Michiel Plakman is Lead Portfolio Manager and member of the Global Equity team. He is also Co-Head of Robeco’s Global Equity team. He is responsible for fundamental global equities with a focus on SDG investing and on companies in the information technology, real estate & communication services sectors, as well as portfolio construction. He has been in this role since 2009. Previously, he was responsible for managing the Robeco IT Equities fund within the TMT team. Prior to joining Robeco in 1999, he worked as a Portfolio Manager Japanese Equities at Achmea Global Investors (PVF Pensioenen). From 1995 to 1996 he was Portfolio Manager European Equities at KPN Pension Fund. He holds a Master's in Econometrics from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and he is a CFA® Charterholder. Daniela da Costa is co-portfolio manager of Robeco's Global SDG Engagement fund and has a research focus on Brazil and the African consumer sector. Prior to joining Robeco in 2010, she was Portfolio Manager Latin American Equities at Nomura in London. Before that, Daniela worked at HSBC and with the Petrobras pension fund in Brazil. She started her career in the industry in 1997. Daniela holds a Master's in Economics from the Brazilian Capital Markets Institute in Rio de Janeiro (IBMEC-RJ) and a MBA certificate in pension fund asset management from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (COPPE-UFRJ). She is board member of AMEC, the Brazilian stewardship agency and a member of Robeco’s SDG committee and Biodiversity Task Force. Peter van der Werf is Head of Engagement at Robeco. He leads the corporate and sovereign engagement program in the Active Ownership team and is involved in further integration of active ownership in Robeco’s investment products. With his engagement work he has challenged sustainability leadership at more than 200 global companies to align their environmental and social strategy with Robeco’s sustainable investing philosophy. As Portfolio Manager SDG Engagement Equities, Peter contributes to impact investing in listed equity. He is also an Advisory Board member of the Finance for Biodiversity foundation. Peter started his career in 2007 and holds a Master’s in Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University. Thomas Globe is Portfolio Manager and member of the Global Equity team. He is responsible for fundamental global equities with a focus on SDG investing and portfolio construction. He is also Deputy Lead Portfolio Manager Global SDG Engagement Equities. Prior to joining Robeco in 2024, he worked as portfolio manager for Premier Miton Investors. Previous to that, he worked at Premier Asset Management as portfolio manager and analyst. He joined the industry in 2011. Thomas holds a first class Bachelor of Arts (Joint Honours) in Business and Law from Staffordshire University. He 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 0.01% 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 who are not subject to (exempt from) Dutch corporate-income tax (e.g. pension funds) are not taxed on the achieved result. Investors who are subject to Dutch corporate-income tax can be taxed for the result achieved on their investment in the fund. Dutch bodies that are subject to corporate-income tax are obligated to declare interest and dividend income, as well as capital gains in their tax return. Investors residing outside the Netherlands are subject to their respective national tax regime applying to foreign investment funds. We advise individual 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, exclusions, ESG integration and engagement. The fund solely invests in stocks issued by companies with a low negative to low positive 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). The fund actively engages with 100% of the corporate holdings typically for a period of three to five years. The fund does not invest in stock issuers that are in breach of international norms or where activities have been deemed detrimental to society following 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 All Country World Index (Net Return, EUR).

The first five weeks of Trump 2.0 have been eventful. The back-and-forth on tariffs, cuts in the federal government, and rising AI fatigue have brought cracks to the 'US exceptionalism' trade. On the flip side, we see Europe finally back on the radar again after a long period in the doldrums, outperforming most other indices since the start of the year. It has brought fund flows back to the 'old continent', potentially reviving old-economy value sectors such as materials and energy as well. Staring down the barrel of tariffs, no growth and little geopolitical power, the realization of an existential threat seems to bring about a coalition for drastic change.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was -0.68%. February saw more muted relative returns for the portfolio, which slightly outperformed the ACWI and posted an absolute negative return. Geopolitical events continued to dominate headlines, with tariffs and the Ukraine/Russia war causing more angst. At a sector level, healthcare was our biggest contributor, closely followed by consumer discretionary. Within healthcare, AbbVie led the way, reporting good earnings with strength in focus areas, which pushed the shares higher over the month. Haleon also had a very positive end to the month, reporting a strong quarter albeit with a more cautious outlook than expected. Within consumer discretionary, the focus was Sony, which reported earnings that showed continued strength in the gaming and music segments. Information technology was the largest detracting sector: Salesforce fell following an outlook that fell slightly short of expectations, and Broadcom was weak, as macro concerns continue to dominate. Our engagement activity in the month included numerous engagements with global tech companies, on topics ranging from content moderation in conflict-affected areas, to the EU Digital Service Act and corporate governance.

As of late, markets have started to question the narrative of US exceptionalism, in particular the path forward to further monetize it all. Tougher trade and geopolitical language from the Oval Office has put a dampener on ever more risk appetite, at least for now. It is of course possible there is a so-called 'Trump put' at play, meaning that if markets drop in response to policy moves made by President Trump, he will retract on it, as we've seen with many tariff threats so far. Still, the collateral damage that comes with it brings a type of overhang for stocks that investors tend to dislike. Whether we've indeed seen the US as a share of world market cap peaking remains to be seen, but the market rotations so far seem to be firming up. The move away from a relatively stable global world order to a 'you're on your own' world order brings about shifts in investor risk appetite. Such elevated macro uncertainty requires a portfolio approach that inhibits a built-in flexibility to navigate different backdrops and regime shifts, akin to what our investment strategy is designed for in our search for alpha.