Robeco Investment Grade Corporate Bonds IHHI EUR

The Corporate ex-Financials Index delivered a total return of +0.04% last month. The spread on the index widened 8 basis points to 1,09%. Non-financial corporates underperformed German treasuries with an excess return of -0.45%. At the end of the month, the 10-year German treasury rate was 12 basis points lower at 0,32%. Markets were quite volatile this month, mainly driven by macro-economic developments in Turkey and Italy. Some European banks have significant loan exposure to Turkey, but most non-financial corporates are insulated from the weak Turkish economy. The political situation in Italy remains a concern, as the government is preparing its annual budget. Spreads on Italian corporates widened, and on top of that came the collapse of a motorway bridge in Genoa on 14 August. Spreads on toll road operator Autostrade per l’Italia and its owner Atlantia widened significantly, as the Italian government started a procedure to take away the company’s license to operate. The European Central Bank purchase programs were less active during the holiday period. The ECB’s corporate sector purchases amounted to EUR 166 billion at the end of the month.

The fund invests in Euro denominated securities only.

Robeco Investment Grade Corporate Bonds make use of derivatives for hedging purposes. These derivatives are very liquid.

The IHI EUR shares don't distribute a dividend.

The prime goal of integrating ESG factors in our analysis is to strengthen our ability to assess the downside risk of our credit investments. Our analysts include RobecoSAM sustainability data and use external sources to make an ESG assessment as a part of the fundamental analysis.

Robeco Investment Grade Corporate Bonds provides diversified exposure across circa 80 corporate issuers to the Euro investment grade credit market (corporates only). The fund is excluding exposure to financial companies. The fund contains mainly bonds, and can make use of derivatives very limitedly. The fund aims to outperform its index Barclays Euro-Aggregate: Corporates ex financials 2% Issuer Cap. The index applies an issuer cap to avoid concentration risk. The investment philosophy is based on managing a solid diversified portfolio with a long term view. Top-down beta positioning is based on the outcome of our credit quarterly outlook meeting, in which the team is discussing the fundamental market outlook, valuation of bond markets and market technicals. Bottom-up issuer research is executed by our credit analysts, who execute the fundamental analysis. The analysts' research reports are being discussed in approx. 500 credit committees per year. A proprietary quant model is used to assist in issuer selection. The portfolio managers are responsible for the portfolio construction. A proprietary developed risk management approach avoids high risk concentration in the portfolio. As the investment process is well-structured and proven over time, it contributes to repeatable performance delivery.

Risk management is fully embedded in the investment process to ensure that the fund's positions remain within set limits at all times.