Disclaimer Robeco Switzerland Ltd.
The information contained on these pages is solely for marketing purposes.
Access to the funds is restricted to (i) Qualified Investors within the meaning of art. 10 para. 3 et sequ. of the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes (“CISA”), (ii) Institutional Investors within the meaning of art. 4 para. 3 and 4 of the Financial Services Act (“FinSA”) domiciled Switzerland and (iii) Professional Clients in accordance with Annex II of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (“MiFID II”) domiciled in the European Union und European Economic Area with a license to distribute / promote financial instruments in such capacity or herewith requesting respective information on products and services in their capacity as Professional Clients.
The Funds are domiciled in Luxembourg and The Netherlands. ACOLIN Fund Services AG, postal address: Leutschenbachstrasse 50, CH-8050 Zürich, acts as the Swiss representative of the Fund(s). UBS Switzerland AG, Bahnhofstrasse 45, 8001 Zurich, postal address: Europastrasse 2, P.O. Box, CH-8152 Opfikon, acts as the Swiss paying agent.
The prospectus, the Key Investor Information Documents (KIIDs), the articles of association, the annual and semi-annual reports of the Fund(s) may be obtained, on simple request and free of charge, at the office of the Swiss representative ACOLIN Fund Services AG. The prospectuses are also available via the website https://www.robeco.com/ch.
Some funds about which information is shown on these pages may fall outside the scope of CISA and therefore do not (need to) have a license from or registration with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
Some funds about which information is shown on this website may not be available in your domicile country. Please check the registration status in your respective domicile country. To view the Robeco Switzerland Ltd. products that are registered/available in your country, please go to the respective Fund Selector, which can be found on this website and select your country of domicile.
Neither information nor any opinion expressed on this website constitutes a solicitation, an offer or a recommendation to buy, sell or dispose of any investment, to engage in any other transaction or to provide any investment advice or service. An investment in a Robeco Switzerland Ltd. product should only be made after reading the related legal documents such as prospectuses, annual and semi-annual reports.
By clicking “I agree” you confirm that you/the company you represent falls under one of the above-mentioned categories of addressees and that you have read, understood and accept the terms of use for this website.
Sustainable Investing
Corporate controversies
Corporate controversies occur when a company becomes embroiled in a scandal that is directly or indirectly of its own making.
Typically it is when the company’s business practices are dangerously negligent, causing a major accident or human rights breach. Controversies can also occur when a company – sometimes unintentionally – is caught up in allegations of corruption, breach of privacy, unfit products or misleading marketing. They span the entire spectrum of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and inevitably lead to prosecutions, civil lawsuits or regulatory sanctions. All imply reputational damage which would lower the value of the company’s equities or bonds, making it important for investors to factor them into their ESG analysis.
The two biggest corporate controversies in recent years outside of criminal frauds or the 2008 financial crisis were both based on negligence. The Deepwater Horizon oil platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 killed eleven people, caused a massive oil spill, and resulted in USD 40 billion in reparations. The death toll in the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh in 2013 was far higher, as 1,134 workers died, and the repercussions were more far-reaching. Most of those who died were low-income workers making clothing for Western fashion chains, causing some high street names to reevaluate the human rights credentials of their entire supply chains.
Creating returns that benefit the world we live in
A common controversary in the modern era has been falling victim to cybersecurity breaches through hacking, negligent loss of personal data, or criminal activity such as ‘phishing’ for bank account details. Robeco sets great store in checking the cybersecurity preparedness of the companies in which it wants to invest as a routine part of ESG analysis, involving a cyber expert in its investment process since 2017. This ‘white hat hacker’ investigates the degree to which potential investee companies might appeal to hackers, and which business units are at risk. Cybersecurity was one of five engagement themes in 2018.
Specifically looking for corporate controversies forms part of a three-point process for selecting companies for Robeco’s Sustainable Development Goals strategies. If a company has experienced some sort of scandal, it makes it less likely to be included in an SDG credit or equitie strategy, although many other criteria are also evaluated.
