DWS Group Annual General Meeting Votes on Election of Oliver Behrens to the Supervisory Board
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 2.10 per share and an extraordinary dividend of EUR 4 per share, the election of Oliver Behrens to the Supervisory Board as well as the cancellation of existing capital authorisations, expiring in June 2025, and the replacing new capital authorisations. In addition, the election of the statutory auditor, group auditor and auditor for the sustainability reporting as well as an amendment of the Articles of Association concerning the composition of the Joint Committee are in particular on the agenda. The shareholders' meeting takes place virtually.
In their speeches to DWS shareholders, Karl von Rohr and Stefan Hoops emphasize, among other things, the following strategic aspects:
Karl von Rohr, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DWS: “The results of the first quarter of 2024 and last year show that DWS' strategy is working. Given the progress made and the growth achieved, DWS is on track to reach its financial targets for 2025. Along the way, the Supervisory Board will continue to support the Executive Board constructively and critically in implementing the strategy. From now on, this will be under the leadership of Oliver Behrens. I wish him every success.”
Stefan Hoops, CEO of DWS, emphasised with regard to the priorities for DWS in the coming years: “We have the ambition to be one of the ‘top 5 in the top 5’, in other words, one of the top five international asset managers in the five largest economies. A key focus in that respect is to expand our foothold in Asia. Our extended strategic alliance with Nippon Life and other partnerships in Asia will help strengthen our position in Japan, China and India.
Europe will still be our home market, however. Now, more than ever, we want to establish DWS as the ‘gateway to Europe’. Our ambition: if an international customer wants to take advantage of the opportunities here, especially those offered by the European transformation, then we must be their first port of call.
And, last but not least, we have made a commitment to help shape the future of finance in the years ahead. Specifically, this means understanding and managing digital disruption in our industry better than the competition. This applies to both artificial intelligence and blockchain. We are approaching these issues diligently and purposefully because one thing is clear: we want to drive disruption and not be driven by it.”
Regarding the importance of the upcoming European elections, Stefan Hoops added: “Europe is not just our domestic market in terms of business. Europe is also our cultural home, representing our core values. It has become all the rage in recent years to view Europe as a behemoth paralyzed by regulatory zeal rather than as an economic and social opportunity. This plays into the hands of divisive forces that seek to destroy freedom. That is why the elections that have just begun are so important: nothing less is at stake than a new, positive European narrative – strengthening the peace and freedom project that is Europe as a geopolitical anchor. Reinforcing democratic, pro-European but, above all, diverse forces in the party spectrum is crucial in achieving this end.“
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.