IN FOCUS Replay – Fixed Income 2025: The Year of Income?

Original date: Feb. 4, 2025. For institutional investors only.

IQ-European Insurance Quarterly 1Q 2025

Research report- 1Q 2025

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IN FOCUS Replay – How could the Structured Finance market be impacted by the U.S. consumer in the new year?

Original date: Dec. 11, 2024. For institutional investors only.

IN FOCUS Replay – U.S. Investment-Grade Credit: Potential Sector Winners and Losers of the U.S. Election's Outcome

Original date: November 20, 2024. For institutional investors only.

IN FOCUS Replay – Insurance investment trends from 2023 statutory filings data

Original date: May 22, 2024. For institutional investors only.

Solvency II Review and Long-Term Equity Investments: A New Era for Private Equity and Infrastructure Investments?

Research report - April 2024

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DWS wins two Insurance Asset Risk Awards in the Americas

Responsible Investor of the year

DWS wins two Insurance Asset Risk Awards in the Americas

Equity manager of the year

DWS is a pioneer in global insurance asset management. Our commitment and expertise in the insurance market dates back to 1929 when we first established a comprehensive partnership approach to develop customized investment solutions and programs for insurers.

Top 5

Ranked by global assets under management.* [1]

1980

Formalized our insurance investment platform

10

Key insurance centers globally

>200

Insurance clients

1929

First engagement with an insurance investor

25

Investment offices in locations around the world

Global reach with regional focus

Our footprint spans geographies and client types, with investment professionals located in key insurance centers around the world. This, along with a diverse business mix, allows DWS to execute sophisticated custom solutions on a regional level with a specific insurer perspective.

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Assets under management

Total DWS AUM
DWS AUM — USD $990billion /EUR €896 billion globally 
USD $180.6 billion /EUR €163.4 billion
Managed for general accounts
USD $48.3 billion /EUR €43.7 billion
Unit-linked and similar insurance products

 

Source: AUM as of December 31, 2023.

*2024 edition of the Insurance Investment Outsourcing Report. DWS ranks no. 5 overall for AUM managed globally for third-party insurance general accounts. No fee was paid by DWS to participate.


USD $180.6 billion/EUR €163.4 billion under management in General Account assets

Charts with different strategies, company types and locations DWS does insurance business

Source: DWS as of December 31, 2023. Totals may not sum due to rounding. For illustrative purposes only.

Spectrum of investment solutions

Insurance fixed-income is at the core of our clients’ investment programs and our insurance asset management platform as well. A dedicated Insurance Fixed Income Portfolio Management team can be complemented by a broader set of investment capabilities across asset classes and risk spectrum, in both active and passive structures.

  SAA & Solvency Framework   Product Innovation
Insurance fixed-income
 Multi asset
 Alternatives & non core
 Unit-linked & variable annuities
  • History in both core and non-core fixed-income across investment and non-investment-grade sectors
  • Insurance solutions & analytics
  • Solvency capital framework
  • Liquidity optimization
  • Real Estate Equity & Debt
  • Infrastructure Equity & Debt
  • Private Equity
  • Private Credit
  • Direct Lending
  • Listed Equity
  • Market leader in Germany for Unit-Linked life insurance products*
  • Passive and Active Products & Solutions
  • Products with controlled volatility
  • Life-cycle & hybrid products
       
DIGITAL SOLUTIONS
Customized and model portfolio development
PASSIVE
Xtrackers ETFs & Institutional passive mandates  |  Passive “building blocks” for the four steps above
ESG
Unique ESG Engine**  |  Investment overlay and risk management  |  Responsible investment opportunities

 

As of December 31, 2022

*Source: Fondspolicen Spezial, Fonds Professionell percentage of market share, 2022

** Source: DWS developed an engine, which is our proprietary software that aggregates data from multiple third-party commercial providers of ESG data, as well as data from several non-governmental organizations, to arrive at various ESG solutions (e.g., assignments of ratings to investment positions and sovereigns). The ESG engine is operated by DWS International GmbH, a German affiliate of DIMA, a U.S. registered investment adviser. DIMA's portfolio managers have access to ESG solutions produced by such German affiliate and may use such ESG solutions in managing client accounts. Please see Part II of the adviser's Form ADV for additional information regarding ESG issues.

Lifecycle of an insurance program — The three disciplines form a dynamic relationship

 

DWS insurance team members, from Solutions and Structuring, Coverage and Relationship Management, to Portfolio Management and Investment Specialists, actively collaborate to deliver insurers a cohesive and comprehensive investment experience.  While the approach can vary by region, the objective is always the same—to deliver a bespoke investment program based on an insurer’s unique risk and return preferences.

