Robeco Investment Management [profile] has made a pair of additions to its mutual fund family.

The Boston-based firm unveiled the Robeco Boston Partners Global Equity Fund and Robeco Boston Partners International Equity Fund [ SEC filing].

The funds are each seeded with $10 million by Robeco Group, the Netherlands-based parent of Boston Partners. Boston Partners is a unit of the funds' investment adviser, Robeco Investment Management.

Chris Hart PMs the two funds, which sport expense ratios of 130 basis points for institutional class shares.

The funds are based on strategies that Boston Partners has made available to institutional investors. It began offering the global equity strategy in 2005 and the international equity strategy in 2007.

Robeco now runs a total of five mutual funds under the Robeco Boston Partners brand. It also sub-advises two mutual funds for John Hancock, one of which adopted by the the latter in 2009 and the other in 2010.

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Company Press Release

ROBECO BOSTON PARTNERS LAUNCHES TWO NEW MUTUAL FUNDS: GLOBAL AND INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUNDS

January 3, 2012 Boston, MA Robeco Investment Management announced today that it has launched two new mutual funds, the Robeco Boston Partners Global Equity Fund (BPGRX) and the Robeco Boston Partners International Equity Fund (BPQRX).

Both of the new mutual funds are based on similar strategies that Boston Partners has offered to institutional investors: Global Equity since 2005 and International Equity since 2007. A total of $60 million of assets are managed by Boston Partners in these two strategies (as of Nov. 30, 2011). Each of the two new mutual funds has been seeded with $10 million by Robeco Group, the Rotterdam-based parent of Boston Partners. Boston Partners is a division of the Funds' investment advisor, Robeco Investment Management.

Boston Partners uses a value-based investment approach developed over 20¹ years ago to actively select stocks they believe will appreciate in price because they possess attractive valuations and strong fundamentals, combined with positive business momentum or a catalyst for change.

"The same time tested approach we use in the U.S. market applies to a broad global universe of 8,000 listed companies around the world," said Chris Hart, the portfolio manager of both funds. Mr. Hart, CFA, took over management of Boston Partners’ Global and International Equity Strategies in July 2008.

"We believe that irrespective of where a company is headquartered, stock performance is driven by the same set of characteristics: attractive valuations, strong business fundamentals and a positive catalyst for change that is likely to add value to the security. We take a flexible approach to capitalization parameters and geographical focus, without specific regard to industry sectors, currencies, geographic regions or countries," he added.

The investment objective of the two Funds is to provide long-term capital growth. For the Global Equity Fund, at least 80% of its net assets are invested in a diversified portfolio of equity and equity related securities issued by U.S and non-U.S. companies across the capitalization spectrum. The Fund may invest in all types of equity securities, including exchange-traded and over-the-counter common and preferred stocks, warrants, options, rights, convertible securities, depositary receipts and shares, trust certificates, limited partnership interests, shares of other investment companies (including exchanged-traded funds ("ETFs") and real estate investment trusts ("REITs"), and equity participations. The International Equity Fund invests in these same types of securities issued by non-U.S. companies.

Robeco Boston Partners manages $19 billion (as of Nov. 30, 2011) in value equities, mainly for institutional clients. Robeco Investment Management manages seven mutual funds which are sold through broker/dealers. Two of the firm’s seven mutual funds, Large Cap Value and Mid-Cap Value are sub-advised for John Hancock Funds and now trade under the symbols JVLAX and JVMAX.

Robeco Boston Partners is a premier provider of value equity investment products that are firmly rooted in fundamental research and are based on a disciplined investment philosophy and process. The firm was started in 1995 by 34 investment professionals who had worked together for many years and share a dedication to value investing and providing superior client service. In 2002, the firm was acquired by Robeco Group N.V., a large Netherlands-based asset management firm and became an integral part of Robeco Investment Management, Inc., the Group's U.S.-based investment operation.

 

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