NETHERLANDS – Rotterdam-based asset management group, Robeco, has amalgamated its Dutch and Euroland mid-cap funds and merged them into the Robeco European mid-caps fund to allow investors greater access to the Swiss and UK markets, Europe’s dominant mid-cap countries.

A spokeswoman for Robeco says the move is intended to allow investors access to better diversified portfolios and added value. “The Dutch domestic market was superseded by Euroland when the euro was introduced, so the Dutch mid-cap fund became redundant, anyway, and the Euroland mid-cap market is insignificant alongside Switzerland and the UK when you employ a bottom-up investment strategy, as Robeco does,” she says.

This fits in with the firm’s bottom-up approach of looking at companies irrespective of location. She says: “Our investment strategy isn’t going to change so we decided that our definition of the European market for mid-caps would. This change doesn’t affect other fund markets and definitions. Given the dominance of the Swiss and UK markets, investors in Euroland mid-caps now get access to the wealth of mid-cap companies in those two countries. As a stand-alone fund, the Euroland mid-cap fund missed these.”

The merged fund is expected to generate assets of more than €250m, whilst overall, Robeco’s mid-cap team, who will manage the new fund, currently manages over €700m.

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