Fund overview and investment objective

The investment objective of the Fund is long-term capital growth. The Fund aims to achieve this objective by investing in a concentrated portfolio of US equities. Robeco Boston Partners Investment Management took over the management of the US Equity Focus Fund on 15 December 2004..

The fund’s main investment features include

• Concentrated product, holding approximately 40 stocks.
• Focused on large cap stocks in the Russell 1000 index
• Focusing on undervalued equity that have sound business fundamentals and positive business momentum
• Managed by Mark Donovan one of the founders of Boston Partners in 1995

Fund’s investment strategy

• The product’s investment philosophy and process has been in place for over twenty years
• The Large Cap Value-Focused strategy employs a bottom-up investment process to identify portfolio candidates
• Portfolio candidates must also exhibit value and momentum criteria, strong business fundamentals and
  improving business trends

Fund Manager profile

Boston Partners has been appointed sub-adviser to the US Equity Focus Fund. The firm was established in April 1995 by thirty four experienced professionals who had worked together for many years. Their goal was to create a singularly focused investment management firm that would combine value investing with personalised client service. Robeco Boston Partners is known as a premier provider of traditional and alternative value equity products. They manage nearly $13 billion (as of June 30, 2007) in assets for institutions and individuals mostly based in North America and Continental Europe. The firm is part of the Robeco Group one of Europe’s leading asset managers with its headquarters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.