Robeco N.V. Annual report 2007
Contents
General information 3
Report of the supervisory board 5
Report of the management board 6
Financial statements 13
Balance sheet 13
Profit and loss account 13
Cash-flow summary 14
Notes 15
Other data 22
Spread of net assets 25
List of securities 27
Purchases and sales 32
Contents General information
Robeco N.V. [1]
(investment company with variable capital, having
its registered office in Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
Coolsingel 120
Postbus 973
NL-3000 AZ Rotterdam
Tel. +31 - 10 - 224 12 24
Fax +31 - 10 - 411 52 88
Internet: www.robeco.com
Supervisory Board
P.C. van den Hoek, chairman
Gilles Izeboud
Philip Lambert
Dirk P.M. Verbeek
Management Board
Robeco Fund Management B.V.
Manager
Robeco Fund Management B.V.
Management board:
Mark F. van der Kroft
Pieter F.F.M. Schuurs (as of 17 January 2008)
E.J. Siermann
Edwin de Weerd
Ed B. van Wijk
Fund Manager
Mark R. Glazener
Secretary of the Company
David H. Cross
Management Board of Robeco Groep N.V.
(the holding company of the Robeco Group)
George A. M�ller, chairman
Leni M.T. Boeren
Sander van Eijkern
Constant Th.L. Korthout
Frank L. Kusse (from 2 February 2007)
Niek F. Molenaar
[1] Robeco (Schweiz) AG, Uraniastrasse 12, CH-8001 Zurich, is the
fund's appointed representative in Switzerland. Copies of the
prospectus, Articles of Association, annual and semiannual reports
and a list of all purchases and sales in the fund's securities
portfolio during the reporting period are available from the above
address free of charge.UBS AG, Bahnhofstrasse 45, CH-8098 Zurich, is
the fund's paying agent in Switzerland.
General meeting of shareholders
The General Meeting of Shareholders will be held on 23 April 2008 at
09:30 hours at the Hilton Rotterdam, Weena 10, Rotterdam, the
Netherlands. Holders of share certificates to bearer wishing to
attend and vote at the meeting should apply for a written statement
from the Euroclear Netherlands-affiliated institution where their
shares are held, which will give admission to the meeting. The
institutions affiliated with Euroclear Netherlands should submit a
copy of this statement to ABN AMRO Bank N.V. stating the number of
shares held for the shareholder concerned prior to the meeting, and
which will be frozen until after the meeting. This statement should
be submitted not later than 16 April 2008.
Holders of K shares should lodge their share certificates not later
than 16 April 2008 with one of the banks mentioned in the convening
notice of 4 April 2008.
Holders of subshares or an account with Robeco Directin Rotterdam or
Banque Robeco S.A. in Paris wishing to attend the meeting should
inform the management board in writing not later than 16 April 2008.
This report is also published in Dutch, French, German, Italian and
Spanish. Only the original Dutch edition is binding and will be
submitted to the General Meeting of Shareholders.
Simplified and full prospectus
A simplified prospectus with information on Robeco N.V. and its
associated costs and risks is available. This simplified prospectus
and the full prospectus are available at the company's office and via
www.robeco.com.
Supervisory Board
Paulus C. van den Hoek (69), chairman since 2000. Dutch nationality.
Appointed in 1990 and last reappointed in 2005.
Lawyer and partner at Stibbe, lawyers and notaries, in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands, since 1965.
Former Dean of the Dutch National Bar (81/84). Supervisory director
of ASM International, Wavin, Robeco Groep N.V. (chairman since 2000),
Rolinco (chairman since 2000) and Rorento (chairman since 2000).
Gilles Izeboud (65)
Dutch nationality. Appointed in 2004 and last reappointed in 2007.
Former partner and board member at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Deputy
justice of the Enterprise Section of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.
Supervisory director of Corporate Express, Robeco Groep N.V., Rolinco
and Rorento.
Philip Lambert (61)
Dutch nationality. Appointed in 2005.
Former head of Unilever Corporate Pensions N.V. and PLC in London.
Supervisory director of Robeco Groep N.V., Rolinco and Rorento.
Dirk P.M. Verbeek (57)
Dutch nationality. Appointed in 2001 and last reappointed in 2006.
Former member of the executive board of Aon Group in Chicago, USA,
and former chairman/CEO of the executive board of Aon Holdings in
Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Supervisory director of Robeco Groep
N.V., Rolinco and Rorento.
N.B. Only supervisory directorships at listed companies and the
Robeco Group are mentioned.
Report of the supervisory board
We herewith present the Robeco N.V. accounts for the financial year
2007 together with the report of the management board. The way in
which the supervisory board carries out its supervisory duties is
significantly determined by the structure of the Robeco Group.
Discussion of the management of Robeco N.V. can take place in the
supervisory board of either the company or that of Robeco Groep N.V.
As a result of the personal links between the members of the two
boards, in practice this presents no difficulties. Robeco N.V. is
managed by Robeco Fund Management B.V., a wholly owned (indirect)
subsidiary of Robeco Groep N.V. The management board of Robeco Fund
Management B.V. consists of Edith Sierman (Chief Investment Officer
Fixed Income), Mark van der Kroft (Chief Investment Officer
Equities), Edwin de Weerd (Executive Vice President of Finance &
Operations Robeco Direct N.V.), Ed van Wijk (Executive Vice President
at Robeco Alternative Investments) and Pieter Schuurs (head of
Financial Service Center). Mark Glazener is the fund manager of
Robeco N.V. The purpose of an investment institution such as Robeco
N.V., as laid down in its articles of association, is limited to the
investing of its assets in securities in such a way that risks are
diversified with the object of allowing its shareholders to
participate in the profits. At its meetings the supervisory board
therefore primarily devotes its attention to the investment policy,
the realized results and the development of the assets invested, on
the basis of frequent and detailed reports. Attention is also paid to
matters relating to risk management, such as operational and market
risks, and compliance, such as investment restrictions and compliance
with and implementation of requirements of the regulator. In
connection with what has already been mentioned regarding the
structure of the Robeco Group, matters, such as the risks associated
with the investment policy, the application of instruments to manage
these risks and compliance issues, may also be discussed at the
meetings of the supervisory board of Robeco Groep N.V. The general
policy of the Robeco Group is determined by the Management Board of
Robeco Groep N.V. in consultation with its supervisory board. This
means that matters such as product development, acquisitions and risk
management and compliance are discussed at the meetings of the
supervisory board of Robeco Groep N.V. An audit and compliance
committee and a nomination, remuneration and corporate-governance
committee have been appointed by this board. Two members of each of
these committees are also supervisory directors of Robeco N.V. Within
these committees extensive discussions are held about internal audit,
risk-management and compliance issues and the functioning of and
remuneration structure for the Robeco Groep N.V. Management Board and
other personnel issues. Besides the subjects mentioned, the proposed
amendments to the investment profile were thoroughly discussed at the
meetings of the supervisory board during the reporting year. We have
taken note of the contents of the auditor's report presented by Ernst
& Young Accountants and recommend approval of the annual financial
statements. We concur with management's proposal to distribute a
dividend of EUR 0.80 per share in cash.
At the General Meeting of Shareholders on 26 April 2007, Gilles
Izeboud was reappointed as a supervisory director of the company with
immediate effect. At the General Meeting of Shareholders to be held
on 23 April 2008 Mr. P.C. van den Hoek will resign as chairman of the
supervisory board. Mr. Van den Hoek has been a member of the
supervisory board of Robeco N.V. since 1990 and has acted as chairman
since 2000, during which time he fulfilled his duties excellently.
Mr. Van den Hoek has placed his considerable legal expertise,
management experience and business acumen at the service of the
company during these years. We owe him an immense debt of gratitude.
Mr. D.P.M. Verbeek will succeed Mr. Van den Hoek as chairman of the
supervisory board.
Rotterdam, 12 March 2008
The supervisory board
Report of the management board
General introduction
Another year of strong global economic growth
The world economy continued its strong growth in the second half of
last year, as was the case in previous years. Growth was mainly
supported by the emerging economies. For the first time China's
contribution to growth was bigger than that of the US. In the course
of the year, the US economy faced increasing headwinds. The euro
zone's economic recovery continued to be strong. The recovery in
Japan also continued but less convincingly. In the first half of the
year, many central banks mainly focused on keeping inflation in
check. In many cases actual inflation was moderate. Later in the year
inflation increased almost worldwide as a result of sharply increased
oil and food prices.
Higher volatility in equity markets
Initially prices rose sharply on many equity markets, led by stocks
in the emerging markets. This favorable development was caused by the
continuing strong growth of emerging economies, ample possibilities
for financing and the associated wave of mergers and acquisitions.
The scenario changed after July, when it became apparent that
financial institutions had suffered considerable losses on assets
that were linked to mortgages in the US housing market. This led to
more stock-market volatility in the second half of the year and to
falling prices on the stock markets of developed economies all over
the world. On balance, global equities had a slightly negative return
in 2007. The MSCI World Index had a return of -1.2%. Germany was an
important exception to this, as there the index rose more than 20%
over the year. Emerging markets realized an excellent collective
return of more than 25%. The discount on emergingmarket equities
relative to their mature counterparts has disappeared.
The United States
The correction in the US housing market intensified last year, but
did not cause a considerable slowdown of the economy as a whole.
Although unemployment increased somewhat, household consumption held
up rather well for the majority of the year. Healthy growth in the
rest of the world, in combination with a depreciating dollar, led to
strong export growth. However, the combination of an ongoing
correction in the housing market, rising food and energy prices and
the uncertainty in the credit markets weakened the outlook for
economic growth in the second half of 2007.
After an initial decrease, core inflation started to increase towards
the end of last year. Since last September, the Fed has reduced
interest rates from 5.25% to 4.25% in response to the problems in the
credit markets and their potential impact on economic growth. Bond
yields dropped around 70 basis points on balance to 4.0%.
Japan
The Japanese economic recovery continued, although it was not very
spectacular. Growth remained static at around 1.5% and the deflation
trend continued. By the end of 2007 inflation was barely positive.
The Japanese central bank only dared to increase rates on one
occasion; by 25 basis points to 0.5%. Long-term rates were slightly
above 1.5% at year end, trading in the same range in which they had
traded for most of the year.
The euro area
The euro area saw growth of 2.5% to 3% in 2007, which was once again
stronger than the trend. Unemployment dropped to the lowest level on
record. Inflation amounted to less than 2% until the autumn, but then
rose strongly to more than 3% at the end of the year. By the time the
problems on the credit markets started to emerge, the European
Central Bank (ECB) had raised rates in two steps from 3.5% to 4%.
After that, the bank adopted a wait-and-see stance and left rates
unchanged due to the increased uncertainty. Bond yields rose less
than moneymarket rates, climbing from 3.9% to 4.3% in 2007.
Outlook
The stock markets encountered heavy weather in the first few weeks of
2008. On balance, global stock markets have fallen considerably due
to ongoing uncertainty about the credit crisis, large losses suffered
by banks and concerns about an economic recession in the US. The
latter may occur, but a period of slow growth is more likely. In the
course of this year, the economic outlook for 2009 may start to
gradually improve. A continuation of the accommodative monetary
policy, which has been confirmed by the Fed's two unexpectedly
drastic rate cuts totaling 1.25% in January 2008, and fiscal measures
will start to give support to the US economy in the course of this
year. In the euro area and Japan a limited decrease in economic
growth is likely. The ECB may reduce interest rates somewhat in the
second half of this year and the BoJ will increase its policy rate
modestly in one or two steps. The emerging economies are projected to
continue to grow vigorously. Worldwide inflation will probably come
down gradually.
