Robeco presented its first two active ETFs—the Robeco 3D Global Equity UCITS ETF and the Robeco 3D Emerging Markets UCITS ETF—in Miami during a luncheon that gathered over 60 professionals from wirehouses, private banks, and broker-dealers across the offshore industry. The presentation was led by María Elena Isaza and Julieta Henke from LarrainVial, Robeco’s distributor in the US Offshore market, alongside Alejandra Saldías, Head of ETF Sales. It also featured participation from Ignacio Alcántara, Ana Curiel, and Jan Sytze Mosselar from the Dutch asset manager’s New York office.
The event took place against a backdrop of strong momentum for active vehicles within the ETF industry, a segment that has gained ground over traditional passive products in recent years. In this space, asset managers with a track record in quantitative management—such as Robeco—are seeking to position themselves by translating their analytical capabilities into a format increasingly demanded by offshore investors.
Executives During the Miami Luncheon
The Quantitative Strategy
During the meeting, Sytze Mosselaar, portfolio manager, explained the investment process of Robeco’s quantitative team and highlighted the opportunities generated by artificial intelligence’s growing weight in Asian markets. The new vehicles translate a strategy with a 20-year track record into an ETF format, managing three dimensions—risk, return, and sustainability—under an “Enhanced” approach that aims to boost index exposure while maintaining limited deviations.
This development adds to an active ETF platform that, in less than 18 months, has already reached €2 billion (around $2.32 billion) in assets under management—a growth rate that the asset manager itself highlights as a key indicator of the interest these products are generating among investors. With the launch of these two new funds, the products become specifically available to offshore segment investors, expanding the geographic reach of the strategy.
“One of Robeco’s Core Strengths”
When asked about what excites her most regarding the new products, Isaza focused on the manager’s quantitative expertise: “Robeco’s quantitative management is one of its core strengths and something that until now we had not been able to offer with this breadth on US Offshore market platforms. ETFs allow us to incorporate this expertise in a much more accessible way for our clients.” As she explained, the new format complements the existing familiarity financial advisors have with the firm: “This nicely complements the strategies advisors already know from Robeco, particularly in fundamental equity and credit. With Active ETFs, we expand that offering by now also incorporating quantitative expertise.”
The LarrainVial executive also framed the launch within the broader growth occurring across the global ETF industry—a phenomenon, she noted, that no asset manager can afford to ignore: “The ETF industry continues to grow significantly globally, and for us, participating in that evolution was essential. Now we can do so through Active ETFs as well, combining the advantages of the ETF structure with the quantitative management in which Robeco has a long track record.” For Isaza, the new product is also a tool to deepen commercial ties with network clients offshore: “This allows us to deepen relationships with our clients and position Robeco as a key partner, offering an increasingly broad set of solutions and capabilities to meet diverse portfolio needs.”
Isaza concluded her remarks with an assessment of the asset manager’s performance in building this platform, highlighting the speed with which Robeco established its market presence: “We are very excited about the growth Robeco has achieved. In just two years, it has secured significant asset inflows. The addition of Active ETFs marks a new chapter and significantly expands the opportunities we can develop with our clients.”
LarrainVial’s Role as Distributor
The partnership between the two firms began 20 years ago and today covers Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico, with LarrainVial serving as the sales force in US offshore territories. Robeco reorganized its Americas operations in 2023 under the entity Robeco Americas, based in New York, and expanded its agreement with LarrainVial to include the wholesale business in US Offshore and Latam, based in Miami.
LarrainVial continued distributing Robeco funds to Latin American institutional clients as it had for the previous two decades. As part of that same transition, María Elena Isaza and Julieta Henke—previously directors and sales managers for Robeco’s US Offshore and Latam business—joined LarrainVial as managing directors while remaining based in Miami. Meanwhile, the integration of Robeco’s activities across the Americas was placed under the leadership of Ignacio Alcántara to drive service efficiency in a regulated and competitive market.
