DWS Makes Strategic Investment in Alts Distribution Platform to Target Retail Investors

DWS Group, a global asset manager and sponsor of non-traded investment products, has made a strategic investment in its Americas alternatives distribution platform.

DWS Group, a global asset manager and sponsor of non-traded investment products, has reportedly made a strategic investment in its Americas alternatives distribution platform to make its real estate products more widely available to the retail market.

DWS said the investment is part of a longer-term initiative to provide retail investors with access to its alternatives platform, and the firm plans to announce new products over time.

The initiative is “driven by increased client demand in the retail market for alternatives products that provide diversification, preservation of capital and risk adjusted performance,” DWS noted.

The company is building an external and internal sales team to support its strategy, led by Brian Maute, DWS’s head of alternatives distribution and U.S. wholesale. The initiative will initially focus on retail products of real estate strategies sponsored by DWS’s RREEF America.

“Real estate has the potential for many investors’ current needs, such as an alternative to bonds, an inflation mitigator and a source of tax-advantaged income,” said Maute. “We feel at this point in the market cycle it is the right time to be expanding our alternatives practice to meet the broader shift taking place in the industry of providing alternative strategies to the everyday investor. I look forward to building the team and working with some of the industry’s brightest minds who share a collective interest in further establishing DWS as a leader in alternatives investing.”

The new sales team will be responsible for building greater awareness for the firm’s alternatives products and will work alongside DWS’s more than 500-person global alternatives investment team which has experience investing in real estate, infrastructure, private equity and sustainable investments.

DWS Group has $1.05 trillion of assets under management, as of December 31, 2021.

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