The first half of 2008 will not be easy for equities. Volatility will
remain high as a result of uncertainty about the consequences of the
credit crisis for the economy and corporate earnings. Assuming that
the economy will recover in 2009 and the credit and liquidity crisis
will not worsen, slightly positive equity returns may be expected for
2008 as a whole, in spite of the weak start of the year for most of
the global stock markets. Furthermore, equities are attractively
valued from a historical perspective and also when compared to other
asset categories. Stock markets in emerging economies are expected to
continue to perform relatively well, although the return differential
with mature markets is expected to be smaller in 2008 than it was
last year. The main risk attached to this outlook is the combination
of slower growth and higher inflation rates than foreseen, which
would be negative for equity markets across the globe.
Investment result
Overview 2003 - 2007
In % Average
over last
2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 5 years
Based on:
- - market price -1.3 7.5 28.6 5.0 1.4 7.8
- - net asset value -0.4 7.0 28.3 5.1 5.4 8.6
MSCI World Index[1] -1.2 7.9 26.8 6.9 11.3 10.0
Dividend in euros[2] 0.80 0.60 0.48 0.40 0.36 0.53
Total net assets[3] 6.2 7.1 7.2 6.2 6.5
[1] Currencies have been converted at rates supplied by World Market
Reuters.
[2] Proposed for 2007.
[3] EUR x billion.
During 2007, the share price of Robeco fell from EUR 28.87 to EUR
27.93. Assuming reinvestment of the dividend of EUR 0.60 per share
distributed in May 2007, this was an investment result of -1.3%.
Based on net asset value, which fell from EUR 28.80 to EUR 28.10, and
taking into account reinvestment of the dividend, the investment
result was -0.4%. The fund's benchmark, the MSCI World Index, fell
1.2% over the same period.
The fund Robeco realized a positive result of 1.9% compared to its
benchmark in terms of net asset value before deduction of costs.
Sound stock selection in the various sectors was the driving force
behind this outperformance and, of the 1.9% mentioned above, 1.5% was
attributable to stock selection, 0.5% to sector-allocation policy and
- -0.1% to currency policy. After deduction of costs, an outperformance
of 0.8% remains.
2007 was a difficult year for stocks in developed markets. The year
was clearly divided into two parts. In the firsthalf of the year,
Robeco's share price rose 7.5%, however, this gain had evaporated by
the end of the year as a result
of the depreciation of the US dollar and the crisis in the
international credit markets in the second half.
Stock selection was excellent within the consumerstaples, telecom,
information-technology and materials sectors. The performance of the
stock selection in the consumer-discretionary and financials sectors
lagged the average. Within the other sectors the result was average.
The fund Robeco aims to realize a stable out performance relative to
the benchmark so its performance is generated by a broad range of
stocks rather than just a limited selection. We would nevertheless
like to single out some stocks which realized an above-average
performance.
The return on Monsanto was 114.3%. The price of this stock received a
boost from the growth of the US corn market (corn is also used to
produce ethanol) and from increasing its share of this market. Rio
Tinto, the mining company with a dual listing in the United Kingdom
and Australia, enjoyed a 99.7% return. Prices of commodities that are
important for Rio Tinto, such as copper, iron ore and alumina, rose
only moderately. However, even if these prices only remain the same
it still enables mining companies to generate an enormous free cash
flow. At the end of 2007, it also became clear that contract prices
for that important commodity iron ore would surge in 2008 and on top
of this news came the bid by BHP in November 2007. The return on
Nokia was 74.9%. This was the result of an improved market share in
emerging markets and of excellent business operations which enable
Nokia to convert growth into cash. CIT Group (-55.8%) was among the
biggest decliners. CIT draws money from the capital market and lends
it to private individuals (in the form of mortgages and student
loans) and to companies (in the form of aircraft leasing and
corporate loans). The company was active in subprime mortgages and
decided to terminate this activity just after the outbreak of the
mortgage crisis in the United States. The developments in the US
credit market caused the sharp decline in CIT's stock price.
Investment policy
General
Robeco's investment policy focuses on global stock selection within
business sectors, and on determining the relative weights of the
sectors themselves. Regional allocation is, therefore, mainly the
result of this selection. During the reporting year 47% of the
portfolio was turned over, which is comparable to last year's level
and appropriate for a 4-year investment horizon.
Energy
Oil prices rose almost constantly throughout the year from a level
just below USD 60 to almost USD 100. Demand from emerging markets for
oil rose steadily. Supply was limited because large oil projects came
on stream later and incurred higher costs. These higher costs made
companies reluctant to start large, risky projects and OPEC
maintained an iron grip on the oil market. Within the oil sector, the
fund sold its entire interest in Valero Energy (US refineries). As a
result of the economic slowdown, US citizens will make less use of
cars or trucks for transport so demand for gasoline will decrease. At
the same time, refinery capacity will be increased in the years to
come. Regulations will also ensure that an increasing amount of
ethanol is mixed with gasoline, which will lead to a decrease in
refinery-capacity utilization. In brief, demand will decrease while
supply is increasing. This means lower prices and therefore lower
earnings. The proceeds of the sale of Valero Energy were invested in
Devon Energy, a US oil and gas producer. Halliburton was also added
to the portfolio. The high oil price and increasing complexity of new
oil fields will further increase demand for oil and gas services. The
portfolio holdings in Weatherford and Schlumberger will also benefit
from this trend.
Materials
During the year the fund had an underweight position in materials.
The exposure to metals was expanded by including Teck Cominco in the
portfolio. Teck Cominco produces copper, zinc and coal. The stock's
valuation lagged that of other mining companies, which offers upside
potential for its stock price. The interest in International Paper
was sold. Paper factories were closed in order to reduce capacity but
this did not happen quickly enough and demand for paper was
disappointing. The position in Holcim was increased further as demand
for cement is increasing sharply in emerging markets. Within this
sector we also have interests in agrochemical companies such as
Syngenta and Monsanto. Prices for soft commodities, such as grain,
soy beans and corn will rise due to increased demand from Asia, but
also because these commodities are being used as alternative energy
sources. Syngenta's and Monsanto's products help farmers cultivate
their land as productively as possible.
Industrials
The industrials sector was overweight throughout the year. Many of
our stocks in this sector realized good returns. ABB was one of the
stocks which also received a mention in last year's annual report as
one of the strongest performers. ABB makes products for electricity
transmission, demand for which was sound in almost all parts of the
world. After its stock price increased by more than 50% in US
dollars, the fund's interest in Parker Hannifin (a US industrial
conglomerate) was sold. Siemens was purchased in the last quarter of
2007. This company's margins are lower than the industry average but
management is striving to increase these. The interest in Japanese
stocks in this sector was reduced by selling positions in Central
Japan Railway and Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
Notes on the top-10 stocks
Total is a French integrated oil company with the best prospects for
production growth. Royal Dutch Shell is a Dutch/British integrated
oil company with a welldiversified portfolio. Cisco Systems sells
products used in building data-transport networks all over the world.
This is a growth market which is still growing. Oracle supplies
software and databases that improve the information supply within
companies and institutions. Microsoft is the world's largest software
supplier. BHP Billiton is the world's largest mining company and
produces commodities such as oil, copper, iron ore, nickel, uranium
and coal. Chevron is an integrated oil company with a
well-diversified portfolio. AT&T is a US-based telephone company
which supplies mobile and fixed-line telephone services. Siemens is
an industrial conglomerate with activities ranging from power plants
to medical systems. Margins on these various activities are expected
to rise. ING Groep is a bank insurer with a favorable combination of
cashgenerating activities (such as Dutch insurance and banking
activities) and growth areas in emerging markets in Eastern Europe
and Asia.
Global Stars
The Robeco portfolio is broadly diversified. This is a deliberate
strategy, undertaken in order to meet the fund's profile (see 'The
fund Robeco'). In the past years, value was mostly created through
selecting the right stocks. We want to reinforce this successful
policy which is why a Global Stars portfolio was set up within the
fund Robeco. This Global Stars portfolio contains those stocks with
the best prospects. It is a concentrated portfolio of 29 stocks, all
of which are also included in the Robeco portfolio in which they have
an above-average weight. The creation of the Global Stars portfolio
further increases these weights.
Risk management
Robeco does make use of financial instruments, the associated risks
of which are specified in the financial statements. The fund observes
liquidity limits based on market capitalization and tradability for
the stocks in which it invests. The fund invests in 192 names
(excluding the midcap portfolio) spread over 24 countries and 10
sectors resulting in broad diversification and limited price risk.
Investments are made within the limits stated in the prospectus. On
the basis of reports, the management board has discussed
risk-management and compliance issues, subjects which were also
covered in meetings with the supervisory board. The crisis that
unfolded in financial markets across the world since the summer of
2007 was triggered by problems in the US sub prime mortgage market.
Top-10 stocks
Country Interest in %* Performance in %
31/12/2007 01/01-31/12/2007
In euros In local
currency
1. Total France 2.0 7.8 7.8
2. Royal Dutch Netherlands 1.6 11.7 11.7
Shell A
3. Cisco Systems United States 1.5 -10.7 -1.0
4. Oracle System United States 1.4 18.8 31.7
5. Microsoft largest software 1.2 9.0 20.8
United States
supplier.
6. BHP Billiton largest Australia 1.2 61.9 61.1
mining company and
7. Chevron United States 1.1 17.8 30.6
8. AT&T United States 1.1 8.8 20.6
9. Siemens Germany 1.1 46.0 46.0
10. ING Groep Netherlands 1.0 -16.9 -16.9
* In % of net
assets.
Price declines in asset backed securities covered by sub prime
mortgage pool created a crisis of confidence which extended to other
markets and instruments. By the end of 2007 markets were
characterized by high volatility, increasing risk aversion and
illiquidity in many market segments, notably in asset backed
securities. To react to this crisis, Robeco installed a Crisis
Committee with board members of Robeco Fund Management B.V. and other
Robeco (management) companies, investment teams, corporate treasury,
compliance and risk management. This Committee closely monitored the
impact of market developments on all fund's portfolios and, where
necessary, took additional measures to safeguard the fund's
interests, well within the boundaries of internal and external
restrictions applicable to those portfolios. During the crisis,
Robeco Fund Management B.V. remained in close contact with local
regulators and auditors.
As the portfolios managed by Robeco Fund Management B.V. had no
outright exposure to the sub prime market the direct impact of the
crisis on portfolios managed by Robeco Fund Management B.V. has been
restricted. Careful portfolio composition and oversight ensured that
no forced sales occurred as a consequence of cash flows and market
developments. Indirect effects of the crisis on the portfolios
include the impact of illiquidity and high volatility in almost all
market segments.
The fund Robeco
The fund Robeco strives to be a reliable partner for investing in
global equities in mature markets. This goal should be reflected in a
stable outperformance against the MSCI World Index. Within the global
equities segments, Robeco Group clients can choose between the
following funds: Rolinco (growth stocks), Robeco Global Value
Equities (value stocks) and Robeco. Rather than making a choice
between value and growth stocks, the Robeco fund unites both worlds
in one investment fund.
Dutch Financial Supervision Act
The Dutch Financial Supervision Act [Wet op het financieel toezicht
(Wft)] became effective on 1 January 2007. This act regulates
supervision of the Dutch financials sector. The Wft has replaced
existing supervisory legislation (including the Dutch Investment
Institutions Supervision Act [Wet toezicht beleggingsinstellingen]).
System of operational management
General
The administrative organization and internal control (hereinafter
referred to as 'operational management') of the management company
Robeco Fund Management B.V. are discussed below insofar as these
concern the activities of the investment institution Robeco N.V. The
system of operational management is attuned to the size of the
organization and meets the requirements of article 121 of the Decree
on the Market Conduct Supervision of Financial Enterprises [Besluit
gedragstoezicht financi�le ondernemingen, or 'Bgfo']. The system of
operational management can never offer absolute guarantees, rather it
is designed to provide reasonable assurance of the effectiveness of
internal-control measures in relation to the risks of the activities
of the investment institution. The assessment of the effectiveness
and good functioning of operational management is the responsibility
of the management company.
