The brand DWS represents DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA and any of its subsidiaries, such as DWS Distributors, Inc., which offers investment products, or DWS Investment Management Americas, Inc. and RREEF America L.L.C., which offer advisory services.

Please note certain information in this presentation constitutes forward-looking statements. Due to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions made in our analysis, actual events or results or the actual performance of the markets covered by this presentation report may differ materially from those described. The information herein reflects our current views only, is subject to change, and is not intended to be promissory or relied upon by the reader. There can be no certainty that events will turn out as we have opined herein.

Marketing Material. In EMEA for Professional Clients (MiFID Directive 2014/65/EU Annex II) only; no distribution to private/retail customers. In Switzerland for Qualified Investors (art. 10 Para. 3 of the Swiss Federal Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA)). In APAC and LATAM, for institutional investors only. In Australia and New Zealand for Wholesale Investors only. In MENA for professional Clients. Further distribution of this material is strictly prohibited. For business customers only.

In Israel for Qualified Clients (Israeli Regulation of Investment Advice, Investment Marketing and Portfolio Management Law 5755-1995). For investors in Bermuda: This is not an offering of securities or interests in any product. Such securities may be offered or sold in Bermuda only in compliance with the provisions of the Investment Business Act of 2003 of Bermuda which regulates the sale of securities in Bermuda.

Risk factors – Private Debt

All investments involve risk, including possible loss of principal. Private Credit, Direct Lending investments are “private” and may not be appropriate or available for retail investors in the U.S. Investments in Private Credit are subject to various risks including but not limited to market risk, general economic and market conditions, economic recession risk, inflation/deflation risk, and:

Counterparty risk – A financial institution or other counterparty that underwrites, distributes, or guarantees any private credit investments or contracts that the strategy owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health, and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets.

Prepayment and extension risk – When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the strategy may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the strategy’s assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the strategy’s yield and could hurt performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances.

Debt securities risk – Debt securities are subject to the risk of the issuers or a guarantor’s inability to meet principal and interest payments on its obligations and to price volatility.

Default risk – The issuers or guarantors of debt securities may fail to make payments or fulfil other contractual obligations.

Secured debt risk – Although secured debt generally will be secured by specific collateral, there can be no assurance that liquidation of such collateral would satisfy the borrower’s obligation in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal or that such collateral could be readily liquidated.

Second lien and subordinated loans risk– Second lien loans generally are subject to similar risks as those associated with investments in senior loans, and, because they are subordinated or unsecured and lower in priority of payment to senior loans, they are subject to additional risks, including the risk that the borrower may be unable to meet scheduled payments, price volatility, illiquidity, and the inability of the originators to sell participations in such loans.

Private investment risk – Private investments are highly competitive, less transparent, and illiquid.

PIK interest risk – Loans with a payment in kind (“PIK”) interest component generally represent a significantly higher credit risk than coupon loans; may have unreliable valuations requiring continuing judgments about collectability and the value of any associated collateral; and the borrower could still default when the actual payment is due at maturity.

Direct lending risk – The lender in privately offered debt is responsible for the expense of servicing that debt, including, taking legal actions to foreclose on any security instrument securing the debt. This may increase the risk and expense compared to syndicated or publicly offered debt.

Interest rate risk – In general, rising interest rates in the market will negatively affect the price of the direct lending investments. Sensitivity to a change in interest rates is more pronounced and less predictable in instruments with uncertain payment (or prepayment) schedules. Central bank monetary policy, rising inflation rates, and general economic conditions may cause interest rates to rise.

Illiquid portfolio investments risk – Private credit investments generally will be long-term and highly illiquid.

Valuation risk – There is no central place or exchange for private credit investments to trade. Uncertainties in financial market conditions, unreliable reference data, lack of transparency and inconsistency of valuation models and processes may lead to inaccurate pricing and other market participants may value direct lending investments differently.

High-yield debt risk – High yield debt securities have historically experienced greater default rates than investment grade securities and are subject to additional liquidity and volatility risk.

Reinvestment risk – During periods of declining interest rates, an issuer of debt obligations may exercise an option to redeem prior to maturity, which could result in new investments with lower-yields.

Important information

For EMEA, APAC, LATAM & MENA:

DWS is the brand name of DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA and its subsidiaries under which they do business. The DWS legal entities offering products or services are specified in the relevant documentation. DWS, through DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, its affiliated companies and its officers and employees (collectively “DWS”) are communicating this document in good faith and on the following basis.

This document is for information/discussion purposes only and does not constitute an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to conclude a transaction and should not be treated as investment advice.

This document is intended to be a marketing communication, not a financial analysis. Accordingly, it may not comply with legal obligations requiring the impartiality of financial analysis or prohibiting trading prior to the publication of a financial analysis.

This document contains forward looking statements. Forward looking statements include, but are not limited to assumptions, estimates, projections, opinions, models, and hypothetical performance analysis. No representation or warranty is made by DWS as to the reasonableness or completeness of such forward looking statements. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The information contained in this document is obtained from sources believed to be reliable. DWS does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or fairness of such information. All third-party data is copyrighted by and proprietary to the provider. DWS has no obligation to update, modify or amend this document or to otherwise notify the recipient in the event that any matter stated herein, or any opinion, projection, forecast, or estimate set forth herein, changes or subsequently becomes inaccurate.

Investments are subject to various risks. Detailed information on risks is contained in the relevant offering documents.

No liability for any error or omission is accepted by DWS. Opinions and estimates may be changed without notice and involve a number of assumptions which may not prove valid.
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Issued in the UK by DWS Investments UK Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Reference number 429806).
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For investors in Bermuda: This is not an offering of securities or interests in any product. Such securities may be offered or sold in Bermuda only in compliance with the provisions of the Investment Business Act of 2003 of Bermuda which regulates the sale of securities in Bermuda. Additionally, non-Bermudian persons (including companies) may not carry on or engage in any trade or business in Bermuda unless such persons are permitted to do so under applicable Bermuda legislation.

For investors in Taiwan: This document is distributed to professional investors only and not others. Investing involves risk. The value of an investment and the income from it will fluctuate and investors may not get back the principal invested. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. This is a marketing communication. It is for informational purposes only. This document does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security and shall not be deemed an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. The views and opinions expressed herein, which are subject to change without notice, are those of the issuer or its affiliated companies at the time of publication. Certain data used are derived from various sources believed to be reliable, but the accuracy or completeness of the data is not guaranteed, and no liability is assumed for any direct or consequential losses arising from their use. The duplication, publication, extraction, or transmission of the contents, irrespective of the form, is not permitted.

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