HALFTIME! And what a ride it’s been
HALFTIME!
After a turbulent first half of the year, the summer holidays represent a great time to catch up on useful and interesting articles you might have missed earlier. And what could be better than browsing through a current selection of Robeco’s articles while relaxing by the pool, during what’s probably your first summer holiday abroad since the pandemic started? To help you do so without the need to trawl through our website, we’ve specially curated our 12 best-read articles from 2022 so far. With Robeco’s long-standing focus on sustainability, it’s no surprise that matters ESG figure prominently in the selection. Another of our favorite topics – quantitative investing – is well represented too. You’ll also find musings on a diverse range of other topics including inflation, behavioral finance, emerging markets and the metaverse. And as if that wasn’t enough, we’ve also included some of our Daily Sketches. In case you didn’t know, every single workday Robeco’s Trends Investing team shares a graphic and provides their corresponding and unique take on economics, the financial markets or other current trend of investor interest. Of course there are a lot to choose from, but we’ve selected six of the best from this year. Happy reading!
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 2
1 Beyond Fama-French: alpha from short-term signals Investors typically use classic factors such as investment, profitability, size and value in asset pricing models to describe the cross-section of stock returns. By nature, these factors involve low turnover and their premiums are expected to materialize over multi-year periods. In the short run, however, they can experience large and prolonged drawdowns. In May, researcher Matthias Hanauer set out the investment potential of also using high-turnover anomalies, even though they are generally dismissed as potential sources of return in the academic literature due to concerns about the high transaction costs incurred in exploiting them. Such short-term signals, like the one-month reversal effect, typically provide a string of small amounts of outperformance rather than capturing large premiums over a long period. A Robeco study argues that short-term signals have been dismissed too easily, for a number of reasons. First, the standard academic factor-construction methodology allocates a disproportionate amount to small-cap stocks, for which trading costs are much higher than for large-caps. Secondly, gross and net performance can be improved
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 3
substantially by shifting the focus from a single signal to a combination of them. Diversification benefits can be derived in this way, potentially resulting in higher gross returns and reduced volatility. Thirdly, many studies are based on naïve trading strategies that involve simply constructing fresh portfolios every month. However, more advanced buy-and-sell rules, which only replace stocks if their attractiveness drops below a certain threshold, can achieve savings in trading costs that outweigh the loss in gross returns.
But we also found that the correlations between the returns of the different short-term signals were generally low or even negative. This finding suggested that a combination of the short-term signals could offer strong diversification benefits. And indeed, we found that the breakeven trading costs for a composite portfolio were over 30 bps, which implies that a multi-signal strategy can generate modest after-cost profits if investors are able to execute their trades below this conservative threshold. We also found that implementing an efficient trading strategy can boost returns even more.
In our study we examined the performance of five shortterm signals that are established in the literature: – industry-relative reversals – one-month industry momentum – analyst earnings revisions over the past 30 calendar days – same-month stock return effect – one-month idiosyncratic volatility We also created a composite signal that combined all five. The individual top-minus-bottom-quintile short-term signals delivered annualized average returns of between 5-8%, all of which were statistically significant apart from the onemonth idiosyncratic volatility signal. However, due to their high turnovers, ranging from 1,300-2,000% per year, the breakeven trading costs for such strategies were just 25 bps (by which we mean trading costs had to be below 25 bps for the strategies to be profitable).
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 4
2 Conservative investing stands the test of time In May, Head of Factor Investing Guido Baltussen explained how low-risk equities have outperformed for even longer than previously thought. We’ve long been proponents of the benefits of conservative investing, which involves allocating to low-risk equities. In fact, we’ve conducted numerous studies that show that since 1929, when stock returns in the US were first recorded, a low-risk approach has outperformed the broad market. But could this be a mere statistical anomaly? To examine whether low-risk has outperformed over an even longer period, we constructed a novel US stock database for the period from 1866 to 1929, taking into account stock prices, dividend yields and market capitalizations. This huge effort took several years and involved collecting market capitalization data, double-checking all inputs, cleaning data and adjusting for stock de-listings and stock splits using digitalized financial journals. This provided us with additional and unique insights given that the decades before 1929 contained several boom-bust cycles, wars and periods of deflation. We found that the relationship between risk and return
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 5
was negative between 1866 and 1929, with higher-risk portfolios underperforming their lower-risk counterparts. The picture is broadly similar over the full sample period, although returns initially increase in line with extra risk before trending down again as volatility increases to higher levels. This tells us that taking on more risk is not necessarily rewarded over the long run. Our 155-year sample period also gave us the opportunity to study infrequent macro events. For instance, there have only been a handful of recessions over the last 30 years, but they were more common in the 19th century. Similarly, there have not been many periods of war in recent history, but over our entire sample period the US alone was involved in seven wars, starting with the Spanish-US war of 1898. Inflationary episodes were also more common back then. We found that conservative stocks have generally exhibited greater resilience than the broader market in periods of recession, expansion, peace, war, deflation and inflation.
Thanks to these results over a long sample period dating back to the 19th century, we believe it is highly unlikely that conservative stocks’ outperformance is down to luck. In fact, the approach has been shown to work across different time periods and market structures. In our view, this means that the low-risk anomaly is not dependent on a specific regime or market environment, so the case for a longterm, strategic allocation to conservative stocks remains compelling.
Given our findings, we conclude that conservative, low-risk stocks typically outperform over the longer term as they ‘win by losing less’. This is down to their ability to better preserve capital in down markets while participating meaningfully in rising markets.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 6
3 Six things you need to know about SDG investing Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has become one of the biggest investment opportunities of our time. We’ve collated everything you might want to know about the SDGs and more in our brochure, ‘Six things you need to know about SDG investing’, which we published in May. Here’s a brief summary of the six things to know.
1. The SDGs represent a business opportunity The UN has been clear from the outset that the SDGs are not intended to be another form of development aid or charity, but a globally shared sustainable development agenda for the betterment of all. This means that contributing to the SDGs represents a massive business opportunity.
2. They enable you to zoom in on your own goals With 17 SDGs and 169 targets to choose from, there’s no shortage of subjects that investors can use to zoom in on their own ambitions. Sustainable investing used to be a rather general concept that was open to interpretation, but the SDGs have changed that.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 7
3. Impact investing is not the same as ESG integration The SDGs are the world’s plan for promoting sustainable economic growth, advancing social inclusion and safeguarding the natural environment. This means allocating to companies that contribute to the goals is a means of impact investing. This is totally different from ESG integration, which focuses on avoiding financial risks that stem from poor performance on environmental, social and governance issues.
