Dear shareholders, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of my colleagues on the Supervisory Board, I would like to welcome you very warmly to today's Annual General Meeting for DWS Group GmbH & Co KGaA. This Annual General Meeting is my first as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DWS. It has been my pleasure to perform this role throughout my first year, and I would like to thank you all, shareholders, once again for the trust placed in me by electing me to the Supervisory Board at last year's Annual General Meeting. I am particularly grateful to my predecessor, Karl von Rohr, for his fantastic support throughout the transition. Special thanks also go to my other colleagues on the Supervisory Board who elected me as Chairman, a clear indicator of their confidence in me from the start.
Over the past 12 months, our efficient teamwork has helped DWS to gain new ground. I will come back to the progress that DWS has made during this successful year later on. I would also like to commend the Executive Board for their cooperative and transparent partnership over the past year. Moreover, the Executive Board was instrumental in turning the spotlight back onto the fund business in 2024. Last but not least, I would like to thank the Deutsche Bank Management Board member responsible for DWS, James von Moltke, for his commitment and excellent collaboration on the Joint Committee. Let me now come back to today's AGM of DWS, which I hereby open. Ladies and gentlemen, before turning to the contents of my speech, let me first of all briefly take you through the formalities required at an Annual General Meeting.
The Annual General Meeting was convened in proper form and in due time, with the publication of the agenda in the Federal Gazette of 30th of April 2025. All Members of the Executive Board of the General Partner are present here today, although not all of them are right here on the spot. These are Stefan Hoops, Markus Kobler, who is unable to be with us today due to illness but is joining us via video. All the best. Rafael Otero, Karen Kuder, Dirk Goergen, and Manfred Bauer. I am pleased to welcome you all in person here. With the exception of Angela Meurer, who unfortunately is also unable to be with us today due to illness, all Members of the Supervisory Board are also personally present here today.
For the shareholder representatives, these are my deputy, Ute Wolf, Karl von Rohr, Margret Suckale, Aldo Cardoso, Kazuhide Toda, Richard Morris, and Christina Bannier. For the employee representatives, Erwin Stengele, Christine Metzler, and Stephan Accorsini. Let me also welcome all of you very warmly. Moreover, on your far right, we have our notary, Dr. Habetha. He will be taking notarized minutes of today's Annual General Meeting. The list of attendants is currently being drawn up. I will announce attendance once the list will have been completed. The attendance area covers Congress Center at the Frankfurt Trade Fairgrounds. This is where the studio and the back office facilities are located and where the counting of votes will take place later today. This is also where the company's proxy is located. The Agenda with the wording of the proposed resolutions is on display here.
In addition, the notary has a copy at hand. The full wording of the Agenda is also available on our website. A live audio and video broadcast of the entire AGM will be available on our website today. This means that both our shareholders and interested members of the public can follow the broadcast. A recording up to the end of the speech by the Chairman of the Management Board will also be available on our website after the Annual General Meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, so much for the formalities. Let me now turn to the reports of the Supervisory Board on its activities in the past financial year. To ensure the effective performance of its function, both in the plenary meetings and the Committee meetings, the Supervisory Board receives regular reports and specific updates as and when appropriate, particularly from the Members of the Executive Board.
We are informed about the company's business development and strategy, corporate financial and human resources planning, profitability, as well as its risk, liquidity, and capital management activities. The main activities of the Supervisory Board in financial year 2024 are covered in detail on pages 5-13 of our Annual eport 2024. I would therefore like to highlight only some of the topics we dealt with at this point. The Supervisory Board and its standing Committees held a total of 27 meetings last year. The average attendance rate was more than 95%. The full Supervisory Board met 10x . In addition to monitoring day-to-day business operations, our primary task here was to advise the Executive Board on the implementation of the strategic core projects. Specifically, these projects included DWS's growth strategy, its market position in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific, plus the multi-year transformation program.
Together, the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board concentrated on implementing this strategy, thereby researching the related trends, risks, and opportunities. As in previous years, we also held a two-day strategy offsite last August. It was attended by the Supervisory Board, the Executive Board, representatives of the extended leadership team, and the Deutsche Bank Management Board member responsible for the asset management division. We deliberately placed a strong emphasis on strategy and growth discussions. During the meeting, we intensively discussed value-generating inorganic growth opportunities. We looked at developments in our active funds and alternative investments, as well as our extract business. We traced the progress of our digital assets and examined our wholesale and institutional strategy more closely. Our sustainability strategy and data strategy were further subjects of debate. We also discussed our strategy in Europe, APAC, and America with our regional experts.
Last year, we focused in particular on considering the strategic risks that are relevant to us. Other topics included IT and our employee strategy. In 2024, the sustainable profitability of our business and the cause for further future growth were the priorities for us on the Supervisory Board. Accordingly, we engaged in a thorough examination of the company's strategic development, which encompassed both organic and inorganic growth opportunities. Apart from strategy topics, we continued to continually work on systematically refining our internal control processes. Control topics are an essential part of all our Supervisory Board meetings. Moreover, the Supervisory Board closely monitored the ongoing ESG investigations by the Public Prosecutor's Office in Frankfurt over the last year. The ad hoc Committee provided us with comprehensive insight into the status of the ongoing investigations and the further courses of action planned.
The Supervisory Board welcomes the fact that the investigations against DWS have now been concluded, which means it can now focus its efforts on moving forward. I would now like to address three of the Items on the Agenda for today in greater detail. Firstly, the election to the Supervisory Board under Agenda Item 7. Secondly, the resolution on the approval of the compensation system for the Managing Directors of the General Partner under Agenda Item 8. Thirdly, the decision on the remuneration of the Members of the Supervisory Board under Agenda Item 9. Please allow me to briefly run through the current developments regarding the composition of the Supervisory Board. Supported by the recommendation of the shareholder representatives on its nomination committee, the Supervisory Board decided to propose Tomohiro Yao for election as shareholder representative to the Supervisory Board under Agenda Item 7 at the AGM.
Mr. Yao has been nominated, as Mr. Toda has decided to resign from the Supervisory Board upon the close of today's AGM. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Toda for his excellent constructive work on our Supervisory Board. Time and again, he has enhanced the Supervisory Board with his strategic advice and global expertise. Mr. Yao will briefly introduce himself as the new candidate for the Supervisory Board later on. At this point, I will therefore only reveal this much. Mr. Yao is currently Executive Officer and Head of Americas, as well as Head of Europe at Nippon Life Insurance Company. He brings a wealth of experience in a wide range of roles at Nippon Life. Moreover, he has been extensively involved in committees through various board appointments on other supervisory committees in the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S., and the U.K.
The external mandates included in Mr. Yao's CV are non-executive directorships for unlisted companies that are directly related to his activities at Nippon Life. What's more, Mr. Yao has known DWS for quite some time. We are confident that we have found an outstandingly qualified candidate to complement our Supervisory Board. Therefore, I am very much looking forward to welcoming Mr. Yao as a Member of the Supervisory Board and wish him every success in his role at this point. Ladies and gentlemen, let me now come to the second of the previously mentioned three Agenda Items. The compensation system for Members of the Executive Board was last ratified in the Annual General Meeting in 2021 and has not been amended significantly since then. In line with statutory requirements, we will be submitting the system for your approval this year.
The system was reviewed at the shareholders' meeting of the General Partner in consultation with the Joint Committee and with the support of an external consultant who supported these activities. Current market practice and market trends, as well as the relevant regulatory requirements and investors' expectations, were all taken into account. As the previous system had proven robust, only minor changes were made. The emphasis was placed on more fully reconciling the interests of shareholders and the Executive Board. The system has also been simplified. Regarding the long-term variable component, the earnings per share growth rate is introduced as a new target. Net flows, now in the form of long-term net flows, and the cost-income ratio, now in the form of the reported cost-income ratio, remain key financial targets. Transparency is thus enhanced by aligning performance criteria with external reporting.
Sustainability goals continue to make up a relevant part of the long-term targets. They are being updated in accordance with the objectives of the strategy. The number of targets in the short-term variable component will be reduced in order to enable more focused targeting. The system thus continues to be a key factor in facilitating and implementing a long-term DWS strategy in accordance with your interests as shareholders. It should continue to enable competitive and market-oriented remuneration in the future. Further details on the compensation system can be found in the explanatory notes on Agenda Item 8 in the invitation to our Annual General Meeting, as well as online on the Annual General Meeting page on the company's website. The compensation system will be applied in this financial year, and we kindly ask you for your approval.
This takes me to the third and last of the three Agenda Items mentioned beforehand. As you have already seen under Agenda Item 9, the Supervisory Board remuneration package is to be increased as appropriate and a market-oriented attendance fee introduced for meetings. In the past seven years since DWS's IPO in 2018, the remuneration of the Supervisory Board members has not been updated. However, the Supervisory Board's compensation package must be adjusted in order to attract highly qualified candidates on the international stage. In addition, the demands placed on Supervisory Board members in terms of time commitment and accountability have increased substantially in recent years. An independent external remuneration advisor proposed the increase and confirmed it was proportionate. In the first quarter of this year, he carried out a peer group comparison which examined the remuneration paid at DWS in relation to that of its competitors.
