RobecoSAM Climate Global Bonds FH EUR

The sell-off in global government bonds continued in April, with all of the major markets showing negative return figures. German Bunds, UK Gilts and US Treasuries (-3.4%) all lost approximately 3% last month. The losses were noticeably smaller in Japanese government bonds (-0.3%) and Chinese government bonds even posted positive numbers for the month. Bond markets reflected ongoing worries about elevated inflation and the required central bank response to curb inflationary pressures. During the month, the rhetoric from major central banks also became more hawkish. Several Fed officials talked about the possibility of larger rate hike steps, while ECB Chair Lagarde confirmed the end of asset purchases and the possibility of rate hikes in the summer. The more hawkish stance by the ECB also helped to explain why returns in markets such as Italian BTPs (-4.4%) and Spanish BONOs lagged German Bunds. Both US and EUR IG corporate bonds had negative excess returns for the month, -1.4% and -0.98% respectively, as spreads were 17 bps and 18 bps tighter relative to Treasuries and Bunds respectively.

All currency risks are hedged.

The fund does not distribute a dividend.

The fund’s sustainable investment objective is to contribute to keeping global temperature rise well-below 2°C by reducing the carbon footprint of the fund. Climate change and sustainability considerations are incorporated in the investment process via exclusions, ESG integration as well as a carbon footprint target for both the government bond component and the credits component. For government bonds, the fund complies with Robeco’s exclusion policy for countries. For credits, the fund does not invest in companies that are in breach of international norms and applies the activity-based exclusions of Article 12 of the EU regulation on Climate Transition Benchmarks, EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks and sustainability-related disclosures for benchmarks through exclusions as per Robeco’s exclusion policy. ESG factors, including climate change, are integrated in the bottom-up security analysis to assess the decarbonization potential and the impact of financially material ESG risks on the issuer's fundamental quality. In the portfolio construction the fund targets carbon footprints at least equal to the government bond component and the credit component of the Solactive Paris Aware Global Aggregate Index, respectively. This is to ensure the fund is aligned with the desired decarbonization trajectory of 7% year on year.

RobecoSAM Climate Global Bonds is an actively managed fund that invests in bonds globally. The selection of these bonds is based on fundamental analysis. The fund has sustainable investment as its objective within the meaning of Article 9 of the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. The fund contributes to keeping the maximum global temperature rise well-below 2?C by reducing the carbon footprint intensity of the portfolio. The fund integrates ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) factors in the investment process, applies Robeco’s Good Governance policy. The fund applies sustainability indicators, including but not limited to normative exclusions and activity-based exclusions in line with Article 12 of the EU regulation on Climate Transition Benchmarks, EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks and sustainability-related disclosures for benchmark. The fund's objective is also to provide long term capital growth. The fund invests in worldwide bonds and other marketable debt securities and instruments (which may include short dated fixed or floating rate securities) issued or guaranteed by OECD member states and by companies based in OECD countries. The fund is managed against a benchmark that is consistent with the sustainable investment objectives pursued by the fund. It aims to align with the Paris Agreement requirements on greenhouse gas emission reduction. For corporate bonds the Benchmark aims to represent the performance of an investment strategy that is aligned with the technical standards for EU Paris Aligned benchmarks in areas such as exclusions and carbon reduction objectives. For investments in government bonds in the Benchmark, the long term aim is to strive for a 7% year-on-year decarbonization as long as this is realistically feasible and technical standards are not applicable. The Benchmark differs from a broad market index in that the latter does not take into account in its methodology any criteria for alignment with the Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas emission reduction and related exclusions.

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