Semi Annual Report Robeco N.V.

    8 September 2005, Rotterdam


                                                          ROBECO N.V.

                                          SEMIANNUAL REPORT JUNE 2005

































                              % ROBECO
CONTENTS

General information                                   2
Report of the management board            3
Balance sheet                                                7
Profit and loss account                               7
Cash-flow summary                                   7
Notes                                                             8
Other data                                                   12
Spread of net assets                                   13

GENERAL INFORMATION

ROBECO N.V. [1]
(investment company with a variable capital, having its registered
office in Rotterdam, the Netherlands)
Coolsingel 120
Postbus 973
NL-3000 AZ Rotterdam
Tel.: +31 - 10 - 224 1 224
Fax: +31 - 10 - 411 52 88
Internet: www.robeco.com

Supervisory Board
Paulus C. van den Hoek
Gilles Izeboud RA
Johan Kremers (until 21 April 2005)
Philip Lambert (as of 21 April 2005)
Dirk P.M. Verbeek

Management Board
Mark R. Glazener
Volker Wytzes

PROSPECTUS
The prospectus is available at the offices of the company and via
www.robeco.com.




REPORT OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Stock markets climb a wall of worry
An old English stock-market adage is 'the market is climbing a wall
of worry' and there were plenty of things to worry about in the first
few months of 2005. There were concerns about rises in commodity and
oil prices, a rate hike in the United States, low growth in Europe,
the return of deflation in Japan, the rating downgrade of General
Motors and Ford and there were concerns about growth in China. But
stock prices climbed this wall of worry and helped by the advance of
the US dollar against the euro, the MSCI World Index rose 11.8% in
euros.
Once again, most growth occurred in the United States and China. US
consumers were a little discouraged by rising oil prices and higher
interest rates, but they continued spending. Business confidence,
however, did decrease slowly but surely. Producers faced higher wage
costs, lower productivity and increasing commodity prices. The
expected earnings growth decreased rapidly but growth in China
remained at its usual high level and the trade surplus increased
further. One detail, which is worthy of note here, is that China has
become a net exporter of steel for the first time this year. Huge
capital expenditure in the past few years has considerably increased
production capacity so the Western steel industry had better be
prepared for the worst.
The old world markets of Europe and Japan are lagging. It was a
particularly tough period for Europe, with difficult political
situations in the European Union and in Europe's core countries
Germany, France and Italy. Europe's joint monetary policy also had
its limitations. While the low growth in Germany calls for a rate
cut, this same rate cut may cause the Irish economy to overheat. It
is however all a matter of give and take. Still, European equities
outperformed their US counterparts because they are still cheaper.
Japanese equities lagged but this country may well turn out to be the
surprise of the second half of the year. Wages are increasing,
consumer spending is positive and Japanese businesses are gradually
discovering that shareholders like high dividends.

Outlook
It is expected that the second half of 2005 will on the whole be
worse than the first half. US growth will slow down as US consumers
finally curb their spending. Earnings growth will decline, as the
increase in commodity prices and wage costs (the latter only in the
US) may lead to lower margins. But the situation will not be really
bad as, however you look at it, valuations are reasonable and what is
the alternative? A savings account that offers 2.5% interest? A
government bond that offers 3% interest? Or a corporate bond that
offers 3.5%?
INVESTMENT RESULT


In the first half of 2005, the share price of Robeco rose from EUR
21.62 to EUR 24.13. Assuming reinvestment of the dividend of EUR 0.40
per share distributed in May 2005, this is an investment result of
13.6%*. Based on net asset value, which rose from EUR 21.74 to EUR
24.06, the investment result was 12.7%. The fund's benchmark, the
MSCI World Index, rose 11.8% over the same period. The fund
outperformed its benchmark. Sound stock selection in the various
sectors was the driving force behind this performance. The regional
allocation resulting from this stock selection also made a positive
contribution. In the first half of the year the decision to take an
underweight position in North America and Japan and to concentrate
the portfolio in Europe turned out to be a good one. The sector
allocation made a slightly negative contribution. The overweight
position in the health-care sector contributed positively, but was
offset by the underweight positions in energy and utilities. Energy
rose as much as 21.6% as a result of which even a small underweight
had major consequences. Currency-related decisions also contributed
slightly negatively as we did not have enough dollars at the
beginning of the year when the currency started to strengthen against
the euro.
Stock selection within the consumer-discretionary, consumer-staples,
materials and energy sectors was good. The fund Robeco aims to
realize a stable performance relative to the benchmark. The fund's
performance therefore does not come from a limited number of stocks,
but from a broad selection. We would nevertheless like to single out
some stocks which realized an above-average performance. Valero
Energy had a return of as much as 75% due to excellent refinery
margins and rising oil prices. CVS, a US drugstore chain, rose 29% on
the back of good earnings which were partly due to a takeover. DR
Horton, a US home builder, rose 25%. Contrary to market expectations,
the rise in house prices and sales of new homes continued.

