Audrey Kaplan is Portfolio Manager and member of the Global Equity team. She is responsible for fundamental global equities with a focus on gender-based investing and on consumer staples, as well as portfolio construction. She joined Robeco in 2021. Previously, she was Head of Global Equity Strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute (NY). Prior to joining Wells Fargo, she worked as Head of International Equity Team and Senior Portfolio Manager at Federated Investors, Inc. (NY, now known as Federated Hermes). She also held roles in European research at Merrill Lynch International (London) and in Asian research at Salomon Brothers, Inc. (Tokyo) earlier in her career. She holds a Master's in Finance from London Business School and a Bachelor’s in Computer & Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

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 incorporates sustainability in the investment process by the means of a target universe definition, exclusions, negative screening, ESG integration, and voting. The fund invests at least two-thirds in companies that have a Gender Equality score of 50 or higher and only invests in companies with positive or neutral SDG scores based on the internally developed SDG Framework. The fund also applies a negative screening to exclude the 20% worst ESG scoring stock issuers from the investable universe and does not invest in stock issuers that are in breach of international norms or where products have been deemed controversial as per Robeco's exclusion policy. 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.

Global markets resumed the strong 2024 rally and hit an all-time high on 19 February. But the rally fizzled into month-end, leaving the MSCI World lower amid a risk-off move across different asset classes. Technology stocks led the declines, which came as NVIDIA's earnings showed the smallest revenue beat in two years, when investors have got used to much bigger upside surprises. In fact, the Magnificent 7 had their worst monthly performance since December 2022. Inflation concerns and President Trump's reversal and re-affirmation of imminent tariffs came alongside more negative US data surprises. In February, growing trade policy uncertainty and growth concerns delivered a clear rotation in the US benchmarks, where consumer staples had a strong outperformance, along with other low volatility and real estate stocks, while communication services and consumer discretionary underperformed.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was -1.71%. The portfolio trailed the benchmark in February. The largest negative contribution came from Alphabet, which reported sales that narrowly fell short of Wall Street's expectations. Stock selection in consumer staples and healthcare detracted. In the former, we lost alpha in some names that we cannot own (e.g. tobacco producers, soft drink and snack companies) that had strong returns. In the latter, we faced headwinds with some owned healthcare medical device companies, after potential spending cuts in the NIH, the US agency for biomedical and health research, dampened sentiment on the subsector. Within consumer discretionary, our zero weight in Tesla was the top contributor. Tesla tumbled nearly 30%. Further, we had strong stock selection alpha from owning several high quality European investments, including Intesa San Paolo, AstraZeneca, and Deutsche Telekom.

Markets have started to question the narrative of US exceptionalism, while tougher trade and geopolitical language from the Oval Office has put a dampener on ever more risk appetite. Our investment strategy remains focused on a diverse mix of quality companies with strong operational track records and resilient business models designed to be agnostic to most macro and political environments, so we can confidently look ahead at what comes next. The portfolio selects leading gender equality companies which are working to diversify not only their boards and C suites but also their senior and junior management and overall workforce. Key performance actions and indicators include equal opportunity, talent retention and gender pay equality. The portfolio employs a comprehensive approach to diversity and inclusion, investing in companies that lead not only in gender equality, but which also support health, wellness, and engagement among all employees.