Further details on the compensation system of the Supervisory Board can be found in the explanatory notes on Agenda Item 9 in the invitation to our Annual General Meeting. The General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose to adopt the amendment to the Articles of Association required for the adjustment. Ladies and gentlemen, this takes us back to the activities of the Supervisory Board. As every year, the Supervisory Board also deals with the Dependency Report, which lists the company's relationships with affiliated companies and thus with Deutsche Bank. This Dependency Report was prepared by the Executive Board and audited by KPMG as the statutory auditor. KPMG did not raise any objections and issued an unqualified audit opinion. The wording of the audit opinion can be found on page 13 of our Annual Report 2024.
Moreover, KPMG has audited the Annual Financial Statements and the Consolidated Financial Statements, as well as the summarized Management Report for the Annual and Consolidated Financial Statements for financial year 2024, issuing an unqualified audit opinion in each case. Its wording can be found starting from page 200 of the Annual Report 2024 in the German version. The Supervisory Board has also reviewed the Annual Financial Statements and Consolidated Financial Statements drawn up by the Executive Board, along with the Dependency Report. Based on the recommendation of the Audit and Risk Committee and following an in-depth discussion with the representatives of the statutory auditor KPMG, we unanimously approved the Annual Financial Statements as well as the consolidated financial statements. The review of the Dependency Report and the Audit Report of the statutory auditor KPMG did not lead to any objections.
Likewise, there were no grounds for objections to the final declarations of the Executive Board. Ladies and gentlemen, let us now move on to the activities of the various Supervisory Board committees. The Audit and Risk Committee met a total of 10x under Ms. Wolf as Chairperson. It supported the Supervisory Board in monitoring the control, reporting, and accounting processes and addressed intensively the Annual Financial Statements and Consolidated Financial Statements, as well as the Interim Report and the report issued by the statutory auditor. In this context, the Committee reviewed the valuation of goodwill and other intangible assets, as well as the service fees charged by Deutsche Bank and its subsidiaries and related governance processes. The Committee also monitored the effectiveness of the risk management system, in particular with regard to the internal control system and internal audit, while taking account of our multi-year transformation program.
Furthermore, the Committee examined the group's risk appetite statement and the overarching risk strategy, which is embedded in the risk management framework. This also includes the integration of sustainability risks into the framework. Therefore, in 2024, the Committee also turned the spotlight onto the CSRD, that is the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Moreover, the Audit and Risk Committee held a number of extraordinary meetings. These focused in particular on the discussion of audit findings, the CSRD reporting, and the EU taxonomy regulation. For financial year 2024, the Audit and Risk Committee also recommended a renewal of the audit engagement of KPMG. The deliberations took into account the results of the review of the statutory auditor's independence, which did not identify any indications for any risk to independence.
Another central topic discussed by the Committee was the proposal to be discussed under Agenda Item 5 regarding the selection process of the auditor of its annual and consolidated financial statements, as well as the auditor for its sustainability reporting. For financial year 2025, the Audit and Risk Committee recommended engaging KPMG to audit the Annual Financial and Consolidated Financial Statements. KPMG is also to be appointed to carry out the audit review of the condensed financial statements and Interim Management Report as of 30th June 2025 and, if applicable, other intra-year financial information prior to 31st December 2025. This is different from an audit review of any other financial information generated during the year with effective dates after 31st December 2025, provided this is established before the ordinary Annual General Meeting 2026.
To this end, the Committee recommended that the Supervisory Board propose EY as auditor to the Annual General Meeting. This proposal, which the Supervisory Board has adopted with its proposal to the AGM, is the result of a selection process conducted by the Audit and Risk Committee. With the entry into force of the law implementing the aforementioned EU CSRD directive into German law, KPMG is to be appointed as independent auditor to confirm the sustainability reporting for financial year 2025. Nonetheless, the Supervisory Board should only implement the resolution in the event that the CSRD implementation act requires that the sustainability report. Ladies and gentlemen, the Remuneration and Personnel Committee chaired by Ms. Kobler held five meetings in 2024. It monitored the appropriate structure of the compensation systems for employees and key risk takers who have material influence on the overall risk profile of the group.
In addition, the Committee reviewed corporate culture and was regularly informed about significant regulatory requirements and their impact on the group's compensation framework. The Committee also took account of changes in regulatory requirements by amending its rules of procedure. The omination Committee held two meetings in 2024. In the first half of the year, the Committee was chaired by former Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Karl von Rohr. Upon my appointment in June of last year, I took over chairmanship. As in previous years, the Nomination Committee carried out an efficiency review in 2024. In doing so, the Nomination Committee prepared the self-assessment of the Supervisory Board. Moreover, it analyzed in particular the results of this evaluation, identifying focus areas and recommending possible measures to the Supervisory Board. As in prior years, a neutral external advisor supported the overall process.
Details on the activities of the Committees can be found on pages 9-11 of the Annual Report. Let me now outline the activities of the Joint Committee in the past financial year. You can find more detailed information on this starting on page 16 of our Annual Report. The Joint Committee met 5x in 2024. In accordance with its statutory duties and powers, the Committee discussed in depth variable remuneration, the compensation structure, and individual targets for the Managing Directors of the General Partner. The Joint Committee submitted proposals on variable remuneration to the shareholders' meeting of the General Partner. It is responsible for defining the compensation of the Managing Directors and has followed these proposals. As mentioned earlier, the Committee also carried out a review of the compensation system for the Executive Boards.
The Committee also dealt with the contract extension of Stefan Hoops, which the Joint Committee supported due to his performance delivered over the last few years. The Committee also discussed the planned appointment of Rafael Otero as a Member of the Executive Board and new Chief Technology and Operations Officer effective 1st October 2024, as well as the contract extension of Dirk Goergen. In the financial year review, the Joint Committee also extended the contract of Karen Kuder for a further three years. Ladies and gentlemen, like the Supervisory Board committees, the compensation of the Joint Committee has not been adjusted in the seven years that have passed since the IPO in 2018. The General Partner and the Supervisory Board therefore propose that the respective amendment to the Article of Association be adopted under Agenda Item 10 in order to adjust the remuneration of the Members of the Joint Committee.
The amendment takes the increased workloads and the risk profile of the Committee into account. Ladies and gentlemen, following these remarks, most of which are required by law, let us now move on to the higher-level business issues. Since our last Annual General Meeting, DWS has continued to make good headway in implementing its strategy. Let me share a few key examples with you. In its growth area of passive, including Xtrackers, DWS set a new record in net flows of approximately EUR 42 billion in 2024, thereby exceeding the previous all-time high achieved the year before in exchange-traded products, especially ETFs. Investment in this growth segment clearly pays dividends. In its other growth category, alternatives, DWS recently entered into an important partnership with Deutsche Bank. Together, our goal is to develop private lending and investment opportunities for DWS clients in the private credit sector.
This measure aims to accelerate growth in alternatives. In addition, DWS has completed its multi-year transformation program. With this approach, we focused our efforts on providing standalone solutions in those areas that are differentiating factors for us as an asset manager. At the same time, we continue to take advantage of expertise, purchasing advantages, and economies of scale in some IT areas by partnering with Deutsche Bank. Last but not least, in March 2025, DWS was admitted to the MDAX, the German index that tracks mid-cap companies. The move from the SDAX followed the rise in DWS's share price, which also reached a new high in the first quarter of 2025. Stefan Hoops will present the progress delivered by DWS in implementing its strategy to you in greater detail in a moment. Ladies and gentlemen, the results of the past financial year also speak for themselves.
DWS was able to double its long-term net flows year- on- year. This is impressive evidence of its strength to grow organically. Along with the positive market environment, this helped take assets under management to a new record level. At the end of last year, for the first time, we crossed the EUR 1 trillion threshold. This also enabled DWS to achieve a new record in revenues while significantly improving both profit before tax and net income. In view of the strong financial results in 2024, we propose a further increase in the ordinary dividend, more specifically for the sixth year in a row to EUR 2.20 per share. DWS also caught off to a successful start this year. Not only did it report high long-term net flows in the first quarter, the company set a new record for total net flows in one quarter.
What's more, it posted the second-best quarterly result since its IPO seven years ago. Ladies and gentlemen, the outstanding results for the past year and the first quarter of 2025 are a testament to the exemplary work of our Executive Board under the chairmanship of Stefan Hoops. I would like to thank the entire Executive Board and, in particular, all DWS employees around the world on behalf of the full Supervisory Board. These results go to show that extending Stefan Hoops' contract for a further three years until 2028, as I said earlier, was undoubtedly the right decision. Since taking over DWS in 2022 in a challenging environment, he has restored confidence in our company and set us back on the right track. As a result, DWS is now well-positioned for the future. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Mr. Hoops for this.
