Robeco Global SDG Equities I EUR

Christoph Wolfensberger is a portfolio manager at Robeco within the Global Equity team with over 10 years of experience in Sustainability Investing. He is also the lead portfolio manager for the Global SDG Equities strategy. Prior, Christoph was also a Quantitative Analyst covering Sustainability/Impact Investing within Robeco's Products & Engineering Team with a strong focus on customized solutions as well as portfolio optimizations. Prior to joining in 2011, he served as an Intern on the ESG Research team for six months. He holds a Master's of Science Degree in Chemistry and Business Studies from the University of Zurich.

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’s sustainable investment objective is to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG and sustainability considerations are incorporated in the investment process by the means of a target universe, exclusions and ESG integration. The fund solely invests in stocks issued by companies with a medium or high positive impact on the SDGs. The impact of issuers on the SDGs is determined by applying Robeco's internally developed three-step SDG Framework. The outcome is a quantified contribution expressed as an SDG score, considering both the contribution to the SDGs (positive, neutral or negative) and the extent of this contribution (high, medium or low). Furthermore, the fund does not invest in stock 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 fundamental investment analysis to assess existing and potential ESG risks and opportunities. In addition, where a stock issuer is flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to exclusion. Lastly, the fund makes use of shareholder rights and applies proxy voting in accordance with Robeco's proxy voting policy.For more information please visit the sustainability-related disclosures.The index used for all sustainability visuals is based on MSCI World Index TRN.

The MSCI World started the year strongly, posting positive returns of 3.1% (in EUR) with all sectors except information technology contributing positively. Europe outperformed the US and APAC. The Fed kept interest rates unchanged, signaling an easing bias, while the ECB cut its policy rate by 25 bps, citing growth risks. On the corporate side, DeepSeek shocked the markets by showcasing how good its models were and leading to a rout in US AI-driven names, wiping out about USD 1 trillion from their valuations. DeepSeek's effects are still unclear but what this event highlighted is that we are still in the early innings of the AI revolution, and the competitive landscape going forward might look somewhat different than now. At the same time, valuations of many of the AI beneficiaries have moved to exuberant levels, and even a slight lowering of the probability of them dominating can have asymmetric effects on their stock prices. Finally, corporate earnings continue to be quite resilient, with most companies in the S&P reporting earnings above expectations during the recent results season.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 2.72%. In January, the fund underperformed versus the MSCI World benchmark, primarily due to negative stock selection in consumer discretionary and financials. Underperformance was driven by stocks such as Meta, Tesla, Alphabet, and JPMorgan, which the fund did not hold. Among owned stocks, Colgate was a major detractor, with disappointing Q4 results and tariff risks affecting its performance. JD Sports also weighed on returns after issuing a profit warning. On the positive side, Check Point Software was the largest contributor, surpassing expectations and providing conservative growth guidance. Thermo Fisher also contributed positively, with strong Q4 results and reassuring FY25 guidance.

The economic environment remains challenging with elevated interest rates, tighter lending conditions, and geopolitical tensions. While inflation has improved, it still exceeds central bank targets, keeping monetary policy restrictive. US policy changes could further pressure prices, and market valuations, particularly in the US, remain relatively high. Strong earnings growth will be important for global equities to deliver attractive returns, especially with the US making up over 70% of the MSCI World. Despite the very strong bull markets dominating the past recent years, we will continue to balance growth opportunities and more stable businesses with low correlations, and to diversify across sectors, regions, and impact areas. In the current environment, we keep our focus on resilient fundamentals and are mindful of the cyclicality that underlies most businesses. Despite volatility, we continue to seek mispriced quality companies supported by strong secular trends.