DWS Invest ESG Real Assets

A foundation for your portfolio

Real assets within reach!

Real asset investments such as real estate, infrastructure or commodities are tangible assets with real substance and their own physical value. They are considered a defensive investment and can help improve the risk and return profile of a portfolio, as they have historically been less susceptible to volatility in volatile markets. In addition, this asset class has historically shown a higher payout ratio compared to global equities or global bonds.

A solid basis

Real Estate

The fund invests in listed real estate companies that generate the majority of their operating income from owning and operating real estate, for example residential or industrial stocks.

Infrastructure

For infrastructure companies, a large part of the cash flows must come from the ownership and operation of infrastructure or from essential services in this area. Segments are, for example, transport, regulated utilities, energy or telecommunications.

Commodities

DWS Invest ESG Real Assets invests in commodities via exchange-traded commodities (ETCs[1]) and shares in commodity companies. These are particularly sensitive to economic cycles and inflation.

Inflation-indexed bonds

Inflation-indexed government bonds[2] and other fixed-income securities are possible here, taking into account various default risks.

* Pictures for illustrative purposes only.

Exploit the advantages of real assets

Opportunity for attractive cash flows

Over the past decade, real assets have generated significantly higher dividend yields compared to global equities or global bonds.

Generate attractive income[3] with real assets

Historical dividend yields by asset class

MSCI World Index: Is an international stock index that tracks the performance of companies in 23 industrialized countries. With 1,612 companies worldwide, the MSCI World Index reflects approximately 85% of the market capitalization in the industrialized countries. It is calculated in three variants, as a price index, as a performance index without considering withholding taxes and as a performance index with taking into account withholding taxes. As a rule, the price index is published.

 

Barclays Global Aggregate Index: Is a leading measure of global investment grade debt across twenty-four local currency markets. This multi-currency benchmark includes government bonds, government-related bonds, corporate bonds and securitized fixed income bonds from issuers in developed and emerging markets.

Bloomberg Commodity Index: Comprises 20 different futures on 20 different commodities. Rebalancing in the index takes place annually. The liquidity of a futures, its trading volume and the production volume are decisive for the weight allocation.

DJ Brookfield Global Infrastructure Index: Designed to measure the performance of pure infrastructure companies based around the world. The index covers all sectors of the infrastructure market. To be included in the index, a company must generate at least 70% of its cash flow from the infrastructure sector.

FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index: Designed to track general trends in eligible real estate stocks worldwide. Relevant activities are defined as the ownership, trading and development of income-producing real estate. The index series covers global, developed, and emerging markets.

Barclays US TIPS Index: Measures the returns of the government bond market as defined by the Barclays Capital U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities Index. The TIPS Index has an effective maturity of 8 years and a weighted average maturity of 9.1 years.

S&P Global Natural Resources Index: Includes 90 of the largest publicly traded natural resource and commodity companies that meet certain investability requirements and provides investors with diversified and investable equity exposure to three primary commodity-related sectors: Agribusiness, Energy and Metals & Mining.

Multiple asset classes - diversification in the portfolio

The actively managed DWS Invest ESG Real Assets offers several flexibly matched asset classes of listed companies related to real assets as well as commodities (ETCs[1]) and inflation-indexed bonds.

quiz icon

What is more important for the performance of the asset class "real assets"?

Timing matters

When should the investment in real asset-oriented securities or inflation-indexed bonds be increased or reduced? In different market phases, different investment segments may be in demand in each case.[4]

" Through many years of experience with such strategies, we know that managing the weighting between these four areas is crucial to investment success.

John Vojticek Global Head of Liquid Real Assets

The inner values of DWS Invest ESG Real Assets

A quadrant model* serves as the basis

The fund management analyses the historical return of the asset classes in various economic scenarios and decides on the allocation based on the probabilities of occurrence for the scenario determined by them.

Consideration of sustainability aspects

DWS Invest ESG Real Assets takes into account DWS's own ESG investment standards. The investment universe is defined, among other things, by environmental and social aspects as well as the principles of good corporate governance.

Model risk

There is a risk that the model assumptions are no longer accurate due to unforeseen events.

* Quadrant framework: The consumer price index and the gross domestic product of the USA of the last 20 years (observation period 31.12.2002 to 31.12.2023) serve as the basis for the market scenarios depending on economic growth and inflation. Based on the level of the previous quarter, the DWS analysts look at whether economic growth and inflation are currently increasing or decreasing. The acceleration or deceleration is calculated on the basis of the successive year-on-year percentage changes in GDP growth and inflation (based on the consumer price index). They then decide on the probabilities of moving in each scenario. Please note that the average quarterly performance in the respective market scenarios is shown here. Thus, it is possible that the asset classes also generate negative returns in some cases if the observation period is changed or shortened. The asset classes are represented by the following indices: Global Real Estate Equities: FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Index; Global Infrastructure Equities: Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Index; Commodities: Bloomberg Gold Sub Index; Commodity Equities: S&P Global Natural Resources Index; Inflation Indexed Bonds: Bloomberg Global Inflation-Linked Total Return Index.

