Positioning Sustainable Development Goals

Multilateral organisations, governments, civil society groups and businesses must all join forces to bring about change in the complex social structures that underpin current unsustainable production patterns and inequalities. The financial sector has the power to direct the flow of funds and therefore plays a crucial role in the implementation of the SDGs.

The quantitatively managed Robeco investment funds have an explicit objective of holding a higher weighting than the benchmark in companies that contribute positively to the achievement of the SDGs. For all Robeco investment funds in which the pension fund invests, a minimum absolute percentage of investments in companies with a positive SDG score is also enforced. This percentage depends on the strategy employed and therefore varies from fund to fund. The pension fund itself does not currently have any targets relating to the SDGs.

The Robeco funds in the portfolio have a structurally higher exposure to companies that make a positive contribution to the SDGs than their benchmarks. Aggregated, the weighting in positively contributing companies is approximately 3 percentage points higher. The Global Stars and High Yield strategies in particular demonstrate a clear positive SDG positioning. The pension fund itself does not apply explicit SDG targets, but benefits indirectly from the SDG targets within the underlying funds.