A. Firm Description and Principal Owners
Boston Partners Global Investors, Inc. (“Boston Partners”) is an indirect wholly owned
subsidiary of ORIX Corporation (“ORIX”). ORIX is a publicly owned Tokyo-based
international financial services company established in 1964. ORIX is listed on the Tokyo
(8591) and New York (NYSE:IX) stock exchanges.
Boston Partners has been in business, through its predecessor companies, since 1970.
Boston Partners has an additional division, Weiss Peck & Greer (“WPG Partners”).
Boston Partners has established a division called Boston Partners Private Wealth (“BPPW”)
that provides a wide range of discretionary and non-discretionary wealth management
services to high-net-worth individuals and other organizations in a variety of investment
strategies. BPPW has a separate ADV 2 brochure.
Boston Partners is the parent of Boston Partners Securities L.L.C. (“Boston Partners
Securities”), a limited purpose broker-dealer, which offers interests in registered and
unregistered funds advised by Boston Partners or its affiliates.
Boston Partners is also the parent of Boston Partners Trust Company (“BPTC”), a non-
depository trust company formed in New Hampshire, which offers interests in bank collective
investment trusts.
Boston Partners is also the parent of Boston Partners (UK) Limited (“Boston Partners UK”), a
private limited company formed in the United Kingdom. Boston Partners UK provides sales
and client services to institutional clients in Europe. The actual discretionary investment
management services are delegated to Boston Partners UK’s parent company, Boston
Partners.
Boston Partners provides certain investment products of its affiliate, Robeco Institutional
Asset Management US Inc. (“RIAM US”), to US clients. RIAM US is an indirect wholly
owned subsidiary of ORIX and provides investment advice for Robeco Institutional Asset
Management B.V.’s (“RIAM”) products in global securities via either a subadvisory
relationship with Boston Partners or by contracting directly with US clients. Where Boston
Partners is the adviser and RIAM US the subadviser, both Boston Partners and RIAM US
claim the assets as part of their respective assets under management in marketing
materials. Boston Partners obtains revenue for the servicing of RIAM US portfolios.
Boston Partners assists in selling a pooled vehicle for which it has engaged its affiliate,
Transtrend B.V., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of ORIX, to provide commodity trading
advice.
B. Types of Advisory Services
Boston Partners provides investment supervisory services, also known as asset
management services.
Boston Partners provides continuous investment advice on a fully discretionary basis to
institutions, including registered investment companies, and to high net worth individuals for
a variety of investment strategies. Boston Partners primarily provides advice using a value
style approach for large cap equity, mid cap equity, small cap equity, long/short equity,
global equity, international equity, emerging markets equity and global sustainability equity.
WPG Partners primarily provides advice regarding small cap value equity and micro cap
opportunities equity.
For balanced account services, Boston Partners maintains the asset allocation between
equity and fixed income and provides discretionary investment advice with respect to the
equity portion of the account.
Investment strategies are offered through a variety of vehicles, including but not limited to
separate accounts, and registered and unregistered funds.
Boston Partners, or an affiliate, serves as general partner or investment adviser and/or sponsor, or
has some financial interest in various investment partnerships or limited liability companies, and other
separately managed and/or commingled accounts, as discussed further in Item 11 below
("Proprietary Accounts").
Boston Partners typically seeds Proprietary Accounts to develop and implement new
investment strategies prior to offering such strategies to clients.
Boston Partners offers investment advisory services to investment companies (or portfolios
or series thereof) registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Boston Partners acts as the investment adviser to the Boston Partners All Cap Value Fund,
the Boston Partners Small Cap Value Fund II, the Boston Partners Global Equity Fund, the
Boston Partners Global Sustainability Fund, the Boston Partners Long/Short Equity Fund,
the Boston Partners Long/Short Research Fund, the Boston Partners Global Long/Short
Fund, the Boston Partners Emerging Markets Fund, the Boston Partners Emerging Markets
Dynamic Equity Fund, WPG Partners Select Small Cap Value Fund and the WPG Partners
Small Cap Value Diversified Fund (the “Boston Partners Mutual Funds”).
Boston Partners may provide financial futures advice to various Boston Partners Mutual
Funds, private investment funds, and separately managed accounts.
Boston Partners offers advice on a wide-range of securities and contracts. Investments will
include: equities (stocks), preferred stock, convertible securities, convertible preferred
stock with fixed or adjustable rates, warrants, investment company securities (mutual funds
shares), various money market instruments, depository receipts, and common stock issued
by foreign issuers, foreign currencies and currency hedges, forward contracts, exchange
traded funds or unit investment trusts, and various derivative or hybrid securities and
investment techniques, including but not limited to futures contracts, options contracts,
swaps and contracts for differences. Initial public offerings (IPOs) are available to Boston
Partners’ clients in certain circumstances.
Boston Partners’ investment personnel share security information internally, or on a more
limited basis with its affiliates. Information will be shared through periodic reports of
holdings, formal meetings, and informal discussions among investment personnel. While
the divisions share information regarding a particular security, Boston Partners and each
division and RIAM makes its own independent investment decision for the particular client
accounts or portions of those accounts that it manages or subadvises. Policies are in place
to protect Boston Partners clients when any personal identifiable information is shared with
its affiliates.
