Robeco FinTech I EUR

Clearly a lot has happened in 2022 and with another sell-off in May, especially for certain holdings in digital assets, it was a difficult month for fintech. A war is ongoing, which aside from being a human disaster, has had significant economic impact like further increasing inflation. Markets seem convinced a recession is imminent in Europe, with the US following a bit later. There are certainly positives to note. China is finally coming out of a very strict Covid lockdown. Labor markets are so tight, with significant labor shortages in many economies, that unemployment can stay low for much longer, even as GDP shrinks. The market usually anticipates future economic news and therefore moves before the recession materializes, but we feel a lot has been priced in now. The digital assets industry has been under pressure since late last year. Cryptocurrency prices have halved or more, as tighter global financial conditions impacted the higher risk portion of capital markets. The digital asset ecosystem is certainly used to a great deal of volatility. Though the mass liquidations we have seen in parts of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) space is of a different order.

The fund can engage in currency hedging transactions. Typically currency hedging is not applied.

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

The fund incorporates sustainability in the investment process through exclusions, ESG integration, engagement and voting. The fund does not invest in issuers that are in breach of international norms or where activities have been deemed detrimental to society following Robeco's exclusion policy. Financially material ESG factors are integrated in the bottom-up investment analysis to assess existing and potential ESG risks and opportunities. In the stock selection the fund limits exposure to elevated sustainability risks. In addition, where a stock issuer is flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to engagement. Lastly, the fund makes use of shareholder rights and applies proxy voting in accordance with Robeco's proxy voting policy.

Robeco FinTech is an actively managed fund that invests in stocks in developed and emerging countries. 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 promotes E&S (i.e. Environmental and Social) characteristics within the meaning of Article 8 of the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, integrates sustainability risks in the investment process and applies Robeco’s Good Governance policy. The fund applies sustainability indicators, including but not limited to, normative, activity-based and region-based exclusions, proxy voting and engagement. Proprietary valuation models are used to select stocks with good earnings prospects and a reasonable valuation and those companies which benefit from the increasing digitization of the financial sector are included. These are individually assessed on the basis of industry trend analysis, in-depth discussions with corporate management, analysts and industry experts. The majority of stocks selected will be components of the Benchmark, but stocks outside the Benchmark may be selected too. The investment policy is not constrained by a benchmark but the fund may use a benchmark 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 ESG characteristics promoted by the fund.

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