Activities
Within the scope of the application for a license under the 2005
Dutch Investment Institutions Supervision Act [Wet toezicht
beleggingsinstellingen 2005, or 'Wtb'], the structural aspects of
operational management applied were assessed and adjusted in
accordance with legislation. The relevant risks were identified and
corresponding internal-control measures formulated. The effectiveness
and good functioning of operational management are assessed in
various ways.
The management board is informed periodically by means of control
reports which are based on the process descriptions and the
internal-control measures included therein. Furthermore, there are
incident and complaints procedures. During the reporting period, the
effective functioning of the internal-control measures was tested by
means of partial tests to verify their design, existence and
effectiveness. This involved generic test activities that were
carried out in a process-oriented way for the various investment
institutions for which Robeco Fund Management B.V. acts as management
company. The test activities may therefore differ for the individual
investment institutions. The tests were executed by various
departments at group and business-unit level, in consultation with
internal and external auditors. The tests did not lead to relevant
findings for this annual report.
Report on operational management
Over the reporting period, we assessed the various aspects of the
system of operational management. In our assessment we noted nothing
that would lead us to conclude that the description of the structural
aspects of operational management within the meaning of article 121
of the Bgfo failed to meet the requirements as specified in the Bgfo
and related regulations. Neither did we conclude that the
internalcontrol measures were ineffective or failed to function
according to the description provided.
Rotterdam, 12 March 2008
The management board
Financial statements
Balance sheet
Before profit appropriation, EUR x
thousand
31/12/2007 31/12/2006
Investments
Financial investments
Stocks 1 6,129,421 7,188,880
Derivatives 2, 11 4,036 9,660
Total investments 6,133,457 7,198,540
Accounts receivable
Dividends receivable 3 4,349 4,442
Receivable on securities transactions 31,869 12,227
Affiliated companies 4 563 393
Sundry debtors 5 28,714 35,373
65,495 52,435
Other assets
Cash 6 19,339 15,081
Accounts payable
Liabilities arising from derivative 2, 11 12,219 6,629
instruments
Payable on securities transactions 13,635 -
Payable to credit institutions 21,822 99,209
Affiliated companies 7 5,077 9,617
Sundry creditors 8 3,400 13,030
56,153 128,485
Accounts receivable and other assets less
accounts payable 28,681 -60,969
Shareholders' equity 9 6,162,138 7,137,571
Composition of shareholders' equity
Issued capital 9, 10 219,257 247,849
Other reserves 9 5,932,665 6,406,071
Net result 9 10,216 483,651
6,162,138 7,137,571
Profit and loss account
EUR x thousand
2007 2006
Investment income 12, 21 141,291 149,720
Changes in value 1, 2, 12, 17 -53,670 413,476
87,621 563,196
Costs 13
Management costs 14 68,803 71,283
Service fee 14 6,705 6,946
Other costs 15 1,897 1,316
77,405 79,545
Net result 10,216 483,651
The numbers of the items in the . nancial statements refer to the
numbers in the Notes.
Cash-flow summary
Indirect method, EUR x thousand
2007 2006
Cash flow from investment activities
Net result 10,216 483,651
Realized and unrealized results 53,670 -413,476
Purchase of investments -1,984,188 -2,199,823
Sale of investments 3,005,895 2,625,807
Increase(-)/decrease(+) accounts receivable -13,060 -4,617
Increase(+)/decrease(-) accounts payable 3,186 10,256
1,075,719 501,798
Cash flow from financing activities
Received for own shares subscribed 448,063 794,588
Paid for repurchase of own shares -1,290,053 -1,238,931
Profit distribution -143,659 -125,003
Increase(+)/decrease(-) accounts payable -3,721 3,721
-989,370 -565,625
Net cash flow 86,349 -63,827
Currency and cash revaluation -4,704 -5,922
Increase(+)/decrease(-) cash 81,645 -69,749
Cash at opening date 6 15,081 3,280
Accounts payable to credit institutions at -99,209 -17,659
opening date
Total cash at opening date -84,128 -14,379
Cash at closing date 6 19,339 15,081
Accounts payable to credit institutions at -21,822 -99,209
closing date
Total cash at closing date -2,483 -84,128
The numbers of the items in the . nancial statements refer to the
numbers in the Notes.
Notes
General
Robeco N.V. (hereafter also referred to as 'the fund') is a Dutch
investment company with variable capital within the meaning of
article 28 of the 1969 Dutch Corporate Income Tax Act [Wet op de
vennootschapsbelasting 1969] and has the fiscal status of an
investment institution. This means that no corporate-income tax is
due, providing that the fund makes its profit available for
distribution to shareholders in the form of dividend within eight
months of the close of the financial year and satisfies any other
relevant regulations.
UCITS
Both the fund and the Manager have a license under the Dutch
Financial Supervision Act [Wet op het financieel toezicht, or 'Wft'].
The Wft became effective on 1 January 2007 and has replaced the
existing supervision laws. An undertaking for collective investment
in transferable securities (UCITS), such as Robeco N.V., which has
been granted a license on the basis of the Wft may trade its shares
in other EC member states in agreement with the EC directive, and its
investment policy is subject to a number of restrictions to protect
the investor.
Manager
Robeco Fund Management B.V. is the Manager within the meaning of
article 1:1 of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act [Wet op het
financieel toezicht, or 'Wft']. It has been granted a license by the
Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (the 'AFM') as
referred to in section 2:65 paragraph 1 and 2 of the Wft. The tasks
for which the Manager will be responsible include the execution of
the investment policy, management of the fund assets as well as
handling the fund's financial administration, marketing and
distribution. Robeco Fund Management B.V. belongs to Robeco Group.
The agreement between the fund's management board and the Manager
includes the stipulation that the Manager will comply with the
provisions of the prospectus, the Articles of Association and the
directives of the fund's management board, insofar as these are in
line with the shareholders' interests, and that the Manager will
observe the applicable legislation and regulations. The Manager will
also regularly report to the management board on its duties.
The Manager has outsourced the following activities to Robeco
Institutional Asset Management B.V. ('RIAM') in accordance with
article 4:16 of the Wft:
- - management of the fund assets in line with the investment policy
- - financial administration of the fund
- - marketing and distribution of the fund.
RIAM is affiliated with the Robeco Group and has been granted a
license by the AFM, as defined by article 2:96 of the Wft.
Inclusion in AFM register
Both the fund and its manager are included in the AFM register.
Models
The annual financial statements have been drawn up in conformity with
the models provided by Dutch legislature. In certain areas,
descriptions have been used which better express the nature of the
items and relate better to the characteristics of an investment
company.
Open-end fund
Robeco N.V. is an open-end investment company, meaning that, barring
exceptional circumstances, Robeco N.V. issues and repurchases its
shares on a daily basis at prices approximating net asset value. On
26 February 2007, the new trading system for open-end investment
institutions on Euronext Amsterdam was introduced. According to the
Euronext guidelines, orders can be placed until 16:00 hours (cut-off
time). Orders that are placed via Euronext Amsterdam will be
processed once a day only and will be executed on the next
stock-exchange day at the net asset value, augmented or reduced by a
limited surcharge or discount. The only purpose of this surcharge or
discount is to cover the costs made by the fund related to the entry
and exit of investors. The maximum current surcharge or discount is
0.35%.
Until 26 February 2007 a spread between the bid and offer price was
applied to cover costs related to issuance and repurchase of own
shares. The issue price was not more than 0.5% higher than the net
asset value and the repurchase price was not more than 0.5% lower
than the net asset value. The abovementioned margin between the net
asset value and the issue and repurchase prices, and the associated
costs, were for the account and risk of Robeco Investment Consulting
B.V., as a result of which Robeco N.V. issued and repurchased its
shares at net asset value. Robeco Investment Consulting B.V.
distributed any positive spread results to the funds, in proportion
to each fund's positive contribution to the spread result. A buffer
was maintained to cover any future losses. The remaining spread
result has since been distributed.
Non-certificated participation in the Netherlands
Shares may be held in non-certificated form in Robeco Direct N.V.
accounts or via the affiliated branches of Rabobank in the Rabo
Securities Account. Participants pay costs on the sum deposited for
each purchase, and in the event of a sale a percentage of the sum
withdrawn. These participation costs are currently a maximum of 0.4%
via Robeco Direct and a maximum of 0.5% via Rabobank, depending on
the channel selected. These sums will accrue to Robeco Direct and
Rabobank respectively.
Accounting principles
General
Unless stated otherwise, items shown in the annual financial
statements are included at nominal value and expressed in thousands
of euros.
Financial investments
Unless stated otherwise, financial investments are included at fair
value. The fair value of stocks is determined on the basis of market
prices and other market quotations at closing date. For derivatives
such as forward exchange transactions, this value is based on the
currency rates and reference interest rates at closing date and for
futures the value is determined on the basis of the market price and
other market quotations at closing date. Transaction costs incurred
in the purchase and sale of investments are included in the purchase
or sale price as appropriate. The transaction date of an investment
determines its inclusion in the Balance sheet.
Securities lending
Investments for which the legal ownership has been transferred by the
fund for a given period of time as a result of securities-lending
transactions, will continue to be included in the fund's Balance
sheet during this period, given their economic advantages and
disadvantages, in the form of investment income and changes in value
will be added to or deducted from the fund's result. The way in which
collateral ensuing from securitieslending transactions is reported
depends on the nature of this collateral. If the collateral is
received in the form of investments these will not be included in the
Balance sheet as the economic advantages and disadvantages relating
to the collateral will be for the account and risk of the counter
party. If the collateral is received in cash it will be included in
the Balance sheet as, in this case, the economic advantages and
disadvantages will be for the account and risk of the fund.
Affiliated parties
Both the fund and its Manager are affiliated to the entities
belonging to Robeco Groep N.V. The affiliation with Robeco Groep N.V.
stems from its capacity to have decisive control or a substantial
influence on the fund's or the Manager's business policy. Robeco
Groep N.V. belongs to the Rabobank Group. The management structure of
Robeco Groep N.V., in which significant authority is allocated to its
independent supervisory board, is such that Rabobank does not have a
meaningful say in or influence on the fund's business policy. Robeco
Groep N.V. pursues an independent investment policy on behalf of its
affiliated investment companies, taking into account the interests of
the investors involved. The members of the supervisory board of
Robeco N.V. are also members of the supervisory boards of Robeco
Groep N.V., Rolinco N.V. and Rorento N.V. Besides services of other
market parties, Robeco N.V. and the Manager also use the services of
one or more of these affiliated entities including transactions
relating to securities, treasury, derivatives, custody, securities
lending, and sale and purchase of own shares, fund-administration
services, as well as management activities. Transactions are executed
at market rates.
Structure of Robeco Groep N.V.
The schematic diagram below shows the position of the entities
referred to in this report and their mutual relationship within
Robeco Groep N.V. Only therelationships that are relevant to the fund
are shown.
Determination of the result
General
Investment results are determined by investment income, rises or
declines in stock prices, rises or declines in foreign exchange rates
and results of transactions in currencies, including forward
transactions, and derivatives. The results are accounted for in the
Profit and loss account.
Investment income
Net cash dividends declared during the year under review, the nominal
value of stock dividends declared, interest received and paid and
proceeds from loan transactions. Accrued interest at balance-sheet
date is taken into account.
Changes in value
Realized and unrealized capital gains and losses on securities and
currencies.
Foreign currencies
Transactions in currencies other than the euro are converted into
euros at the exchange rates valid at the time. Assets and liabilities
expressed in other currencies are converted into euros at the
exchange rate prevailing at balance-sheet date. Any exchange
differences arising are accounted for in the Profit and loss account.
Financial instruments
Risks
Transactions in financial instruments may lead to the fund being
subject to the risks described below or to the fund transferring
these risks to another party.
General investment risk
The value of your investments may fluctuate. Past performance is no
guarantee of future results. The net asset value of the fund is
affected by developments in the financial markets and may both rise
and fall. Shareholders run the risk that their investments may end up
being worth less than the amount invested or even worth nothing.
