Robeco Global SDG Engagement Equities YEH CHF

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.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 All Country World Index (hedged into CHF).

The market dislikes uncertainty, so when the tight US election race turned out to be a sweeping victory for former president Trump, equity indices rallied, making November the best month of the year so far (+7.5% in EUR; +4.6% in USD). Defying deteriorating lead indicators, still-weak consumer sentiment and higher tariff news flows, we nonetheless saw animal spirits unleashed with a retail buying frenzy as inflows rushed into US equities. But after the initial fireworks, we couldn't help but notice the reply from many corporates feeling stuck in the political cross-currents, pointing at a host of potential unintended consequences from a Trump administration on steroids. With immigration policy, tariffs, deregulation and high-octane geopolitics front and center, investors as well as corporates seem torn on how to read the tea leaves. For now, the market playbook seems to be to increase exposure to US domestic 'Trump winners' and a further broadening out to the small to mid-cap space.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was 3.07%. The portfolio had a strong absolute performance in November, but underperformed versus the MSCI ACWI by 78 basis points. Sector-wise, our positioning in consumer discretionary, financials and real estate helped performance most. On the flip side, healthcare was the largest detractor, followed by industrials and IT. In terms of stock selection, Capital One Financial, Salesforce and Trane Technologies were the main contributors. Capital One Financial was driven by strong third-quarter earnings and optimism around its proposed merger with Discover Financial. Salesforce moved up on strong earnings growth, and advancements in its AI initiatives. Trane Technologies' stock price surged by more than 10%, on news of its strategic sustainability initiatives (partnership announced with Autodesk aimed at optimizing commercial building design for sustainability), recognition as a global leader in sustainable growth (honored by TIME), and advocacy for decarbonization at COP29, enhancing investor confidence. The main performance detractors in the month were AbbVie, Amgen and Samsung Electronics.

Simply stated, more deregulation, less anti-trust and more deal-making activity in the markets will continue to give oxygen to the 'America first' trade. Also, in contrast to some of his initial picks, more recent Trump cabinet appointees such as Scott Bessent heading Treasury have been viewed positively by the market, as it brings a bout of normality and experience in the eyes of many. Europe, meanwhile, continues to operate in cloudy weather conditions, searching for the right path forward. And even though the valuation discrepancy versus the US is approaching all-time highs, catalysts to unlock that seems scarce. As we close in on year-end, seasonality is generally supportive for equities to move another leg higher, though we do not anticipate wild swings until year-end. Corporates are buying back stock in masses, and so are retail investors, defying headline risks as we prepare for Trump 2.0. Thus, it seems that as long as the water feels warm, investors are happy swimming.