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 0.01% 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'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.For more information please visit the sustainability-related disclosures.The index used for all sustainability visuals is based on MSCI World Index TRN.

US equity markets exhibited mixed performance in February amid economic uncertainties and policy developments. The index measured by the MSCI World was down 75 bps in EUR terms, fluctuating over the month on investors' concerns over potential tariffs and economic growth. The Conference Board reported a significant monthly decline in consumer confidence, in response to worry regarding executive orders and a trade war. Despite concerns about NVIDIA's performance, the company's results surpassed forecasts, while some of the Mag-7 pulled back as economic worries grew. In Europe, geopolitical tensions escalated as President Trump adopted a conciliatory tone toward the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, the European market showed relative resilience overall. China's economy faced pressure from domestic challenges and trade tensions due to US tariff threats. Additional fiscal stimulus measures are expected. On the other hand, Chinese breakthroughs in AI have sparked a strong equity rally in its technology sector. Japan's equity market showed resilience as consumption saw a slight uptick despite inflationary pressure. Currency dynamics should play an important role going forward.

Based on transaction prices, the fund's return was -6.11%. The portfolio performance has been relatively flat since the start of the year, with a slight decrease of 0.29% YTD. February saw a significant drop of 5.08% MTD, which offset most of January's gains. During the month, US equities were impacted by various political events, including changes in trade policies, federal funding reviews, and initiatives from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut federal spending. These events negatively influenced specific subsectors within the fund. Water Analytics, which includes companies such as Agilent, Avantor, Thermo Fisher, and Danaher, were particularly hard hit due to the potential cuts in federal funding for NIH and university research. Although the companies in the fund have limited exposure to NIH funding, cuts in research funding could significantly affect the development of new treatments for diseases like cancer. Some Engineering & Construction companies were also negatively affected by the DOGE's mission to reduce government expenditure, disrupting business across federal agencies. Our holdings in European names, US water utilities and US waste management were resilient, which partially offset the impact during the month.

Despite short term volatility, long-term structural needs in water space remain unchanged. In the residential construction market, limited supply of homes and aging houses should translate into renewed demand for new construction and repairs and renovations. We are monitoring the development of economic data and the easing cycle, while maintaining our fundamental approach and valuation. Significant investments in water infrastructure financing are happening at municipal and state levels in the US, which is likely to continue based on regional needs that fall outside of federal funding. Investments in water efficiency and treatment are increasingly being funded by private money, including from the commercial and industrial sectors. Overall, the fund is still overweight in water analytical equipment. Building materials and water treatment systems are neutrally weighted. Many of the holdings are companies with significant exposure to addressing aging water infrastructure, water quality, water scarcity and efficiency. The fund is overweight in Veolia Environnement and holds no Brazilian water utilities. UK utilities will be neutrally weighted after the final determination by the UK regulator.