General investment risk can be broken down into market risk,
concentration risk and currency risk:
Market risk
The net asset value of the fund is sensitive to market movements. In
addition, investors should be aware of the possibility that the value
of investments may vary as a result of changes in political, economic
or market circumstances.
Concentration risk
Based on its investment policy, the fund may invest in financial
instruments from issuing institutions that (mainly) operate within
the same sector or region, or in the same market. If this is the
case, the concentration of the investment portfolio of the fund may
cause events that have an effect on these issuing institutions to
have a greater effect on the fund assets than would occur with a less
concentrated investment portfolio.
Currency risk
All or part of the securities portfolio of the fund may be invested
in currencies, or financial instruments denominated in currencies
other than the euro. As a result, fluctuations in exchange rates may
have both a negative and a positive effect on the investment result
of the fund.
The fund minimizes the risks by making a balanced selection with
regard to distribution across regions, sectors, individual stocks and
currencies.
Counterparty risk
A counter party of the fund may fail to fulfill its obligations
towards the fund. This risk is limited as much as possible by taking
every possible care in the selection of counter parties. Wherever it
is customary in the market, the fund will demand and obtain
collateral. Risk of lending financial instruments
In the case of financial-instrument lending transactions, the fund
runs the risk that the borrower cannot comply with its obligation to
return the financial instruments on the agreed date or furnish the
requested collateral.
The lending policy of the fund is designed to control these risks as
much as possible.
As of balance-sheet date,the fund had received collateral ensuing
from securities-lending transactions.
More information can be found in the Notes to the balance sheet.
Liquidity risk
The actual buying and selling prices of financial instruments in
which the fund invests partly depend upon the liquidity of the
financial instruments in question. It is possible that a position
taken on behalf of the fund cannot be quickly liquidated at a
reasonable price due to a lack of liquidity in the market in terms of
supply and demand. The fund minimizes this risk by mainly investing
in financial instruments that are tradable on a daily basis.
Insight into actual risks
The Report of the management board, the Balance sheet, the Notes to
the balance sheet and the Spread of net assets, which includes the
geographic distribution of the investments, the net currency position
and distribution over sectors, give an insight into the actual risks
at balancesheet date.
Risk management
Managing risk is a part of the investment process as a whole and with
the help of advanced systems, the risks outlined above are limited,
measured and monitored on the basis of fixed risk measures.
Derivatives
Investing implies that positions are taken. As it is possible to use
various instruments, including derivative instruments, to construct
an identical position, the selection of derivatives is subordinate to
the positioning of a portfolio. In our published information,
attention is given primarily to the overall position, and secondarily
to the nature and volume of the financial instruments employed. The
market value of derivatives is reported in the Balance sheet. The
presentation of the market value is based on the liabilities and
receivables per counter party. The receivables are reported under
Financial investments and the liabilities are reported under Accounts
payable. The value of the derivatives' underlying instruments is not
included in the Balance sheet. If applicable, they are explained
under the heading Commitments not shown in the balance sheet.
Movements in the stock portfolio
EUR x thousand 2007 2006
Book value (market value)
at opening date 7,188,880 7,192,191
Purchases 1,971,207 2,172,727
Sales -3,005,161 -2,625,807
Realized and unrealized results:
stocks 305,653 857,083
currencies -331,158 -407,314
Book value (market value)
at closing date 6,129,421 7,188,880
Notes to the balance sheet
[1] Stocks
A breakdown of the portfolio and overviews of purchases and sales
exceeding an amount of EUR 20 million and the spread of net assets
can be found at the end of this report. Shares in an amount of EUR
1,579 million (EUR 922 million at the end of last year) were lent at
balance-sheet date. To cover the risk of non-restitution, adequate
collateral with a value of EUR 1,745 million (EUR 1,004 million at
the end of last year) was demanded and obtained; this collateral is
not included in the Balance sheet.
[2] Derivatives
Movements in derivatives
EUR x thousand Forward exchange Futures Total
transactions
2007 2006 2007 2006 2007 2006
Book value
(market value)
at opening date -3,663 2,413 6,694 3,893 3,031 6,306
Sales/expirations -734 19,334 12,981 7,762 12,247 27,096
Realized and
unrealized 751 -25,410 -24,212 -4,961 -23,461 -30,371
results
Book value
(market value)
at closing date -3,646 -3,663 -4,537 6,694 -8,183 3,031
The presentation of derivatives in the Balance sheet is based on the
liabilities and receivables per counterparty.
Presentation of derivatives in the Balance sheet
EUR x thousand Under financial Under accounts
investments payable
2007 2006 2007 2006
Type of derivative
Forward exchange -
transactions 4,036 2,966 7,682 6,629
Futures - 6,694 4,537 -
Total 4,036 9,660 12,219 6,629
[3] Dividends receivable
Concerns dividends declared but not yet received.
[4] Receivables on affiliated companies
This is income receivable ensuing from securities-lending
transactions.
[5] Sundry debtors
This includes recoverable dividend tax, tax withheld at source
outside the Netherlands on behalf of the Dutch Tax Office, in
accordance with article 6 Resolution Investment Institutions,
receivables ensuing from class actions, and suspense items.
[6] Cash
Includes balances in current accounts at banks.
[7] Debts to affiliated companies
These are management and service fees to be paid.
[8] Sundry creditors
Current liabilities such as unpaid expenses, dividends payable and
suspense items.
[9] Shareholders' equity
Notes to the profit and loss account
[12] Performance
Performance per share*
EUR x 1 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003
Investment income 0.60 0.58 0.43 0.37 0.37
Changes in value -0.23 1.60 5.89 0.92 0.91
Management costs,
service fee and
other costs -0.33 -0.31 -0.27 -0.20 -0.17
Net result 0.04 1.87 6.05 1.09 1.11
* Based on the average amount of shares outstanding during the
reporting year. The average number of shares outstanding is
calculated on a daily basis.
Costs
[13] Total expense ratio
Total expense ratio
In % 2007 Prospectus 2006
Cost item
Management costs 1.00 1.00 1.00
Service fee 0.10 0.12 0.10
Other costs 0.02 0.02* 0.02
Total 1.12 1.12
* This concerns only the custody fee of the securities portfolio.
The total expense ratio expresses the costs charged to the fund
during the reporting period as a percentage of the average assets
entrusted during the reporting period. The total expense ratio as
shown does not include transaction costs. The total expense ratio was
1.12% during the reporting period. The management costs cover all
current costs resulting from the management and marketing of the
fund.
If the Manager outsources its operations to third parties, any costs
associated with this will be paid by the Manager and will therefore
not be charged to the fund. The management costs also include the
costs related to registering shareholders in the fund. Current costs
do not include costs relating to investments and taxes. The service
fee covers the administration, the costs of the external auditor,
other external advisers, regulators, costs relating to reports
required by law, such as the annual and semiannual reports, and the
costs relating to the meetings of shareholders. Other costs relate to
bank charges and the custody fee charged by third parties for the
custody of the fund's
securities portfolio. The custody fee is EUR 1,048 thousand (last
year EUR 795 thousand). Costs relating to issue and repurchase of
company shares are not included in the total expense ratio.
[14] Management costs and service fee
Management costs relate exclusively to the management fee of 1.00%
per year. The service fee amounts to 0.12% per year. Formal and
operational expenses are paid from the service fee. These are
explained in the notes to the total expense ratio. For assets
exceeding EUR 1 billion the service fee is 0.10%; for assets
exceeding EUR 5 billion the service fee is 0.08%. The management fee
and service fee are charged by the Manager. The fees are calculated
on a daily basis, based on the average assets entrusted. Wherever in
this report mention is made of the average assets entrusted this is
also calculated on a daily basis, unless stated otherwise.
[15] Other costs
This includes custody costs, bank costs and costs related to issue
and repurchase of company shares.
[16] Performance fee
Robeco N.V. is not subject to a performance fee.
[17] Transaction costs
Brokerage costs and exchange fees relating to investment transactions
are discounted in the cost price or the sales value of the investment
transactions. These costs and fees are charged to the result ensuing
from changes in value. The quantifiable transaction costs are shown
below. The transaction volume of the quantifiable transaction costs
is 98% (previous year 95%) of the total transaction volume.
Transaction costs
EUR x thousand 2007 2006
Transaction type
Stocks 7,045 7,756
Futures 219 436
[18] Commission-sharing arrangements, soft-dollar arrangements and
hard commissions
Various independent research institutions/third parties provide
services to the company to support its decisionmaking process. Part
of the commissions paid to brokers is used to pay for these services
in so-called commissionsharing arrangements. This commission is used
exclusively for research services. In the reporting period
commissionsharing arrangements represented an amount of EUR 1,747
thousand (last year EUR 1,905 thousand). Furthermore, there are
so-called soft-dollar arrangements to pay for financial-service
companies' services and products. These services and products are
financed from part of the commission paid to brokers for the
execution of securities transactions. Only the aforementioned
commission-sharing arrangements were used during the reporting year.
There were no soft-dollar arrangements and hard commissions during
the reporting period.
[19] Turnover ratio
This shows the turnover of the investments against the average assets
entrusted and is a measure of the incurred transaction costs
resulting from the portfolio policy pursued and the ensuing
investment transactions. In the calculation method used, the amount
of the turnover is determined by the sum of the purchases and sales
of investments less the sum of issuance and repurchase of own shares.
If the outcome is negative, the turnover ratio is 0. The turnover
ratio is determined by expressing the amount of turnover as a
percentage of the average assets entrusted. The turnover ratio over
2007 was 47% (previous year 39%).
[20] Transactions with affiliated parties
Part of the transaction volume over the reporting period relates to
transactions with affiliated parties. The table below shows the
various types of transactions where this was the case.
Transactions with affiliated parties
Part of the total volume in %
2007 2006
Transaction type
Forward exchange transactions 4.8 10.3
Deposits - 100.0
Call money - 80.7
[21] Securities lending
Robeco Securities Lending B.V. is the intermediary for all Robeco
N.V.'s securities-lending transactions. Until 1 April 2007, Robeco
Securities Lending B.V. received a fee of 40% of the gross income
resulting from these securities-lending transactions as compensation
for its services. An external agency periodically assesses whether
the agreements between the fund and Robeco Securities Lending B.V.
are still in line with the market. On the basis of the outcome of the
assessment that was carried out, as of 1 April 2007, the percentage
was lowered to 30% of the gross income. The proceeds for the fund
over the reporting period were EUR 3,958 thousand (last year EUR
3,305 thousand) and for Robeco Securities Lending B.V. EUR 1,913
thousand (last year EUR 2,203 thousand).
[22] Voting policy for stocks in the investment portfolio
In 2007, Robeco N.V. voted at the majority of the general meetings of
shareholders of the companies in which it invests. If the shares of
an investment position have been lent out, the voting rights attached
to those shares may not be exercised during general meetings of
shareholders. If an important event were to occur, the shares that
have been lent out may be recalled in order for the voting rights
attached to these shares to be able to be exercised. The voting
policy and more information about votes cast can be found on the
Robeco Group's Internet site, www.robeco.com.
[23] Personnel costs
Robeco N.V. does not employ personnel. Robeco Nederland B.V. is the
employer of Robeco N.V.'s management board and personnel in the
Netherlands. Their remuneration is paid out of the management fees
received. Robeco Nederland B.V.'s remuneration policy for fund
managers consists of both fixed and variable income. The secondary
conditions of employment are in line with what is common practice in
the financialservices industry. The fixed income offers a good and
competitive remuneration basis within the Dutch assetmanagement
market. A fund manager is assigned to a salary scale with a minimum
and maximum income based on the level of responsibility of his
function (Hay method for function valuation). Growth within this
scale is linked to results, including performance results, and
competencies. The variable income offers the fund manager
remuneration for his individual, long-term outperformance. The system
is related to the outperformance relative to a preset target. The
track record over both a 1-year and 3-year period is taken into
account when determining the variable remuneration. The variable
remuneration to which the fund manager is entitled for any single
year, is paid out over a three-year period (60% in the first year,
30% in the second and 10% in the third year). Fund managers are given
the opportunity to participate directly in Robeco Groep N.V.'s future
through virtual shares (E-notes). The individual allocation of
E-notes is linked to individual performance and the contribution to
the realization of the strategic targets of the Robeco Group as a
whole and the individual's own business unit. The E notes represent a
value which is directly linked to Robeco Groep N.V.'s value.
