
Robeco Next Digital Billion F EUR
Emerging Markets Trend solution with high-growth technology companies and tech-enablers
Share classes
Share classes
Every share class of a product invests in the same portfolio of securities and has the same investment objectives and policies. However, their parameters might deviate. For instance and amongst others, their distribution type, currency exposure or fees and expenses might differ. The most common share classes at Robeco are:
a) D/DH shares, which are regular shares and available for all Investors;
b) I/IH shares, for institutional investors as defined from time to time by the Luxembourg supervisory authority.
For more information on share classes please go to the prospectus.
F-EUR
D-EUR
D-USD
F-USD
I-EUR
I-USD
M2-EUR
S-CHF
S-EUR
S-USD
Class and codes
Asset class:
Equities
ISIN:
LU2368226051
Bloomberg:
RONDBFE LX
Index
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (Net Return, EUR)
Sustainability-related information
Sustainability-related information
Under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, products can be labelled as either Article 6, 8 or 9 fund.
Article 6 - The fund is not in scope of enhanced sustainability disclosures compared to Article 8 and 9.
Article 8 - The fund does not have a sustainable investment objective but promotes environmental or social characteristics and is subject to enhanced sustainability disclosures.
Article 9 - The fund has a sustainable investment objective and is subject to enhanced sustainability disclosures.
Regardless of Article 8 or 9, the companies in which investments are made must follow good governance practices, and sustainable investments must not do any significant harm.
Article 8
- Overview
- Performance & costs
- Portfolio
- Sustainability
- Commentary
- Documents
MISSING: fund.detail.tabs.
Key points
- This new strategy is a combination of our Emerging Markets and our Trends Investing capabilities and it is the world’s first Emerging Market Technology trend fund that focuses on a new generation of internet users
- Identifies companies that have the potential to be long-term winners in trends like payments, ecommerce, software solutions, fintech, etc
- Evident focus on information technology and consumer discretionary
About this fund
Robeco Next Digital Billion is an actively managed fund that invests in companies in emerging markets. The selection of these stocks is based on fundamental analysis. The fund's objective is to achieve a better return than that of the index.The fund selects companies with high growth potential that aim to cater to the previous and next billion internet users. Many of the targeted emerging countries now have a critical mass in internet penetration and coupled with the absence of traditional economic infrastructure, this can lead to the emergence of the next wave of technology companies and value creation.
Key facts
Total size of fund
€ 9,215,248
Size of share class
€ 4,882,730
Inception date fund
14-09-2021
1-year performance
-6.40%
Dividend paying
No
Fund manager

Michiel van Voorst CFA
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. 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.
Performance
Per period
Per annum
- Per period
- Per annum
1 month
-5.85%
-4.67%
3 months
1.78%
1.63%
YTD
3.63%
2.81%
1 year
-6.40%
-6.19%
Since inception 09/2021
-28.36%
-6.85%
2022
-39.63%
-14.85%
Costs
Ongoing charges
Indication of annual charges that are deducted for this fund. This indication is based on the costs over the last calendar year and may vary from year to year. Transaction costs incurred by the fund, any performance fees and other one-off costs are not included in the ongoing charges.
1.05%
Included management fee
A fee paid by the fund to the asset management company for the professional management of the fund.
0.80%
Included service fee
This fee is intended to cover official fees, such as the cost of annual reports, annual shareholders' meetings and price publications.
0.20%
Transaction costs
The transaction costs shown are the average annual transaction costs over the last three years calculated in accordance with European regulations.
0.08%
Fiscal product treatment
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.
Fiscal treatment of investor
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.
Fund allocation
Asset
Currency
Sector
Top 10
- Asset
- Currency
- Sector
- Top 10
Policies
The fund can engage in currency hedging transactions. Typically currency hedging is not applied.
The fund does not distribute dividend. The fund retains any income that is earned and so its entire performance is reflected in its share price.
Robeco Next Digital Billion is an actively managed fund that invests in companies in emerging markets. The selection of these stocks is based on fundamental analysis. The fund's objective is to achieve a better return than the index. The fund promotes E&S (i.e. Environmental and Social) characteristics within the meaning of Article 8 of the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, integrates sustainability risks in the investment process and applies Robeco’s Good Governance policy. The fund applies sustainability indicators, including but not limited to, normative, activity-based and region based exclusions, proxy voting and engagement. The fund selects companies with high growth potential that aim to cater to the previous and next billion internet users by improving access to technology and innovating with digital solutions in local communities. The investment policy is not constrained by a Benchmark but the fund may use a benchmark for comparison purposes. The fund can deviate substantially from the issuer, country and sector weightings of the Benchmark. There are no restrictions on the deviation from the Benchmark. The Benchmark is a broad market weighted index that is not consistent with the environmental, social and governance characteristics promoted by the fund.
Risk management is fully integrated into the investment process to ensure that positions always meet predefined guidelines.
Sustainability-related disclosures
Sustainability profile
Sustainability
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 following sections display the ESG-metrics that are relevant 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 [Index name].
Market development
In August, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index declined by -6.2% in USD. The Next Digital Billion Fund underperformed the reference index, primarily due to extreme market reactions and exposure to China and Brazil. Despite overall volatility, some strengths were observed, particularly in the African mobile phone industry, with companies like Shenzhen Transsion and Airtel Africa posting strong results. In China, there was encouraging policy and support for the housing market, though poor market sentiment continued to impact stock prices. Overall, our reference index, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, decreased by 6.2% in USD (-4.7% in EUR) in August. Robeco Next Digital Billion registered a -7.0% return in August (-5.5% in EUR).
Performance explanation
Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was -5.85%. In August, the performance of the portfolio was impacted negatively by internet platforms, with Sea Ltd being the largest detractor, declining by 43%. On a positive note, Kazakhstan fintech Kaspi and Brazilian e-commerce player MercadoLibre rose 13% and 11% respectively in August. The fintech segment contributed negatively due to a profit warning from Linklogis in China. Furthermore, all Brazilian holdings in this trend contributed negatively to performance. This includes PagSeguro, B3, StoneCo, and Nu Bank, which all experienced declines of 21%, 17%, 15%, and 14%, respectively. The B2B/enterprise-focused segment, led by Globant and EPAM, both rose by 17% and 9%, making the most positive contribution. The mobility/e-logistic trend saw a decline, primarily due to ESR Group's 14% drop, while ICT & enabler companies, including Shenzhen Transsion, gained positively, with the latter rising 17%. However, online consumer & media faced headwinds in August, with ATRenew, JD Health, and Kanzhun being the weakest performers in the Chinese market.
Expectation of fund manager

Michiel van Voorst CFA
Although bearish sentiment lingers in certain markets, we maintain our confidence in the improving operational performance shown by our existing portfolio holdings. This conviction holds true even when confronted with potential volatility in the near future. Meanwhile, we continue to look for pockets of opportunities where the broader market is underestimating what a company's future trajectory looks like.
Important information
Past performance is no indication of current or future performance. This is not a buy, sell or hold recommendation for any particular security. No representation is made that these examples are past or current recommendations, that they should be bought or sold, nor whether they were successful or not.
Any opinion or estimate contained in this website is made on a general basis and is not to be relied on by the reader as advice. Robeco reserves the right to make changes and corrections to its opinions expressed here, this website and the associated materials and links at any time, without notice.