Structuring & insurance analytics

  

Portfolio management

  

Insurance coverage & relationship management

Enterprise Assessment

  

Portfolio Construction

  

Portfolio Analytics
  • Engage with insurance company to define goals including conducting appropriate analysis (SAA/ALM)
  • Accounting, regulation and capital management considerations examined
  • Industry analysis: trends and peer comparisons
  
  • Implement either Strategic or Tactical investment program
  • Customized Insurance Fixed Income is at the core of our allocation focus

 


Depth of Asset Class Capabilities

 

  • Ability to complement high-grade fixed-income with multi-asset solutions in an insurance context that includes non core bond asset classes, equity, alternatives, passive, alternatives, ESG and cash

 


Access to, and interaction with, investment management teams

  
  • Access to proprietary tools and systems developed to provide better analytics and understanding of an investment program considerations
  • Portfolio projections including cash flow and income



Ongoing bespoke Risk Management Reporting

  • Provide bespoke Trade Management and Risk Analytics reporting

 

Establish Investment Framework

    
  • Apply industry parameters, taking into account accounting, regulatory, and capital considerations
    

 

Quantitative Modeling

    

 
  • Utilize optimization tools and techniques to evaluate asset class selection
  • Develop Strategic Asset Allocation program
  • Integrated with Multi-Asset team for portfolio construction
    
 

DWS’s insurance asset management platform partners with insurers of all sizes and types to provide end-to-end solutions across strategic asset allocation, insurance advisory, and portfolio and product structuring.

 

Approach to strategic asset allocation

1. Enterprise assessment

  

2. Establish framework
— Comprehensive review of enterprise and operating environment
— Underwriting environment: Cycle, profit trends, competition, underwriting standards
— Capital position, allocation, efficiency
— Industry and peer research
— Collaboration with management
— Liability profile

 — Define constraints and risk/ return metrics
— Primary and secondary objectives: total return/income versus volatility
— External constraints: Regulation, tax considerations, accounting, rating agencies
— Permitted asset classes: iterative process, driven by client
— RBC, BCAR implications

4. Review, revise, recommend

3. Quantitative modelling
— Iterative process to refine client objectives, constraints and recommendations
— Client feedback incorporated into optimization runs: enables a more refined and effective optimization result
— Alignment of recommendation with practical implementation constraints: includes liquidity and market timing considerations

 — Flexible quantitative framework to evaluate multiple objectives and solutions
— Development of asset class assumptions: inputs to optimization models
— Quantitative portfolio optimization: in-house, proprietary models are leveraged; multiple objectives and constraints are incorporated

Insurance solutions

Solutions collaboration based on regional focus 

Insurance strategy & advisory

  

Insurance structuring & analytics

  

Insurance portfolio management
— Deep understanding of the investment challenges of insurance companies
— Strategic advice on the structure of business with regard to assets and liabilities
— Expertise in regulatory environment and accounting developments
— Analysis of industry parameters, taking into account accounting, regulatory, and capital considerations
— Peer analysis
  — Bespoke quantitative modeling
— SAA with consideration of regulatory capital requirements
— LDI and ALM solutions
— Advise on hedging structures
— Product development for Unit-linked Life insurance products
— Life-cycle & retirement solutions		   — Long heritage in managing fixed-income portfolios for insurers
— Broad range of insurance customized products and individual investment strategies
— Intense partnership and dialog between our investment professionals and clients
— Various high-end tools for portfolio simulation, analysis and projections including cash flow and income
— Develop and deliver individual and customized insurance-oriented reporting

Off- and on-balance sheet solutions
 

Thought leadership

Higher Rates for Longer Doesn’t Mean Forget Munis

Research Report - January 2025

Stress Testing Equity Markets with Higher Carbon Prices

Research Report - October 2024

What Fed Cuts Mean for the Muni Market

Research Report - October 2024

Ignore the Election and focus on Rate Trajectory

Research report - August 2024

Analysis of the 2023 Statutory Filings and Investment Considerations for U.S. Insurers

Research Report - July 2024

The Duration Opportunity Through Taxable Municipal Bonds

Research Report - May 2024

Convexity and Prepayment Risk

Research Report - May 2024

Solvency II Review and Long-Term Equity Investments: A New Era for Private Equity and Infrastructure Investments?

Research report - April 2024

The Muni Market: What’s in store for 2024?

Research report - February 2024

U.S. High Yield for Insurance Companies

Evaluating the high yield landscape for insurance investors

Inflation: here to stay?

CIO Office special report

European Private Infrastructure Debt

Research report

Municipal bond market: Finding the optimal spot on the curve

Research report

A Renaissance in U.S. Core Fixed Income: The “Five Percent” Paradox to Start the Year

Research report

Perspective library archive

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Fixed Income

Insurance Fixed Income

The DWS Fixed Income Solutions team is a dedicated group of portfolio managers dedicated to the management of insurance general account assets.
Alternatives

Alternatives

Long-standing, innovative alternative opportunities to invest beyond traditional strategies.

Awards

DWS’s insurance asset management has a history of award recognition over the years across the globe.


For more information regarding award criteria, please click here.

Get in touch

Your Insurance asset management specialists around the world

For general contact information, please visit our Contact us page under Profile

paolo.gazzola@dws.com
Paolo Gazzola
Head of Insurance Advisory-EMEA ex-Germany & Austria
fabian.gerlich@dws.com
Fabian Gerlich
Head of Sales-Financial Institutions Group, Germany
thomas.gillmann@dws.com
Thomas Gillmann
Insurance Advisory & Strategy – Asia Pacific
james.d.richard@dws.com
James D. Richard
Head of Insurance Coverage-Americas

1. Insurance Investment Outsourcing Report 2024, data as of FY23

CIO View