4. We can identify the contributions that companies make to the SDGs
One of our recently launched strategies, RobecoSAM Global SDG Engagement Equities, intentionally looks for those companies that are a work in progress so that we can engage with them to help them make a bigger contribution.
6. The world has made a good start, but needs to ramp up its efforts Billions of euros have been committed to help achieve the goals, but more than six years since the SDGs were launched, that’s not nearly enough to meet all the targets by their 2030 deadline. Trillions of dollars per year of funding are needed for the goals to be achieved.
In 2018, Robeco became one of the first asset managers to develop an investment framework focused exclusively on companies’ impact on the goals. Based on a three-step process that considers what a company produces, how it produces it and whether it has been involved in any controversies, the framework offers a rules-based approach that captures firms’ positive and negative impact on the SDGs.
5. Engagement is the latest tool in our armory Some companies that already contribute to the SDGs represent attractive investments. But what about those that could make a much bigger contribution with a bit of a nudge? That’s where engagement comes in.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 8
4 SI dilemmas: Is EU Sustainable Finance regulation helping or hurting? It was four years in May since the EU plan for financing sustainable growth was adopted by the European Commission, and over a year since the first phase of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) came into effect. Meanwhile, the second phase was in the process of being implemented. Our Head of Sustainability Integration, Masja Zandbergen-Albers, used this opportunity to reflect on how the regulation has affected the world of asset management so far. There have been some positive aspects. For example, the regulation is meant to finance sustainable growth to help reach the climate goals of the Paris Agreement, so its focus is on creating a positive impact. What’s more, the use of the term ‘double materiality’ (financial and societal effects) in the regulation is making asset managers think more about the real-world impact of their entire book of business. It’s also forcing them to find new ways to become more sustainable to stand out from the crowd. However, there’s still no clear definition of what constitutes a sustainable investment, and the regulation doesn’t shed much light on the darkness of sustainability acronyms. While defining which economic activities contribute to certain sustainability goals is a good idea, currently less
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 9
than 5% of economic activities are defined in the EU’s Green Taxonomy, and data on these elements is either still lacking or of poor quality. For other elements of the regulation, such as good governance, sustainable investments, and doing no significant harm combined with social safeguards, everyone is coming up with their own approach. This means endinvestors will still be comparing apples with oranges until these definitions start to converge.
partner with clients, peers, NGOs and academics, and drive positive change. That said, ultimately the regulation is pushing the industry not only towards greater transparency and comparability, but also towards better practices. What gets measured (and, more importantly, reported on) will also get done.
Another aspect is that characterizing an investment strategy as promoting E and S (Article 8) or as having a sustainable objective (Article 9) means there are many hoops to jump through and report on, such as good governance, sustainable investments, Principal Adverse Impacts and taxonomy alignment. We need to make sure that implementing this very large piece of regulation does not prevent us from financing sustainable growth, which is what the legislation is actually meant to achieve. For us, this means investing assets in a sustainable and financially sensible way, and being an engaged and active owner of the issuers we invest in. The legislation puts a large burden of proof on asset managers that are actually implementing sustainable investing over their entire book of business. It’s vital not to get distracted by drawing up all kinds of disclosures and filling in templates. We need to continue to perform research, come up with innovative investment solutions,
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 10
5 Embracing the sustainability revolution in the world of investing In May, our CIO of Fixed Income and Sustainability, Victor Verberk, gave a talk on what the shift to sustainability means for asset owners and asset managers like Robeco, with a focus on the key themes of climate and decarbonization. He started out by considering the practical steps towards net zero. Many asset owners and asset managers have made a commitment to reach net zero and are now at the practical stage of working out what this means for how they make their investment decisions, how they look at stocks and bonds, the type of people they should employ, and what data and toolkits they need. He explained how Robeco will follow a trajectory of decarbonizing its credit and equity portfolios by 7% per year to align our investments with the goals of the Paris Agreement. We have developed software and tools that enable every portfolio manager to track the carbon footprint of their portfolio and of each holding, and to assess how their portfolio decarbonizes over time. We also aim to be net zero in our operations by 2050. He went on to discuss the role of carbon markets and carbon offsetting. There will be residual emissions in industries like cement and chemicals, so by definition we need negative-emission technologies and carbon offsets.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 11
Estimates show that the use of carbon markets, whether through free market forces or using mandates, could halve the costs of implementing the Paris Agreement. Robeco intends to provide guidance to clients on the use of carbon credits in net-zero strategies. We will also monitor the development of carbon credits as an asset class and will innovate with carbon-neutral product offerings.
Through the partnership we will engage with clients and other stakeholders in the financial sector to create more awareness of the issue, and to inspire them to integrate biodiversity into their policies. We are co-developing a thematic biodiversity investment strategy and are working on a biodiversity investment framework that will enable us to link individual companies to biodiversity impacts across all of our investments.
He then explained how sustainable investing creates great opportunities for stock pickers. For example, there will be winners and losers in the short term from the EU Green Deal, which includes plans to introduce import tariffs and carbon policies over time. Disciplined analysis can help asset managers like us identify those best placed to gain. Victor also touched upon Robeco’s actions with regard to maintaining biodiversity. Robeco has published a roadmap for aligning its investment activities around biodiversity, and has partnered with WWF Netherlands to promote the integration of biodiversity in asset management.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 12
6 ‘I have always tried to make sense of human behavior’
In May we spoke to Meir Statman, Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University in the US. His research focuses on behavioral finance, attempting to understand how investors and managers make financial decisions and how these decisions are reflected in financial markets. One of the questions we asked him was what behavioral finance says about market efficiency – his response is below. “The efficient market hypothesis is at the center of standard finance, and many believe that behavioral finance refutes it. Indeed, many believe that the refutal of the efficient market hypothesis is the most important contribution of behavioral finance. Confusion around this issue arises, however, when people fail to distinguish between two versions of efficient markets and their corresponding efficient market hypotheses: the price-equals-value efficient market hypothesis and the hard-to-beat efficient market hypothesis.” “Price-equals-value-efficient markets are markets where the price of investments always equals their intrinsic value. On the other hand, hard-to-beat-efficient markets are markets in which some investors are able to beat the
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 13
market consistently, finding gaps between prices and values and earning abnormal returns over time, although most are unable to do so. As I often note, ‘yes, markets are crazy, but this does not make you a psychiatrist’.” “Several cognitive errors underlie the belief of amateur investors that markets are easy to beat. One is the framing error. Amateur investors frame trading as playing tennis against a training wall. This is easy. But trading is playing against an opponent on the other side of the net, perhaps Novak Djokovic, or perhaps a trader with inside information. Other traders realize that they might be playing against an insider, but are overconfident in their ability to win. After all, they have never played against Djokovic.”
