RobecoSAM Circular Economy Equities D USD

In December, the broad markets recovered from the correction towards the end of the previous month, which was triggered by the emergence of the new Omicron coronavirus variant and fears of new lockdowns. The positive performance also occurred against a background of other concerns already looming for several months. These relate to whether or not inflation is more permanent than expected; rising input and labor costs weighing on the margins of companies that cannot hike up prices in time; and central bank tapering of the money supply. Thus after a short period in which pandemic-related stocks such as vaccines and diagnostics were favored, market participants repositioned themselves, mostly for economic normalization again.In the broad global markets, the consumer staples and utilities sectors performed best, followed by materials. Industrials and healthcare performed roughly in line with the broad market, while consumer discretionary was the only sector with a negative performance in the month. In terms of regional segmentation, European markets significantly outperformed the US. Emerging markets and the Asia-Pacific region lagged behind.

The fund is allowed to pursue an active currency policy to generate extra returns.

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

The fund's sustainable investment objective is to finance solutions that support the transition from traditional production and consumption patterns toward a circular economy. Circular economy and sustainability considerations are incorporated in the investment process by the means of a target universe definition, exclusions, ESG integration, and voting. The fund only invests in companies that have a significant thematic fit as per Robeco's thematic universe methodology. Through screening on both Robeco's internally developed SDG Framework and Robeco’s exclusion policy, the fund does not invest in issuers that have a negative impact on the SDGs, are in breach of international norms or where products have been deemed controversial. Financially material ESG factors are integrated in the bottom-up fundamental investment analysis to assess existing and potential ESG risks and opportunities. In addition, where a stock issuer is flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to exclusion. Lastly, the fund makes use of shareholder rights and applies proxy voting in accordance with Robeco's proxy voting policy.

RobecoSAM Circular Economy Equities is an actively managed fund that invests globally in companies aligned with circular economy principles. 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 has sustainable investment as its objective within the meaning of Article 9 of the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. The fund finances solutions that support the paradigm shift to a circular economy, where resources are kept in use for as long as possible, the maximum value is extracted from them whilst in use, and products and materials are then recovered and regenerated at the end of each service. This is done by mainly investing in companies that advance the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs): Zero hunger, Good health and well-being, Decent work and economic growth, Industry, innovation and infrastructure, and Responsible consumption and production. Alongside proxy voting and engagement, the fund applies Robeco’s Exclusion Policy of excluding investments in companies exposed to controversial behavior and controversial products (including weapons, tobacco, palm oil, fossil fuel, military contracting, firearms, nuclear power, cannabis, alcohol, gambling, adult entertainment and cannabis). The strategy integrates sustainability criteria as part of the stock selection process and through a theme-specific sustainability assessment. The portfolio is built on the basis of an eligible investment universe that includes companies whose business models contribute to the thematic investment objectives. The assessment regarding relevant SDGs uses an internally developed framework, more information on which can be obtained at www.robeco.com/si. Benchmark: MSCI World Index TRN. The majority of stocks selected will be components of the benchmark, but stocks outside the benchmark may be selected too. While the investment policy is not constrained by a benchmark, the fund may use one 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 sustainable objective of the fund.

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