Natalie Falkman is Portfolio Manager of the Robeco Circular Economy strategy and member of the Thematic Investing team. Before joining Robeco in 2022, she was a portfolio manager for Kapitalinvest, a global equity, 5-star rated by Morningstar and AAA-rated by Citywire (Global blend-category) fund at Swedbank Robur in Stockholm. Prior to that, she worked at Carnegie (largest independent investment bank in the Nordics), first as the Head of Emerging Markets Research and thereafter with Nordic Capital Goods Equity Research. She started her career in 2002 as an equity research analyst at Deutsche Bank in Moscow covering utility and shipping sectors. Natalie holds a Master’s in Finance from Stockholm School of Economics.

The fund is established in Luxembourg and is subject to the Luxembourg tax laws and regulations. The fund is not liable to pay any corporation, income, dividend or capital gains tax in Luxembourg. The fund is subject to an annual subscription tax ('tax d'abonnement') in Luxembourg, which amounts to 0.05% of the net asset value of the fund. This tax is included in the net asset value of the fund. The fund can in principle use the Luxembourg treaty network to partially recover any withholding tax on its income.

The fiscal consequences of investing in this fund depend on the investor's personal situation. For private investors in the Netherlands real interest and dividend income or capital gains received on their investments are not relevant for tax purposes. Each year investors pay income tax on the value of their net assets as at 1 January if and inasmuch as such net assets exceed the investor’s tax-free allowance. Any amount invested in the fund forms part of the investor's net assets. Private investors who are resident outside the Netherlands will not be taxed in the Netherlands on their investments in the fund. However, such investors may be taxed in their country of residence on any income from an investment in this fund based on the applicable national fiscal laws. Other fiscal rules apply to legal entities or professional investors. We advise investors to consult their financial or tax adviser about the tax consequences of an investment in this fund in their specific circumstances before deciding to invest in the fund.

The fund's sustainable investment objective is to finance solutions that support the transition from traditional production and consumption patterns toward a circular economy. Circular economy and sustainability considerations are incorporated in the investment process by the means of a target universe definition, exclusions, ESG integration, and voting. The fund only invests in companies that have a significant thematic fit as per Robeco's thematic universe methodology. Through screening on both Robeco's internally developed SDG Framework and Robeco’s exclusion policy, the fund does not invest in issuers that have a negative impact on the SDGs, are in breach of international norms or where products have been deemed controversial. Financially material ESG factors are integrated in the bottom-up fundamental investment analysis to assess existing and potential ESG risks and opportunities. In addition, where a stock issuer is flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to exclusion. Lastly, the fund makes use of shareholder rights and applies proxy voting in accordance with Robeco's proxy voting policy.For more information please visit the sustainability-related disclosures.The index used for all sustainability visuals is based on MSCI World Index TRN.

The breakneck speed of real-time policy changes on both sides of the Atlantic is staggering. One of the main announcements in March was the potential launch of fiscal stimulus and state-backed investments in Europe – marking a stark contrast to efforts of shrinking the government and fiscal stimulus in the US. Skepticism and the lack of clear implementation details aside, this potential shift in European fiscal policy could prove transformative. A weak March, marked by deteriorating sentiment and falling markets, was not totally unexpected. The compounding uncertainty across multiple areas of the economy is weighing on consumer confidence and consumption, and causing corporates to delay investment decisions. Hopes for a near-term recovery in cyclical parts of the economy appear to be put on hold. By contrast, the structural growth areas remain strong. However, a potential interpretation of the significant earnings multiple contraction for companies in these structural growth areas is that investors believe that without stronger support from underlying economic growth, returns on these investments could be increasingly questioned and put on hold.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was -7.00%. In March, the fund outperformed the MSCI World, as well as the fund's internal benchmark. Sector-wise, versus the MSCI World, consumer discretionary and the large underweight in financials were the two key support factors for relative outperformance. Important individual performance contributors were Spie, Sensient and Monotaro. When it comes to individual performance detractors, Taiwan Semi, Comfort Systems, Vertiv and Snowflake were the main ones. Sector-wise, versus the internal benchmark, the three main relative performance contributors were information technology, industrials and healthcare. In the healthcare sector, the fund's choice not to own life-science tool companies was a positive. Important individual performance contributors were the same as the three mentioned above, while the main relative performance detractors were NVIDIA, Taiwan Semi, Comfort Systems and DSM-Firmenich.

The value of writing an outlook that might be outdated already by the end of the same week is questionable. As economic policies in the US might be profoundly changing, prioritizing diversification and balance when it comes to exposure becomes one of the key strategies. In March, one of the key reasons behind the US market correction was the sharp contraction in the earnings multiples and to a much lesser extent the earnings' downgrades. This is a direct effect of the very low visibility into the direction of travel of the overall economy as well as single sectors. If investors, corporates and consumers could get greater clarity and time to absorb the changes without the risk of a new wave of changes around the corner, then the market mood could swing to positive. However, if that does not happen, the compounding effect of uncertainties could tip the economy into a recession or a prolonged period of stagflation.