Ladies and gentlemen, the new U.S. administration's tariff policy has caused the environment to take a turn for the worse in the current quarter, sending uncertainty soaring. This applies both to economies around the world and to asset managers. Nevertheless, with its diversified business model, which has proven effective time and again in the last few years, and the management team headed by our CEO, Stefan Hoops, DWS is in a strong position to offer clients the right products and reach its targets for 2025, despite the turmoil on the financial markets. The Supervisory Board will continue to oversee the management's activities with critical diligence while also providing its considered guidance. Shareholders, our CEO, Stefan Hoops, will now present the strategic alignment of DWS and tell you more about its business developments. Thank you very much for your kind attention.
Thank you very much, dear Oliver Behrens.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I too should like to welcome you on behalf of the entire Executive Board to this ordinary Annual General Meeting of DWS Group. This Annual General Meeting is rather special because it's not only the seventh such meeting since the IPO, but also, and I say this with great pride, the first AGM in which DWS is listed in the MDAX. In March, we were admitted to the select circle of Germany's top 50 mid-cap companies. This promotion to the stock exchange's second division shows how attractive our company is, and it is also testimony to your confidence and support on the journey so far. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you. Permit me to spend the next few minutes outlining our journey in 2024 to reach this milestone in our history.
In so doing, I shall give an account of the financial year 2024 and report on the progress made in implementing our strategy and where we stand at present. I should then like to take a brief look at the first part of 2025, giving the outlook for the rest of the year and beyond. After all, following a turbulent start to the year in politics and on the markets, you will understandably wonder how DWS views the coming months. Ladies and gentlemen, last year, I was able to report on the AGM on the successful turnaround of net inflows in 2023. This positive development continued and even accelerated during the past financial year. In 2024, we doubled our long-term net inflows, excluding Cash products and Advisory Services, to EUR 32.9 billion. Net flows in passive, including Xtrackers, set a new record.
Moreover, we had net inflows in Active SQI, that is, systematic and quantitative investments. Ending a lengthy lean spell for alternatives, the second half of 2024 saw positive overall net inflows in this part of our business too. Our strong net inflows helped to increase assets under management by EUR 115 billion in 2024. That takes us to yet another milestone. In December 2024, our assets under management crossed the EUR 1 trillion threshold. The stable stock market in 2024, paired with strong net inflows and a higher average volume of assets under management, resulted in management fee growth. That is not all. Thanks in part to higher performance fees, revenues rose to a new record high of EUR 2.765 billion. In this connection, something that my fellow board members and I find very important is that good revenues have not resulted in cost discipline being relaxed.
On the contrary, in the past financial year, we succeeded in slightly reducing costs, with total expenses amounting to approximately EUR 1.8 billion. We had confirmed our cost objectives for 2024 at the start of the year, specifying that we wanted the adjusted cost-income ratio to be between 62% and 64%. At the end of the year, the ratio stood at 62.3%, close to the lower end of the range. Revenues up, costs under control. As a result, we achieved a 22% increase in profit before tax in the past financial year, reaching EUR 951 million, even after tax growth was 18% and the net income amounted to EUR 649 million. Earnings per share grew from EUR 2.76 in 2023 to EUR 3.25 in 2024.
Ladies and gentlemen, the financial success of 2024 would not have been possible without the continued trust of our clients and the performance of our company and the people behind it. Therefore, personally and also on behalf of my colleagues, I should like to give warm thanks to all our clients. Their financial success and satisfaction is our top priority. Day by day, it is what motivates us to be worthy of their trust. At the same time, also on behalf of the DWS Executive Board, I should like to thank our employees for their great dedication, performance, and passion, and for their uncompromising commitment to our clients last year. They are the people who work every day to generate value for our clients and thus also for you, our shareholders. Naturally, ladies and gentlemen, we should also like to thank you for the confidence placed in us.
On the basis of these strong financial results and in line with our commitment to create value, we propose a higher ordinary dividend of EUR 2.20 per share for the year 2024. This represents the sixth consecutive annual increase. We consider this dividend in conjunction with the extraordinary dividend paid last year and the significant rise in our share price to be clear evidence that shareholder value is a top priority for DWS. The basis for a successful shareholder value strategy is reliable communication with the capital markets and with the general public. This also involves regular, transparent reviews of where we stand in relation to our short and medium-term goals. Let us start by looking at the financial objectives.
At our capital markets day in 2022, we outlined the following aims for the financial year 2025: earnings per share of EUR 4.50, an adjusted cost-income ratio lower than 59%, equivalent to a non-adjusted cost-income ratio of less than 61.5%, and a dividend payout ratio of about 65%. At the beginning of this year, we reaffirmed these objectives. I shall come back to this point later in my speech. Ladies and gentlemen, at last year's Annual General Meeting, I also talked about three short and three medium-term aspirations which we formulated at the start of 2024. In the short term, our goal was to swiftly and quietly resolve our internal challenges, continue delivering strong organic growth, and generate alpha for our clients and investors.
In the medium term, we want to establish DWS as the Gateway to Europe for international investors, to be one of the top five foreign asset managers in the world's five major economies, and to play a role in shaping the future of finance. Allow me to provide an assessment of our current position in light of these ambitions, acknowledging, of course, that this view may carry a degree of personal perspective. I will begin with the desire to resolve our internal challenges as quickly and quietly as possible. Last year, I told you that we were on the home stretch of our transformation program, which had a time scale of several years. I indicated we would focus on those services and skills which would make us more competitive in the asset management industry. This process is now complete, as is the adoption of a hybrid model for our IT.
As described then, we continue to benefit from economies of scale in certain IT areas by partnering with Deutsche Bank. At the same time, we are building and expanding our own capabilities wherever that will make us more competitive, for example, with the view to a DWS cloud solution. This element in the reduced category of our strategy will be completed by the end of the year, although continuous development of IT systems will obviously be an ongoing task. Another issue, one which attracted a great deal of public attention, was finally solved by the end of the first quarter of 2025. Here, I refer to the investigations conducted by the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt related to ESG. This case, which has been an issue for nearly three years, was closed in early April.
The Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office found that a negligent oversight infringement had occurred, and DWS has accepted a fine imposed. The deficits identified concern documentation and control processes, procedures, and marketing statements relating to ESG. These are exactly the points that, in the past, we had repeatedly conceded in public. Over recent years, we have taken determined steps to address these weak spots and are continuously improving our internal documentation and control processes. We are pleased to have been able to settle this matter. My thanks go to the team of colleagues from the legal department and other specialist sections who have worked so hard in the past years on resolving this issue and on putting necessary procedural improvements in place. I believe that in this context, one thing is especially important.
Even though we have resolved the issue, in view of a permanently changing regulatory environment, it is the duty of each and every one of us to continue efforts to further improve our control and documentation processes. Ladies and gentlemen, permit me at this point to digress a little. Sustainability remains a highly relevant topic for us, not only because science has convinced us that climate change is real and the economy and society must adjust to the situation and adopt countermeasures, but also because we have a fiduciary obligation to offer our clients the best possible wealth strategies while keeping an eye on the long-term risks and opportunities. However, times have changed in respect of regional regulatory differences and also with regard to client preferences.
In particular, I'm thinking here of the climate policies and regulatory framework of the U.S. administration, which create increasing legal implications and risks for companies in which we invest. Against this backdrop, we have further developed our sustainability strategy, which I sketched out two years ago. Our commitment remains unchanged. We aim to offer investment expertise and strategies which enable our clients to cope with the sustainable transformation of the real economy. Our activities in this sphere conform to our fiduciary principles. In this context, it is important to understand exactly what our fiduciary obligation entails. We are guided by the investment aims and decisions of our clients, who have their own interests and key criteria. Therefore, we offer a wide range of investment strategies so that our clients can build long-term wealth. That includes strategies which promote sustainability and also those which serve conventional objectives.
To put it another way, in the past, DWS has never dictated to any client what strategy they should pursue when investing their money, and we will not do so in the future either. We offer alternative products oriented to sustainability goals. By the end of the day, our clients, by choosing a product, decide to what extent they wish to take environmental, social, and governance aspects into account when investing their money. For our own part, as a company with a sense of responsibility, our aim remains to contribute to a more sustainable future. This means managing the environmental effects of our operational activities and through training and social commitment involving our employees in the advancement of a more sustainable corporate practice. Beyond that, our long-term sustainability indicators play a role in our financial incentives systems.
