Robeco has acquired a 40% stake in Belgian company Analytic Investment Management (AIM). AIM, established in 1990, is one of Europe's pioneers in the field of alternative investments, and specializes in systematic intra-day currency trading (USD, EUR, GBP and CHF). AIM's investment strategy is based solely on quantitative models. AIM exclusively manages institutional accounts (mostly for pension funds and hedge funds), which amount to more than USD 200 million. For this purpose, AIM executes currency transactions in the professional interbank market for more than USD 6 billion per month on average. AIM's net average performance since it started trading currencies in June 1998 is 6.8% per year. Moreover, AIM's currency program came first in a risk-weighted return ranking by MARHedge, a leading firm in hedge-fund-performance analysis (end of June 2006).

George Möller, Robeco's CEO: "This participating interest fits in with our policy of investing in complementary investment strategies with proven qualities".

There is a possibility that this interest will be expanded to a majority interest in the future. No further details were provided.

Luc van Hof, AIM's CEO: "Our strategic cooperation with one of Europe's most prestigious asset managers allows AIM to focus entirely on further developing and optimizing our trading models. Add Robeco's distribution strength and structuring know-how, and you have a winning formula for innovative and successful investment products".