“This was an opening for discussions of the wider range of people’s wants central in the second generation of behavioral finance, such as wants for social status or fairness. My first article on SRI was published in the Financial Analysts Journal in 1993. I ended the article with a quote from the provost of a Quaker college who was asked why they do not invest in manufacturers of armaments. The response was ‘Our board isn’t out to change the world. We are seeking a oneness between ourselves and our Lord’.”
We also asked him about how he views sustainability in the context of behavioral finance. “Socially responsible investing (SRI) was the name of the movement before ESG, sustainability, and more terms were coined. I found social responsibility criteria especially relevant to behavioral finance because they cannot be reasonably classified as proxies of risk or expected returns. Instead, they proxy people’s wants for the expressive and emotional benefits of staying true to their values.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 14
7 SI dilemmas: The unexpected debate about weapons Sustainable investing has never been static, having evolved over the decades to include a wider range of asset classes and approaches. In April, our Head of SI Research Rachel Whittaker wrote about how one of the longest-standing tenets of sustainable investing – the exclusion of weapons – had been challenged by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Most sustainable investors generally agree on the basic principles of excluding weapons, and the practice of avoiding the most controversial types is not limited to ethical or sustainable investors. In Switzerland, for example, the Federal Act on War Material prevents all Swiss banks and pension strategies from investing in equipment that has been specifically designed for military combat. This represents a relatively narrow range of activities, though, so industry body Swiss Sustainable Finance does not include strategies that only implement the bare minimum legally required weapons exclusions in its calculations of sustainably managed assets. The war in Ukraine has triggered a debate over weapons exclusions, with some investors and commentators calling for a reconsideration of the near-universal exclusion of weapons from sustainable portfolios. The catalyst for the discussion is the question whether weapons are in
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 15
fact a necessary tool to protect peace and democracy; and whether they actually contribute to, or may even be necessary to achieve, SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. The debate has been further fueled by the proposal in February of an EU Sustainable Finance Social Taxonomy that only explicitly deems highly controversial weapons to be fundamentally opposed to social objectives. This is a similarly narrow definition to the one in the Swiss regulation, raising the possibility that non-military firearms could play a role in helping to achieve other social aims, such as protecting human rights.
This discussion will no doubt resurface in future, as many topics that involve a trade-off between possible positive and negative outcomes do. Such challenges to generally accepted views are valuable, even if we disagree. Considering different points of view forces us to pay attention to changes and to reassess whether our decisions are still valid and evidence-based. We emerge either with greater conviction, or with a new outlook.
Thus far, the strength of feeling about weapons seems too great to meaningfully shift sustainable portfolios in the short term. More weapons are not a guarantee of safer and more peaceful societies – in fact, it’s probably the opposite, given the close link between high rates of gun violence and weak firearms control laws. Investors in public companies have no guarantee that weapons sold by the firms they invest in would only be used for ‘good’, nor can they control where they end up. And while the goals of SDG 16 may be difficult to achieve, its first target – ‘Reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere’ – cannot be ignored.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 16
8 How to read the huge emerging markets discount In April, we hosted a podcast in which three of our experts – Wim-Hein Pals, Wilma de Groot and Michiel van Voorst – got together to discuss whether emerging equities represented a bargain or whether they were cheap for a reason.This discussion is available as podcast, video and long read. When asked why emerging markets have underperformed developed markets in recent years, Wim-Hein Pals responded: “I would like to stress that all the good news has been discounted in the share prices of developed markets. There’s been strong growth in the internet space, in the US, and in the growth names there. And all the bad news has been discounted in emerging market share prices. So we are around the perfect entry point into emerging markets after this period of underperformance. A lot of shocks have happened, and these are reflected in the share prices of today as markets are pretty efficient. So investors are now very underweight the asset class and in an environment of interest rate hikes in the US, they are looking for attractively valued asset classes. And emerging equities is an interesting asset class from a valuation angle. It’s underinvested and undervalued at the current stage. So there is an anomaly that you can benefit from over the longer term. The undervaluation will not disappear overnight or over a
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 17
couple of months, but over the next couple of years. It’s my conviction that it will disappear or gradually converge with the valuations in developed markets.” Wilma de Groot was asked what happens to a quant model in a time of crisis. She answered: “This relates very much to the discussion of country allocation versus bottom-up selection within these countries and sectors. Research shows that there is a return to be gained from country allocation in the long run, but it’s much more difficult to predict, partly because of crisis periods that can happen in individual countries. So the focus in our strategies has been much more on selection within countries and sectors than country allocation. We limit the deviations of countries compared to the index as much as possible, and that has also paid off in this crisis situation. For example, recently in Russia, we were on average underweight, which was beneficial for the strategies.”
Michiel van Voorst pointed out that he wasn’t too worried about rate hikes in the US: “If you think about external deficits, fiscal deficits, and sound macroeconomic policies, a lot of emerging markets are looking pretty good on those fronts. So they’re less vulnerable to rising US rates today than in the past. That’s how I look at it.”
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 18
9 Integrating sustainability without sacrificing returns or diversification
Back in March, Joop Huij, Head of Indices, considered one of the main concerns of many passive investors – whether reducing a passive portfolio’s carbon footprint and avoiding companies that have a negative effect on the SDGs can be achieved without compromising on its financial returns or level of diversification. This was the third article in a series covering sustainability in indices. One of the main advantages of passive investing is that such strategies track market indices that offer investors broad diversification in their quest to earn an equity premium. On top of this, sustainability is now a key consideration for many investors, including those adopting a passive approach. One of the concerns we often hear is that being more selective when taking investment decisions, as is the case when incorporating sustainability considerations, could lead to lower returns and reduced diversification. A key question is therefore whether the risk-return outcomes of a passive approach can only be attained by investing in all index constituents, or if a more selective approach – such as excluding high emitters of carbon or companies that have a
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 19
negative impact on the SDGs – can produce similar returns. In investigating this notion, we ran a number of simulations in which we applied various sustainability screens. For example, we constructed portfolios that avoided the subindustries with the highest carbon footprints, or excluded stocks that contribute negatively to the SDGs. We compared the performance of these alternative, sustainable passive solutions to unconstrained portfolios that were allowed to invest in both brown and green industries.