In view of the dynamically changing political and regulatory issues, we shall continue to develop our sustainability processes and activities and adjust them to meet the new framework conditions. Ladies and gentlemen, I now return to the report on how we met our short and medium-term ambitions in 2024. Our second short-term objective was to continue to deliver strong organic growth in 2024. I have already spoken of our progress in this area. The more than 10% increase in assets under management to over EUR 1 trillion during the financial year 2024 is a remarkable result that compares very well with other players in the field. The last short-term objective, generating alpha for investors and clients, presents a more mixed picture. We are very pleased that we were able to generate alpha for investors, as you doubtless already know from our previous remarks.
Since 2022, your DWS has delivered a total shareholder return of close to 100%. This placed us well in front of our competitors in Europe and overseas, as well as ahead of all relevant share indices. Our promotion to the MDAX, mentioned before, is the reward for your company's clear orientation towards shareholder value. Almost by the way, we reached another milestone in February 2025 when our share price rose past the EUR 50 mark. DWS has thus a market capitalization of more than EUR 10 billion. However, the picture is not complete without mentioning that we cannot be completely satisfied with the performance of some investment strategies and product solutions, above all not with the relative performance in the past year. Accordingly, we have taken action. In November, we appointed the head of our investment platform, Vincenzo Vedda, as Chief Investment Officer.
He has taken over the Chief Investment Office and already started on the task of integrating portfolio management with the Chief Investment Office and economic research. Initial successes have become apparent in this year's current market environment, in which the CIO team's diversification drive is delivering results. The active strategies of DWS have developed better over recent months, not least thanks to their more defensive positioning. Ladies and gentlemen, our three medium-term aspirations also made good progress in 2024. I shall return in a moment to our promise to become the Gateway to Europe that will allow international investors access to European transformation. To fulfill our ambition to be one of the top five foreign asset managers in the world's five major economies, we are focusing above all on Asia. Here, we are concentrating in particular on strong regional partnerships and strategic investments.
In Japan, where this year marks our 40th anniversary in the country, we delivered the strongest net inflows since our IPO last year. We continue to see great potential in the country and are profiting from our strong partnership with Nippon Life. As you know, in 2023, we extended this partnership for another five years. In China, we can build on our investment in Harvest Fund Management, in which we have held a 30% stake for several years. This investment reliably delivers returns. As communicated in the past, we are keen to do more in China. India is a highly interesting developing market for asset management. Here, our objective is a strategic partnership. In view of the aforesaid, we remain optimistic that over the course of the decade, we will succeed in fulfilling the stated ambition to be one of the top five in the top five.
Our third medium-term aspiration was to help shape the future of the financial industry. Two things are necessary here. On the one hand, suitable products and the corresponding link-up with new digital distribution partners in order to gain clients among the digital natives who make their own investment decisions. On the other hand, we also need to build proprietary know-how and knowledge in order to be prepared for changes in our industry's value chain that will arise from the increased use of blockchain technology. I'm pleased to be able to report that we have made progress here that gives reason for optimism. In April 2024, we set up our Xtrackers ETCs for Bitcoin and Ethereum in order to facilitate safe access to cryptocurrencies for our clients. At the same time, we have made good progress with our All Unity joint venture operated in collaboration with Flow T raders and Galaxy Digital.
All Unity will probably issue the first EUR-denominated stablecoin on the market, subject to regulatory oversight from BaFin in 2025. In addition, we shall continue to develop capacities and interfaces to attract digital platforms such as Neo-Broker. Over recent months, we have been able to expand our partnerships with leading providers. The outcome? In 2024, some 30% of our Xtrackers inflows already came via these channels. Ladies and gentlemen, to sum up the year 2024, I should like to say that we are content, but we are not self-satisfied. Last year, we took some major steps towards fulfilling our medium-term aspirations, and we have also laid the foundation on which we can attain our ambitious financial aims for 2025. We still need complete commitment to achieve these goals. That was also evident at the start of this year.
Ladies and gentlemen, we succeeded in maintaining the momentum of 2024 in the first quarter of 2025. Net inflows, including Cash products and Advisory Services, totaled EUR 19.9 billion, setting a new DWS record. Once again, this was mainly driven by passive, including Xtrackers, with the support of good inflows into Active SQI and Active Fixed Income. Long-term net inflows, excluding Cash products and Advisory Services, comprised the handsome sum of EUR 11.7 billion. In a market environment that was already volatile and marked by geopolitical uncertainties, the long-term assets under management slipped by 1% quarter on quarter to EUR 891 billion. In the first quarter, we could not fully compensate exchange rate movements and faltering markets. In contrast, overall assets under management remained stable and at EUR 1.01 billion, close to the record level seen in the prior quarter.
In a challenging market environment during the second quarter, assets under management had, by the end of May, returned to approximately the same level as at the year-end 2024. However, the ongoing uncertainties on the market have tended to influence client behavior, impacting net inflows. Currently, we are expecting the long-term net inflows in the second quarter to be about half as high as they were at the start of the year. More details on this topic will be contained in our media release for the second quarter to be published on 24th July 2025. Dear shareholders, you all know that with hindsight, the year 2024 and the first quarter of 2025 belong, as it were, to a different era. I refer, of course, to the impact of President Trump's self-declared Liberation Day at the beginning of April, when he shook global capital markets with comprehensive swipe at customs tariffs.
Since then, we have witnessed geopolitical uncertainties, the announcement of tariffs and counter-tariffs, their suspensions and exceptions, and the conclusion of trade agreements, which are at best open to interpretation. All these events have put added pressure on already volatile markets and rattled market players. There is a question mark hanging over the long-term effects on, for example, the role of the U.S. dollar as reserve currency and over which economic and geopolitical alliances will emerge in the future. Consequently, the mood of investors remains cautious, and our industry thus is entering a more complex and more difficult phase. The times when asset managers could rely on a comparatively comfortable market beta are over. Ladies and gentlemen, in such an environment, it is of little use to concentrate too hard on certain index levels or yield forecasts.
The markets are driven by contradictory fast-moving forces, making every base scenario just one of many possibilities. What does an asset manager need in order to create alpha in such a market? In other words, to deliver to their shareholders added value relative to the market's overall development? Our view is that diversification and discipline are more important than ever. Something else is increasingly making a difference. It is the ability to offer a credible alternative to American competitors. Exactly that is a strong point of your DWS. Let's talk about diversification. DWS is one of the most diversified global asset managers in terms of our products, client groups, and the regions in which we are active.
As one of only a few global providers, we manage assets in excess of EUR 100 billion in each of the following categories: Active Equity, Active Fixed Income, Active Multi Asset and SQI, ETFs, and Alternatives. This volume across such a wide spectrum of asset classes is our distinguishing feature. It means that we are not dependent on a single type of asset. It keeps us resilient, even if markets change or our clients develop different needs. Our client base is a balanced mix of wholesale and institutional investors, and we are not dependent on a so-called captive distribution. That is a sales organization that sells our own products only. In a world in which partnerships can change rapidly, this independence eliminates event risks and gives us greater control and flexibility. I have already mentioned our regional ambitions.
We are growing in regions of rising prosperity, and our partnerships contribute to a stronger local presence. Thanks to this local expertise, we can adjust to a region's regulations and the expectations of its clients while remaining part of a global network. Let's talk about discipline. In an environment in which revenue growth is becoming increasingly volatile due to investor caution, a stringent cost structure is vital. We have rigorously controlled our costs over recent years. In so doing, we have delivered a good cost-income ratio that is better than most competitors' figures. Moreover, we are one of the few global providers on the market that is not currently engaged in restructuring or post-merger integration. As mentioned before, last year, we completed our transformation program. That means that we can now concentrate fully on the implementation of our strategy and on growing our business.
Thanks to the good cost-income ratio, every increase in revenue can make a significant contribution to our financial results. So much for the basics. Ladies and gentlemen, earlier, I mentioned our medium aspiration to be perceived by international investors as their Gateway to Europe. I have also briefly touched on the effects on the global economy of decisions made by the President of the U.S. In this context, our identity as a European asset manager with deep roots in Germany is something we must make the most of, along with our skills in bringing perspectives together in a global context, because the way people view Europe is changing sustainably. Only a few months ago, global investors regarded Europe with a mixture of skepticism and disinterest. Low growth prospects, concerns about stability and fiscal unity, paired with the infamous European bureaucracy and national interests, have tended to frighten investors away.
The geopolitical pressures of the past few weeks have brought about European reforms that probably would not have happened otherwise. The most relevant aspects are reversible decisions that are leading the continent, and above all, Germany, down a different economic path than hitherto. I refer here to the so-called debt break or balanced budget law, now revised to exempt defense spending from its restrictions. I also refer to the EUR 500 billion special fund for infrastructure projects. In his first speech laying out the government's Agenda, Federal Chancellor Merz re-emphasized that state investment should also mobilize private capital. This is the right course. Why? Because it generates fresh momentum on the domestic market. It strengthens and channels popular desire for transformation and the vision for the future. Last but not least, it encourages international players to invest more in Europe.