Employees of Boston Partners who are registered
representatives of Boston Partners
Securities L.L.C. offer investment opportunities to clients in the form of mutual funds and
limited partnership or other interests in private investment vehicles as well as Canadian
pooled funds.
C. Tailored Relationships
Boston Partners offers several products to prospective clients; for example, US large cap equity.
Clients generally select Boston Partners to manage money in a particular product category and have
undertaken their own asset allocation decisions and due diligence on managers and products. All
investment management assignments are governed by client guidelines, either standard Boston
Partners guidelines adopted by the client, or guidelines submitted by the client. Clients may impose
reasonable restrictions on the types of investments made by Boston Partners. Boston Partners will
assess those restrictions and discuss with the client the potential impact on the portfolio of restrictions
that Boston Partners deems material. Boston Partners will reject client guideline restriction proposals
if they are materially inconsistent with Boston Partners’ investment strategy.
D. Wrap Fee Programs
Additionally, Boston Partners provides discretionary, investment management services to
clients of various wrap-fee programs (“Wrap Programs”) offered by investment
adviser/broker-dealers (“Sponsors”). Under these arrangements, the Sponsors provide
various services, which typically include investment management, trade execution, custody,
performance monitoring, reporting, and other services for an all-inclusive fee. A detailed
description of services offered under a specific Wrap Program can be obtained from the
Sponsor of such program or from the Sponsor’s Form ADV, Schedule H. Contractual
agreements for Wrap Programs are typically between the client and the Sponsor because
of the Sponsor’s all-inclusive fee arrangement. The Sponsor, in turn, contracts with Boston
Partners for its investment advisory services. Boston Partners receives a portion of the fee
received by the Sponsor.
Under a Wrap Program, the Sponsor typically assists the client in defining the client’s
investment objectives based on information provided by the client; aids in the selection of
one or more investment managers to manage the client’s accounts; and periodically
contacts the client to ascertain whether there has been any change in the client’s financial
circumstances or objectives that warrant a change in the arrangement or the manner in
which the client’s assets are managed. Although Boston Partners does not normally have
direct initial client contact, the information obtained by the Sponsor is expected to be
sufficiently detailed so that Boston Partners is able to provide individualized investment
management services to each client. Boston Partners will take into consideration each
client’s investment objectives and other individual circumstances and reasonable
restrictions. In addition, Boston Partners makes itself reasonably available to the Sponsor
and the client, for joint consultations, to ensure Boston Partners’ ability to maintain
individualized investment management services.
In evaluating a Wrap Program, clients should consider a number of factors. A client may be
able to obtain some or all of the services available through a particular Wrap Program on an
“unbundled” basis through the Sponsor of that program or through other firms and,
depending on the circumstances, the aggregate of any separately paid fees may be lower
(or higher) than the single, all-inclusive (or “wrap”) fee charged in the Wrap Program.
Furthermore, Boston Partners participates in a Sponsor’s Unified Management Account
Program (“UMA Program"). Under a UMA Program, Boston Partners provides a model
portfolio to the Sponsor, and the Sponsor executes transactions for its client accounts
taking into consideration the individual needs of the particular client. Under a UMA
Program, Boston Partners does not render individualized investment management services
to the Sponsor’s client.
The process for security selection for accounts for Wrap Programs and UMA Programs is the same
as for Boston Partners’ other accounts. Boston Partners will attempt to manage the delivery of trading
instructions to the Sponsors to ensure that the trading opportunities are fair and equitable to all
clients. This could involve either simultaneous trade instructions or a rotation system.
Boston Partners provides investment advisory services to the following Wrap Programs:
• Adhesion Wealth Advisor Solutions – WealthADV UMA
• Ameriprise Financial Services
- Select Account Platform
- UMA Strategist
- BNY Mellon Advisors Inc.
o Lockwood Managed Account Command
o Unified Managed Accounts Program
• Callan UMA Program
• Charles Schwab
- Access Program
- Market Place
• Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. – Private Bank
• Envestnet / PMC - UMA Program
• FolioDynamix Advisors, Inc. – Unified Overlay Management Program (UMA)
• Fortigent LLC (LPL Financial) – Access Overlay 1 and 2
• Fulton Bank, N.A. - UMA Program
• Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC – Global Manager Strategies Separate Account Program
• JP Morgan Securities LLC
- Chase Wealth Management
- Stratis
- Unified Managed Accounts
• KeyBank National Association – Key Private Bank SMA Platform
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated
- Consults
- ML Advisory Program
- Merrill 1Platform
- UMA
• Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
- Consulting Evaluation Services
-- Select UMA
• Mount Yale Capital Group, LLC – Mount Yale UMA Program
• Raymond James & Associates, Inc.
- Freedom UMA
- Outside Management Program
• RBC Capital Markets, LLC
- Managed Accounts Program
• Smartleaf Inc. – UMA Program
• SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC – Select UMA
• Truist Advisory Services, Inc.– AMC Premium Platform
• SVB Wealth Advisory, Inc.
- SVB Wealth Advisory SMA Platform
• US Bank, N.A. – US Bank UMA
• Vestmark Advisory Solutions, Inc. Vestmark Manager Marketplace
• Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC - Private Advisory Network Program
E. Client Assets
As of December 31, 2023, Boston Partners managed approximately $82.196 billion on a discretionary
basis, and $7.492 billion on a non-discretionary basis.