Robeco

On the face of it, the performance of credit this year has been nothing short of remarkable. Be it private credit jitters, AI disruption fears or geopolitical chaos – the market has shown little real concern. For all the noise, spreads look set to end the quarter wrapped around multi-year tights in most places. During our most recent credit quarterly outlook, we found ourselves in broad agreement on many topics.

Kans in beeld: Europa terug op de radar Na jaren van uitstroom uit actieve Europese aandelenstrategieën, deels veroorzaakt door relatieve underperformance en de sterke aantrekkingskracht van Amerikaanse megacap-technologieaandelen, begint de belangstelling van beleggers voor de regio te herstellen. Verschillende factoren ondersteunen het argument om Europa weer te overwegen.

The global supply chain has absorbed a series of shocks in recent years – from the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine to escalating US-China tensions and conflict in the Middle East. These underscore that uncertainty and disruption are now the norm and can emerge from anywhere with unexpected consequences across sectors. The Circular Economy strategy’s broadness was designed with change in mind.

Today, around 30% of the MSCI EM Index is accounted for by just three stocks: TSMC1 (14.5% index weight; USD 1.97 trillion market cap), Samsung Electronics (9.3%; USD 1.3 trillion) and SK Hynix (6.8%; USD 1.1 trillion), up from a combined index weight of 12% just three years ago. TSMC’s large index weight creates a dilemma for active UCITS-regulated EM funds, where single-stock exposure is typically capped at 10%, leading to a structural underweight in the semiconductor giant.

Today, around 30% of the MSCI EM Index is accounted for by just three stocks: TSMC1 (14.5% index weight; USD 1.97 trillion market cap), Samsung Electronics (9.3%; USD 1.3 trillion) and SK Hynix (6.8%; USD 1.1 trillion), up from a combined index weight of 12% just three years ago. TSMC’s large index weight creates a dilemma for active UCITS-regulated EM funds, where single-stock exposure is typically capped at 10%, leading to a structural underweight in the semiconductor giant.

The recent Middle East conflict, and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has dramatically underscored Europe's continued vulnerability to fossil fuel import disruptions. While Europe has diversified away from Russian gas since 2022, it remains heavily dependent on global energy corridors, with the current shock leading to price volatility and a renewed energy security push across the continent.

16-06-2026 • Podcast EM to the core, Episode 6 – Performance dispersion and the alpha opportunity Emerging markets are anything but homogeneous: institutions, policy regimes, commodity exposure, governance standards and political risk vary. This dispersion is the opportunity set. Find out how active managers can exploit mispricings, avoid policy traps and concentrate capital in the subset of markets and companies that have the potential to compound value.

As the cost of security independence in the West starts to run into the trillions, investors will be wary of their repercussions for budget deficits and future interest rate policy, putting a focus on future sovereign bond values, says Rouffiac, Portfolio Manager with Robeco’s Investor Solutions multi-asset team.

22-05-2026 • Podcast Stock markets have been dominated by the energy and AI themes, centered around a tech-dominated US market that some feel is overpriced. In the latest episode of our podcast series with Robeco’s investors, Chris Hart, Portfolio Manager of Robeco Boston Partners Global Premium Equities, explains how he finds pockets of value all over the world.

01-04-2026 • Insight Understanding what drives active investment performance has long been a challenge. While headline returns are often attributed to skill, they may also reflect systematic risk exposures embedded in portfolios. Many active bond and equity funds share similar structural risk exposures. In investment grade credit, duration and credit tilts explain much of performance dispersion. In high yield and equities, issuer selection and factor tilts play a larger role.