At present, we are witnessing a repatriation movement as European wealth is being withdrawn from the U.S. to flow back to the old world. At the same time, talks with international clients, especially those in Asia and the Middle East, indicate that they are planning to change the allocation of their portfolios as well. As one of Europe's leading asset managers and the undisputed number one in Germany, we are in a strong position to benefit from this momentum. Indeed, talks with these clients reveal that there is a strong demand for our expertise and our ability to connect the dots. That is, linking perspectives across regions and asset classes. Ladies and gentlemen, even if the signs are looking good, the Executive Board still has the important task of regularly checking whether our strategy is still viable or whether we need to make adjustments.
The Supervisory Board, as Oliver Behrens has indicated, has been closely involved in this process in the context of strategy discussions. The result is that we are convinced that the strategy we presented at the Capital Markets Day in 2022 remains valid and is right for DWS. The major focus sectors remain: Reduce, meaning the ongoing optimization of our setup; Value, meaning our core and active management; Growth, meaning focused investments in growth of the Xtrackers and alternatives business; and Build, meaning the build-up of forward-looking business areas and the required proprietary knowledge. However, an unbiased assessment of the situation must include the fact that in some areas, we have not yet fully realized our full potential or have not been able to implement plans perfectly. Consequently, we have defined some focus topics that are to be treated with priority.
One of these is to return to a stronger concentration on the active business, especially in the German market. This is at the heart of DWS, the core of your company throughout its nearly 70-year history. We wish to strengthen and further grow this business. We want to further address potential in our alternatives sphere. In the first half of 2025, we agreed to cooperate with Deutsche Bank in the private credit sector, which gives us and our clients preferential access to certain asset-based finance, direct lending, and other private credit asset opportunities originated by Deutsche Bank. Last but not least, we wish to better exploit the potential inherent in offers for our institutional clients. We will tackle these topics with cross-sector project teams and clearly defined responsibilities with regular tracking at board level in order to steer the future development of your DWS.
Because, ladies and gentlemen, we have reached an important moment in the history of DWS. Over recent years, we have transformed the company and structured it so that we can concentrate on growth and the implementation of our strategy. We have caught up with competitors, but we have not yet overtaken them. As I said before, our industry has entered a new, more difficult phase. In this phase, we shall see who has done their homework. In this phase, we shall see who is ready to overtake. Over the past years, your DWS has worked hard and now has the confidence to say, "We are ready." Because while we continue to focus rigorously on implementing our strategy for organic growth, we also believe that impending market volatility can offer interesting non-organic opportunities. When times are stressful for markets, structural weaknesses often become apparent.
As a focused company with large capital resources, we are in a strong position to take action where others may perhaps encounter difficulties. Therefore, it is important for us to remain able to react with financial flexibility. Despite the distribution of an extraordinary dividend last year, we still have considerable capital reserves. This puts us in a position to open up new avenues and pursue new opportunities. Rest assured, we will be concentrating on those opportunities that create genuine value for our clients and for you, our shareholders. Ladies and gentlemen, what does this all mean for our financial objectives? As already said, we still aim to return earnings per share of EUR 4.5 for the full year 2025. We still consider that to be realistic and achievable, even if the latest market fluctuations have widened the range for potential outcomes.
At the start of the year, we also announced medium-term financial objectives, which we should like now to reconfirm. In 2026 and 2027, we are seeking earnings per share growth of 10% per annum. We expect this growth to be driven by rising revenues and ongoing cost management. We also expect to further improve the reported cost-income ratio, which we intend to push down to 61.5% by the end of 2025. In addition, we are still aiming for a dividend payout ratio of about 65%. We are convinced that your DWS will thus be an even more attractive investment in the future. We are working all out to achieve this. Thank you for your kind attention.
Thank you, dear Stefan, for your explanations, which should have given our shareholders a good overview of the current situation of our company.
Ladies and gentlemen, before we move on to the topics on today's Agenda, we would like to begin also this year's meeting by remembering the deceased employees and retirees of DWS. For this, I would like to ask you to pause for a moment and ask those present here to rise from their seats, please. Thank you for this moment of commemoration. We now come to the attendance at today's Annual General Meeting. Based on the data submitted to me, I can announce the attendance as follows. The company's share capital in the amount of EUR 200 million is divided into 200 million no-par value shares. Of those, at today's AGM, 179,339,213 no-par value shares are representing, representing the equal amount of votes. This corresponds to 89.67% of the share capital. Moreover, we have received poster votes in the amount of 64,353 no-par value shares.
In total, this amounts to 179,403,566 no-par value shares, which corresponds to 89.7% of the share capital. You can view the list of participants in our Access Protective Shareholder Portal. In addition to the votes represented by the company's proxy, the list also includes the shareholders who have joined the meeting electronically and the representatives of shareholders who have joined the meeting electronically. That list is updated from time to time without me announcing the respective changes in attendance. Shareholders who have properly registered and who have provided proof of their shareholding can still use the shareholder portal to exercise their voting rights directly by postal vote or can issue powers of attorney and instructions to the company's proxy and can also change their instructions. I will inform you in good time of the exact point in time when the opportunity to vote will end.
To use the portal, please use the access data on the registration confirmation that was sent to you after your proper registration and proof of your shareholding. With that, we come to today's Agenda, which comprises 11 items. Item 1 concerns the financial reporting of DWS for the 2024 financial year and includes the Annual Financial Statements and the Management Report for DWS Group GmbH & Co KGaA, which were prepared in accordance with the German Commercial Code HGB and approved by the Supervisory Board. It also includes the consolidated financial statements and the Group Management Report in accordance with IFRS and the report of the Supervisory Board. Ladies and gentlemen, these documents and the proposal for the appropriation of profits have been available on our website since the convening of the Annual General Meeting on April 30th, 2025. Additionally, they have also been available at our headquarters offices.
The Annual Financial Statements and the Management Report, as well as the consolidated financial statements and the Group Management Report, were previously audited by KPMG, Aktiengesellschaft Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, the auditor elected by the Annual General Meeting in 2024. Neither the audit by the auditor nor the audit carried out by the Supervisory Board, which also covered the proposal for the appropriation of profits, gave rise to any objections. The auditor issued an unqualified audit opinion. The Supervisory Board approved the Annual Financial Statements and the Consolidated Financial Statements at its meeting on 10th March 2025. The adoption of the Annual Financial Statements is the responsibility of today's Annual General Meeting. I would also refer you to my introductory remarks on the report of the Supervisory Board, which can be found on pages 7 - 13 of the 2024 Annual Report.
The auditors, Mr. Fox and Ms. Odi ver from KPMG, are also present here in the attendance area. The other Items on the Agenda, which are also available in their full wording on our Annual General Meeting website, include Item 2, the appropriation of distributed profit. The General Partner and the Supervisory Board are proposing to you today that a dividend of EUR 2.2 per share be distributed from the 2024 distributable profit. Agenda Items 3 and 4, the formal approval of the actions of the General Partner and the Members of the Supervisory Board for the 2024 financial year. Item 5, the election of the auditor and the group auditor for the 2025 financial year, as well as the auditor for any review of the condensed Financial Statements and Interim Management Report as of 30th June 2025, and any other financial information prepared with reporting dates prior to 31st December 2025, under Item 5.1.
Under Item 5.2, the election of the auditor for the review of any other financial information prepared during the year with reporting dates after 31st December 2025, insofar as this is prepared before the Annual General Meeting in 2026. Under Agenda Item 5.3, the election of the auditor for the sustainability reporting for the 2024 financial year. Under Agenda Items 5.1 and 5.3, the Supervisory Board proposes, based on the recommendation of the Audit and Risk Committee, that KPMG, Aktiengesellschaft Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, be elected as auditor and also as auditor of the sustainability reporting. Under Agenda Item 5.2, the Supervisory Board proposes, based on the recommendation of the Audit and Risk Committee, that EY, GmbH, and Co KG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft be elected as auditor. Ladies and gentlemen, Agenda Item 6 contains the annually scheduled resolution on the approval of the compensation report for the 2024 financial year.
Agenda Item 7 deals with an election to the Supervisory Board. Mr. Kazuhide Toda has decided to resign from the Supervisory Board at the end of today's Annual General Meeting. Therefore, a new shareholder representative is to be elected today. Based on the recommendations of the shareholder representatives in its Nomination Committee, the Supervisory Board proposes the election of Mr. Tomohiro Yao to the Supervisory Board. Under Agenda Item 8, the Supervisory Board proposes that the revised compensation system for the Managing Directors of the General Partner be approved. In Agenda Item 9, the General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose to approve an amendment to Article 14 of the Articles of Association, which regulates the compensation of the Members of the Supervisory Board as well as the underlying compensation system.