Rotterdam, 12 March 2008
Supervisory Board
Paulus C. van den Hoek, chairman
Gilles Izeboud
Philip Lambert
Dirk P.M. Verbeek
Management Board
Robeco Fund Management B.V.:
Mark F. van der Kroft
Pieter F.F.M. Schuurs
Edith J. Siermann
Edwin de Weerd
Ed B. van Wijk
Other data
Stock-exchange listings
The ordinary shares of Robeco N.V. are listed on Euronext Amsterdam,
Euronext Fund Service segment. In addition, Robeco N.V. has a
stock-exchange quotation in Paris, Brussels, Luxembourg, London,
Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Vienna and Zurich.
Articles of Association rules regarding profit appropriation
According to article 39 of the Articles of Association, the profit
less allocations to the reserves deemed desirable by the management
board in agreement with the supervisory board shall be at the
disposal of the General Meeting of Shareholders.
Proposed profit appropriation
We propose to declare a dividend of EUR 0.80 per share for the 2007
financial year (previous year EUR 0.60). If this proposal is
accepted, the dividend will be payable on Friday 2 May 2008. With
effect from Friday 25 April 2008, Robeco N.V.'s shares will be listed
ex-dividend coupon no. 106 on the stock exchange. Shareholders will
be offered the opportunity to reinvest the dividend (less dividend
tax) in Robeco N.V. shares at the company's expense. The price used
to calculate this is the opening price of the shares on the stock
market of Euronext Amsterdam, Euronext Fund Service segment, on
Friday 2 May 2008. Any collection commissions charged by banks in
line with the relevant regulations in their respective countries will
be borne by the shareholder. In some countries, reinvestment will not
be possible for technical reasons.
Supervisory directors' fee
An amount of EUR 32,670 (previous year EUR 32,670) has been
allocated from the profit appropriation for this purpose. The
chairman of the supervisory board receives a remuneration of EUR
10,890 (last year this was also EUR 10,890) and an ordinary member of
the supervisory board receives a remuneration of EUR 7,260 (last year
this was also EUR 7,260).
Directors' interests
The table below shows the total personal interests in investments of
the investment institution held by the directors of the investment
institution and/or the management company on 1 January 2007 and 31
December 2007.
Supervisory directors held a joint interest of 4,769 and 4,850 Robeco
N.V. shares on 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2007, respectively. The
managing directors of the management company held a joint interest of
11,893 and 10,423 Robeco N.V. shares on 1 January 2007 and 31
December 2007, respectively. On 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2007,
no options had been granted to supervisory directors; managing
directors of the management company held options to acquire 14,999
and 10,880 Robeco N.V. shares on the respective dates. Under the
option scheme, Robeco Groep N.V. grants the right at its own expense
to purchase Robeco N.V. shares for 5 years, the value of the shares
being at least the opening price on the first trading day following
the day of granting. Aon Risk Services International, of which Dirk
P.M. Verbeek is an adviser, acted as an intermediary for various
insurance policies concluded at Rabobank Group level, including a
Bankers, General Liability and D&O liability policy. Furthermore Aon
Risk Services International insures several of Robeco's art objects.
Apart from the above, there were no other business relations between
supervisory directors and the company than that of member of the
supervisory board during the period under review.
Interests in investments of Robeco N.V
Description Supervisory Managing Total
directors directors Quantity
Quantity Quantity
At 1 January 2007
AXA stocks 11,239 11,239
BNP Paribas stocks 2,706 2,706
E.On stocks 770 770
HSBC Holdings stocks 4,550 4,550
ING Groep stocks 13,200 13,200
Intel stocks 5,000 5,000
Nestl� stocks 315 315
Novartis stocks 3,062 3,062
Reed Elsevier stocks 5,299 5,299
Royal Bank of Scotland stocks 2,539 2,539
Royal Dutch Shell A stocks 18,692 200 18,892
SNS Reaal stocks 577 577
Syngenta stocks 4 4
Telenor stocks 15,000 15,000
TNT stocks 1,000 1,000
Total stocks 3,700 3,700
Unicredito Italiano stocks 12,950 12,950
At 31 December 2007
BNP Paribas stocks 600 600
ING Groep stocks 8,950 8,950
KPN stocks 7,240 7,240
Novartis stocks 1,260 1,260
Rio Tinto stocks 900 900
Royal Dutch Shell A stocks 6,721 200 6,921
SNS Reaal stocks 3,753 3,753
Syngenta stocks 4 4
Telef�nica stocks 1500 1500
TNT stocks 2,680 2,680
Total stocks 2,210 2,210
Interests of the fund manager
The fund manager should act in accordance with Dutch legislation and,
insofar as is relevant, legislation in other countries. As an
employee of Robeco Nederland B.V. he is bound by Robeco's internal
regulations and procedures, including the Rules and regulations
regarding private investment transactions, which are based on the
Dutch Financial Supervision Act [Wet op het financieel toezicht, or
'Wft']/the Dutch Market Conduct Supervision of Financial Businesses
under the Wft decree [Besluit Gedragstoezicht financi�le
ondernemingen Wft, or 'Bgtfo']. These Rules should guarantee that
insider trading and mixing of business and private interests, or
semblance thereof, is avoided at all times. At 1 January 2007 and 31
December 2007 the fund manager had an interest of 5,271 and 8,087
Robeco N.V. shares respectively. Furthermore, at these same dates, he
held interests in the following Robeco N.V. investments: 1,170 Royal
Dutch Shell A shares and 3,500 Reed Elsevier shares.
Statement for the London Stock Exchange
The members of the supervisory board and the management board of
Robeco N.V. hereby declare that their beneficial interests and those
of their children below the age of 18 years do not in the aggregate
exceed 5% of the company, in respect of either share capital or
voting control.
Rotterdam, 12 March 2008
To the General Meeting of Shareholders and
members of the supervisory board
Auditor's report
Report on the financial statements
We have audited the financial statements 2007 of Robeco N.V.,
Rotterdam, which comprise the Balance sheet as at 31 December 2007,
the profit and loss account for the year then ended and the notes.
Management's responsibility
The company's management is responsible for the preparation and fair
presentation of the financial statements and for the preparation of
the report of the management board, both in accordance with Part 9 of
Book 2 of the Netherlands Civil Code and the Dutch Financial
Supervision Act [Wet op het financieel toezicht, or 'Wft']. This
responsibility includes: designing, implementing and maintaining
internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of
the financial statements that are free from material misstatement,
whether due to fraud or error; selecting and applying appropriate
accounting policies; and making accounting estimates that are
reasonable in the circumstances.
Auditor's responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial
statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance
with Dutch law. This law requires that we comply with ethical
requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable
assurance whether the financial statements are free from material
misstatement.
An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence
about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The
procedures selected depend on the auditor's judgment, including the
assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial
statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk
assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the
entity's preparation and fair presentation of the financial
statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate
in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an
opinion on the effectiveness of the entity's internal control. An
audit also includes an evaluation of how appropriate the accounting
policies and how reasonable the management board's accounting
estimates are, as well as an evaluation of the overall presentation
of the financial statements. We believe that the audit evidence we
have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for
our audit opinion.
Opinion
In our opinion, the financial statements give a true and fair view of
the financial position of Robeco N.V. as at 31 December 2007, and of
its result for the year then ended in accordance with Part 9 of Book
2 of the Netherlands Civil Code and the Wft.
Report on other legal and regulatory requirements
Pursuant to the legal requirement under 2:393 sub 5 part e of the
Netherlands Civil Code, we report, to the extent of our competence,
that the report of the management board is consistent with the
financial statements as required by 2:391 sub 4 of the Netherlands
Civil Code.
The Hague, 12 March 2008
for Ernst & Young Accountants
signed by Joost J. Hendriks
Spread of net assets
Across countries and currencies
Across countries Across currencies
Stocks Stocks +
derivatives*
31/12/2007 31/12/2007 31/12/2006 31/12/2007 31/12/2006 31/12/2007 31/12/2006
EUR x in % in % in % in % in % in %
thousand
By country
America
(45.96%)
United 2,648,273 42.98 46.36 45.20 46.36 47.18 46.70
States
Canada 117,247 1.90 1.40 1.90 1.40 4.01 2.33
Bermuda 40,926 0.66 - 0.66 - - -
Brazil 25,583 0.42 0.54 0.42 0.54 - -
Europe
(38.58%)
France 456,568 7.41 7.86 7.41 7.86 - -
United 437,165 7.09 7.41 7.09 7.41 10.71 10.21
Kingdom
Switzerland 367,615 5.97 5.86 5.97 5.86 3.22 3.88
Netherlands 314,070 5.10 5.33 5.10 5.33 - -
Germany 258,868 4.20 2.92 4.20 2.92 - -
Italy 93,916 1.52 1.20 1.52 1.20 - -
Spain 91,172 1.48 1.07 1.48 1.07 - -
Norway 88,439 1.44 1.23 1.44 1.23 0.46 0.95
Sweden 73,461 1.19 2.11 1.19 2.11 0.95 1.71
Finland 66,579 1.08 0.79 1.08 0.79 - -
Ireland 48,982 0.79 0.82 0.79 0.82 - -
Greece 37,849 0.61 0.36 0.61 0.36 - -
Belgium 26,803 0.44 0.46 0.43 0.46 - -
Hungary 11,777 0.19 0.21 0.19 0.21 0.19 0.21
Denmark 3,917 0.06 0.07 0.06 0.07 0.06 0.07
Austria 446 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.02 - -
Euro - - - -3.29 -2.49 18.89 16.13
Asia
(12.83%)
Japan 545,600 8.86 10.09 9.83 12.32 9.41 13.04
Hong Kong 118,609 1.92 1.54 1.92 1.54 0.78 1.54
Singapore 46,530 0.76 0.72 0.76 0.72 0.76 0.73
South Korea 35,658 0.58 0.52 0.58 0.52 0.04 -
China 29,757 0.48 - 0.48 - - -
Kazachstan 14,474 0.23 - 0.23 - - -
Taiwan - - - - - 0.04 0.04
Australia
(1.85%)
Australia 113,175 1.84 1.82 1.84 1.84 3.29 2.46
New-Zealand 635 0.01 - 0.01 0.01 0.01 -
Africa
(0.25%)
Egypt 15,327 0.25 - 0.25 - - -
Other 32,717 0.53 -0.71 0.64 -0.45 - -
assets and
liabilities
(0.53%)
Total 6,162,138 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
* In addition to investments in stocks, the portfolio may include
positions in derivatives. The sum of stocks and derivatives re. ects
the true volume of the investments by country and in total. At 31
December 2007 the portfolio contained derivatives, in this case index
futures, as was also the case at 31 December 2006. These derivatives
have been included in the geographic distribution. The positions in
forward exchange transactions have been included in the currency
position.
