Robeco has renamed its multi-asset funds to increase flexibility and to better emphasise the products’ heightened focus on sustainability.
The Multi-Asset Income fund is now the Sustainable Income Allocation fund; the Multi-Asset Sustainable fund is now the Sustainable Diversified Allocation fund; and the Multi-Asset Growth fund is now the Sustainable Dynamic Allocation fund.
The three funds – recently assigned Gold Morningstar Medallist Rating – have been grouped under the Capital Growth funds, making the multi-asset offering easier to access for those already invested in Robeco’s equity and fixed income strategies.
According to Robeco, the investment approach has shifted from a ‘fund-to-funds’ model to a ‘line-by-line’ structure, which should allow for more efficient risk management and tactical trades implementation in line with industry trends. In particular, Robeco said it would enable more efficient active risk management of regional biases, factor exposures and liquidity, while reducing the need for extensive completion portfolios.
The transition to line-by-line portfolios enables “uniform binding elements” across all strategies, with the funds promoting investments in the portfolio that avoid significant harm to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Robeco’s ‘5-year Expected Returns’ is a key input for the strategic asset allocation of the funds, explicitly considering the impact of climate change on individual asset classes in return forecasts.
Despite these enhancements, the investment process will remain consistent with its previous track record, and the funds will continue to be benchmarked within the same peer group.
Remmert Koekkoek, head of multi-asset solutions at Robeco, said: “We’ve made these strategic changes to offer investors the best mix of Robeco’s strategies across quant, fundamental and thematic approaches. The sustainability focus has been intensified, aiming for the optimal balance between risk, return and sustainability.”
Colin Graham, portfolio manager of multi-asset solutions at Robeco, added: “We’re committed to sustainable investing without compromising performance, hence the benchmarks for performance measurement remain unchanged. Additionally, the new setup provides transparency for clients to assess sustainability credentials and verify labels.”
