Roman Boner is Portfolio Manager of the Robeco Smart Energy strategy and member of the Thematic Investing team. Before joining Robeco in 2021, Roman was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Woodman Asset Management. Prior to that, he spent six years at Swisscanto (later part of Zurich Kantonalbank) as a Senior Portfolio Manager responsible for a sustainable global equity fund and co-manager of the thematic Global Water and Climate Fund. Roman started his career in 1996 at UBS working in different divisions including Private Banking, Asset Management and Trading. In 2003, he became Portfolio Manager at UBS Global Asset Management and, from 2005 onwards, focused on sustainable thematic equities strategies including Energy Efficiency and Climate change accounts. Roman graduated from the University of Applied Sciences Zurich in Economic and Business Administration and is a CFA® charterholder. Michael Studer is Co-Portfolio Manager of the Robeco Smart Energy strategy and member of the Thematic Investing team. Before joining Robeco in 2021, he spent three years at Acoro Asset Management, where he was an investment manager focused on the IT sector (semiconductors, software and internet). Prior to that, he worked as a Senior Equity Analyst covering IT at Julius Bär, Bank J. Safra Sarasin and as a sellside analyst at Bank am Bellevue with a total 10-year tenure. Michael started his career in 2007 as a consultant for Strategy & Operations in the Financial Services Industry at Deloitte. Michael holds a PhD in Accounting and Controlling and a Master’s in Information and Technology Management from the University of St Gallen (HSG), as well as a Master in International Management from the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS). He also studied at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York (USA). Sanaa Hakim is Co-Portfolio Manager of the Robeco Smart Energy strategy and member of the Thematic Investing team. She joined Robeco in 2021 and has 12 years of experience. Prior to joining the firm, Sanaa was a global equity investment professional at Independent Franchise Partners  and a generalist analyst at Capital Group for 5 years in London. Sanaa started her career in 2011 with Ernst and Young in Assurance and Advisory in Paris.

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's sustainable investment objective is to further the transformation and decarbonization of the global energy sector. The transformation and decabonization of the energy sector and sustainability considerations are incorporated in the investment process by the means of a target universe definition, exclusions, ESG integration, a carbon footprint target and voting. The fund only invests in companies that have a significant thematic fit as per Robeco's thematic universe methodology. Through screening on both Robeco's internally developed SDG Framework and Robeco’s exclusion policy, the fund does not invest in issuers that have a negative impact on the SDGs, are in breach of international norms or where products have been deemed controversial. Financially material ESG factors are integrated in the bottom-up fundamental investment analysis to assess existing and potential ESG risks and opportunities. The fund's weighted carbon footprint will be equal to or better than that of its Climate Transition Benchmark. 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.The following sections display the ESG-metrics for this fund along with short descriptions. For more information please visit the sustainability-related disclosures.The index used for all sustainability visuals is based on MSCI World Index TRN.

August was another big rollercoaster month for global equity markets with a positive finish. The month started with a big sell-off in global equities as investors moved into a risk-off mode. It is not entirely clear what spooked the sell-off in the beginning of the month. Rather weak US economic data pointing toward an increased recession risk or the big unwind of the JPY carry trade. Two weeks later most losses were already recovered. The big outperformance of the Russell 2000 from July has been partially reversed, with the small-cap Russell 2000 Index underperforming versus the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Index. Regionally there was only a small dispersion, with European and Hong Kong equities outperforming while US and Japan equities slightly lagged. The European STOXX 600 Index reached a new all-time high this month.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 1.55%. The renewable energy sector was the weakest performer this month, led by weak performance of the solar manufacturing sector. Meanwhile, First Solar continued to outperform as they benefit from potentially less competition in the US. The Energy Distribution cluster was the best performer in the fund, with wide dispersion between subclusters. The best absolute performer was Everfuel, which received a takeover offer with an over 50% premium to the last price. The Energy Efficiency cluster was slightly ahead of the fund's performance, with wide dispersion between subclusters. Transportation was the best-performing subcluster thanks to another strong month of Alstom and BYD. The Energy Management cluster was performing in line with the fund. Dispersion was wide, with Energy Storage underperforming as lithium prices have not yet recovered on still lackluster EV demand. The Semiconductor Power Management subcluster outperformed, driven by strong performance of Monolithic Power and Infineon.

Inflation in North America and Europe is gradually decreasing and approaching more acceptable levels. However, it might remain slightly above central bank targets for a while. The Federal Reserve's tightening cycle has likely shifted due to the negative impact of high rates on consumer behavior and growth prospects. The economic data, including the labor markets, show signs of weakening. We believe inflation is increasingly under control and the Fed is likely to cut rates in September. The semiconductor sector is nearing a cyclical bottom, with the electric car trend driving semiconductor content. Industrial companies are normalizing supply chains post-pandemic, with high backlogs driving revenue growth. The renewable energy sector, which is sensitive to interest rates, still has strong growth prospects over this decade. Power demand growth is likely to accelerate with the need for additional power for AI datacenters.