Given the findings of our analysis, we conclude that integrating sustainability criteria as an investment restriction can result in risk-return characteristics and levels of diversification that are similar to those of passive marketcap indices over the long term. Therefore, we believe sustainability considerations such as carbon footprint reduction and SDG integration are viable options for passive investors.
We found that using a simple low-carbon or positive SDG investment approach did not lead to lower historical returns than investing in the market index. What’s more, the risk levels of the three passive solutions were also similar. In fact, the potential diversification benefits were virtually identical for the more selective approaches that incorporate sustainability and an unrestricted portfolio.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 20
10 To divest or not to divest – that’s not the question One of the fiercest debates when it comes to sustainable investing surrounds the question of whether to engage or divest. In April, Senior Engagement Manager Peter van der Werf and Climate Change Engagement Specialist Nick Spooner considered that very quandary. For asset managers, the question should not be whether to divest or not: it should be ‘at what point should an unsuccessful engagement result in divestment?’. Our core belief is that by engaging with companies, including those involved in fossil fuels, asset managers can help steer them towards a more sustainable future, whereas if you divest from those companies, you lose any kind of say in the matter and other shareholders who care less about sustainability will jump in and take your place. But it’s a fine line for our engagement specialists, who have to consider our clients’ demands and take on board the views of our investment teams. According to Spooner, “There’s certainly a need for both engagement and divestment. We want to avoid the false dichotomy of engagement and divestment, though, and instead ask the question: how do you use these tools together?”. In contrast to NGOs and activist groups, an asset manager engaging with companies is, by the nature of the industry, both
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 21
trying to change the world for the better and meet a clear financial objective. Spooner says the engagement versus divestment question is a good example of the potential tension in terms of the methods that investors want to deploy versus what NGOs want. And this is due to an oversimplification around what needs to be done to get to net zero. The transition isn’t going to happen overnight and divesting doesn’t necessarily have a large-scale impact on the actions of oil and gas companies.
Van der Werf concludes by explaining, “Active ownership is a long-term game. You don’t achieve results overnight, but I think asking the right type of questions persistently and consistently and driving companies in the right direction will help us to show there are real-world outcomes.”
“We can have the greatest real-world impact through our engagement activities. And we do have a duty to do that engagement and to drive these real-world outcomes. We are among a small set of investors currently doing this sort of time-bound engagement but it ought to be the norm. So the debate should be: how do we create more conditions and accountability around our engagement to achieve the outcomes that we want to achieve?”
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 22
11 Inflation may be more about the destination than the peak In June, we hosted the second Robeco Annual Inflation Day, at which a number of external specialists spoke about four topics linked to inflation. Global Macro Strategist Martin van Vliet summarized the discussions. The first topic was supply chain disruptions, about which there was cautious optimism. Disruptions to global supply chains due to the pandemic have been a source of inflation over the past two years. We note from the discussion that disruptions peaked in October 2021 but that the easing of bottlenecks has stalled since March. One area where progress has continued is port congestion. Long queues of ships were building at ports such as Los Angeles between June and October 2021, but these queues are now almost back to normal. Car prices have been another major source of inflation, so it’s encouraging that auto production plans in the US have recently increased, reaching pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, shortages of semiconductors persist but semiconductor production is now 19% above the level that would have been expected based on pre-pandemic trend growth. The second topic was the interplay between wages and inflation. Wage growth in the US (around 4.7%) is exceeding that in the Eurozone (around 2%). It’s difficult at
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 23
this stage to judge how significant the risk of a wage-price spiral is, but we believe it appears more substantial in the US. The Eurozone has a long history of relatively subdued wage growth and inflation, which could help limit the pace at which wage demands rise. The situation is somewhat different in the US and UK, where inflation and wage growth have been more volatile over the past decade. Next up was globalization, deglobalization and inflation. Globalization of value chains and the integration of China into the world economy have acted as a restraining force on goods price inflation over the past few decades. A scenario of slower globalization or, more hypothetically, deglobalization could be a reason to expect somewhat higher inflation in the future. But thus far there seems to be little sign of a broad process of deglobalization. What’s more, global trade volumes remain high.
Finally we talked about the energy transition and inflation. Carbon taxes could be a relatively efficient way to stimulate the transition in demand away from fossil fuels and towards green energy. Our discussion highlighted that effective carbon taxation would add around 0.25% per year to US inflation and 0.1% to German inflation for a period of at least three years. Emission caps and a prescribed minimum percentage of renewable energy sources would be less effective in bringing about such a transition – and would be more inflationary. Other channels through which the energy transition could be inflationary include a potential wage-price spiral resulting from a scarcity of qualified staff to execute the transition process.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 24
121 Consumer trends: the subscription economy and the metaverse
New megatrends keep unfolding. Portfolio Manager Jack Neele began the year by considering two that could be attractive sources of opportunities for investors: the subscription economy and the metaverse. The subscription economy refers to all the products and services people can think of made available through a subscription scheme, rather than traditional casual buying. It therefore often implies a shift from ownership to usership. Good examples are the popular music and video streaming services. But it can be virtually anything, from a box of fresh vegetables delivered weekly, to a car or a pair of blue jeans that may be renewed, and eventually recycled, on a regular basis. Subscription-based business models are not new, having been around for many decades. However, they have experienced a tremendous boom in recent years. For investors, subscription businesses typically offer reduced uncertainty regarding revenue and profit generation in the long term relative to more traditional business models. What’s more, these companies tend to generate a constant stream of data that can be used to improve service, increase
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 25
customer satisfaction and identify complementary business opportunities. This generally leads to relatively stable growth over time. Subscription businesses grew nearly six times faster than the S&P 500 between 2012-2020, driven by rising consumer demand for subscription services. We expect this trend to continue in the coming decades, essentially driven by the ongoing digitalization of the economy. Another important tailwind for the coming years is the unavoidable generational transition, as millennials and Gen Zs tend to be keener on subscription and usership schemes than older cohorts are. The metaverse, meanwhile, became a buzzword in 2021 as important players in the technology arena announced important steps in this field. In particular, the public listing of gaming platform Roblox and the renaming of Facebook to Meta Platforms were key milestones. But beyond the current hype around this concept, we think it reflects a number of structural trends unfolding at the intersection of the Internet of Things, social media, and mobile computing.