INVESTMENT POLICY
During the first half of 2005 the emphasis was on defensive sectors.
The fund had an overweight position in the health-care,
consumer-staples and telecommunication sectors, an underweight
position in the information-technology and materials sectors and a
slightly underweight position in the energy sector.

Top 10 stocks
                       Country   Interest in %       Performance in %
                                    30/06/2005       01/01-30/06/2005
                                                  In euros   In local
                                                             currency

 1. Citigroup          USA                  2.0        9.7       -2.3
 2. Koninklijke Ned.
    Petroleum Mij      Netherlands          1.8       31.7       31.7
 3. Microsoft          USA                  1.8        5.0       -6.5
 4. Bank of America    USA                  1.6       11.1       -1.0
 5. General Electric   USA                  1.5        7.9       -3.9
 6. Total              France               1.4       23.0       23.0
 7. Pfizer             USA                  1.4       16.8        4.1
 8. UBS                Switzerland          1.2        7.8        8.1
 9. Exxon Mobil        USA                  1.1       27.1       13.2
10. Intel              USA                  1.1       25.8       12.0


Within the energy sector, the interest in Shell T&T was changed for
Royal Dutch. The Shell T&T stock traded at a considerable premium to
the Royal Dutch stock, but after the merger between the two in July,
this premium will disappear.
Within the materials sector we maintained our position in commodities
(BHP Billiton), but we sold our positions in manufacturing industry
(aluminum maker Alcan and steel maker Arcelor). The costs of
commodities (ore) used in steel production are rocketing, while China
is producing so much steel that there is now overcapacity.
Industrials is a very mixed sector. Emphasis within the portfolio is
on late-cyclical companies such as Republic Services, a firm active
in waste processing.
In the consumer-discretionary sector we increased our position in
Esprit, a company which is highly successful in Germany and which has
proved that it is possible to achieve good results by gaining market
share even in a country where consumer spending is declining. The
company is also growing rapidly in the Far East.
Within the consumer-staples sector a position was taken in Japan
Tobacco, a company with a lot of potential for cost cutting. The
fund's entire position in Coca-Cola was sold as there is little
growth in the carbonated soft drinks market.
Within the health-care sector the portfolio emphasis remained on
services (Wellpoint, Medco Health Solutions) and suppliers (Baxter
and Medtronic, the latter is a new addition to the portfolio).
Medtronic has a broad product portfolio ranging from diabetes pumps
to pacemakers. Positions in Smith & Nephew (orthopedic aids) and
Guidant (takeover bid by Johnson&Johnson) were sold.
The fund's position in banks was increased by taking positions in
several banks based on the periphery of Europe and America. Examples
include National Bank of Greece, Allied Irish Bank and National Bank
of Canada. These banks are characterized by their higher growth
potential and modest valuations. In the financial-services sector we
sold credit-card companies: the Japan-based company Credit Saison and
Capital One from the US. Creditworthy consumers pay their debts while
the bad debtors remain which impoverishes the quality of the loans
portfolio.
In the information-technology sector the fund purchased Nokia, a
company that has launched new, attractive models and is regaining
market share. Within information technology the emphasis is on the
well-known names, such as Intel, Texas Instruments, Microsoft and
Oracle, which now have modest valuations.
Within telecom we are no longer active in Southern Europe having sold
positions in Telecom Italia and Telef