In the first episode of our new podcast series, portfolio manager Wim-Hein Pals discusses six factors that support the case for emerging markets equities. The relative discount of around 30% compared to developed markets is probably the most significant.

Factor investing was built on powerful academic foundations, but its real-world results have become harder to ignore. While many traditional factor approaches have disappointed, some quant strategies have continued to outperform across cycles. In this podcast, we unpack the gap between theory and practice, and what it reveals about the evolution of quant investing.

Markets are selling off and this does not feel like a 'buy the dip' moment. Asian markets are taking a blow after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed, while Europe is hit harder than the US. Profit taking even hurts traditional safe haven assets such as gold. The dollar, however, strengthens – as it should in times of crisis.

As tensions in the Middle East intensified over the weekend, investors have been retreating toward traditional safe havens, such as oil, gold, the US dollar, and US Treasuries. The conflict's ripple effects are also being felt unevenly across regions, from Europe and the US to China. Robeco's Colin Graham takes a multi‑asset lens to the situation, exploring how markets are reacting and what those signals might mean for investors.

Equity investing has always been about understanding businesses from the ground up. But we're now in an era when geopolitics matters more, where power is shifting, and in which a handful of technologies are reshaping entire industries. So the key question for investors today is how shareholder value is created and defended in a world that feels noisier, faster, and more fragmented than before. And that's what we're exploring in this episode.

Credit markets usually do not make the headlines, as the big themes of the day, such as AI, are perhaps less relevant to fixed income investors. However, they quietly shape how investors generate income and manage risk. Credit investors Evert Giesen and Jan Willem Knoll discuss the state of the markets and their favorite segments in this podcast episode.

Listed real estate continues to trade at a discount to the broader equity market, while dividend yields have been steady at attractive levels. Does the sector offer sufficient investor appeal over the coming years?

Emerging market equities have comfortably outperformed developed markets over the year to date – for the first time in years. Is this the start of something bigger, or just a temporary catch-up? And what lessons are there in the tremendous performance dispersion within the emerging-market universe?