Many years of experience and successful management

Langjährige Erfahrung

Sustainable Investments - ESG criteria complement the classic investment objectives

Sustainability criteria can complement the investment objectives of return, risk and liquidity, with environmental, social and governance-related aspects. The three sustainability criteria provide orientation. They can be understood as a guidance to sustainable investing.

* The following is merely an example and not an exhaustive list.

Environmental

Carbon footprint (CO2 emissions), Conservation of natural resources, Environmental protection

Social

Human rights, Labour standards, Consumer protection

Governance

Business ethics, Incentive structures, Competitive behaviour

Further information on the consideration of sustainability criteria >>

DWS Invest ESG Real Assets LD

DWS Invest ESG Real Assets LD

Balanced Funds/Growth-oriented

ISIN: LU2548824536

Currency: EUR

Management Fee: 1.500%

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Fund details of DWS Invest ESG Real Assets LD

Share class[5]

LD

Currency

EUR

ISIN

LU2548824536

Issue premium[6]

5,0%

Management fee

1,500%

Ongoing charges[7] plus performance-related fee from securities lending income

n/a

Earnings

Distribution

Supplementary information on the investment policy

The investment policy is defined, among other things, by environmental and social aspects, as well as the principles of good corporate governance. The fund management applies DWS‘s own ESG filter „DWS ESG Investment Standard“ when selecting assets. At least 51% of the fund’s assets are invested in assets covered by the DWS ESG Investment Standard.

Share of sustainable investments according to SFDR

If a company has a positive contribution to at least one of the United Nations SDGs through its economic activity and does not violate any other goal, as well as adheres to principles of good governance, it is considered a sustainable investment.

Minimum share of sustainable investments[8] 15%[9]
  • minimum ecologically sustainable[10]
2%[9]
  • minimum socially sustainable[11]
1%[9]

Risks[12]

  • Market-, sector- and company-related price losses.
  • Exchange rate losses.
  • Increased regulation in the infrastructure sector worldwide.
  • Weakening of underlying trends (urbanization / mobile data use / higher demand for transport of people and goods or energy).
  • Concentration risk: By concentrating on shares in the infrastructure sector, there is limited diversification within the fund.
  • Due to its composition/the techniques used by the fund management, the investment fund exhibits increased volatility, i.e. the unit prices may be subject to stronger downward or upward fluctuations even within short periods of time.
  • The unit value may at any time fall below the purchase price at which the customer acquired the unit.
  • The fund invests its assets in selected regions or sectors. This increases the risk that the fund will be negatively affected by the economic and political conditions in the respective regions or sectors.
  • The fund invests in equities. Equities are subject to price fluctuations and thus also to the risk of price declines.
  • The fund invests in bonds whose value depends on whether the issuer is able to make its payments. The risk of payment default can also be subject to fluctuations for issuers.

More topics

1. Exchange-traded commodities are securities traded on the stock exchange that allow investment in individual commodities.

2. Interest-bearing security whose coupon and/or nominal value is linked to a consumer price index. Inflation means that the purchasing power in a country decreases. A devaluation of money takes place instead. Inflation-indexed bonds are not real assets. They are listed here because they are a portfolio component in DWS Invest ESG Real Assets.

3. Gains from dividend yields.

4. Forecasts are based on assumptions, estimates, opinions and hypothetical models or analyses that may turn out to be inaccurate or incorrect.

5. This document only contains information on the LD unit class. Information on any other existing unit classes can be found in the currently valid full or simplified sales prospectus.

6. In relation to the gross investment amount: 3.00% in relation to the gross investment amount corresponds to around 5.26% in relation to the net investment amount.

7. The ongoing charges disclosed here are an estimate of charges as the fund or share classes were only launched on 17 January 2022. Actual costs will only be calculated and disclosed after the first financial year. The annual report of the respective financial year contains details of the precisely calculated costs.

8. The proportion of sustainable investments as defined in Article 2(17) SFDR in the portfolio is calculated in proportion to the economic activities of the issuers that qualify as sustainable.

9. These are minimum shares that do not necessarily add up to the total share.

10. “Ecologically sustainable investment” in line with Art. 2(17) SFDR means an investment in an economic activity that contributes to an environmental objective.

11. “Socially sustainable investment” in line with Art. 2(17) SFDR means an investment in an economic activity that contributes to a social objective.

12. The sales prospectus contains detailed risk information.

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