RobecoSAM Sustainable Healthy Living Equities F EUR

After the correction in September, the broad global markets were able to make up their losses in October, with a solid positive performance. The catch-up was not a foregone conclusion though, as many of the concerns from September still loomed. These relate to whether or not inflation is more permanent than expected, rising input costs weighing on the margins of companies that cannot hike up prices in time, central bank tapering of the money supply, and regulatory interventions in China's technology and real estate sectors. However, with around half of all quarterly results reported, earnings in the third quarter were largely solid, with quite robust top and bottom-line growth. Overall, the post-pandemic normalization of economic activity is progressing well. However, the flare-ups of the fourth pandemic wave occasionally weighed on investor sentiment, especially in the parts of the Healthy Living investment universe that depend on people returning to work, restaurants and hotels. Most market sectors performed positively in October, with healthcare and consumer staples lagging in the upward movement.

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 efficient 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 contribute 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.