Funds that offer a world of opportunities

CAPTURING EQUITY PREMIUM WITH POTENTIALLY LOWER DOWNSIDE RISK

The Robeco Emerging Conservative Equity Fund (Fund) aims to achieve capital growth equal to, or greater than the MSCI Emerging Markets NR Index (AUD unhedged) with lower volatility over the long-term.

The Fund invests globally in listed securities of companies having their registered office or exercising a preponderant part of their economic activities in emerging countries. The Fund seeks to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns by investing in low-risk stocks through a prudent investment philosophy, founded on award-winning academic research, and based on a compelling economic rationale. Robeco’s investment approach aims to construct a low turnover portfolio of low volatility stocks with low valuation and positive market sentiment.

Key Benefits

• Robeco’s quantitative, evidence-based investment approach aims to identify attractive low-volatility stocks with low turnover and good upside potential.
• The Fund has the potential to obtain enhanced risk / return outcomes through investing in high income, low-risk stocks that may to provide more stable returns to investors.
• Can offer diversification benefits when employed in conjunction with other asset classes and investment styles.
• Full integration of ESG into the portfolio construction process leads to improved environmental footprint compared to the benchmark.
• Managed by Robeco’s experienced investment team, who have a proven track record since 2006.

Key Risks

• Chinese A-shares risk – The Underlying Fund might invest in China A-shares via RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) and/or Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) and/or Stock Connect programmes which may entail additional clearing and settlement, regulatory, operational and counterparty risks. Investments in China A-shares using QFII and/or RQFII carry increased risks. The Underlying Fund’s ability to make the relevant investments or to fully implement or pursue its investment objective and strategy is subject to the applicable laws, rules and regulations (including restrictions on investments and repatriation of principal and profits) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which are subject to change and such change may have potential retrospective effect.
• Currency risk – the Fund will invest in global securities, which are denominated in foreign currencies that will give rise to foreign currency exposure. This means that the Australian dollar value of these investments will vary depending on changes in the exchange rate.
• Emerging market securities risk – Some of the Underlying Fund’s (in which the Fund invests) investments may be in emerging markets. Investments in emerging markets may involve a higher than average risk. The below emerging market characteristics could result in a lower level of investor protection and higher risk of incurring losses as compared to investing in more developed markets. In particular, emerging markets may have,
  • less government supervision of stock exchanges;
  • less rigorous financial reporting, auditing and disclosure requirements;
  • less reliable or efficient trading and settlement systems;
  • less liquid or efficient markets, making it more difficult to buy and sell securities;
  • greater restrictions on foreign investments; or
  • greater government involvement or influence on a country’s economy and investment returns of companies.

• ESG Strategies and Policies risk – The use of ESG criteria and exclusionary screens may affect the Underlying Fund and the Fund’s investment performance and, as such, the Underlying Fund and the Fund may perform differently compared to similar funds that do not use such criteria. The Manager has developed its own policies and processes to manage and implement its ESG screening and criteria. There is a risk that these policies and processes are not drafted comprehensively, or updated in a timely manner to reflect an ESG development, or that there is a system or human error or oversight which impacts the correct implementation of the policy or process. Each of these risks, if realised, may impact the ESG credentials of the Fund or Underlying Fund.
• International investments risk – if the Fund has exposure to international financial products additional risks may apply, including differences between countries relating to accounting, auditing, financial reporting, taxation, government regulation, securities exchanges and transactional procedures and foreign markets may have different levels of liquidity, pricing availability, settlement and clearance procedures.
• Underlying Fund risk – the Fund may implement some or all of its investment strategy through an investment in the Underlying Fund. The Fund and the Underlying Fund are managed as separate entities, with separate investment objectives and investment strategies. No guarantee can be given that the underlying fund will meet its investment objective, continue to be managed according to its current investment strategy or be open to investments in the future. Changes to the Underlying Fund may be made without unitholder approval. Should the Underlying Fund change its investment objective or investment strategy, we will review such changes with consideration to the investment objective and strategy of the Fund. Further, if the Underlying Fund were to be suspended, closed or terminated for any reason, the Fund would be exposed to those changes.