By sector
In % 31/12/2007 31/12/2006
Financials 20.6 24.2
Information technology 13.2 11.1
Energy 11.1 9.3
Industrials 10.9 11.8
Consumer discretionary 10.4 11.2
Health care 9.5 11.3
Consumer staples 8.7 9.1
Materials 6.8 5.8
Telecommunication services 4.7 3.9
Utilities 3.6 3.0
Other assets and liabilities 0.5 -0.7
Total 100.0 100.0
Exchange rates
31/12/2007 31/12/2006 31/12/2007 31/12/2006
EUR 1 EUR EUR
AUD 1.6652 1.6731 AUD 1 0.6005 0.5977
BRL 2.6024 2.8153 BRL 1 0.3843 0.3552
CAD 1.4430 1.5344 CAD 1 0.6930 0.6517
CHF 1.6553 1.6095 CHF 1 0.6041 0.6213
CNY 10.6790 10.2881 CNY 1 0.0936 0.0972
DKK 7.4565 7.4571 DKK 1 0.1341 0.1341
GBP 0.7345 0.6738 GBP 1 1.3616 1.4842
HKD 11.4002 10.2564 HKD 1 0.0877 0.0975
HUF 252.80 251.39 HUF 1 0.0040 0.0040
JPY 163.3329 157.1339 JPY 100 0.6122 0.6364
KRW 1,368.5525 1,226.9939 KRW 100 0.0731 0.0815
NOK 7.9388 8.2102 NOK 1 0.1260 0.1218
SEK 9.449 9.0253 SEK 1 0.1058 0.1108
SGD 2.1046 2.0231 SGD 1 0.4752 0.4943
USD 1.4621 1.3186 USD 1 0.6840 0.7584
List of securities
at 31 December 2007
Market value Market value Largecaps (93.99%)
America (44.06%)
EUR USD United States (41.50%)
17,673,015 25,838,831 Adobe Systems
34,269,690 50,104,000 Aflac
37,442,354 54,742,594 Altria
34,428,741 50,336,541 Amdocs
11,090,712 16,215,176 Amgen
39,277,973 57,426,360 Apache
36,918,573 53,976,800 Apple
20,880,271 30,528,000 Applied Biosystems
33,224,643 48,576,090 Assurant
67,235,783 98,302,076 AT&T/new
19,990,424 29,227,000 Avery Dennison
28,543,361 41,731,821 Avon Products
39,844,734 58,254,994 Bank of America
35,137,649 51,373,000 Bank of New York
16,815,434 24,585,006 Boeing
23,191,945 33,907,782 Bristol Myers
18,147,191 26,532,100 Broadcom
68,110,569 99,581,057 Chevron
90,222,632 131,909,999 Cisco Systems
21,885,946 31,998,348 CIT Group
33,850,815 49,491,584 Citigroup
50,198,010 73,392,000 Coach
23,474,269 34,320,555 Coca-Cola
27,463,320 40,152,747 ConocoPhillips
27,516,914 40,231,104 Cooper Industries A
26,639,147 38,947,765 Corning
11,458,285 16,752,585 Dell
23,108,512 33,785,800 Devon Energy
13,061,455 19,096,500 DR. Horton
15,780,480 23,071,851 Edison International
25,867,604 37,819,730 EMC
9,884,580 14,451,750 Energen
1,750,967 2,560,002 Energysolutions
43,069,012 62,969,049 Exxon Mobil
29,735,134 43,474,252 Fannie Mae
22,799,680 33,334,272 Firstenergy
20,861,804 30,501,000 FPL Group
18,377,148 26,868,309 Genentech
38,396,716 56,137,918 General Electric
35,944,379 52,552,480 Google/A
13,483,260 19,713,200 Halliburton
39,657,555 57,981,328 Hewlett Packard
20,622,003 30,150,400 IAC/InterActive
53,505,994 78,228,438 Intel
28,338,638 41,432,505 ITT
58,892,644 86,103,990 J.P. Morgan Chase
57,838,145 84,562,260 Johnson & Johnson
10,710,988 15,660,000 KB Home
37,276,849 54,500,616 Kraft Foods/A
30,070,859 43,965,100 L-3 Communications
12,160,049 17,778,600 Lexmark International
Market value Market value
EUR USD
18,126,603 26,502,000 Limited Brands
28,886,008 42,232,788 Lincoln National
31,335,828 45,814,548 Lowe's Companies
4,482,770 6,554,034 MBIA
50,539,908 73,891,873 Medtronic
28,052,418 41,014,038 Merck
31,843,414 46,556,664 Merrill Lynch
75,812,331 110,841,419 Microsoft
14,087,775 20,597,032 Mirant
35,059,444 51,258,660 Molson Coors Brewing
27,104,143 39,627,612 Monsanto
13,211,195 19,315,428 Nabors Industries
36,202,904 52,930,456 News B
77,346,705 113,084,750 Oracle
12,862,419 18,805,500 Panera Bread Company
34,030,186 49,753,833 Pfizer
41,146,033 60,157,558 Procter & Gamble
20,993,126 30,693,000 Qualcomm
30,593,913 44,729,830 Raytheon Company
51,100,862 74,712,015 Schlumberger
9,594,810 14,028,092 Sprint Nextel-FON
23,866,215 34,893,600 Supervalu
26,603,057 38,895,000 Synopsys
32,896,116 48,095,766 Texas Instruments
16,376,006 23,942,540 Textron
39,956,899 58,418,984 Time Warner
23,376,565 34,177,707 Trane
30,542,047 44,654,000 Travelers Companies
39,994,966 58,474,640 Weatherford
37,326,218 54,572,797 Wellpoint
13,601,108 19,885,500 Wyeth
16,639,399 24,327,634 Yahoo
27,146,814 39,690,000 Zimmer
EUR CAD Canada (1.60%)
24,428,523 35,250,358 CDN Pacific Railway
15,219,543 21,961,800 National Bank of Canada
32,067,792 46,273,824 Petro-Canada/Variable Vtg. Shs
26,860,998 38,760,420 Teck Cominco
EUR USD Bermuda (0.55%)
34,079,717 49,826,250 Covidien
EUR USD Brazil (0.42%)
25,583,237 37,403,972 Ambev Pref ADR
Market value Market value
Europe (36.26%)
EUR EUR France (6.91%)
40,359,531 40,359,531 Air Liquide
40,572,451 40,572,451 Axa
50,828,602 50,828,602 BNP Paribas
22,115,350 22,115,350 Carrefour Supermarche
30,560,478 30,560,478 Regie Nationale des Usines Renault
20,653,094 20,653,094 Sanofi-Aventis
25,162,500 25,162,500 Societe Television Francaise 1
16,998,050 16,998,050 Suez
115,281,587 115,281,587 Total
29,967,174 29,967,174 Vinci
33,456,132 33,456,132 Vivendi
EUR GBP United Kingdom (6.87%)
14,290,149 10,495,400 AstraZeneca
32,456,365 23,837,577 Barclays
33,473,878 24,584,889 BP
39,726,711 29,177,283 British American Tobacco
11,911,438 8,748,355 BT Group
11,936,871 8,767,035 Debenhams
32,402,210 23,797,803 GlaxoSmithkline
383,636 281,762 GlaxoSmithkline/STK/31-10-2007
15,852,319 11,642,736 Man Group
14,782,083 10,856,701 Old Mutual
6,693,600 4,916,115 Petrofac
20,358,091 14,952,000 Prudential
47,886,736 35,170,413 Rio Tinto
19,178,164 14,085,403 Royal Bank of Scotland
11,882,192 8,726,876 Standard Life
40,732,665 29,916,106 Tesco
42,118,092 30,933,633 Vodafone Group
620,483 455,714 Vodafone Group shs/STK/21-11-2007
26,444,862 19,422,429 WPP 2005
EUR CHF Switzerland (5.59%)
43,043,856 71,248,343 ABB
22,074,533 36,538,871 Adecco Cheserex
38,525,202 63,768,840 Credit Suisse Group
50,562,296 83,693,240 Holcim
42,697,333 70,674,760 Nestl�
52,408,348 86,748,918 Novartis
26,728,278 44,241,982 Roche Holding
26,521,307 43,899,393 Swiss Reinsurance
21,188,911 35,072,945 Syngenta/(novartis)
20,405,372 33,775,992 UBS
EUR EUR Netherlands (4.86%)
54,483,330 54,483,330 ING Groep
15,200,407 15,200,407 Koninklijke Ahold
19,665,164 19,665,164 Koninklijke KPN
35,181,264 35,181,264 Reed Elsevier
99,126,608 99,126,608 Royal Dutch Shell A
16,604,498 16,604,498 SNS Reaal
28,250,000 28,250,000 TNT
31,164,564 31,164,564 Wolters Kluwer
Market value Market value
EUR EUR Germany (3.87%)
44,428,646 44,428,646 Bayer
18,881,100 18,881,100 Deutsche Post
42,191,371 42,191,371 E.ON
31,447,000 31,447,000 Henkel/Vorzugsaktien
31,903,442 31,903,442 RWE/A
56,378,400 56,378,400 Siemens
13,524,132 13,524,132 Tognum
EUR EUR Spain (1.46%)
44,641,936 44,641,936 Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argenta
45,188,636 45,188,636 Telef�nica
EUR EUR Italy (1.41%)
27,785,906 27,785,906 Enel
8,122,292 8,122,292 Saras
50,773,520 50,773,520 Unicredito Italiano
EUR NOK Norway (1.30%)
29,414,228 233,512,200 DNB Holding
18,077,758 143,514,800 StatoilHydra
32,413,058 257,319,162 Telenor
EUR SEK Sweden (1.16%)
22,712,110 214,618,083 Skandinaviska Enskilda Bank A
12,576,364 118,840,350 SKF/B free
11,910,519 112,548,450 Tele2/B
24,541,300 231,903,018 Volvo/B
EUR EUR Finland (0.97%)
59,787,192 59,787,192 Nokia/A
EUR EUR Ireland (0.70%)
33,426,024 33,426,024 Allied Irish Banks
9,977,083 9,977,083 CRH
EUR EUR Greece (0.57%)
35,316,886 35,316,886 National Bank of Greece
EUR EUR Belgium (0.40%)
24,421,876 24,421,876 Delhaize Group
EUR HUF Hungary (0.19%)
11,777,367 2,977,318,260 MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Nyrt
Market value Market value
Asia (11.68%)
EUR JPY Japan (8.15%)
18,444,250 3,012,552,780 Astellas Pharma
31,747,896 5,185,476,000 Denso
32,400,282 5,292,032,000 Fanuc
35,967,952 5,874,750,000 Honda Motor
8,764,431 1,431,520,000 Jafco
18,404,130 3,006,000,000 Japan Tobacco
27,510,832 4,493,424,000 Komatsu
17,311,270 2,827,500,000 Millea Holdings
41,518,065 6,781,266,000 Mitsubishi
25,853,946 4,222,800,000 Nidec
19,085,408 3,117,275,000 Nomura Holdings
13,698,085 2,237,348,000 Orix
35,032,758 5,722,002,000 Shin-Etsu Chemical
12,996,558 2,122,765,550 Shionogi & Co
26,558,030 4,337,800,000 Shiseido
34,683,398 5,664,940,000 Sony
41,718,582 6,814,017,000 Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
18,943,902 3,094,162,500 T&D Holdings
14,438,242 2,358,240,000 Tokyo Electric Power
27,082,896 4,423,528,000 Yamada Denki
EUR HKD Hong Kong (1.83%)
40,306,424 459,501,300 Esprit
41,755,513 476,021,200 Sun Hung Kai Properties
30,824,028 351,400,080 Swire Pacific A
EUR SGD Singapore (0.65%)
21,670,950 45,607,598 Singapore Telecom
18,088,760 38,068,700 United Overseas Bank
EUR USD South Korea (0.48%)
29,641,025 43,336,661 Samsung Electronics GDR
EUR USD China (0.37%)
22,771,109 33,292,500 China Medical Tech-Spon ADR
EUR GBP Kazachstan (0.20%)
12,302,866 9,035,840 Eurasian Natural Resourc-W/I
Australia (1.73%)
EUR AUD Australia (1.73%)
74,691,738 124,372,947 BHP Billiton
14,664,576 24,418,718 Brambles Industries
17,452,530 29,061,080 Macquarie Group
Africa (0.25%)
EUR USD Egypt (0.25%)
15,327,793 22,410,000 Orascom Telecom Holding/GDR
Market value Market value Midcaps (2.61%)
America (0.74%)
EUR USD United States (0.53%)
716,850 1,048,070 ADC Telecom
565,744 827,146 Alliant Energy
674,792 986,580 American Greetings A
1,234,256 1,804,544 Applied Biosystems
673,985 985,400 Avis Budget
498,436 728,739 Axis Capital Holdings
468,419 684,852 BEA Systems
428,197 626,046 Centurytel
493,789 721,944 Compuware
505,492 739,054 Convergys
456,191 666,974 Covance
549,400 803,250 Denbury Resources
475,501 695,206 Energizer Holdings
1,807,202 2,642,220 FMC Technologies
541,233 791,310 Frontier Oil
1,095,248 1,601,308 Hasbro
910,853 1,331,712 Intersil A
1,661,133 2,428,660 Invitrogen
1,235,091 1,805,765 Janus Capital Group
466,997 682,773 Jones Apparel
341,789 499,712 King Pharmaceuticals
298,200 435,984 Lincare
659,381 964,048 Lubrizol
1,290,517 1,886,800 Mosaic
522,253 763,560 Navteq
1,182,723 1,729,200 NVR
657,765 961,685 OGE Energy
2,210,834 3,232,350 Owens-Illinois
1,744,247 2,550,177 Partnerre