In Agenda Item 10, the General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose an amendment to Section 19 of the Articles of Association, which governs the compensation of the Members of the Joint Committee. Agenda Item 11 concerns an amendment to the Articles of Association to further allow for virtual Annual General Meetings. The General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose that the General Partner be authorized, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, to provide that the Annual General Meeting of the company can be held without the physical presence of shareholders or their proxies at the venue of the Annual General Meeting, which is in virtual format.
This authorization shall again be valid for two years from the entry of the amendment to the Articles of Association in the company's commercial register and shall apply regardless of the General Partner's plans to hold the Annual General Meeting in 2026 in an attendance format. Finally, I would like to point out that we have published pursuant to statutory requirements under Sections 126 and 127 of the German Stock Operation Act that we have published three counter motions on our website. These are my explanations on the Agenda. Shareholders, in addition to my introductory remarks, we would now like to give Mr. Tomohiro Yao, the new candidate for election to the Supervisory Board, the opportunity to briefly introduce himself. Mr. Yao is here in the room and will now speak to you.
He will introduce himself to you in English, so on the German language channel, you will essentially hear the interpreter. Mr. Yao, the floor is yours.
Dear shareholders, it is an honor for me to introduce myself to you personally at the DWS Annual General Meeting today. My name is Tomohiro Yao, and the Supervisory Board of DWS has nominated me to be elected as a shareholder's representative to the Supervisory Board. As I would like to ask you to support my nomination, please allow me to give you some key information about my personal and academic background. I was born and raised in Nara, Japan. I am a Japanese student, and I currently live in the United States in New York City. Before embarking on my professional career, I studied at the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University in Japan.
Later, during my professional career, I completed an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. In terms of business experience and leadership, I have been working at the Nippon Life Insurance Company for 30 years and have held several senior leadership positions spanning across our global businesses. Allow me to elaborate further. Since joining Nippon Life Insurance Company in 1995, most of my business experience and focus has been in the area of international mergers and acquisitions, international planning and operations, and the global insurance business of Nippon Life Insurance Company. As part of the management team, I have held the position of regional CEO for Asia-Pacific in charge of Nippon Life's overseas businesses and responsible for expanding both life insurance and asset management businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.
Currently, I am an Executive Officer and have held this position since 2023, and I have been Head of Americas and Europe of Nippon Life Insurance Company since March 2025. I also have extensive experience as a director in several supervisory bodies comparable to the Supervisory Board of DWS Group, and I currently hold mandates in supervisory bodies in the U.K. and the U.S. Dear shareholders, I sincerely believe my experience, qualifications, and skills would enable me to make a valuable contribution to the effective functioning of DWS Supervisory Board. Therefore, I kindly ask for your support by electing me to the Supervisory Board. I look forward to serving you with respect, commitment, and unwavering dedication. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you very much, Mr. Yao, for the words about yourself. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope this has given you a direct and immediate impression of Mr. Yao.
We now come to the opportunities for shareholders to interact and participate in today's virtual Annual General Meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, when choosing the format for today's AGM, we were particularly keen to engage with you. Unlike in previous years, this year we have dispensed with the requirement to submit questions in advance. We believe that with the format of today's Annual General Meeting, we can further intensify and strengthen the dialogue between shareholders and management. Shareholders, therefore, at today's Annual General Meeting have full rights to speak, ask questions, and propose motions. This is possible via live speeches and contributions. As the Chairman of the meeting, I have determined in accordance with Section 131 (1f) of the German Stock Operation Act that questions at today's Annual General Meeting can only be asked via video communication. That is, in the course of speaking and making your contribution.
Since 9:30 A.M., you have been able to register a request to speak in our access-protected shareholder portal by clicking on the "Register to Speech" button. After selecting this button, you will be taken to the input screen where you can enter all the information required for your contribution. This includes your name, your telephone number, and your email address. In the "Anmerkungen" or "Comments" field, we ask you to provide us with further information. Speakers will be contacted in a sequence determined by me, and after a functional test, will be admitted to the waiting room. From there, they will be able to further follow the proceedings of the meeting until they themselves give their speech live at the Annual General Meeting.
At this point, I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to register your speech in good time so that we can plan the procedure as well as possible. In this context, I would also ask you to indicate if you would like to address any particular focal points or submit motions so that I can take it into account when determining the sequence of speakers. If after the end of your contribution you would like to make a further speech, you need to register this new contribution again by clicking on the corresponding button "Rede Beitrag anmelden (Register Speech)" in the shareholder portal. Based on the experience of the last Annual General Meeting, I do not expect that we will need to set a strict time limit for your contributions, but I ask for your understanding that I reserve the right to do so.
Irrespective of all this, I would like to ask all speakers to please limit themselves to a speaking time of no more than 10 minutes so that also the other speakers can have their say in a reasonable amount of time. In order to ensure a level playing field, a clock will be visible to only the speaker and for myself during the speech. After seven minutes have elapsed, the green display will change its color to yellow, thus underlining our request to give the following speakers also time for their contribution. After 10 minutes have elapsed, the color will change to red. You are, of course, at liberty to register again for the further contribution. Ladies and gentlemen, the first speakers from the first group have now arrived in the waiting room to address you. Currently, we have waiting Mr. Andreas Schmidt, Mr. Wolfgang Schärfe, after that Mr. Philippe Diaz, followed by Ms. Julia Dubslaff.
After her, there will be Ms. Frederike Potts, and so far last in group one is Mr. Markus Dufner. Before we move on to these speeches and contributions, please allow me to briefly remind you that if you have registered properly for the Annual General Meeting and provided proof of your shareholding, you can exercise your voting rights via the shareholder portal. If you have opted or are going to opt for postal voting or have granted or are going to grant power of attorney and instructions to the company's voting proxy, you can also cast your vote via the shareholder portal during the Annual General Meeting up to the time specified by me for the respective vote. Up until this time, postal votes or instructions that have already been cast can also be changed via the shareholder portal.
To use the portal, please use the access data on the registration confirmation that was sent to you. I will specify the time frame once again once I have a better overview of the number and total duration of all contributions, but I would like to ask you already now to start making any entries in the shareholder portal in good time, and this is also in order to be able to deal with potential disruptions on the internet. We will now begin with the speeches. Ladies and gentlemen, the first speakers are waiting to make their contributions, and as I said already, I would like to ask you to limit yourselves, if possible, to a time of no more than 10 minutes. If you've already registered a contribution but decide to not go for it after all, we would like to ask you to indicate this to us.
The first speaker is Mr. Andreas Schmidt, representing the German SdK Association, and he will be followed by Mr. Wolfgang Schärfe of the German DSW Association, followed by Philippe Diaz. Please be ready, gentlemen, and now Mr. Andreas Schmidt has the floor.
Ladies and gentlemen of the management, dear shareholders and guests, my name is Andreas Schmidt, and I represent SdK, the German Private and Investor Association. I'd like to start with a couple of formal and also critical points, the first one being the format of today's AGM. You, as the company that depends on the capital market and the security structure in your very essence of the business, it would indeed be appropriate to provide for a hybrid format to also allow for the possibility to be on site and to join virtually. My second point refers to STADA.
As far as we're aware, DWS so far did not file any payment claims in the case of STADA, any additional payment claims. There was the acquisition offer and then the ruling of the German Federal Court in 2023. If these payment claims are not asserted, there will be no additional payments made. For the funds affected by it and their investors, potentially following that, also there may actually be liability claims to DWS as a whole that could be asserted. My question on that: what was the amount in this context or the inventory, say, of STADA shares in the respective funds? What are the claims asserted so far? If not all of them have yet been asserted, do you plan to do so? If not, why don't you plan to do so, and why haven't you done so yet?
Our second point goes to EY, suggested by you as your preferred auditor. Regardless of our concerns regarding the trustworthiness of EY, which we believe have neither initiated the necessary measures to work through the Wirecard disaster, nor have they ever adopted adequate measures to prevent similar problems such as with Wirecard in the future. Possibly they've even adopted measures in order to steal themselves out of any financial responsibility. What's even more important, DWS themselves, if I'm informed correctly, have filed action against EY. What's the amount in question here, and how can you prevent that EY learns of internal matters of your process and procedural strategy and make use of that if they seriously audit your company?
Either they are not going for a serious and comprehensive audit, or you run the risk of putting at risk your own court suit since EY will gain insight into procedurally relevant documents in the course of their audit. Please comment on this specifically as to why in this constellation you plan to make EY your auditor. Who proposed EY as an auditor, and have these points not been considered? Obviously, given this, we cannot at all agree to the election of that auditor. Now, some operative questions. Over the last few years, a lot of positive things have happened at DWS, and I would really like to praise management and all of the employees for this. Not just did you calm things down, but also the operational business was strengthened and positioned better. Thank you very much indeed to the entire team.
