John Pinto
Executive Director
j.pinto@robeco.com
+1 646 690 9385
www.robeco.com/us/insurers
230 Park Avenue, Ste 3330, New York, NY 10169 USA
About Robeco
Robeco is a pure-play international asset manager founded in 1929 with headquarters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and 16 offices worldwide. A global leader in sustainable investing since 1995, its unique integration of sustainable as well as fundamental and quantitative research enables the company to offer institutional and private investors an extensive selection of active investment strategies, for a broad range of asset classes.
As of September 2023, Robeco had USD 186 billion in assets under management, of which USD 183 billion is committed to ESG integration.
COP26: The verdict on the COP26 summit
So, did our leaders rise to the occasion and understand the gravity of the climate crisis we’re in? In order to meet a 2 degree warming scenario, the world needs to cut emissions by 50% by 2030. Currently it’s 0.5%. This 100-fold gap needs to be addressed with serious commitments to a net zero pathway – or it’s all a lot of hot air.
Low Volatility defies the basic finance principles of risk and reward
Contrary to popular belief, riskier investments do not necessarily translate into higher returns. Rather paradoxically, we have seen that more volatile stocks tend to yield lower risk-adjusted returns in the long run, while their less volatile peers typically tend to deliver higher risk-adjusted long-term performance.
COP26: Toughening up on carbon disclosure
It’s essential to know just how much carbon is being emitted each year by countries and companies, but the current system of disclosure is random and voluntary.
COP26: Using nature to offset emissions
Over half of all greenhouse gas emissions are absorbed by nature. Forests, land and oceans are our biggest allies in limiting global warming, and are also critical to protecting biodiversity.
Corporate profits boom sends stocks to new peaks
Equities have shrugged off macro headwinds and hit record highs in the US thanks to strong corporate earnings.
COP26: Helping poorer countries to adapt
Developed countries are historically responsible for most of the emissions, and the challenge is to stop emerging markets going down the same coal-fired path.
Human rights theme leads ground-breaking quarter for Active Ownership
A new engagement theme focused on human rights due diligence leads the Active Ownership team’s Q3 report.
COP26: Beefing up net zero commitments
Countries need to accelerate their decarbonization under what’s known as the ‘ratchet mechanism’ – making progressively bigger cuts in emissions to reach net zero.
Roadmap outlines plan for move towards net zero emissions
Robeco has laid out a roadmap for achieving carbon neutrality across all its assets under management by 2050.
Working to fortify digital assets to beat cybercrime
Attitudes to improving data security have improved as cybercrime becomes a multi-trillion dollar threat, a Robeco engagement program has found.
The quant cycle
Equity factors follow their own sentiment-driven cycle that cannot be explained by traditional business cycle indicators. This implies that factor premiums are a behavioral phenomenon, rather than a reward for macroeconomic risks.
Expected Returns 2022-2026
Things are heating up, in different senses of the phrase. Just like a century ago, we are emerging from an international crisis with the potential of an economic boom. But unlike the Roaring Twenties, the growing optimism is being tempered by the threat of an even greater crisis: climate change. Now in its 11th edition, our 5-year Expected Returns publication incorporates the consequences of global warming for the first time. We discuss the report in this exciting show.
A more cautious stance on Equities
As the end of the year approaches, investors are entering a traditionally auspicious season for equities. This time, though, we believe there is reason to be more cautious. For now, this does mainly have an impact on our near-term outlook for emerging markets.
Bracing for Climate Change Impact
Central Banks' post-pandemic playbook
The future of blockchain and cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies are moving towards becoming mainstream. A virtuous ‘crypto cycle of trust’ has evolved in recent years, with the rapid growth of early adopters prompting interventions by regulators that have introduced guardrails and early legitimacy to the crypto ecosystem. This has enabled easy access for retail investors and – increasingly – institutional investors. Watch the discussion between Robeco Portfolio Manager Michiel van Voorst and Professor of Finance David Yermack.
The main takeaways from Expected Returns 2022-2026
The world is heating up, for equity markets too. With excess liquidity sloshing around and implied equity risk premiums still attractive, the TINA (There is No Alternative) phenomenon persists as alternatives for equities are few and far between. The possibility of outsized gains for the equity markets remains, but the window of opportunity is shrinking. Watch Robeco Strategist Peter van der Welle and Robeco Quant Researcher Laurens Swinkels discuss this and other findings from our latest 5-year outlook.
China: Navigating the push towards technology leadership
After more than three decades of accelerated catchup with more advanced economies, China is now engaged in a race for global technology leadership. Having turned into ‘the world’s factory’, China now aspires to become the planet’s innovation barycenter too.
5-year Expected Returns: the Roasting Twenties
It’s easy to understand Elon Musk’s fascination with Nikola Tesla, the inventor of the alternating current (AC) technology that serves as the backbone of the company’s electric vehicles. Talking to Collier’s magazine back in 1926, in the midst of what came to be known as the Roaring Twenties, Tesla essentially predicted the wireless age, stating: “When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance.”
SI Opener: How Covid-19 is worsening inequality
The Covid-19 pandemic has reversed gains in global poverty reduction and has had a profound impact on multiple facets of inequality. Observations from the labor market suggest that lower-skilled employees, youth and women have been hit much harder than the highly educated.