595,460 870,592 Patterson-Uti Energy
1,303,957 1,906,450 Pepco
1,318,448 1,927,638 Radioshack
1,380,281 2,018,040 Renaissancere
461,976 675,432 Roper Industries
1,772,730 2,591,820 SPX
917,462 1,341,375 Tyson Foods A
545,497 797,544 Western Digital
EUR CAD Canada (0.20%)
856,521 1,235,960 Astral Media
1,037,877 1,497,656 Biovail
1,304,054 1,881,750 Celestica
1,774,242 2,560,231 CGI
1,790,021 2,583,000 Fairfax Financial
1,367,105 1,972,732 Fording Cdn Tr Units
1,711,279 2,469,376 Methanex
1,522,780 2,197,372 Onex
1,271,137 1,834,250 TransAlta
Market value Market value
Europe (0.87%)
EUR GBP United Kingdom (0.22%)
957,736 703,409 Amec
1,294,636 950,846 Berkeley
477,669 350,824 Bovis Homes
1,027,478 754,632 British Airways
1,186,116 871,143 Davis Service
1,503,859 1,104,509 De La Rue
459,342 337,364 Emap
1,296,582 952,275 London Stock Exchange
372,793 273,798 Misys
1,368,322 1,004,964 National Express
1,234,103 906,387 Schroders
1,693,233 1,243,595 Stagecoach
1,162,043 853,462 United Business Media
EUR EUR Finland (0.11%)
1,320,200 1,320,200 Kesko B
732,370 732,370 Kone B
589,874 589,874 Nokian Renkaat (Nokian Tyres)
1,224,692 1,224,692 Orion B
1,261,934 1,261,934 Rautaruukki
1,662,609 1,662,609 Wartsila B
EUR EUR Germany (0.09%)
514,600 514,600 Altana
941,056 941,056 Arcandor
1,601,571 1,601,571 Hochtief
1,043,924 1,043,924 ProSieben Sat,1 Media/Vorzugsaktien
1,169,220 1,169,220 Wincor Nixdorf
EUR EUR France (0.07%)
1,163,659 1,163,659 Air France
1,153,754 1,153,754 Bic
882,814 882,814 Gecina
1,128,000 1,128,000 Valeo
EUR DKK Denmark (0.06%)
765,406 5,707,250 Carlsberg B
1,533,972 11,438,063 East Asiatic
1,617,381 12,060,000 Jyske Bank
EUR CHF Switzerland (0.05%)
514,444 851,534 Logitech International Namen Akt.
453,310 750,341 Lonza Group/New
1,974,694 3,268,612 Sonova Holding REG
EUR EUR Greece (0.04%)
538,513 538,513 Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling
1,538,832 1,538,832 Hellenic Exchanges
454,716 454,716 Public Power
EUR EUR Belgium (0.04%)
1,341,918 1,341,918 Euronav
1,038,728 1,038,728 Tessenderlo Chemie
Market value Market value
EUR NOK Norway (0.04%)
534,247 4,241,250 Frontline
1,819,180 14,442,013 Petroleum Geo-Services
EUR EUR Netherlands (0.04%)
1,204,574 1,204,574 Oc�
1,042,891 1,042,891 SBM Offshore
EUR SEK Sweden (0.03%)
465,892 4,402,450 Axfood
356,003 3,364,050 Hoganas B
898,555 8,490,900 SAS
EUR EUR Spain (0.02%)
1,341,831 1,341,831 Iberia (Linea Aer De Espana)
EUR EUR Ireland (0.02%)
1,329,598 1,329,598 Paddy Power
EUR EUR Italy (0.01%)
1,260,802 1,260,802 Snam Rete Gas
EUR EUR Austria (0.01%)
445,523 445,523 Oest Elektrizitatswirts A
Asia (0.91%)
EUR JPY Japan (0.71%)
500,350 81,723,600 Alps Electronic
1,028,097 167,922,000 Amada
1,007,990 164,638,000 Asatsu
464,818 75,920,000 Canon Marketing Japan
1,864,585 304,548,000 Daito Trust Construction
1,067,427 174,346,000 Denki Kagaku Kogyo
1,316,232 214,984,000 Familymart
1,210,531 197,719,500 Glory
1,314,848 214,758,000 Gunma Bank
973,888 159,068,000 H20 Retailing
1,015,595 165,880,000 Hachijuni Bank
1,349,685 220,448,000 Hitachi Cable
802,361 131,052,000 Hitachi High-Technologies
786,529 128,466,000 Japan Steel Works
420,919 68,750,000 Joyo Bank
960,780 156,927,000 Kinden
381,123 62,250,000 Komori
711,397 116,194,500 Kuraray
877,227 143,280,000 Kyowa Hakko Kogyo
350,756 57,290,000 Mabuchi Motor
1,712,209 279,660,000 Makita
1,476,830 241,215,000 Matsushita Electric Works
1,287,481 210,288,000 Meitec
1,321,332 215,817,000 Minebea
1,228,165 200,599,700 Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance
1,240,044 202,540,000 Mitsumi Electric
1,136,005 185,547,000 Nissan Chemical Industries
Market value Market value
1,320,965 215,757,000 Nisshin Steel
1,029,437 168,141,000 Nisshinbo
1,569,714 256,386,000 Sankyo
1,165,488 190,362,500 Seiko Epson
1,355,820 221,450,000 Taisho Pharmaceutical
1,215,524 198,535,000 Takara
1,217,758 198,900,000 The Bank of Kyoto
1,358,575 221,900,000 Tokai Rika
1,613,919 263,606,000 Toyo Seikan Kaisha
1,454,147 237,510,000 Toyo Suisan Kaisha
1,345,289 219,730,000 Yamaha
985,717 161,000,000 Yamato Kogyo
EUR SGD Singapore (0.11%)
1,139,724 2,398,607 Allgreen Prop
1,621,810 3,413,180 Jardine Cycle and Carriage
1,213,195 2,553,230 Neptune Orient Lines
741,536 1,560,600 Sembcorp Industries
1,362,572 2,867,600 Singapore Exchange
691,530 1,455,360 Singapore Petroleum
EUR HKD Hong Kong (0.09%)
456,678 5,206,215 Kerry Properties
1,508,561 17,197,900 Kingboard Chemical Holdings
451,295 5,144,850 Television Broadcasts
1,635,971 18,650,400 The Wharf Holdings
53,499 609,900 The Wharf Holdings/CLM/13-12-2007
1,617,393 18,438,600 Wing Hang Bank
Australia (0.12%)
EUR AUD Australia (0.11%)
1,183,767 1,971,150 Challenger Financial Service
1,444,476 2,405,269 Harvey Norman
2,005,415 3,339,317 Leighton
1,731,927 2,883,918 Qantas Airways
EUR NZD New Zealand (0.01%)
635,492 1,207,339 Fletcher Building
Market value Market value Global Stars (2.87%)
America (1.16%)
EUR USD United States (0.95%)
6,309,067 9,224,172 Amdocs
6,649,305 9,721,616 Apache
2,087,350 3,051,810 CIT Group
3,310,977 4,840,814 Coach
7,924,804 11,586,460 Ishares S&P Global Utilities
6,648,671 9,720,690 Oracle
3,795,026 5,548,518 Panera Bread Company
5,727,355 8,373,680 Qualcomm
5,242,869 7,665,336 Supervalu
11,049,759 16,155,300 Weatherford
EUR USD Bermuda (0.11%)
6,846,236 10,009,540 Covidien
EUR CAD Canada (0.10%)
6,035,131 8,708,694 Teck Cominco
Europe (1.46%)
EUR EUR France (0.43%)
5,983,097 5,983,097 BNP Paribas
3,928,711 3,928,711 Regie Nationale des Usines Renault
7,999,991 7,999,991 Societe Television Francaise 1
8,372,764 8,372,764 Total
EUR CHF Switzerland (0.33%)
6,157,213 10,191,728 ABB
8,161,715 13,509,678 Credit Suisse
6,198,410 10,259,918 Holcim
EUR EUR Germany (0.24%)
6,258,233 6,258,233 Henkel
8,585,129 8,585,129 Siemens/New
EUR EUR Netherlands (0.20%)
6,161,221 6,161,221 ING Groep
5,985,568 5,985,568 Koninklijke KPN
EUR NOK Norway (0.10%)
6,179,622 49,058,475 Telenor
EUR EUR Italy (0.10%)
5,973,707 5,973,707 Unicredito Italiano
EUR EUR Ireland (0.07%)
4,249,756 4,249,756 Allied Irish Banks
Asia (0.25%)
EUR USD China (0.11%)
6,986,176 10,214,139 China Medical Tech-Spon/ADR
EUR USD South Korea (0.10%)
6,016,988 8,797,138 Samsung Electronics/GDR
EUR GBP Kazachstan (0.03%)
2,171,094 1,594,560 Eurasian Natural Resources/WI
Purchases and sales
of more than EUR 18 million during the financial year
Stocks Amount Purchases
EUR United States
800,000 31,693,060 Aflac
1,145,100 27,665,149 Amdocs
900,000 19,974,045 Applied Biosystems
550,000 27,080,423 Avery Dennison
1,116,800 35,860,814 Bank of NewYork
1,278,574 26,296,612 Bristol Myers
1,500,000 28,918,775 Cisco Systems
1,005,000 33,815,650 Coach
380,000 20,862,641 Devon Energy
450,000 20,015,029 FPL Group
400,601 25,227,334 Genentech
1,169,029 28,063,877 Kraft Foods/A
1,400,000 29,644,206 Limited Brands
867,300 49,065,331 Merrill Lynch
992,800 27,685,990 Qualcomm
1,134,300 32,044,106 Supervalu
1,419,800 23,994,634 Synopsys
Canada
792,800 36,652,370 Teck Cominco
Bermuda
1,351,000 37,805,534 Covidien
France
1,812,158 33,365,699 Societe Television Francaise 1
United Kingdom
4,640,942 51,517,542 Barclays
3,918,818 32,744,073 BP
2,100,000 22,333,504 Prudential
Switzerland
272,815 23,469,631 Credit Suisse
Germany
999,319 37,475,333 Henkel/Vorzugsaktien
599,184 59,142,407 Siemens
Spain
2,033,692 35,293,693 Telef�nica
Japan
816,000 21,444,336 Tokyo Electric Power
Stocks Amount Sales
EUR United States
1,100,000 30,357,650 Aeropostale
1,046,240 39,716,043 Aetna
400,000 19,616,062 Alltel
1,130,000 59,133,968 Amgen
897,000 33,090,736 Bank of America
691,275 49,220,650 Bunge
743,035 21,402,722 Carnival
1,171,210 18,407,338 Chico's Fas
495,000 19,764,718 Citigroup
494,269 25,769,249 ConocoPhillips
894,518 24,211,841 CVS
865,500 31,681,983 Edison
633,000 35,319,646 Exxon Mobil
396,549 57,706,574 Goldman Sachs
350,000 25,415,058 Hartford Financial Services
325,283 23,083,359 IBM
933,218 26,560,264 International Paper
430,000 25,016,557 Ishares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index
660,000 26,704,553 Lilly (Eli)
578,000 33,295,200 Monsanto
832,700 23,898,665 Newmont Mining
437,200 22,674,574 Parker-Hannifin
675,100 43,205,793 Prudential Financial
975,900 30,267,939 Republic Services
1,190,000 40,189,660 St,Jude Medical
860,000 40,386,096 Stryker
750,640 34,731,932 Valero Energy
766,678 30,677,939 Wyeth
France
435,000 23,590,350 Carrefour Supermarche
447,586 25,601,924 Danone
293,550 25,181,111 LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton
252,862 38,012,122 Pernod-Ricard
356,960 28,023,429 Saint-Gobain
United Kingdom
1,690,000 31,494,518 GlaxoSmithkline
4,029,972 55,461,373 HSBC
789,905 25,668,740 Imperial Tobacco
3,970,000 32,542,412 Royal Bank of Scotland
Switzerland
1,214,808 19,524,324 ABB
444,814 21,046,207 UBS
Netherlands
945,089 26,029,940 Royal Dutch Shell A
Germany
262,094 30,928,922 E.ON
Purchases and sales
of more than EUR 18 million during the financial year
Stocks Amount Sales
EUR Spain
2,344,123 32,238,971 Banco Santander
Sweden
11,108,000 31,874,456 Ericsson/B
1,340,200 20,355,189 SKF/B free
Finland
1,055,666 23,975,641 Nokia/A
Japan
922,200 18,259,604 Hitachi Construction Machine
3,800 19,913,123 KDDI
1,089,000 19,943,957 Mitsui Fudosan
Hong Kong
1,186,000 18,797,534 Esprit
Australia
1,075,000 24,194,258 BHP Billiton
2,558,870 20,799,614 Brambles Industries
Geographical spread, incl. futures
in %, at 31/12/2007
North America 48.2
Europe excl. Netherlands 30.2
Japan 9.8
Netherlands 5.1
Other Asian countries and Australia 6.1
Other assets and liabilities 0.6
Consumer discretionary
The consumer-discretionary sector was underweight in the portfolio
throughout the year. US consumer spending lost momentum due to the
weakening housing market. Growth in retail sales and consumer
spending has fallen, although the decrease has been remarkably mild.