Dear shareholders, you might think that my critical questions do not fit in with this kind of prize, but the objective is that you, dear investors, dear shareholders, are provided with some support and help deciding whether DWS remains a good investment. Still, some critical questions, but on the whole, I have to say it is a very positive picture indeed. Thank you for that. Currently, what roughly is the share of passive products in new business, and how stable are the passive products? The net outflow, for instance, with price or share price declines in the stock market, are the fluctuations there bigger or smaller than with actively managed products? Also, currently, what is the average management fee with a passive product? What kind of fee do you expect in, say, five years' time for passive products?
Possibly you could also give us a cost-income ratio for passive products on the one hand and actively managed products on the other. Now to go into a bit more detail, and I'll explain in a minute why I'm doing that. What would be the cost-income ratio, for instance, for 2030 if the current share of passive products in new business was to continue and the rest remained unchanged vs your planning? What would this theoretical model calculation look like if the passive share of new business was to grow by 5 percentage points or 10 percentage points respectively? With the unadjusted cost-income ratio of below 60% as your target ratio, would that be achievable? By the way, another word of praise that you are now referring to the unadjusted cost-income ratio.
That's very good because adjustments should be kept at a minimum at all times. My questions regarding this passive target is: what would it mean for DWS if almost all of the new inflows would go into these passive products? At the moment with you, but also with other companies, fund companies, we are looking at 70%-80% that go into passive products. What would the structure look like, and which measures could you initiate if such a scenario was to materialize? If such trends become discernible because they are out there at the moment, does it make sense to really focus on CIR, the cost-income ratio? I would presume that passive products make a good contribution to the net profit for the year but are a detrimental effect for the cost-income ratio.
For us as capital investors, we don't care in the end how you improve your overall result for as long as it goes up. I'd rather prefer additional passive business enhancing the overall profit vs no business or a cost-income ratio of above 60% at lower EPS. What was it that in your group planning and management enjoys priority, cost-income ratio or an additional low-margin passive revenue? I believe a lot in cost discipline, and I fully agree with Mr. Hoops' speech on this. Obviously, the cost-income ratio is helpful for that, but doesn't one run the risk here that structures are geared towards active, which in the future, however, will only account for 10%-20% of new business?
A second growth hope is the private debt business in the area of alternatives, as you also mentioned in your speech, and that's in cooperation with Deutsche Bank. I do see that this business field is rather in fashion at the moment, but I'm a bit more critical of it because it reminds me of the CDO bubble that we had at the outset of the financial or that led to the financial crisis of 2009. The same happens with private debt. We can see some bundling going on, and once it goes on, we'll also be bundling unworthy securities and sell them. What's your approach here? What's the volume you currently have under management? What volume are you aiming at or are you expecting? Is there at any point a risk that you will be held liable?
How do you manage the risk on behalf of your customers, but also for us as shareholders? How do you control and check that you do not become the dumping ground for debt at Deutsche Bank? You have undergone an excellent development recently, and I can absolutely support that and congratulate you on it, but it was mostly driven by Germany in terms of growth. It is really a blessing for you that you have such a strong position in the EU economy, and some competitors certainly envy you for it. International business does not balance this out so far, and it is not the Gateway to Europe, as you just said, and certainly not a gateway when it comes to the U.S. or Asia. Planning for old age is something that is being subsidized in Germany. We mentioned that briefly.
Is your focus then still on internationalization, or would it not rather make sense to say, "Let's focus on the German business," and in parallel to that, that's also what you plan to do, focus on digital business, because that, if you want, is borderless anyhow? Is there a risk, as Mr. Hoops also mentioned, that providing for old age and old-age pension planning in Germany is mostly run by the government institutions, and you as the fund industry get very little of that? Maybe you could also comment on that a bit. That brings me to the end of my questions. Thank you very much for your excellent work, for the changes we have seen, and maybe my questions could also provide some input, some impulse for the future.
I would like to thank you for your attention, and already at this point, I wish all of you a nice weekend. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Schmidt. Thank you for your comprehensive list of questions. Next, Wolfgang Schärfe will be given the floor, and I'd like to ask Philippe Diaz to get ready. Good morning, Mr. Schärfe. The floor is all yours.
Yes, thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Hoops, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Wolfgang Schärfe. I'm a lawyer in Frankfurt on the River Rhine, and I'm speaking to you on behalf of DSW today. We too would like to, first of all, use this opportunity to congratulate you on the excellent performance in the complete financial year.
Despite the difficult situation around the world, we presume that you have set the course for another successful year, and this is at least what I took from your comments earlier today. We would also like to use this opportunity to thank all employees of our company for their commitment and hard work. Without them, this success, this performance would have been impossible. Please pass on our vote of thanks to them. Regardless of that, I have a couple of comments and a couple of questions regarding DWS's performance.
As my previous speaker was already saying, we can't approve Agenda Item 11 because we cannot see that the authorization to hold a virtual AGM is only used in exceptional circumstances when holding an in-person AGM would be required due to a pandemic or something along these lines due to which the full presence of Board Members plus the audience were to be impossible. Our questions: Where do you see additional growth perspectives, and where do you believe we've already come to the end of the story? Where are we affected by increased protectionism of our international activities? What are the parallel structures that you are building in the Far East? We would also like to hear more about AI. Digitalization is very popular these days. Do you have a long-term AI and digitalization strategy?
Please tell us about the three biggest opportunities and risks of AI and digitalization for our company. How would you assess our company in terms of products, processes, and mindsets with regard to digitalization and AI? What are the specific and/or long-term prospects that you're expecting from the realignment of the U.S. administration's policy? You've already experienced quite a lot in this respect. Our strategy, is it a Gateway to Europe? Is it known to the White House? I don't believe so. As you're also intending to grow in China and India, as you said earlier today and as has also been published by the press, I'm also asking you to tell us more about the Chinese policy and our growth ambitions in China and our business, which of course is also impacted by the U.S. administration's policy. Please comment.
Mr. Hoops, in your speech, you said that the investigation of the public prosecutor in Frankfurt regarding the Greenwashing Affair has been completed. We welcome that very much. With $19 million of fines paid in the U.S. and EUR 25 million paid in Germany, this was not exactly cost-effective. Unfortunately, however, in May, the press once again reported that there were some differences in terms of perception or interpretation within DWS between the management and one of your employees regarding sustainability. Will a Greenwashing 2.0 Affair emerge in this regard? Are you aware that the supervisory authorities in the U.S. and Germany have already launched or will soon launch a further investigation in this respect? According to the press, you are repositioning your DWS Invest ESG Women for Women fund in a is tnew manner. It's now called DWS Invest ESG Social Focus. Please tell us more about the reasons for this repositioning.
Is this due to the change in your sustainability strategy, or has this strategy not worked for this fund, and is that why you now want to position yourselves more broadly? I've also got a couple of questions regarding the Supervisory Board and compliance. In accordance with Principle 19 of the German Corporate Governance Code and recommendation D11, Members of the Supervisory Board have to undertake further training on their own initiative and must be supported in this by the company. According to the report of the Supervisory Board, this is actually what's been done. Please tell us the average number of hours of training and further education undertaken by the Members of the Supervisory Board. Have you undertaken further costs for the training and further education of your Supervisory Board? If so, please quantify these costs.
According to the qualification matrix of the Supervisory Board, almost all of you have got basic knowledge and skills in the areas of governance and corporate culture and ESG and sustainability, including corporate and social responsibility. The majority of members have extended expertise in these areas. Is this information based on the self-assessment by the respective Member of the Supervisory Board, or has this information been reviewed by your company or an external third party and proposed to the respective member? Is this actually the same for all the various areas of expertise, or are there differences depending on the respective area of expertise? I would also like to know how many compliance-relevant reports you received last year. Please also tell us how these were submitted, for example, through a whistleblower office, etc. I've read that in the Frankfurt newspaper.
Were any violations of the law or of any policy identified in the framework of these reports? If so, how many? Were there no further reports or indications that would have prompted the compliance office to investigate further? How many investigations have already been carried out in the current financial year by your compliance office? Because this is a very important factor for your business. We need just so much from me for the time being. Thanks a lot for your attention. I'm looking forward to hearing your answers.
Thank you, Mr. Schärfe. Thank you for your contribution. We'll come back to your questions later. Next, Philippe Diaz will be given the floor, and I'd like to ask Julia Dubslaff to please keep ready or get ready. You will be going next. Those are representatives of Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre. The floor is all yours, Mr. Diaz.
Yes, thank you. I hope you can hear me. Executive Board, Supervisory Board, shareholders. My name is Philippe Diaz. I'm a freelancer in sustainable finance, above all for the civilian society. I'm speaking on behalf of critical shareholders, as already mentioned, the umbrella organization, and you will have come across me on the 1st of May 2024 in plus minus on German television regarding a fund which was advertised as the sustainable ESG fund by DWS on the website, but at best was an engagement fund. A prime example of greenwashing. This is also what the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor suggested. We all know that DWS went too far in terms of its statements regarding sustainability. This led to whistleblowing, lawsuits, investigations by the Federal Criminal Office. It was the attempt by DWS to paint something green that wasn't green.
