Dear Client,


Our globalized world is facing challenging times. Coronavirus, which started as a public health crisis, has, in record time, become a serious, economic crisis of global scale; a crisis that we have to manage on multiple levels. We have a fiduciary responsibility to you, our clients. We also have a responsibility to safeguard the health and well-being of our people. And we take both obligations very seriously.

The firm has taken swift actions across the organization as they have become prudent, to ensure we are able to deliver on these obligations. And, going forward, we will stay decisive, consistent, but also measured in managing the ongoing situation.

We are prepared and have implemented the necessary protocols to ensure seamless continuity of operations and services for our clients – however the situation may develop.

Currently, we have taken the following steps:

Work from Home

DWS is now globally operating in split-teams, with most teams working remotely. Additionally, we have split in-person business operations into normal and dedicated standby offices. We will ensure remote work environments for all our employees at the same time, if necessary – including for portfolio management and trading.

Technology Recovery

In the highly unlikely event of tech disruptions such as the loss of a data center or the failure of specific IT assets and/or applications supporting critical business operations, we will implement our confidential recovery plans in place to manage the seamless continuation of operations - leveraging sites that are geographically separate.

Service Providers

We have ensured that our service providers are contractually obligated to have business continuity capabilities in place that ensure continuity of services provided to DWS if their ordinary operations are interrupted.

Travel/In-Person Meetings

Our people are restricted from business travel and in-person client meetings – except in business-critical situations. Participation in industry conferences is also prohibited until further notice. Audio and video conference meetings are encouraged wherever possible. We ask for your understanding of this restriction.

We feel strongly about doing everything in our control to contain the spread of the virus. This is our duty as a responsible employer and good corporate citizen.

At the same time, we are and will remain committed to using the vast expertise of our diverse platform to meet our fiduciary responsibility to you. This is never more relevant than in a market downturn such as the one we are currently witnessing.

However this crisis may develop, we are ready to fulfil our role as a fiduciary asset manager; to do our job – for you.

Sincerely,

Your DWS Executive Board