Robeco Global Credits FH CHF

Reinout Schapers is Portfolio Manager Investment Grade in the Credit team. Prior to joining Robeco in 2011, Reinout worked at Aegon Asset Management where he was a Head of European High Yield. Before that, he worked at Rabo Securities as an M&A Associate and at Credit Suisse First Boston as an Analyst Corporate Finance. Reinout has been active in the industry since 2003. He holds a Master's in Architecture from the Delft University of Technology. Matthew Jackson is Portfolio Manager Global Investment Grade in the Credit team. He joined Robeco in 2024 from Western Asset Management in London where he started his career in the industry in 2003 and consequently held roles of Risk Analyst, Portfolio Analyst, Research Analyst and Portfolio Manager of numerous dedicated credit funds and mandates. He holds a Bachelor’s in Economics (Hons) from the University of Sheffield. Evert Giesen is Portfolio Manager Investment Grade in the Credit team. Previously, he was an Analyst, responsible for covering the Automotive sector within the Credit team. Prior to joining Robeco in 2001, Evert worked at AEGON Asset Management for four years as a Fixed Income Portfolio Manager. He has been active in the industry since 1997 and holds a Master's in Econometrics from Tilburg University. The Robeco Global Credits Sub-fund is 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.

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, ESG integration, a minimum allocation to ESG-labeled bonds, and engagement. 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. Financially material ESG factors are integrated in the bottom-up security analysis to assess the impact on the issuer's fundamental credit quality. In the credit selection the fund limits exposure to issuers with an elevated sustainability risk profile. Furthermore, the fund invests at least 5% in green, social, sustainable, and/or sustainability-linked bonds. Lastly, where issuers are flagged for breaching international standards in the ongoing monitoring, the issuer will become subject to engagement.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 Global Aggregate Corporates Index.

October was marked by two main themes: rising government bond yields, driven by stronger-than-expected economic data, and escalating tensions in the Middle East. In the US, the ISM services index hitting a 19-month high and an unexpectedly robust jobs report spurred a sharp increase in 10-year US Treasury yields, making October the worst month for bonds since 2022. Investor bets on a possible Trump return further added to yield pressure, as his pro-growth policies could increase inflation and lead to more issuance of long-dated bonds. In Europe, sovereign bonds fared comparatively better, though they still declined, as the ECB enacted a widely anticipated 25 basis-point rate cut at its October meeting.Middle Eastern tensions caused oil price volatility, with an initial spike after an Iranian missile strike on Israel, followed by a drop as Israel’s limited response spared oil infrastructure. Prices rose again later in the month on reports of a potential Iranian retaliation.Despite the aforementioned, credit markets performed strongly. Euro IG spreads tightened by 13 bps, outperforming USD IG spreads, which narrowed by 5 bps.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was -2.00%. This month, the Global Aggregate Corporate Bond Index posted a return of -1.81% (hedged to EUR), with excess returns at 0.48%. The negative total returns for the period were primarily due to a sharp rise in underlying government bond yields, with German and US 10-year yields increasing by 27 and 50 bps to 2.39% and 4.29%, respectively. Meanwhile, the credit spread of the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Corporate Bond Index narrowed by 7 bps, ending the period at 92 bps.The portfolio outperformed its benchmark before fees, with performance primarily driven by issuer selection. Our regional positioning – overweight in euros and underweight in USD credit – added positively to performance from an allocation perspective. Furthermore, our overweight in maturities up to ten years and underweight in longer maturities provided an additional performance boost. On an issuer level, the top contributor was our overweight position in Heimstaden Bostad, which gained from improved sector sentiment and successfully issued its first euro-denominated bond since 2022. This issuance further lifted sentiment, tightening existing bonds.

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.