Credit Outlook: Common Prosperity
Changing policy in China will have repercussions for the rest of the world – and for credit markets.
The next digital billion: How internet adoption is boosting global growth
Millions of people access the internet for the first time every week. The tide is such that by the end of 2021, the world will likely have one billion more internet users than it did in 2017.
Fixed income outlook: Tunnel vision
There is plenty of evidence of herding and groupthink. The bond community, it seems, has become selective in its attention, stale on policy focus and lacking in a cohort-based approach to household balance sheet analysis.
How should investors act? Here’s the path to Paris-aligned investing
The race to zero is on. We explain what the key components of Paris-aligned investing are and what we’ve learned from the process of developing our own net zero roadmap.
Good cop, bad cop? Our hopes for real action at COP26
The most important conference on climate change is about to take place, six years after the Paris Agreement was signed. So what do we expect from COP26? Will it be a good COP… or a bad COP? We think it all depends on whether the participants realize the true extent of the crisis we’re in.
Multi-Asset Monthly Outlook: The profits party peaks, but the aftermath looks benign
Corporate earnings which have soared in the Covid-19 recovery are now flattening out. But the future still looks bright for stocks, says strategist Peter van der Welle.
Momentum is a self-fulfilling prophecy and therein lies its strength
The Momentum premium arises from mistakes in human reasoning. Despite being conceptually simple and publicly known, it remains a strong factor across numerous asset classes. Behavioral finance theories shed light on why it exists and why it has not been arbitraged away.
Central bank watcher: Changing climate
As the delta variant continues to spread around the globe, we see notable differences in monetary policy response. And that’s not the only point of difference among central banks.
Country sustainability visibly harmed by Covid-19
The bi-annual report shows that some nations have gone backwards on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials as the pandemic ravaged economies and their abilities to cope with the human and economic aftermath of mass infections.
Engaging with miners as the world demands more minerals
Miners are rising to the challenge of making the industry more sustainable as demand grows for metals and minerals.
Markets face stagflationary turbulence for first time in decades
Market fears of stagflation have reared their head for the first time since the 1970s, though they may be overblown, says Robeco’s Global Macro team.
Water and waste as the next frontier in improving sustainability in factor credits
strategies. This further improves the sustainability profile of these strategies while our backtested performance analysis revealed only a limited impact on performance.
What we’ve learned from three years of SDG credit investing
It’s possible to pursue both wealth and well-being. Robeco SDG Credit strategies, which now have a three-year track record, are clear examples of this.
Global Sustainable Investment Review 2020
The Global Sustainable Investment Review Review 2020 gives a comprehensive overview of the size, growth and dynamics of the sustainable investment industry in the world’s major developed markets as well as special regional reports in developing markets.
Equity price movements are mainly driven by behavior, not risk
Remco Zwinkels discusses his work in behavioral finance and touches on virtual asset markets, mispricing and machine learning in an interview with Robeco.
Creating sustainable multi-factor bond portfolios
Sustainability plays an explicit role in Robeco's Global Multi-Factor Bonds portfolios. Here's how we go about doing that.
Credit outlook: Humble
In its latest quarterly outlook, Robeco’s credit team says it remains cautiously positioned, as the market is vulnerable to negative surprises. Download the full analysis.
Fixed income outlook: Inflation hyperventilation
The latest views of the Robeco Fixed Income team, based on its Q3 2021 outlook meeting.
The caveats, considerations and challenges of decarbonizing investment portfolios
Climate change is the problem, net zero is the goal, and decarbonization is the means. But are there obstacles blocking the road ahead?
Engaging with companies affected by Covid-19
This quarter marks the launch of a three-year engagement project focused on labor practices in the retail and hospitality sectors, along with the wider gig economy, in the aftermath of the pandemic. In a Q&A, Laura Bosch answers questions about why the team started this engagement program, and what it aims to achieve.
Why climate risk considerations are especially relevant for buy-and-maintain portfolios
Countries, companies and investors are making firm commitments to reach net zero, in line with the Paris Agreement. According to Robeco’s 2021 Global Climate Survey, climate change will be central to the investment strategy of almost 90% of global investors in the next two years, while more than half of investors will commit to aligning their investments with the ambition to realize a net zero economy by 2050.
The Big Book of Climate Investing
Climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity, and is now the single-most important issue for investors. Global warming presents both risks and opportunities, as investment capital can have a huge influence on the means of combating it, from renewables to decarbonization. The biggest hurdle is perhaps in not knowing what to do, or where to look.
Robeco survey reveals big investor shift on climate change and decarbonization
Tackling climate change has become the number one priority for investors. But how is the asset management industry dealing with an issue that is both a threat and an opportunity? Are we ready for the biggest challenge facing humanity?
Climate risk & portfolio decarbonization have become center stage
Climate risk and decarbonization have become key priorities for insurers Assessing climate risk and decarbonizing portfolios are anything but trivial Active asset managers can help insurers address these issues
The unique climate change risks facing insurers
Global warming brings unique risk to both assets and liabilities Robeco can help to analyze and mitigate carbon risks in portfolios Solutions available to reduce the carbon footprints of investments
Brave Real World
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the world, making it harder and more complex for investors to navigate the likely conditions for the major asset classes. This has made the tenth edition of our award-winning five-year outlook even more eagerly anticipated than usual: these are not usual times.