Robeco Euro SDG Credits B EUR

Jan Willem de Moor is Portfolio Manager Investment Grade in the Credit team. Prior to joining Robeco in 2005, he worked at the Dutch Medical professionals’ pension fund as an Equity Portfolio Manager and at SNS Asset Management as an Equity Portfolio Manager. Jan Willem has been active in the industry since 1994. He holds a Master's in Economics from Tilburg University. Jan Willem Knoll is Portfolio Manager Investment Grade in the Credit team. He joined the Credit team in 2016. Previously, Jan Willem headed the Financials Equity sell-side research team at ABN AMRO. He started his career in the industry in 1999 at APG, where he held several positions including Portfolio Manager of a global insurance portfolio and subsequently a pan-European financials portfolio. Jan Willem holds a Master’s in Business Economics from the University of Groningen and he is a CFA® charterholder. Joost Breeuwsma is Portfolio Manager Investment Grade in the Credit team. Prior to starting his career and joining Robeco in 2017, he obtained a Master’s with Distinction in Financial Mathematics from King’s College London. The Robeco Euro SDG Credits fundis managed within Robeco’s credit team, which consists of nine portfolio managers and twenty-three credit analysts (of which four financials analysts). The portfolio managers are responsible for the construction and management of the credit portfolios, whereas the analysts cover the team’s fundamental research. Our analysts have long term experience in their respective sectors which they cover globally. Each analyst covers both investment grade and high yield, providing them an information advantage and benefiting from inefficiencies that traditionally exist between the two segmented markets. Furthermore, the credit team is supported by dedicated quantitative researchers and fixed income traders. On average, the members of the credit team have an experience in the asset management industry of seventeen years, of which eight years with Robeco.

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.

Investors outside Luxembourg are subject to their national tax regime applying to foreign investment funds. We advise individual investors to contact their financial or fiscal adviser regarding their specific fiscal situation.

Sustainability is incorporated in the investment process by the means of a target universe, exclusions, ESG integration, and a minimum allocation to ESG-labeled bonds. The fund solely invests in credits issued by companies with a positive or neutral impact on the SDGs. The impact of issuers on the SDGs is determined by applying Robeco's internally developed three-step SDG Framework. The outcome is a quantified contribution expressed as an SDG score, considering both the contribution to the SDGs (positive, neutral or negative) and the extent of this contribution (high, medium or low). In addition, the fund does not invest in credit issuers that are in breach of international norms or where activities have been deemed detrimental to society following Robeco's exclusion policy. ESG factors are integrated in the bottom-up security analysis to assess the impact of financially material ESG risk on the issuer's fundamental credit quality. Furthermore, the fund invests at least 10% in green, social, sustainable, and/or sustainability-linked bonds. Lastly, where a credit issuer is flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to exclusion.The following sections display the ESG-metrics for this fund along with short descriptions. For more information please visit the sustainability-related disclosures.The index used for all sustainability visuals is based on Bloomberg Euro Aggregate: Corporates.

The US elections were the main event in November, with Donald Trump securing the presidency and the Republican party taking control of both chambers of Congress – a so-called ‘clean sweep'. This result was warmly received by US risk markets, with the S&P 500 gaining close to 6% for the month. The returns for risk assets outside of the US were considerably more mixed. Israel and Hezbollah are working toward a ceasefire, potentially stabilizing the region. Ukraine is open to a ceasefire if NATO protects unoccupied areas, indicating a strategy for peace. In Romania, an unexpected pro-Russian candidate appears poised to secure a victory. In Europe, German Bunds outperformed as weak data supported the case for deeper ECB rate cuts, while French government bonds widened as concerns emerged over the budget and a potential collapse of the government. The divergence between credit markets was notable in spreads, with US IG spreads tightening by 6 bps in November, while EUR IG spreads widened 4 bps.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 1.49%. The portfolio performed similarly to its benchmark index before fees. Tighter government bond yields largely drove the benchmark's performance, while credit spreads widened marginally over the same period. The Euro Corporate Index concluded the month at 108 basis points over government bonds. And, the yield on 10-year German Bunds dropped by 20 basis points, settling at 2.09%. Performance attribution is split into beta positioning and issuer selection, in line with our investment process. Both our beta policy and issuer selection made close to no contribution to the performance. The beta for the month was neutral, leading to no outperformance or underperformance. Our positions in BBB credits contributed positively, offset by our position in secured bank debt. The latter was caused by weakness in French sovereign risks. Names that contributed negatively were Crédit Mutuel Home Loan and Société Générale SFH; both are covered bonds. Positive contributions came from US-issued corporates such as Warner Bros Discovery and Zimmer Biomet; both are BBB-rated.

The prevailing market consensus is that the Fed will succeed in achieving a soft landing, balancing the labor market without triggering a sharp rise in unemployment. While we agree with this consensus, we believe this to be reflected in valuations. As such, we do not see this as the moment to increase portfolio betas. In investment grade credit, we continue to feel comfortable with a beta slightly above 1. For now, we see no change in the strong technical, and if spreads do widen, we have ample room to increase beta accordingly. In a period of economic and political change, not all companies will thrive and credit selection is the key driver of alpha. The overweight positions in banks and corporate hybrids still offer attractive opportunities, so we maintain those exposures. In global portfolios, we remain overweight in European credit, both in investment grade and high yield segments.