Robeco Asia-Pacific Equities I USD

Asian stock markets are driven by earnings and money. While deeply negative GDP numbers were reported in Asia Pacific for 20Q2, money supply grew strongly. The tug of war between the two was clearly won by money: share prices rallied further in August. This year, GDP of Japan is likely to shrink by >5%, Australia by 4% and India by 6%. Broad money grows by 8%, 11% and 12% respectively. Only Chinese economy will show some growth and money grows by 11%. President Trump fired another shot in the technology war and it now looks certain that we will have two parallel universes of hardware backbone and software: one for China and one for the rest of the world. The earnings outlook for technology stocks has improved due to rush demand to deal with the pandemic and duplicate demand for both universes. Other sectors in Southeast Asia, where government finances do not allow huge spending programs, will see a big drop in personal income reflected in weak spending. We believe Japan’s economic policies will continue even after PM Abe's resignation and that corporates will further improve returns. Question is whether they have the courage to remain on track for better payout ratios given the current headwinds.

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

The fund does not distribute dividend. The fund retains any income that is earned and so its entire performance is reflected in its share price.

Robeco Asia-Pacific Equities 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 Asia-Pacific Equities provides a balance between diversified exposure and a more concentrated portfolio to offer exposure to some of the world's fastest-growing economies. The portfolio managers make use of both bottom-up and top-down analysis. Bottom-up stock analysis is a primary driver for stock selection. Top-down opportunities and country selection are based on five-factor country analysis, i.e. using macroeconomics, earnings, technical analysis, valuation and sentiment. The fund makes use of an active currency overlay driven by quantitative models and technical analysis. The fund makes use of risk budgeting to allocate risk against the different performance drivers. Risk is allocated between stock selection, country allocation and currency bets. This Sub-fund may invest in China A-shares via the QFII and/or a Stock Connect Programme which may entail additional clearing and settlement, regulatory, operational and counterparty risks.

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