Robeco Sustainable European Stars Equities F EUR

Mathias Büeler is Head of Sustainable European Equities and Portfolio Manager for the Robeco Sustainable European Stars Equities strategy, as well as serving as a equity analyst covering the Financials, Real Estate, and Consumer Discretionary Sector. Prior to joining in 2011, Mathias worked as a sell-side equity analyst at Kepler Capital Markets for more than four years, covering Swiss banks and diversified financials. Previously, he was Head of Product Management Structured Products at Man Investments for two and a half years, where he started his career in 2004. Mathias holds a Master of Arts majoring in Business Administration from the University of Zurich and is a CFA® Charterholder. Oliver Girakhou is Portfolio Manager of Robeco Sustainable European Stars Equities strategy. He covers and leads the research in the Materials, Industrials Energy and Utilities industries within the Team. Prior to joining Robeco in 2014, he spent 6 years at Credit Agricole – Cheuvreux (later KeplerCheuvreux) as a sell-side equity analyst covering European industrial companies. He also gained first-hand business experience as an business analyst at the BMW Group where he worked in the China Strategy Department and he started his career in 2008. Oliver earned his Master in Social and Economic Science from Vienna University’s School of Economics and Business Administration, and his MBA from ESCP Europe.

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 via exclusions, negative screening, ESG integration, ESG and environmental footprint targets, and voting. The fund does not invest in issuers that are in breach of international norms or where activities have been deemed detrimental to society following Robeco's exclusion policy. In addition, a negative screen is used to exclude the 20% worst ESG scoring stocks from the investable universe. Financially material ESG factors are integrated in the bottom-up fundamental investment analysis to assess existing and potential ESG risks and opportunities. In the stock selection the fund limits exposure to elevated sustainability risks. The fund also targets a better ESG score and at least 20% lower carbon footprint compared to the reference index. 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.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 MSCI Europe Index TRN.

Despite fears of a contested US election, the process went smoothly, with Republicans securing control of the presidency, House and Senate. This sparked a market rally in the US (S&P500 around +5.8%, Nasdaq around +6.3%) due to optimism about tax cuts and deregulation, which also pushed the MSCI World higher (around +4.5%) given the US represents over 70% of that index. European equity markets finished the month up a more muted +1% and initially fell due to fears that announced US tariff increases on imports from Europe will hit an already fragile economy. In Germany, hopes for pro-growth policies following the coalition collapse boosted the DAX by around +2.9%, while French budget issues dragged the CAC 40 down by over 1.5%. The Bank of England and the Swedish Riksbank cut rates, but Norwegian Norges Bank held steady, and ECB officials hinted at a December rate cut. Looking ahead, December's favorable seasonality for stocks and the election as a risk clearing event suggest a supportive market environment for the rest of the year.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 0.98%. The fund was up +1% in November, in line with the MSCI Europe. This result was driven by positive allocation and currency effect while stock selection was offsetting. Communication services, materials and information technology contributed positively while financials and industrials made a negative contribution to the relative result. The fund particularly benefited from its position in Deutsche Telekom, which was up nearly 9% on strong trends both in its US and German business. Surprisingly strong results by Halma sent the shares up sharply and contributed the most. Hotel franchisor IHG and catering business Compass Group performed well. Both have large exposure to the US which is expected to benefit from pro-growth policies under the Trump administration. The political turbulence in France sent financing spreads of the French government surging, which had negative knock-on effects on the shares of BNP Paribas which declined by nearly 10%.

The fund's strategy aims to make investments in high-quality companies with sustainable, differentiated business models taking a full-cycle view. Given that approach, we'd expect the fund to show its full strength when returns of individual stocks start to materially differ due to less overall market support. The fund's positions tend to be less driven by assumptions on general market trends, but much more by company-specific qualities that are likely to endure in both positive and negative environments. Driven by expected business resilience and comparably moderate valuations, our key convictions can give some comfort in volatile times.