contribution, as the stock traded lower by 13%. An area of weakness to stock selection came in energy, as refiners Valero Energy and Marathon Petroleum weighed on the relative performance. The fund's overweight to consumer discretionary and underweight to materials and information technology aided the relative performance. Sector allocation was slightly negative due to our overweight to industrials and underweight to consumer staples and utilities.

Worries continue around the US regional banks, with First Republic being the latest casualty. Whether this was the last bank to fail, remains unclear. While definite progress has been made in reducing headline inflation, core inflation readings remain elevated and 'sticky', as the Fed's favored measure, the Core PCE, stands at 4.6% and well above the Fed target of 2%, and not much lower than the February 2022 peak level of 5.4%. By the end of April, 261 of the S&P 500 companies had reported Q1 earnings results. Earnings reported were a negative -2.3% on a year-over-year basis, that was +6.6% better than estimates for those companies reporting. Adding those results to the expectations for the remaining companies left to report, puts the S&P 500 on pace for a -3.77% drop in Q1 earnings on a year-over-year basis, much better than the -6.59% forecast entering the Q1 reporting period. The fund remains well positioned with holdings that reflect Boston Partners' three-circle characteristics – attractive valuations, solid business fundamentals, and identifiable catalysts.