Robeco Sustainable Asian Stars Equities DL EUR

Asian markets declined in June and slightly underperformed the global markets. The US dollar rebounded versus most Asian currencies, supported by the Fed talking about a reduction of money printing. Though this sounded hawkish, most bond yields actually fell in June. Lower rates are better for growth stocks, so value stocks lagged in June. China shrugged off the flatlining in its growth profile and maintained its resolve to tighten credit conditions and clamp down commodity prices in an attempt to rein in factory inflation. The Chinese yuan dropped from its strongest level since 2018. While North Asian governments focused on getting as close to zero cases as possible, the Covid-19 resurgence in India and ASEAN countries led to local lockdowns. On the ESG front, the conflict between the US and China escalated when the Biden administration took a range of punitive actions against Chinese solar product manufacturers with production bases in Xinjiang. 52.4% of total China polysilicon capacity and 41.7% of global polysilicon capacity was located in Xinjiang at the end of 2020. This could become an additional stress factor for the global solar supply chain especially in light of overall raw material price increases.

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

The fund does not distribute dividends

Robeco Sustainable Asian Stars Equities integrates ESG at every stage of the investment process. We use sustainability performance rankings as a first indication of a company’s sustainability profile. In addition we use it to exclude the worst 20% scoring stocks from the investable universe. We then analyze 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 risks and opportunities of a company. If ESG risks and opportunities are significant, the ESG analysis may impact a stock’s fair value and the portfolio allocation decision. Throughout the investment process, we strive for a low environmental impact, as measured by GHG emissions, water use and waste generation, with the aim of realizing at least 20% better levels than the index. In addition to ESG integration, Robeco’s dedicated active ownership team conducts proxy voting and engagement activities focused on specific themes, such as climate change, aiming to improve a company’s sustainability profile. Furthermore, the fund will not invest in companies exposed to the following controversial sectors or business practices: military contracting, controversial weapons, fire arms, UN Global Compact breaches, tobacco, palm oil, nuclear power, thermal coal, arctic drilling and oil sands, according to strict revenue thresholds.

Robeco Sustainable Asian Stars Equities is an actively managed fund that invests in stocks of the most attractive companies in Asia. 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 aims for a better sustainability profile compared to the Benchmark by promoting certain ESG (i.e. Environmental, Social and corporate Governance) characteristics within the meaning of Article 8 of the European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and integrating 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 voting and engaging. The fund also aims for an improved environmental footprint compared to the Benchmark.The fund selects investments based on a combination of top-down country analysis and bottom-up stock ideas. The reference to "Stars" in the name of the fund refers to an approach whereby only the most attractive companies (in terms of actual and/or potential capital gains and/or generation of income and/or growth) are selected. The fund aims at selecting stocks with relatively low environmental footprints compared to stocks with high environmental footprints. The majority of stocks selected through this approach will be components of the Benchmark, but stocks outside the Benchmark index may be selected too. The fund can deviate substantially from the weightings of the Benchmark. The fund aims to outperform the Benchmark over the long run, whilst still controlling relative risk in the underlying markets to the extent of deviation from the Benchmark. This will consequently limit the deviation of the performance relative to 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.