RobecoSAM Sustainable Healthy Living Equities F EUR

Global equity markets in June were strongly driven by progress on vaccinations, the looming threats of new coronavirus variants and inflation fears. The latter were fueled by inflation numbers, which spiked to 5% year-on-year in the US, a level not seen in the last ten years. However, these inflationary pressures are caused by temporary factors such as rising demand post the shutdowns leading to higher input and transportation costs, and therefore will not prompt changes in the accommodating monetary policies. Thus, investors focused on the quite positive economic fundamentals and the ongoing economic normalization. The first quarter earning season confirmed this view, with most companies reporting high growth numbers and taking a positive stance on their outlook for the rest of the year. In the healthcare sector, the US market approval of the Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm created quite some headlines in June, which propelled the performance of pharma and biotech stocks. Thus, the MSCI World healthcare sector was the second best-performing sector in the reporting period, partially offsetting some of the underperformance of the first quarter.

The fund is allowed to pursue an active currency policy to generate extra returns and can engage in currency hedging transactions.

In principle the fund does not intend to distribute dividend and so both the income earned by the fund and its overall performance are reflected in its share price.

The RobecoSAM Sustainable Healthy Living Equities strategy invests in companies that benefit from secular sociodemographic and technological trends that address the dual sustainability challenges of increasing chronic disease and health care costs. It employs systematic, bottom-up stock selection that combines proprietary Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) data and research throughout the investment process. ESG criteria for exclusions and theme-specific suitability are applied during universe construction. An in-house Sustainability Investing (SI) research team integrates financially-material sector and company-specific sustainability analysis into investment cases. A dedicated thematic equity team incorporate SI research within fundamental analysis and stock valuations. Impact assessments of controversial incidences affecting portfolio holdings provide additional risk management. An active ownership and engagement team interacts directly with company management of fund holdings, offering additional channels for sustainable impact.

RobecoSAM Sustainable Healthy Living Equities is an actively managed fund that invests globally in companies that contribute to an effieicnt healthcare system as well as to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and wellbeing. 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 aims to mitigate the rising incidence of lifestyle diseases and increasing healthcare costs, by investing in companies that provide technologies, products or services, medical treatments linked to the prevention of disease and reducing the spread of infectious diseases. This is done by investing in companies that mainly advance the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs): Good health and well-being, Zero Hunger, Industry, innovation and infrastructure and Clean water and sanitation. The fund integrates ESG (i.e. Environmental, Social and corporate Governance) in the investment process, applies an exclusion list basis controversial behavior, products (including controversial weapons, tobacco, palm oil and fossil fuel) while avoiding investment in thermal coal, weapons, military contracting and companies that severely violate labor conditions, next to voting and engaging. The strategy integrates sustainability criteria as part of the stocks 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 contibute to the thematic investment objectives. The assessment regarding relevant SDGs uses an internally developed framework about which more information can be obtained via the website www.robeco.com/si. 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 sustainable objective of the fund.

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