In many ways, the metaverse can be seen as the next step of the internet, where increased connectivity will further integrate digital and physical lives. It is therefore not something predefined, but a constantly changing concept. This means that while it is difficult to envision precisely what the metaverse will look like ten years from now, developments in this area are unstoppable. For investors, we think that while it is still early days and some caution is warranted, the metaverse’s promising prospects should not be overlooked. Admittedly, the number of investable companies directly involved in the advent of the metaverse remains relatively small. We therefore advocate a so-called ‘picks and shovels’ approach, investing selectively in companies that are enabling these developments. These range from social media platforms to chip makers.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 26
Robeco Daily Sketches It is said that a picture paints a thousand words. Robeco’s Thematic Investing team collects the most relevant and intriguing graph or chart for you every morning. We selected 6 from this year’s feed.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 27
21-01-2022
Look up Last year, smartphone users around the world spent nearly 3.8 trillion hours engaged in mobile applications, up 5.6% year-onyear according to App Annie’s annual report. Users spent on average 4.8 hours per day looking at their smartphones, equivalent to a third of their waking hours. While social and communication services account for the largest share of time spent at 42% of those hours, the fastest-growing category was entertainment services, up 10.9% year-on-year. In 2021, smartphone users spent USD 170 billion on applications, downloading 230 billion of them. And despite increased privacy tools, mobile advertising revenues rose 23% year-on-year to more than USD 295 billion in 2021. Smartphones continue to demonstrate increased utility, with an expanding array of applications beyond social and gaming to include financial, health, and education services. Despite all this, it might also be useful to look up from your screen from time to time. Time spent on mobile apps by category, in billion hours 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 1Q18 2Q18
3Q18
Social & comms
4Q18
1Q19 2Q19
Photo & video
3Q19
4Q19
Games
1Q20 2Q20 Entertainment
3Q20
4Q20
1Q21 2Q21
3Q21
4Q21
Other
Source: App Annie, January 2022
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 28
10-02-2022
Vehicles on volts Global investments in electrified transport ballooned from USD 17 billion in 2014 to USD 273 billion in 2021. Electric passenger vehicle transport accounted for 89% of total investments in 2021. But it seems the chances of seeing an electric bus whizzing by are diminishing, given that investment in this mode of transport fell from USD 21 billion in 2016 to USD 13 billion in 2021. Meanwhile, with the growth of e-commerce, demand for package deliveries has increased. This, coupled with operators wanting to reduce their emissions, led to investment in medium and light commercial electric vehicles growing by around 36% in 2021. But increasing adoption of electric vehicles needs to be supported by investment in charging infrastructure; this came in at USD 9 billion in 2021 – just 3% of total investment.
Global electrified transport investments by category 300
273
250
200 155 150
100 65 50 17 0
2014 Passenger EV sales
108
106
2018
2019
77
25
2015
2016 Electric buses
2017 Commercial EVs
Public charging
2020
2021
Home charging
Total
Source: BloombergNEF, 2022
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 29
30-05-2022
Redundant technology While the overall employment market remains strong, there has been a significant uptick in layoffs announced by technology companies this year. So far in the second quarter of 2022, 79 technology firms have announced more than 19,000 employee terminations, including 15,000 in May alone. Following the initial surge in pandemic-related layoffs (many in the travel industry) in the second quarter of 2020, the technology industry enjoyed robust growth as digital services facilitated working from home, school and entertainment. Technology layoffs announced this year have spanned a broad array of segments, including advertising, entertainment, finance, fitness, and retail. Some of the largest announcements of layoffs have come from earlierstage and less profitable companies as such firms seek to reduce cash burn as new financing requirements become more stringent. Technology company layoff announcements 60,000 400 50,000
350 300
40,000
250 30,000
200 150
20,000
100 10,000
50
0
0 1Q20
2Q20
Employees laid off
3Q20
4Q20
1Q21
Layoff announcements
2Q21
3Q21
4Q21
1Q22
2Q22 TD
Source: Layoffs.fyi, May 2022
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 30
31-05-2022
Recovery pains A combination of bad weather and ongoing staff shortages resulted in more than 6,000 global flight cancellations on the typically busy Memorial Day long weekend. Nevertheless, the US Transportation Security Administration recorded 6.5 million passengers at airport checkpoints between Friday and Sunday of that weekend. While this year’s air passenger traffic was up 24% year-on-year, the figure still falls 11% short of the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. In addition to cancellations and delays, consumers are facing steep inflation; in April, US airfare prices were up 33.3% year-on-year. While consumers appear ready to travel again, the airline industry is still suffering from recovery pains.
US air passengers 3,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000 500,000
2022
2021
2020
28-May
21-May
14-May
7-May
30-Apr
23-Apr
16-Apr
9-Apr
2-Apr
26-Mar
19-Mar
12-Mar
5-Mar
26-Feb
19-Feb
12-Feb
5-Feb
29-Jan
22-Jan
15-Jan
8-Jan
1-Jan
0
2019
Source: US Transportation Security Administration
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 31
13-06-2022
Paycheck to paycheck As inflation continues to rise, living paycheck to paycheck could become even more common in the US. 80% of consumers earning less than USD 50,000 per year are already living paycheck to paycheck, a recent survey by consumer credit company LendingClub shows. Surprisingly, perhaps, as many as 35% of those earning more than USD 250,000 per year – five times the US median income – also report living paycheck to paycheck. Possible reasons for this could be their higher fixed financial obligations and more lavish lifestyles. If inflation continues to outpace earnings, it is likely more consumers will live paycheck to paycheck and / or be forced to reduce their consumption.
