Robeco Sustainable Asian Bonds I USD

Based in Singapore, Thu Ha Chow is Head of Fixed Income Asia and Portfolio Manager with a focus on Asian credits. Prior to joining Robeco in 2022, she was Portfolio Manager and Asia Strategist at Loomis Sayles & Co and Head of Asian Credit at Aberdeen Asset Management, both in Singapore. Previously Thu Ha worked for 15 years in London where she held senior fixed income positions at Deutsche Asset Management and Threadneedle Asset Management in addition to 3 years in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston. She started her career in 1998 after obtaining a Master’s in Economics and Philosophy from London School of Economics. Reinout Schapers is Co-Head Portfolio Management Investment Grade in the Credit team. Prior to joining Robeco in 2011, Reinout worked at Aegon Asset Management where he was a Head of European High Yield. Before that, he worked at Rabo Securities as an M&A Associate and at Credit Suisse First Boston as an Analyst Corporate Finance. Reinout has been active in the industry since 2003. He holds a Master's in Architecture from the Delft University of Technology.

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.

Sustainability is incorporated in the investment process by the means of a target universe, exclusions, ESG integration, and a minimum allocation to ESG-labeled bonds. The fund invests in credits issued by companies with a positive, neutral or low negative impact on the SDGs. The exposure to credits issued by companies with a low negative impact is at max 20% and the average SDG score of the fund must be greater than zero. The impact of issuers on the SDGs is determined by applying Robeco's internally developed three-step SDG Framework. The outcome is quantified with a proprietary SDG score methodology, considering both the contribution to the SDGs (positive, neutral or negative) and the extent of this contribution (high, medium or low). In addition, the fund does not invest in credit 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 security analysis to assess the impact on the issuer's fundamental credit quality. Furthermore, the fund invests at least 5% in green, social, sustainable, and/or sustainability-linked bonds. Lastly, where a credit issuer is flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to exclusion.

Asian Credit's return was -1.33%. Despite spread tightening in Asian investment grade, total returns were negative, driven by rising treasury yields. A very strong January employment number marked the start of a new rise in bond yields, as the US economy added a lot more jobs than expected by market participants. Also, the US consumer continues to spend, as retail sales numbers show. The resilience in the US economy has brought the inflation focus back to the forefront, which resulted in an additional 0.5% point of Fed rate hikes being priced in, to a terminal rate of 5.50%. The accelerated reopening of the Chinese economy has not resulted in an overwhelmed healthcare system, and as the infection rate peaks and herd immunity is gained, the economy should experience a strong rebound.

Strong US labor market data in February dampened expectations that the Fed is nearing the peak of its hiking cycle, which keeps markets' focus on inflation rather than a recession. While China is reopening, the domestic economy is expected to benefit, but the positive spillover globally may be muted. Nonetheless, the Asian region will be a net beneficiary. Within this environment, we prefer higher-quality credit as it should be more resilient to an economic downturn. As the funding market for Asia's high yield still remains closed, certain high yield issuers needing to fund in the offshore market could be vulnerable, so credit selection remains key.