At today's Annual General Meeting, the shareholders of DWS will vote on the following main agenda items: The appropriation of retained earnings including the distribution of an ordinary dividend of EUR 3.00 per share, the election of Bas NieuweWeme to the Supervisory Board as well as the cancellation of existing capital authorisations, expiring in June 2027, and their replacement with new capital authorisations. In addition, the elections of the statutory auditor, the group auditor and the auditor for sustainability reporting are on the agenda. The shareholders' meeting is being held at the Congress Center in Frankfurt/Main.

In their speeches to the shareholders, Oliver Behrens and Stefan Hoops highlight, among other things, the following strategic aspects:

Oliver Behrens, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DWS: “In the past financial year, DWS achieved a new record in revenues while keeping costs almost stable. In other words, we posted record levels in both profit before tax and net income, with assets under management also reaching a new high. Being able to respond flexibly to changes in the environment when it comes to costs is of particular importance in a more challenging environment. Ultimately, it was this flexibility that encouraged DWS to reconfirm its full-year targets at the end of April. To achieve these targets, DWS will continue on its path and consistently implement its strategy – with constructive and critical support from the Supervisory Board.”

Stefan Hoops, CEO of DWS, highlights additional growth areas – complementing “Gateway to Europe” and “Future of Finance” – that will support DWS in delivering on its ambitious medium-term targets: “Our ambition to become a top-five international asset manager in the world's top five economies is gaining traction – organically and through selective partnerships. The joint venture with Nippon Life India Asset Management, which we announced at the end of last year and are currently setting up, will create a platform for alternative investments in India, one of the world's fastest-growing asset management markets. However, the partnership goes much further than that and will support growth across all asset classes. With regard to China, we are interested in expanding our interest in Harvest Fund Management.

Germany remains our home market and a central pillar of the company. As Germany's number 1 for securities mutual funds by assets under management, we are well positioned to benefit from the current momentum and structural developments in our home market – boosted by the German government's ambitious reform packages. Even in our largest market, we see additional opportunities from the pension reform and infrastructure investments right through to funded programs such as the ”Deutschlandfonds“. This highlights our constructive view of Germany. As Germans, we tend to view our country in a rather matter-of-fact way. For DWS, I can tell you: we are definitely #BullishGermany.

And lastly, our collaboration with Deutsche Bank. We pinpointed this partnership as a source of additional value creation at our Capital Markets Day 2022 – and this opportunity is now being addressed a great deal more clearly on both sides. Being part of the Deutsche Bank Group gives us a significant competitive advantage, granting us access to origination and distribution capabilities that few asset managers can replicate at this scale. The Private Bank is already our largest global distribution partner, offering additional potential, for example in joint product development and discretionary portfolio management. Moreover, we see additional opportunities to expand our portfolio for institutional and corporate customers through the cooperation with Investment Bank and Corporate Bank, including holistic pension solutions across all pillars.”

Hoops adds: “For the next chapter, however, it is important to move on from the catching-up mode into a position that allows us to overtake. Our ambitions are international – and that calls for a new approach: more presence with institutional clients, greater visibility in regions outside Germany and Europe. They require an organization that takes an even more holistic view of customer relationships. An organization with a more global vision and approach. And an organization that is clearly recognizable for clients and talent around the world. With this in mind, at the end of May we expanded the responsibilities of the Executive Board to increase our customer focus, commercial responsibility, and regional presence.”

At https://group.dws.com/ir/annual-general-meeting/ you can find the agenda and other documents on the Annual General Meeting, as well as a link for the live broadcast including the speeches by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the CEO.