Systematic & Quantitative Investments

Systematic approach for efficient portfolios

DWS Systematic & Quantitative Investments stands for long-term investment success through a methodical and disciplined investment process and mature risk management. The team develops a rigorous approach based on sound economic principles, fundamental data and quantitative research. The goal is to make portfolios more cost-efficient while at the same time improving the risk-return profile.

The idea is that returns are driven by systematically replicable factors. By identifying these factors as well as the calculation of returns and correlations, we seek to make to recreate these so-called factor returns repeatable and reliable. With the factors are cleverly combined, an efficient portfolio can be formed, free from emotional investment decisions. Beforehand extensive analyzes must be carried out. The DWS Systematic & Quantitative Investments team has developed various models for the calculations and applies them to the three areas of "Quant Equity", "Quant Fixed Income" and "Quant Allocation".

Priciples and beliefs of the DWS Systematic & Quantitative Investment Team

The concept of DWS Systematic & Quantitative Investments is based on 3 principles.

Strengths

Alpha generation

Our approach is designed to seek repeatable and consistent excess return which are uncorrelated to other managers and asset-classes.

Tailor-made strategies

The team draws from a full-fledged shelf of modules to individually advise clients in designing strategies according to their specific risk appetite, goals, and constraints.

Analytical expertise

With a strong academic background and many years of experience in empirical analysis our experts help our clients to analyze and evaluate strategies and investment decisions.

About SQI

Combines all systematic and quantitative capabilities in one platform
Created to assist our institutional clients to seeking to improve their overall investment returns and to consider their individual risk appetite
Goal is to deliver consistent alpha and market-uncorrelated investment strategies
Research-driven and fundamental
We offer relative return, total return, uncorrelated strategies, single style, multi style
Use of modern technologies and systematic evaluation of data with academic rigor
Target group: Mainly institutional clients
SQI overall team size: 85 people
Main hubs: Frankfurt, Cologne, London

Strategies

Quant Equity

Dynamic Multi Factor Style

Since 1995, we offer bespoke solutions to institutional investors and innovative mutual funds. Our holisticapproach serves customers’ unique needs by flexibly combining modular building blocks with careful implementation and thorough risk management. Our investment philosophy is based upon three quantamental principles:

Active: We pursue an active management approach as we are convinced that markets are not totally information-efficient.

Fundamental: Our investment strategy has a strong, fundamental economic justification.

Quantitative: We believe that systematic and efficient information processing is key to seeking attractive returns. Proprietary quantitative forecast models and databases are the core of our disciplined investment process.

Single Style

For over two decades, the CROCI team has applied a private equity-style valuation approach to public equities, seeking out economic value market through consistent and rigorous fundamental systematic analysis. We use this economic framework to create equity portfolios both for investment funds and for bespoke solutions.

CROCI was designed to identify and take advantage of investment opportunities generated by anomalies in global valuations, without regard to sector or geographical location. Our approach is entirely bottom-up and fundamental, and aims to identify companies with attractive operating characteristics and economic valuations, while avoiding over-valued stocks with a high probability of multiple contraction.

Quant Fixed Income

Quant Credit

The investment strategy aims for systematic outperformance generated by sector allocation and security selection.

The approach looks actively for market patterns suggesting extra returns (extending passive sweet spots).
Dynamic Factor Model based on micro- and macroeconomic factors selecting factor combinations that have the potential to outperform single factor investing.
Quant Credit is a perfect style diversification as traditional fixed income is concentrated in discretionary investment styles.

Quant FX

We understand that our customers have quite different needs regarding foreign exchange management. On the strategic side, we offer client-specific products for which we derive an optimal hedge taken into account different aspects. We view this as the compulsory program. On the tactical side, we screen and employ for factors like momentum, risk sentiment and flow of funds. We know that this task belongs to the free program.

High Quality Emerging Markets

Strategy invests in hard currency bonds of the most solid emerging market countries by utilizing a systematic, quantitative selection process. This unique approach seeks to provide an attractive in an attractive risk return profile by reducing drawdowns and avoiding defaults.

Quant Allocation

Systematic Total Return

The goal of our Systematic Multi Asset strategy is to provide stable performance and a low correlation to traditional as well as alternative investments. The strategy diversifies across different asset classes as well as uncorrelated styles. Robust risk management seeks to improve that potential returns and minimizes that risk of loss. The strategy can be fully customized to each investor’s unique goals.

Multi Fixed Income (FI) & Foreign Exchange (FX)

We believe that an unconstrained active Multi Fixed Income & Foreign Exchange has the best potential to deliver a stable performance through actively exploiting information-inefficiencies. Even though the product is unconstrained, its investments rely fully not only upon our quant-driven fundamental analysis, but also on our portfolio construction capabilities. Sources of performance are duration timing, (relative) yield curve trades, credit macro views, Foreign Exchange signals as well as security selection.