Living paycheck to paycheck is prevalent among US consumers even among those earning more than USD 250k per year
Less than USD 50k 50k to 100k 100k to 150k 150k to 200k 200k to 250k More than USD 250k 0%
10%
Live paycheck to paycheck with difficulty
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Live paycheck to paycheck but comfortable
70%
80%
90%
100%
Do not live paycheck to paycheck
Source: US Transportation Security Administration
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 32
11-05-2022
Time to build According to the McKinsey Global Institute, the net-zero transition will drive a tremendous reallocation of capital from highemission to low-emission assets. Today, roughly 65% of annual capital spending is directed towards high-emission assets, but by 2030 70% of capital spending could be allocated to low-emission assets. As a result, McKinsey estimates USD 9-12 trillion worth of annual economic opportunity exists for projects geared towards achieving net-zero emission targets. With benefits for both the environment and the bottom line, it’s time to build green.
Average annual physical asset spending 2021-2050, USD trillion
Low-emission assets, 2
New low-emission assets, 3.5
High-emission asset, 2.7s
Reallocated to low-emission assets, 1
Source: McKinsey Global Institute, April 2022
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 33
Important information Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. has a license as manager of Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) and Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) (“Fund(s)”) from The Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets in Amsterdam. This marketing document is solely intended for professional investors, defined as investors qualifying as professional clients, have requested to be treated as professional clients or are authorized to receive such information under any applicable laws. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V and/or its related, affiliated and subsidiary companies, (“Robeco”), will not be liable for any damages arising out of the use of this document. Users of this information who provide investment services in the European Union have their own responsibility to assess whether they are allowed to receive the information in accordance with MiFID II regulations. To the extent this information qualifies as a reasonable and appropriate minor non-monetary benefit under MiFID II, users that provide investment services in the European Union are responsible to comply with applicable recordkeeping and disclosure requirements. The content of this document is based upon sources of information believed to be reliable and comes without warranties of any kind. Without further explanation this document cannot be considered complete. Any opinions, estimates or forecasts may be changed at any time without prior warning. If in doubt, please seek independent advice. It is intended to provide the professional investor with general information on Robeco’s specific capabilities, but has not been prepared by Robeco as investment research and does not constitute an investment recommendation or advice to buy or sell certain securities or investment products and/or to adopt any investment strategy and/or legal, accounting or tax advice. All rights relating to the information in this document are and will remain the property of Robeco. This material may not be copied or used with the public. No part of this document may be reproduced, or published in any form or by any means without Robeco's prior written permission. Investment involves risks. Before investing, please note the initial capital is not guaranteed. Investors should ensure that they fully understand the risk associated with any Robeco product or service offered in their country of domicile. Investors should also consider their own investment objective and risk tolerance level. Historical returns are provided for illustrative purposes only. The price of units may go down as well as up and the past performance is not indicative of future performance. If the currency in which the past performance is displayed differs from the currency of the country in which you reside, then you should be aware that due to exchange rate fluctuations the performance shown may increase or decrease if converted into your local currency. The performance data do not take account of the commissions and costs incurred on trading securities in client portfolios or on the issue and redemption of units. Unless otherwise stated, the prices used for the performance figures of the Luxembourg-based Funds are the end-of-month transaction prices net of fees up to 4 August 2010. From 4 August 2010, the transaction prices net of fees will be those of the first business day of the month. Return figures versus the benchmark show the investment management result before management and/or performance fees; the Fund returns are with dividends reinvested and based on net asset values with prices and exchange rates of the valuation moment of the benchmark. Please refer to the prospectus of the Funds for further details. Performance is quoted net of investment management fees. The ongoing charges mentioned in this document are the ones stated in the Fund's latest annual report at closing date of the last calendar year. This document is not directed to, or intended for distribution to or use by any person or entity who is a citizen or resident of or located in any locality, state, country or other jurisdiction where such distribution, document, availability or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would subject any Fund or Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. to any registration or licensing requirement within such jurisdiction. Any decision to subscribe for interests in a Fund offered in a particular jurisdiction must be made solely on the basis of information contained in the prospectus, which information may be different from the information contained in this document. Prospective applicants for shares should inform themselves as to legal requirements also applying and any applicable exchange control regulations and applicable taxes in the countries of their respective citizenship, residence or domicile. The Fund information, if any, contained in this document is qualified in its entirety by reference to the prospectus, and this document should, at all times, be read in conjunction with the prospectus. Detailed information on the Fund and associated risks is contained in the prospectus. The prospectus and the Key Investor Information Document for the Robeco Funds can all be obtained free of charge at Robeco website.
Additional Information for US investors Robeco is considered “participating affiliated” and some of their employees are “associated persons” of Robeco Institutional Asset Management US Inc. (“RIAM US”) as per relevant SEC no-action guidance. Employees identified as associated persons of RIAM US perform activities directly or indirectly related to the investment advisory services provided by RIAM US. In those situation these individuals are deemed to be acting on behalf of RIAM US, a US SEC registered investment adviser. SEC regulations are applicable only to clients, prospects and investors of RIAM US. RIAM US is wholly owned subsidiary of ORIX Corporation Europe N.V. and offers investment advisory services to institutional clients in the US. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Australia and New Zealand This document is distributed in Australia by Robeco Hong Kong Limited (ARBN 156 512 659) (“Robeco”), which is exempt from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services license under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) pursuant to ASIC Class Order 03/1103. Robeco is regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission under the laws of Hong Kong and those laws may differ from Australian laws. This document is distributed only to “wholesale clients” as that term is defined under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). This document is not for distribution or dissemination, directly or indirectly, to any other class of persons. In New Zealand, this document is only available to wholesale investors within the meaning of clause 3(2) of Schedule 1 of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (‘FMCA’). This document is not for public distribution in Australia and New Zealand. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Austria This information is solely intended for professional investors or eligible counterparties in the meaning of the Austrian Securities Oversight Act. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Brazil The Fund may not be offered or sold to the public in Brazil. Accordingly, the Fund has not been nor will be registered with the Brazilian Securities Commission – CVM, nor has it been submitted to the foregoing agency for approval. Documents relating to the Fund, as well as the information contained therein, may not be supplied to the public in Brazil, as the offering of the Fund is not a public offering of securities in Brazil, nor may they be used in connection with any offer for subscription or sale of securities to the public in Brazil. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Canada No securities commission or similar authority in Canada has reviewed or in any way passed upon this document or the merits of the securities described herein, and any representation to the contrary is an offence. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. is relying on the international dealer and international adviser exemption in Quebec and has appointed McCarthy Tétrault LLP as its agent for service in Quebec. Additional information for investors with residence or seat in the Republic of Chile Neither Robeco nor the Robeco funds have been registered with the Comisión para el Mercado Financiero pursuant to law no. 18.045, the Ley de Mercado de Valores and regulations thereunder. This document does not constitute an offer of, or an invitation to subscribe for or purchase, shares of the Funds in the Republic of Chile, other than to the specific person who individually requested this information on his own initiative. This may therefore be treated as a “private offering” within the meaning of article 4 of the Ley de Mercado de Valores (an offer that is not addressed to the public at large or to a certain sector or specific group of the public). Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Colombia This document does not constitute a public offer in the Republic of Colombia. The offer of the Fund is addressed to less than one hundred specifically identified investors. The Fund may not be promoted or marketed in Colombia or to Colombian residents, unless such promotion and marketing is made in compliance with Decree 2555 of 2010 and other applicable rules and regulations related to the promotion of foreign Funds in Colombia.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 34
Important information Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), United Arab Emirates This material is being distributed by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. (DIFC Branch) located at Office 209, Level 2, Gate Village Building 7, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, PO Box 482060, UAE. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. (DIFC Branch) is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”) and only deals with Professional Clients or Market Counterparties and does not deal with Retail Clients as defined by the DFSA. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in France Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. is at liberty to provide services in France. Robeco France is a subsidiary of Robeco whose business is based on the promotion and distribution of the group's funds to professional investors in France. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Germany This information is solely intended for professional investors or eligible counterparties in the meaning of the German Securities Trading Act. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Hong Kong The contents of this document have not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) in Hong Kong. If you are in any doubt about any of the contents of this document, you should obtain independent professional advice. This document has been distributed by Robeco Hong Kong Limited (“Robeco”). Robeco is regulated by the SFC in Hong Kong. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Italy This document is considered for use solely by qualified investors and private professional clients (as defined in Article 26 (1) (b) and (d) of Consob Regulation No. 16190 dated 29 October 2007). If made available to Distributors and individuals authorized by Distributors to conduct promotion and marketing activity, it may only be used for the purpose for which it was conceived. The data and information contained in this document may not be used for communications with Supervisory Authorities. This document does not include any information to determine, in concrete terms, the investment inclination and, therefore, this document cannot and should not be the basis for making any investment decisions. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Japan This documents are considered for use solely by qualified investors and are being distributed by Robeco Japan Company Limited, registered in Japan as a Financial Instruments Business Operator, [registered No. the Director of Kanto Local Financial Bureau (Financial Instruments Business Operator), No, 2780, Member of Japan Investment Advisors Association]. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Mexico The funds have not been and will not be registered with the National Registry of Securities, maintained by the Mexican National Banking and Securities Commission and, as a result, may not be offered or sold publicly in Mexico. Robeco and any underwriter or purchaser may offer and sell the funds in Mexico on a private placement basis to Institutional and Accredited Investors, pursuant to Article 8 of the Mexican Securities Market Law. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Peru The Fund has not been registered with the Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores (SMV) and is being placed by means of a private offer. SMV has not reviewed the information provided to the investor. This document is only for the exclusive use of institutional investors in Peru and is not for public distribution.
Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Shanghai This material is prepared by Robeco Overseas Investment Fund Management (Shanghai) Limited Company (“Robeco Shanghai”) and is only provided to the specific objects under the premise of confidentiality. Robeco Shanghai was registered as a private fund manager with the Asset Management Association of China in September 2018. Robeco Shanghai is a wholly foreign-owned enterprise established in accordance with the PRC laws, which enjoys independent civil rights and civil obligations. The statements of the shareholders or affiliates in the material shall not be deemed to a promise or guarantee of the shareholders or affiliates of Robeco Shanghai, or be deemed to any obligations or liabilities imposed to the shareholders or affiliates of Robeco Shanghai. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Singapore This document has not been registered with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”). Accordingly, this document may not be circulated or distributed directly or indirectly to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 304 of the SFA, (ii) to a relevant person pursuant to Section 305(1), or any person pursuant to Section 305(2), and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 305, of the SFA, or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA. The contents of this document have not been reviewed by the MAS. Any decision to participate in the Fund should be made only after reviewing the sections regarding investment considerations, conflicts of interest, risk factors and the relevant Singapore selling restrictions (as described in the section entitled “Important Information for Singapore Investors”) contained in the prospectus. You should consult your professional adviser if you are in doubt about the stringent restrictions applicable to the use of this document, regulatory status of the Fund, applicable regulatory protection, associated risks and suitability of the Fund to your objectives. Investors should note that only the sub-Funds listed in the appendix to the section entitled “Important Information for Singapore Investors” of the prospectus (“Sub-Funds”) are available to Singapore investors. The Sub-Funds are notified as restricted foreign schemes under the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (“SFA”) and are invoking the exemptions from compliance with prospectus registration requirements pursuant to the exemptions under Section 304 and Section 305 of the SFA. The Sub-Funds are not authorized or recognized by the MAS and shares in the Sub-Funds are not allowed to be offered to the retail public in Singapore. The prospectus of the Fund is not a prospectus as defined in the SFA. Accordingly, statutory liability under the SFA in relation to the content of prospectuses would not apply. The Sub-Funds may only be promoted exclusively to persons who are sufficiently experienced and sophisticated to understand the risks involved in investing in such schemes, and who satisfy certain other criteria provided under Section 304, Section 305 or any other applicable provision of the SFA and the subsidiary legislation enacted thereunder. You should consider carefully whether the investment is suitable for you. Robeco Singapore Private Limited holds a capital markets services license for fund management issued by the MAS and is subject to certain clientele restrictions under such license. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Malaysia Generally, no offer or sale of the Shares is permitted in Malaysia unless where a Recognition Exemption or the Prospectus Exemption applies: NO ACTION HAS BEEN, OR WILL BE, TAKEN TO COMPLY WITH MALAYSIAN LAWS FOR MAKING AVAILABLE, OFFERING FOR SUBSCRIPTION OR PURCHASE, OR ISSUING ANY INVITATION TO SUBSCRIBE FOR OR PURCHASE OR SALE OF THE SHARES IN MALAYSIA OR TO PERSONS IN MALAYSIA AS THE SHARES ARE NOT INTENDED BY THE ISSUER TO BE MADE AVAILABLE, OR MADE THE SUBJECT OF ANY OFFER OR INVITATION TO SUBSCRIBE OR PURCHASE, IN MALAYSIA. NEITHER THIS DOCUMENT NOR ANY DOCUMENT OR OTHER MATERIAL IN CONNECTION WITH THE SHARES SHOULD BE DISTRIBUTED, CAUSED TO BE DISTRIBUTED OR CIRCULATED IN MALAYSIA. NO PERSON SHOULD MAKE AVAILABLE OR MAKE ANY INVITATION OR OFFER OR INVITATION TO SELL OR PURCHASE THE SHARES IN MALAYSIA UNLESS SUCH PERSON TAKES THE NECESSARY ACTION TO COMPLY WITH MALAYSIAN LAWS.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 35
