Robeco Sustainable Water E EUR

Dieter Küffer is Portfolio Manager of the Robeco Sustainable Water strategy and member of the Thematic Investing team. He has managed the strategy since inception in 2001, the year he joined Robeco. In the past, he has also managed several other thematic strategies at Robeco. Prior to joining, he led a team responsible for the management of actively managed equity mandates on behalf of Swiss institutional clients at UBS Asset Management in Zurich. He began his career as an investment counsel in the Private Banking Division of UBS in 1986. Dieter Küffer holds a federal diploma as a Swiss-Certified Banking Expert and is a CFA® charterholder. Amy Wanner-Thavornsuk is Co-Portfolio Manager of the Robeco Sustainable Water strategy and member of the Thematic Investing team. Prior to joining in 2019, she worked for 9 years at JPMorgan Assets Management in London, whereof 6.5 years in the same role covering emerging market equities. She has been in the Financial Industry for almost 20 years with previous work experience in investment banking and consulting. She started her career as an auditor at PWC in Bangkok back in 2003. Amy holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance & Accounting from the Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and an MBA from the Bayes Business School, UK. She is a CFA® Charterholder.

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 help mitigate the global challenges related to scarcity, quality, and allocation of water. Water 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. The integration of ESG factors in the investment analysis does not have a sustainability indicator. 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 World Index TRN.

In November, global equity markets measured by the MSCI World Index increased by 7.5% in EUR terms. Sentiment in equity markets was significantly influenced by the US election. Investors seem to like the Republican sweep and especially US domestic companies benefited from it. Some international companies might be negatively impacted due to tariffs in the US, although right now, it is not yet clear whether the additional tariffs will really be implemented. Also, the outlook for interest rates in the US is quite challenging. On the one hand, lots of announced measures by Trump will potentially lead to higher inflation such as less immigration, deportation of foreigners, and tariffs, and higher inflation might lead to higher interest rates or slower reduction in interest rates.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 5.70%. In November, the fund's performance was +6% in EUR terms. The Water Analytics subcluster rebounded from the weaker performance. As the US want to keep its health technology lead over China, the country has to invest in analytics tools to reach that goal. Strong performance of Clean Harbors (+16%). The British water utilities gained positive sentiment before final determination, United Utilities (+12.9%). Veolia Environnement (-6%) underperformed due to the budget discussion in France and the potential no-confidence vote. The Construction and Materials cluster was up 4.7%. Resideo Technologies (+42%) rebounded significantly. The Engineering subcluster was up +3% only. The market feared that companies like Tetra Tech (-13%) and ICF International (-15%) will be negatively impacted by the Trump administration, despite the construction programs being bipartisan. The performance of Building Materials was mixed; distributors like Fergusson (+13%) and Core & Main (+13%) outperformed while Advanced Drainage Systems (-10%) underperformed after a mixed set of numbers. The Capital Goods and Chemicals clusters showed the best performance with +9.7%, benefiting from the onshoring trend which has been high on Trump's agenda.

The fund remains focused on fundamental analyses of companies' quality and valuation. We are disciplined with our fundamental research and valuation methodology. Overall, the fund is still overweight in water analytical equipment, building materials and water treatment systems. Many of our top holdings are companies that have significant exposure to address aging water infrastructure, water quality, water scarcity and efficiency. In Building Materials, we prefer to focus on companies related to infrastructure and residential housing, where there are signs of a demand trough. The fund is overweight in Veolia Environnement and some US utilities, and does not currently hold any Brazilian water utilities.