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
Sustainable companies
Sustainable companies are those which score highly on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their business operations. The degree to which a company is sustainable can be a crucial factor in deciding whether its stocks and bonds should be included in an investment portfolio. Robeco routinely screens all companies under consideration for inclusion in portfolios as standard practice, using different ESG thresholds depending on the type of fund or strategy.
Screening mostly takes two forms – negative and positive – backed by research and access to reliable data. Negative screening essentially means excluding those companies that do not meet pre-determined ESG standards and typically includes makers of controversial weapons, companies engaged in human rights abuses, or corporate governance failures such as corruption. Robeco also excludes all tobacco companies and those engaged in the extensive production or use of thermal coal, subject to certain thresholds.
Positive screening means examining the ESG credentials of the companies that remain in the investment universe after the exclusions have been carried out. Different companies will get varying scores according to their business, and the E, S and G will have differing levels of importance according to the sector. For example, a mining company may score poorly on environmental management and social factors, but be superbly managed and score highly for governance. Conversely, banks may score highly for environmental and social factors, but poorly for governance due to their excessive risk-taking during the financial crisis.
Creating returns that benefit the world we live in
Some industries may also face contradictions in their ESG profiles. Electric car makers, for example, are seen as the solution to removing reliance on fossil-fuel powered internal combustion engines, and would naturally be considered as ‘sustainable companies’. However, some raw materials needed for car batteries such as cobalt or rare earth minerals are often produced in regions with poor labor practices and environmental records. A complete picture must therefore be established to ascertain a company’s true ESG credentials and whether it should be labeled as sustainable.
As not all ESG factors are equally relevant, it is also important to only consider the most financially material factors – ESG issues that directly affect the company’s financial performance. This is a vital component in ESG integration in the decision-making process for investment strategies, as screening needs to focus on metrics that would ultimately affect the company’s ability to create value, and therefore its future share price. Ultimately, companies and investment strategies are judged on their financial performance, not the headlines they may make. Robeco has long believed that more sustainable companies create more value over time, as ESG allows for a better lens to assess business risks as well as opportunities.