Department

As the world becomes increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability, investors are seeking ways to align their investments with their values and harvest the opportunities of the transition to sustainable development. Fixed income investors, too, have an opportunity to drive change by incorporating sustainability factors into their decision-making processes. However,doing this effectively requires a disciplined application of tools and methodologies.

Robeco started investing in green bonds more than a decade ago and has today expanded into the full spectrum of ESG Bonds. Besides running two dedicated green bond solutions - RobecoSAM Global Green Bonds and RobecoSAM US Green Bonds – we have a minimum exposure to the ESG Bond spectrum covering green, social, sustainability, and sustainability-linked bonds across all fundamental fixed income funds ranging between 2.5% to 10% and with the ambition to increase it over time.

Position & Requirements

As part of our commitment to clients on being a thought leader in sustainable investing, the ESG Bond team amongst other scrutinize any fundamental investment in ESG Bonds from a sustainability credentials point of view, following our five-step ESG Bond framework, thereby mitigating the risk of greenwashing, provide insights and analysis on the market, and monitor portfolio holdings in ESG bonds from an allocation and impact perspective.

As such, we, in the ESG Bond team, work at the intersection between two of Robeco’s core pillars:

• Fixed Income, where complexity meets creativity. The fixed income team invests in bonds issued by corporates (non-financial companies), banks, government-related entities, as well as governments. The ESG Bond team is part of the Fundamental Fixed Income department and provides insights on the ESG-labelled bond market across the Global Macro and Credit teams.
• Sustainable investing, where sustainability expertise and innovation to navigate unknown territory, such as the road to net zero, sit. Robeco’s SI Center of Expertise works to drive changes by engaging with companies and research into key areas such as climate change, biodiversity, and the UN SDGs, as well as sector-specific sustainability research. In the ESG Bond team, we collaborate with the Center to get the latest insights on sustainability science, technologies, and developments.

Position and requirements

What will the internship entail?

As an intern in the ESG Bond team, you will support colleagues with special projects or day-to-day team activities. This can include everything from assessing the eligibility of ESG Bonds for our investment universe, to dedicated research projects on, for example, market practices or regulatory developments to support our semi-annual allocation and impact reporting.

Through this internship, you will get the opportunity to dive into a rapidly growing part of the Fixed Income market, namely the ESG-labelled bond market. You will gain experience with analyzing the sustainability credentials of such structures, grow your understanding of sectors and their individual role and partaking in the transition to sustainable development, as well as acquire a fundamental understanding of regulatory frameworks in the market place and how they aim to shift capital flows towards sustainable activities.

During your internship, you will collaborate extensively with our ESG bond specialists, credit analysts, portfolio managers, and the SI Center of Expertise. You will also get the opportunity to participate in social activities organized by Robeco, the Fixed Income Department or our employee resource groups, like Robeco’s young professionals network, Ro-Next, to connect and expand your network.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking to welcome the next generation of talents bringing in fresh perspectives. Are you a motivated and collaborative university student with an affinity for sustainable investing? Are you curious about the intersection between fixed income and sustainability? If so, this internship is crafted for you. We appreciate quick learners, creative minds, and critical thinkers. We look for Master's students, preferably in sustainability science, finance, or (business) economics with a solid analytical background and an interest in sustainability. Many of our former interns grasped the opportunity to do their internship during the writing phase of their master's thesis to gain valuable work experience and kickstart their professional careers.

Please note that the internship vacancy is placed at Robeco’s HQ in Rotterdam, and it is open to students (second-year Bachelor’s and higher) enrolled at a university throughout the internship period. Interns must be eligible for a residence permit in the Netherlands in order to qualify for the internship. This means we recruit non-EU students studying at a Dutch University.

Robeco Recruiting Team