DWS weighs name change to boost global visibility – report
DWS Group, the asset management business majority-owned by Deutsche Bank, is considering a name change as it seeks stronger recognition among institutional clients outside Germany, reported Bloomberg.
According to the sources, the Frankfurt-based firm is planning to adopt the name Deutsche Asset Management later this year.
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The change would tie the business more closely to Deutsche Bank’s international profile, the people said.
DWS is listed separately in Frankfurt, while Deutsche Bank holds nearly 80% of its shares.
The bank is not preparing to buy back the remaining stock in the near term, the people said.
A DWS representative said the company is reviewing options “to increase global brand awareness, sharpen the standing of our brands and better leverage our unique position as separately listed bank owned asset manager.” The spokesperson added that no final decision has been made.
“DWS remains a separately listed legal entity with its own strategy, leadership and governance. That has not changed,” a Deutsche Bank spokesperson said.
Deutsche Bank bought DWS outright more than two decades ago.
DWS, short for Die Wertpapier Spezialisten (which translates to “The Security Specialists”), later became the name used for the wider Deutsche Asset Management unit before its partial stock market listing in 2018.
Stefan Hoops became chief executive of DWS in 2022, after the firm was unsettled by greenwashing allegations. Hoops, who is close to Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing, joined the bank’s management board earlier this year, underlining closer links between the two businesses.
In recent months, Hoops has told investors that DWS needs a stronger presence beyond continental Europe and a clearer position among institutional investors.
“Where we have a real issue, a real challenge is in institutional,” Hoops said on an analyst call in April. “We will make some changes around the whole value chain for institutional.”
“I really mean brand, marketing, sales, how structuring is set up, how products are set up — because we’re just losing market share in institutional to really well-run strong competitors,” Hoops added.
