Robeco New World Financials M USD

Patrick Lemmens is Lead Portfolio Manager within the Trends Equities team. He has a focus on financials/fintech. Prior to joining Robeco in 2008, he managed the ABN AMRO Financials fund from October 2003 to December 2007. Previously, he held the position of Analyst of Global Financials at ABN AMRO and was Global Sector Coordinator of the Financial Institutions Equities Group at ABN AMRO. Patrick Lemmens started his career in the investment industry in 1993. He holds a Master's in Business Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and is a Certified European Financial Analyst. Michiel van Voorst is Co-Portfolio Manager within the Trends Equities team. He has a focus on financials/fintech/next digital billion. In 2019, Michiel rejoined Robeco from Union Bancaire Privée in Hong Kong where he was CIO Asian Equities. Besides this role, Michiel is a Board member of a Hong Kong based Fintech startup offering regulated software services (SaaS) for Independent ?nancial advisors globally. Prior to that, Michiel spent 12 years at Robeco in several senior positions including senior portfolio manager Rolinco Global Growth fund and Robeco Asian Stars. Prior to joining Robeco in 2005, Michiel was Portfolio Manager US Equity at PGGM and Economist with Rabobank Netherlands. Michiel started his career in the investment industry in 1996. Michiel van Voorst holds a Master’s in Economics from University of Utrecht and is a CFA® charterholder. Koos Burema is Co-Portfolio Manager within the Trends Equities team. He has a focus on financials/fintech. Koos was an Analyst with the Emerging Markets team covering Korea and technology in Taiwan and Mainland China. Besides this, he was responsible for the integration of ESG in the investment process. Before joining the team in January 2010, he worked as a Portfolio Manager for different sector teams within Robeco. He started his career in the industry in 2007. Koos holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Groningen and 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 incorporates sustainability in the investment process through exclusions, ESG integration, engagement and voting. The fund does not invest 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 existing and potential ESG risks and opportunities. In the stock selection the fund limits exposure to elevated sustainability risks. 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.

The MSCI ACWI increased 7.2% in USD, driven by consumer discretionary and materials. The financials sector outperformed the broader market, as the MSCI ACWI Financials gained 7.9%. The growth style clearly outperformed value in January and we observed strong factor performance in risk and negative momentum. It truly was a reversal of last year's performance drivers, which was all about low vol, value and momentum. Two important macro factors contributed to this reversal. Firstly, the European winter has been mild, so the Armageddon scenarios of exploding energy prices wreaking havoc on especially European economies faded into the background. Secondly, the Chinese pivot on its zero-Covid policy and the faster reopening of the economy after a prolonged lockdown should help cushion the negative global growth impulse that is underway. With inflation indicators clearly pointing to lower prices ahead, coupled with generally resilient economic activity reports means that near-term recession fears are overblown, and this gave credence to a 'soft landing' narrative that re-ignited risk appetite.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 11.01%. The fund strongly outperformed the benchmark. The best contributors to performance in January were MercadoLibre, Prudential, Jackson Financial, Coinbase, Discover Financial Services, Tencent, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Ping An Insurance. The biggest detractors were Bank Rakyat Indonesia, ASR Nederland, Charles Schwab, ESR Group and Globe Life. All three trends contributed positively, with the Emerging Finance trend making the best performance contribution, followed closely by the Digital Finance trend. The smallest performance contribution was generated by the Aging Finance trend. All financial industry groups contributed positively to performance, while the other industry groups delivered the best relative performance thanks especially to certain digital finance holdings in Brazil/Latin America and China.

2023 starts with a looming recession as central banks tighten monetary policy into a global downturn, which could weigh on equity market returns. So far, labor markets and earnings appear surprisingly resilient. The prospects for a sustained equity market rally may improve if central banks can contain inflation without triggering a significant economic downturn and China orchestrates a successful reopening. Both are very possible. From a macro point of view, following global liquidity conditions will be crucial, as it may signal the return of risk appetite. At the moment, liquidity conditions remain very tight. Whether we look at Goldman Sachs' Financial Conditions Index or at YoY changes in US M2 (broad money), which is now negative, the conclusion is that liquidity conditions are very tight, and this typically does not bode well for risk assets, including equities. The key question is if and when these conditions will start to improve, but when they do, we think there are good reasons to be constructive on financials.