Robeco New World Financials FH EUR

After a very strong start of the year, April was another good month for financial equities. Interest rates in the US were stable, yet in Europe German rates approached zero, impacted by inflation and supply chain disruptions. Most central bankers are quick to point out that these price pressures are 'transitory'. Warren Buffett on the other hand said that "as growth roars back and interest rates remain low, many companies are raising prices and there is more inflation than people would have anticipated six months ago". What Buffett is describing is what we would call old-fashioned demand-pull inflation. This is happening while economies are in the early phases of normalizing activity, and consumer savings rates are still extremely high. And once an inflationary mindset returns – after many, many years of disinflation, observers may underestimate the cumulative impact of changing expectations. Time will tell whether this dynamic will prove to be 'transitory', though for now it seems fair to assume we are in for a period of high(er) inflation combined with some supply-related headwinds for GDP growth, and equity investors need to wrap their heads around what that means for stocks.

The fund can engage in currency hedging transactions.

The fund does not distribute dividend. Any income earned is retained, and so the fund's entire performance is reflected in its share price.

Robeco New World Financials integrates ESG factors into its investment process by analyzing the impact of financially material ESG factors to a company’s competitive position and value drivers. We believe that this enhances our ability to understand existing and potential (long-term) risks and opportunities of a company. The impact of material ESG factors can be positive or negative, reflecting risks or opportunities, that ensue from a company’s ESG analysis. If ESG risks and opportunities are significant, the ESG analysis could impact a stock’s fair value and the portfolio allocation decision. In addition to ESG integration, Robeco also has an exclusion policy and conducts proxy voting and engagement activities focused on specific themes, such as climate change, aiming to improve a company’s sustainability profile.

Robeco New World Financials is an actively managed fund that invests in equities from developed and emerging countries all over the world. The selection of these stocks is based on a fundamental analysis. The fund's objective is to achieve a better return than the index. The fund promotes ESG (i.e. Environmental, Social and corporate Governance) characteristics within the meaning of Article 8 of the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and integrates ESG and sustainability risks in the investment process. In addition, the fund applies an exclusion list on the basis of controversial behavior, products (including controversial weapons, tobacco, palm oil and fossil fuel) and countries, while avoiding investment in thermal coal, weapons, military contracting and companies that severely violate labor conditions, next to proxy voting and engagement. The fund invests in companies in the financial sector and can partly invest in the financial sector-oriented companies outside the formal MSCI Financials. It focuses on attractive long-term trends, such as 'digitization of financial services', 'finance and aging' and 'financial services in emerging markets'. Proprietary valuation models are used to select stocks with good earnings prospects and a reasonable valuation. The fund is not constrained by a benchmark but the fund may use a benchmark for comparison purposes. The majority of stocks selected will be components of the Benchmark, but stocks outside the Benchmark may be selected too. The fund can deviate substantially from the weightings of the Benchmark. 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 ESG characteristics promoted by the fund.

Risk management is fully integrated into the investment process to ensure that positions always meet predefined guidelines.