Robeco QI Global Multi-Factor Bonds DH EUR

Olaf Penninga is Portfolio Manager Quant Fixed Income. He has been Portfolio Manager for the Dynamic Duration strategy since 2005 and Lead Portfolio Manager since 2011. These are all quantitative fixed income strategies. His previous positions with Robeco include that of Lead Portfolio Manager for Robeco’s fundamentally-managed Euro Government Bonds strategy and Researcher with responsibility for fixed income allocation research. Olaf was employed by Interpolis as Investment Econometrician for one year before returning to Robeco in 2003. He started his career in 1998 at Robeco. He holds a Master's in Mathematics (cum laude) from Leiden University. Patrick Houweling is Co-Head of Quant Fixed Income and Lead Portfolio Manager of Robeco’s quantitative credit strategies. Patrick has published seminal articles on Duration Times Spread, factor investing in credit markets, corporate bond liquidity and credit default swaps in various academic journals, including the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Journal of Empirical Finance and the Financial Analysts Journal. The article 'Factor Investing in the Corporate Bond Market' he co-authored received a Graham and Dodd Scroll Award of Excellence for 2017. Patrick is a guest lecturer at several universities. Prior to joining Robeco in 2003, he was Researcher in the Risk Management department at Rabobank International where he started his career in 1998. He holds a PhD in Finance and a Master's (cum laude) in Financial Econometrics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Lodewijk van der Linden is Portfolio Manager Quant Fixed Income. He joined Robeco in August 2018. In the period 2015-2018 Lodewijk worked at Aegon Asset Management where he was Risk associate and Team Manager Client Reporting. Lodewijk started his career at PwC as an actuarial consultant in 2013. He holds a Master's in Actuarial Science from the University of Amsterdam and a Master's in Econometrics and Management Science from Erasmus University Rotterdam.

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 via exclusions, ESG integration, ESG and environmental footprint targets, and engagement. For investments in government bonds, the fund complies with Robeco's exclusion policy for countries and does not invest in countries where serious violations of human rights or a collapse of the governance structure take place, or if countries are subject to UN, EU or US sanctions. Via portfolio construction rules the fund targets a better ESG score and a lower carbon footprint compared to the government bonds part of the reference index. For investments in corporate bonds, 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. Via portfolio construction rules the fund targets a better ESG score and lower carbon, water and waste footprints than that of the corporate component in the reference index. These portfolio construction rules ensure that issuers with a better ESG scores or a lower environmental footprint are more likely to be included in the portfolio, and vice versa. For corporate bonds, the investment process also includes a check of buy candidates and portfolio holdings by our credit analysts for ESG risks that may have material impact for bond holders. Lastly, where corporate issuers are flagged for breaching international standards in our ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to engagement.

After declining on weak US data in early April, bond yields rose for most of the month as banking fears subsided, the ECB still sounded fairly hawkish and UK inflation surprised to the upside. Bonds recovered in late April as Eurozone data weakened and banking fears returned with the failure of First Republic. The Bank of Japan did not adjust its Yield Curve Control policy; instead it announced a broad review of its monetary policy that will take at least a year. Japanese government bonds returned 0.6% in April, US Treasuries 0.3% and German Bunds 0.03%; UK government bonds declined 1.9% (all returns hedged to euro). Credit spreads traded in a narrow range as broad measures of volatility like the VIX and MOVE indices declined. The spread of the Bloomberg Global Corporates Index declined slightly from 153 to 149 bps.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 0.12%. The fund underperformed the index in April, mainly due to the multi-factor government bond selection. Within government bond selection, value was the weakest factor; the preference for UK bonds detracted the most. Credit selection made a neutral contribution; here the value factor performed well, but the low-risk/quality factor detracted. The duration overlay made a positive contribution as it was correctly positioned for declining yields in Japan and (for a large part of the month) for rising yields in the Eurozone. Year-to-date the fund has outperformed the index, with positive contributions from multi-factor credit selection and the duration overlay.

Robeco QI Global Multi-Factor Bonds invests systematically in predominantly investment grade credits and government bonds. It offers balanced exposure to a number of quantitative factors. The bottom-up selection of government bonds and credits aims to systematically harvest factor premiums with a risk profile that is similar to the reference index. On top of that, the fund incorporates an active duration overlay, which is based on the outcomes of our quantitative duration model.