However, the same cannot be said of retail sector stock prices in the
United States and the United Kingdom. Our interests in Debenhams,
Coach and Lowe's had a particularly tough time. This was partly
compensated by stocks from the Far East such as Esprit Holdings
(which is mainly active in Germany, the Benelux and France) and
Yamada Denki (a Japanese electronics retailer). In the media sector
emphasis was on publishers of professional and scientific
information, such as Wolters Kluwer and Reed Elsevier, which achieved
the best returns.
Consumer staples
This sector was overweight throughout the year. The fund's interest
in various breweries have been very rewarding. The stocks of Molson
Coors and Ambev (the Brazilian subsidiary of Belgian brewer InBev)
realized excellent returns. The expected restructuring at Molson
Coors started to take shape and Ambev benefited from increasing
demand for beer in Brazil. Our position in Bunge also generated very
solid returns. Bunge processes soy beans and sells fertilizer. The
company helps farmers by offering them the possibility to pay for
fertilizer with future crop production, thereby lowering their
cash-flow requirements. Bunge's fertilizer activities were the
driving force behind the company's stock price gains. By the end of
the year the price of the stock had risen so quickly that most of the
positive expectations had already been discounted in the share price.
So we sold our position and thus reduced the sector's weight.
Health care
The weight of this sector was gradually reduced to neutral throughout
the year. The sector lagged the average and in the second half of
2007, when stock prices dropped, it showed few defensive
characteristics. The Democrats are ready to take over the White House
and the new president
Sector spread
in % of invested assets at 31/12/2007
Financials 20.7
Information technology 13.3
Energy 11.2
Industry and services 11.0
Consumer discretionary 10.5
Health care 9.5
Consumer staples 8.7
Materials 6.8
Telecom 4.7
Utilities 3.6
may be Hillary Clinton. In 1994 investors were not very positive
about her plans to reform the health-care sector either. Furthermore,
the sector is struggling with complex problems such as patent
expirations and a strict FDA (Food and Drug Administration), which
approves only a small number of new drugs. The United States is still
the most important market if you want to make a profit on drugs, as
prices there are determined by market mechanisms and in many other
countries government regulations have caused margins to decline.
Throughout the year the fund's preferences were once again the
services (Wellpoint) and suppliers (Medtronic, Zimmer and Sryker)
subsectors. China Medical Technologies was a gem in the portfolio.
This company supplies to Chinese hospitals, an excellent example of a
growth market.
Financials
The sector was underweight throughout the year. We were underweight
in US banks and in indirect real estate in Europe and the United
States throughout the year. This certainly helped, but was not enough
to prevent us from encountering some setbacks such as the declines of
stocks such as Fannie Mae and MBIA in spite of their AAA ratings.
These stocks held up well until mid October, but fell when the crisis
spread further and became more serious. Initially Japanese financial
stocks appeared to be untouched by the mortgage crisis in the United
States, but later it transpired that Japanese financial companies had
also wanted to benefit from the possibility of easy money. Almost all
the large Japanese banks were involved in one way or another in
subprime loans and, in Japan itself, bad loans also started to
reemerge after several quiet years. The activities of institutions
which lent money to consumers at very high rates were restricted by
the government. These loan sharks also had to pay back some of the
money they had earned at such exorbitant rates. Japanese banks held
minority interests in these institutions. However, there was some
good news as well. Our interests in Sun Hung Kai and Swire Pacific
generated good returns. Lower interest rates in the United States
lead to lower rates in Hong Kong, which makes real-estate financing
cheaper. In addition to this, there is also the enormous Chinese
demand for real estate in Hong Kong. Interests in insurance
companies, such as Aflac (a US company which sells medical insurances
in Japan) and Assurant (a specialist non-life insurer in the United
States), had good results. Throughout the year we further reduced our
interests in US (Citigroup, Bank of America) and British banks (Royal
Bank of Scotland). The interest in continental European banks
(National Bank of Greece, Unicredito) was increased. New stock Bank
of New York (after the merger 'Mellon' was added to the name) was
also introduced to the portfolio. Bank of New York Mellon is a
custodian and asset manager.
Information technology
The fund's weight in the information-technology sector was raised
during the year. The sector was overweight at the beginning of the
year. The successes in this sector came from the big names. Oracle
was one of our favorites. The takeovers of the past years
(Peoplesoft, Siebel, etc.) have been successfully integrated and
sales of databases continued to grow steadily. Other stocks which saw
good results translated into higher stock prices were Nokia, Google,
Intel, Apple and EMC. The fund sold its interests in Ericsson and
Motorola at the right time. Qualcomm took their place in the
portfolio. This company will benefit from growth in data traffic via
mobile applications, as it supplies many of the chipsets used for
these applications. The emphasis within the sector remains on
software. This is a segment with an average valuation combined with
enormous free cash flow as investment is limited and licenses
generate a constant stream of income.
Telecommunication services
The telecommunication-services sector has a neutral weight. Phone
rates (both fixed and mobile) appear to be stabilizing in Europe and
the United States. Since margins are still high, a high level of free
cash flow is generated. We added two new stocks to the portfolio -
Tele2 and Telef�nica. These names and our positions in Telenor and
Singapore Telecom also contributed to the good results in this
sector. All four companies have large interests in telecommunication
services in emerging markets, where growth is considerably higher
than in mature markets.
Utilities
The utilities sector had an above-average performance in 2007. This
sector has a relatively high dividend return, which made it once
again popular among investors and meant that the fund's underweight
here did not yield the desired result. The sector's valuation has
risen again which is why we will maintain the underweight position
early into the new year.
Outlook
The first half of 2008 will not be easy for equities in developed
markets. Growth is weakening and it will take time for the problems
in the international credit markets to be solved. Forecast earnings
growth will ultimately determine how stock prices move. In the last
few years this earnings growth has been positively affected by
numerous factors: increasing economic growth, improved productivity
and cost reduction at corporate level, and lower financing costs as a
result of falling interest rates. This has resulted in record-high
profits in a number of countries. However, this period of easy
corporate-profit growth (through restructuring and increased
operating efficiency) is over. The likely scenario now appears to be
one of lower levels of earnings growth. Stock-market returns will be
less secure and more volatile in the first half of 2008. The impact
of the credit crisis is expected to subside in 2008, partly due to
the series of rate cuts the Fed has recently implemented. Valuations
of many stocks will then become attractive again. By the end of the
year we expect performance to improve as well.
Position in smallcaps
The MSCI World Index contains a large number of smallcaps and if
these rise significantly, as was the case in 2007, this has a
negative impact on Robeco's performance relative to the index.
Smallcaps usually have limited liquidity, which makes it difficult to
select a limited number of these stocks in which to invest. Therefore
we hold a portfolio of smallcaps in this segment which was developed
especially for the fund Robeco. The stocks in this portfolio are
selected using a quantitative model. In 2007 smallcaps underperformed
largecaps, but selecting these stocks using the quantitative model
worked well once again this year.
Composition of and movements in shareholders' equity
EUR x thousand 2007 2006
Issued capital
Situation at opening date 247,849 263,797
Received on shares issued 15,339 29,031
Paid for shares repurchased -43,931 -44,979
Situation at closing date 219,257 247,849
Other reserves
Situation at opening date 6,406,071 5,325,545
Received on shares issued 432,724 765,557
Paid for shares repurchased -1,246,122 -1,193,952
Net result from previous
financial year 483,651 1,633,924
Profit distribution -143,659 -125,003
Situation at closing date 5,932,665 6,406,071
Net result 10,216 483,651
Shareholders' equity 6,162,138 7,137,571
The company's authorized share capital amounts to EUR 800 million,
divided into 800,000,000 ordinary shares with a nominal value of EUR
1 each.
Survey of movements in net assets
EUR x thousand 2007 2006
Assets at opening date 7,137,571 7,223,266
Company own shares issued 448,063 794,588
Company own shares repurchased -1,290,053 -1,238,931
6,295,581 6,778,923
Investment income 141,291 149,720
Management costs -68,803 -71,283
Service fee -6,705 -6,946
Custody costs -1,048 -795
Other costs -849 -521
63,886 70,175
Changes in value -53,670 413,476
Net result 10,216 483,651
Profit distribution -143,659 -125,003
Assets at closing date 6,162,138 7,137,571
[10] Assets, shares outstanding and net asset value per share
Assets, shares outstanding and net asset value per share
31/12/2007 31/12/2006 31/12/2005
Assets in EUR x thousand 6,162,138 7,137,571 7,223,266
Shares issued in financial year 15,338,735 29,031,142 27,169,492
Shares repurchased in financial -43,930,709 -44,978,555 -47,251,035
year
Number of shares outstanding 219,257,838 247,849,812 263,797,225
Net asset value per share in EUR 28.10 28.80 27.38
x 1
[11] Commitments not shown in the balance sheet
The forward exchange transactions current at closing date represent
purchases of AUD 152 million, CAD 182 million, GBP 154 million, JPY
7,530 million, and USD 148 million, against sales of CHF 283 million,
EUR 247 million, HKD 943 million, NOK 475 million and SEK 144
million. Futures contracts purchased at balance-sheet date represent
an additional exposure of JPY 9,677 million and USD 199 million;
futures contracts sold represent a reduced exposure of EUR 203
million. Forward exchange transactions and futures contracts have
been included in the Spread of net assets at the end of this report.
Unrealized results of these transactions at closing date are included
in the Profit and loss account.
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