Important information Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Thailand The Prospectus has not been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission which takes no responsibility for its contents. No offer to the public to purchase the Shares will be made in Thailand and the Prospectus is intended to be read by the addressee only and must not be passed to, issued to, or shown to the public generally. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Brunei The Prospectus relates to a private collective investment scheme which is not subject to any form of domestic regulations by the Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (“Authority”). The Prospectus is intended for distribution only to specific classes of investors as specified in section 20 of the Securities Market Order, 2013, and must not, therefore, be delivered to, or relied on by, a retail client. The Authority is not responsible for reviewing or verifying any prospectus or other documents in connection with this collective investment scheme. The Authority has not approved the Prospectus or any other associated documents nor taken any steps to verify the information set out in the Prospectus and has no responsibility for it. The units to which the Prospectus relates may be illiquid or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective purchasers of the units offered should conduct their own due diligence on the units. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Indonesia The Prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation to buy securities in Indonesia. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Spain Robeco Institutional Asset Management BV, Sucursal en España with identification number W0032687F and having its registered office in Madrid at Calle Serrano 47-14º, is registered with the Spanish Commercial Registry in Madrid, in volume 19.957, page 190, section 8, sheet M-351927 and with the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) in the Official Register of branches of European investment services companies, under number 24. The investment funds or SICAV mentioned in this document are regulated by the corresponding authorities of their country of origin and are registered in the Special Registry of the CNMV of Foreign Collective Investment Institutions marketed in Spain. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in South Africa Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V is registered and regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority in South Africa. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Switzerland The Fund(s) are domiciled in Luxembourg. This document is exclusively distributed in Switzerland to qualified investors as defined in the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA). This material is distributed by Robeco Switzerland Ltd, postal address: Josefstrasse 218, 8005 Zurich. ACOLIN Fund Services AG, postal address: Affolternstrasse 56, 8050 Zürich, acts as the Swiss representative of the Fund(s). UBS Switzerland AG, Bahnhofstrasse 45, 8001 Zurich, postal address: Europastrasse 2, P.O. Box, CH-8152 Opfikon, acts as the Swiss paying agent. The prospectus, the Key Investor Information Documents (KIIDs), the articles of association, the annual and semi-annual reports of the Fund(s), as well as the list of the purchases and sales which the Fund(s) has undertaken during the financial year, may be obtained, on simple request and free of charge, at the office of the Swiss representative ACOLIN Fund Services AG. The prospectuses are also available via Robeco website. Additional Information relating to RobecoSAM-branded funds / services Robeco Switzerland Ltd, postal address Josefstrasse 218, 8005 Zurich, Switzerland has a license as asset manager of collective assets from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA. RobecoSAMbranded financial instruments and investment strategies referring to such financial instruments are generally managed by Robeco Switzerland Ltd. The RobecoSAM brand is a registered trademark of Robeco Holding B.V. The brand RobecoSAM is used to market services and products which do entail Robeco’s expertise on Sustainable Investing (SI). The brand RobecoSAM is not to be considered as a separate legal entity.
Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Liechtenstein This document is exclusively distributed to Liechtenstein-based duly licensed financial intermediaries (such as e.g. banks, discretionary portfolio managers, insurance companies, fund of funds, etc.) which do not intend to invest on their own account into Fund(s) displayed in the document. This material is distributed by Robeco Switzerland Ltd, postal address: Josefstrasse 218, 8005 Zurich, Switzerland. LGT Bank Ltd., Herrengasse 12, FL-9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein acts as the representative and paying agent in Liechtenstein. The prospectus, the Key Investor Information Documents (KIIDs), the articles of association, the annual and semi-annual reports of the Fund(s) may be obtained from the representative or via Robeco website. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in the United Arab Emirates Some Funds referred to in this marketing material have been registered with the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (the Authority). Details of all Registered Funds can be found on the Authority’s website. The Authority assumes no liability for the accuracy of the information set out in this material/document, nor for the failure of any persons engaged in the investment Fund in performing their duties and responsibilities. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in the United Kingdom Robeco is subject to limited regulation in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. Details about the extent of our regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Uruguay The sale of the Fund qualifies as a private placement pursuant to section 2 of Uruguayan law 18,627. The Fund must not be offered or sold to the public in Uruguay, except in circumstances which do not constitute a public offering or distribution under Uruguayan laws and regulations. The Fund is not and will not be registered with the Financial Services Superintendency of the Central Bank of Uruguay. The Fund corresponds to investment funds that are not investment funds regulated by Uruguayan law 16,774 dated September 27, 1996, as amended. Additional Information for investors with residence or seat in Taiwan The contents of this document have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Hong Kong. If you are in any doubt about any of the contents of this document, you should obtain independent professional advice. This document has been distributed by Robeco Hong Kong Limited (`Robeco'). Robeco is regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong. This document has been prepared on a confidential basis solely for the recipient and is for information purposes only. Any reproduction or distribution of this documentation, in whole or in part, or the disclosure of its contents, without the prior written consent of Robeco, is prohibited. By accepting this documentation, the recipient agrees to the foregoing. This document is intended to provide the reader with information on Robeco's specific capabilities, but does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell certain securities or investment products. Investment decisions should only be based on the relevant prospectus and on thorough financial, fiscal and legal advice. The contents of this document are based upon sources of information believed to be reliable. This document is not intended for distribution to or use by any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation. Neither the Robeco Capital Growth Funds or other Robeco Funds (the "Fund"), its investment manager nor any of their associates, nor any director, officer or employee accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss arising directly or indirectly from the use of this document. Investment Involves risks. Historical returns are provided for illustrative purposes only and do not necessarily reflect Robeco's expectations for the future. The value of your investments may fluctuate. Past performance is no indication of current or future performance.
Half-time! – Revisiting our best-read content of 2022 | 36