Unfortunately, and for my part, this was actively supported by WWF Germany, which lost its moral compass in this regard, and not only in this regard. DWS, understandably, wants to leave this matter behind, and that is good. However, the question is whether DWS does not consider it necessary any longer to pretend it's left this behind. In fact, greenwashing is only a big gap between the marketed reality and actual reality. DWS has allegedly changed the gap, has become smaller. The question is, has the marketed reality simply been adjusted to actual reality? Does DWS simply push away any social responsibility? Mr. Hoops, you have changed the wording of your speech, but I will quote from the speech that had been pre-published, and this is quite similar.
DWS, you said in the pre-published speech, did not instruct any clients on what investment strategy to follow, and we will not do so in the future either. We follow sustainability-based approaches, but at the end of the day, it is our clients that decide whether and to what extent ecological, social, and governance aspects are taken into account in the investments they make. End of quotation. This means that you are shying away from your own responsibility. This means you're shying away from environmental protection, from possibilities you would normally have. Do you seriously believe that clients can invest in anything you offer? Chocolate from child labor, other products and funds using, for example, guns, weapons. Let me take one step back and ask you a couple of questions. The greenwashing allegations raised by Désirée Fixler, which also led to several fines, were actually plausible.
At the end of the day, I'm not quite clear yet as to why Ms. Fixler chose to go down that avenue because she seems to have a very dubious view of the climate crisis. It is not possible for me to find out more about her real motives, but I've got a couple of questions in this respect. When? And please tell me the exact date. Did Ms. Fixler turn to the supervisors to initiate an internal investigation? Please also tell me when the investigation started regarding the fund. Please tell me the exact date. Who was involved in designing this fund? Were there any overlaps between persons involved in the greenwashing, persons in the team that had designed the fund? Please, you don't have to give us the names of the persons, the individuals affected, but please tell us more about the degree of overlap.
I'm trying to understand whether the DWS Blue Economy Fund was just a cooperation with WWF in order to prevent potential future greenwashing allegations. Was that why WWF was taken on board? This cooperation with WWF, how much were the royalties paid to WWF by DWS in this framework? If you do not want to give us a number, please tell us about the size of the fund for 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. I would also like to ask you to disclose the income from this fund for DWS for each of the four years. The fees for the fund, according to the website, were 7.71% as of 31st of December 2021. It would be interesting to understand how much profit you have gained from these fees. So fees minus costs.
If you can't give us that number, it would be good to know what the average profit per fund is in DWS. What is the average profit per fund? I've got another question. Given that the fund we're referring to was continued after cooperation with WWF was terminated, please tell us more about this. From what we know, this separation was unanimous, but what caused this separation from WWF? Final question regarding the Blue Economy Fund. Are former employees, including Asuka Verma, taken into account for potential recourse payments? This is the end of my list of questions regarding this block of issues. Apart from the financial framework for this fund, I'd also like to hear from you why DWS chose to cooperate with WWF in the first place. Was this sustainability-driven, the fund itself, the Blue Economy Fund?
At the end of the day, it was a pilot project. Originally, it had been communicated with WWF Germany that the Blue Economy Finance Principles were going to be scaled up to include other funds, perhaps the entire portfolio of funds. From what I know, this failed to materialize. However, this rolling all the requirements over to clients, closing the funds, and basically doing the opposite of what you promised in terms of why you were going to work with WWF because allegedly you wanted to turn greener as an asset management. I mean, all of this is a thing of the past now. You are miles away from that. Please, what are the measures that DWS has already taken due to cooperation with WWF that have made DWS any more sustainable? The more, the better.
I'm not talking about strategies or declarations of intent, but actual results in terms of how you invest your clients' monies. Nice statements such as those that you can read in the press or in Target Speaker or all these blue marine-related statements is not what I want to hear. According to your statement, you will not instruct clients on how to invest their money. Are you planning to uphold that principle? I would also like to know how you are going to make sure internally that this is actually lived out in actual practice. Now, regarding the clients, as already said, the minimum sustainability standards, are they to be upheld or are they no longer going to apply? Is that why the United Nations principles for responsible investment are going to be given up? What about other ESG principles? Are you going to ban them then?
Are you going to follow the principles that have been published? Regardless of the initiative that DWS is contributing to, the fundamental principle seems to be you're going back to CSR, corporate social responsibility. You're going back to basically trainings that are completely worthless or procurement focusing on office chairs and computers rather than focusing on your core business. This also fits in with your donations to WWF Germany. At least you're trying to buy your way towards good content. Over the past few years, how many donations have you made? This is actually going to be continued, as far as I know. Projects that would potentially lead to a transformation of your business have all been discontinued, but you continue making donations to WWF. A few questions by way of conclusion regarding politics. I will conclude on my WWF-related questions.
The next two questions will deal with the bigger picture. On the 3rd of May, we had the World Overload Day. Financial institutes and DWS have rightfully referred to political decision-makers' accountability. DWS can't be held responsible, nor can any other banks be held responsible for doing what policymakers should be doing or what the economy should be doing. At the same time, as you can see, for example, in terms of the German Supply Chain Act, DWS and the likes are lobbying various parties along their own interests. I've got a couple of questions regarding political processes, and this then takes me to the end of my questions. Are you supporting the principles of the Green Deal as a matter of principle? Are you supporting the attempt of the Green Deal to adopt a holistic approach to sustainability rather than exclusively focusing on climate issues?
At the end of the day, the protection of the biosphere and the climate are closely interrelated. Do you support the sustainability reporting obligations, the European Risk Reporting Sustainability Reporting Standards that have already been adopted but are not yet carried out in actual practice? In answering this question, please also take into account that there's about 4,000 data points if you want to respond to these requirements, whereby the ESG-related data points only account for about 1,000 because here we have human rights, microplastics, biodiversity, and other issues that are also reflected in these data points. I'm sure you will be able to confirm that the costs are quite low.
Mr. Diaz, if you would also leave some time for your colleagues to ask questions. You've now spoken for 13 minutes, and as you announced, perhaps it would be good if you could come to the end of your presentation and leave some time for your colleagues. Thank you.
Yes, thank you. One more minute, please. The Bureaucracy Cost Index dropped in 2012 rather than increased, and listed companies and financial institutes normally do not even show and disclose the cost of this reporting separately. I would also like to hear more about your view regarding the value chain cap for the standard that has already been presented. Do you consider the standard to be relevant, or does it mean that data, including ESG data, cannot be disclosed? My last question. What is your view regarding the duty of diligence under the Supply Chain Act?
As already said, this does not only relate to office chairs, even though, of course, the German BSI focuses on that. Would you say it's got an impact on the real economy in Germany? So much for my questions. I will stop here. Maybe just a quick comment regarding bureaucracy. It's quite interesting to see where we stand in terms of bureaucracy and over-regulation. Thank you very much. These were my questions. I will come to the end. Thank you very much for your attention. I'm looking forward to your answers. Thank you.
Yes, thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Diaz. Next, we have the next speaker. We will come back to the many questions you've asked in a moment. The next speaker is Julia Dubslaff, and I would also like to ask Frederike Potts and Markus Dufner to keep ready because they will be going next. Thank you very much, Julia Dubslaff from Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre. The floor is all yours.
Thank you very much, Mr. Behrens. Mr. Behrens, Mr. Hoops, Members of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board, dear fellow shareholders, once again, we were only meeting virtually. My name is Julia Dubslaff. I speak here on behalf of critical shareholders, but in my main job, I'm employed at the environmental association, Urgewald, which probably DWS is fully aware of. Now, with the publication of the carbon policy about two years ago, namely in April 2023, DWS actually did take a decisive step to take action against climate change.
Another positive example is that in 2023, you, taking current ESG data into account, sold San Miguel Stock Holdings because it wanted to massively extend its carbon facilities on the Philippines. Another positive aspect, last year at this point, you announced that you are thinking about an oil and gas policy. At least you're thinking and discussing about it. Dear Mr. Hoops, against the backdrop of our activities of Urgewald, your address this morning was actually shocking to me. Climate change is real. I think this is something we agree on, but you do not meet your fiduciary obligations because you only do so by offering some dark green products for the niche. You called them the times have changed in terms of custom expectations, but apart from that, you rather serve conventional objectives. Now, what is actually your understanding of DWS and the fight against climate change?
That is my first and also my most important question, actually. Now, your address, Mr. Hoops, to me does not really sound like a relevant contribution to climate change. You rather want to use AI and blockchain. However, you are thus certainly lagging behind other German investors, which have already published exclusion criteria for oil and gas. When will you finally also exclude oil and gas from your portfolio? Did DWS make any progress in regard of such a policy? Now, are you also talking about the expansion of oil and gas production to be used as a criterion in your risk assessment? Does DWS intend to purchase new bonds to be issued by expanding oil and gas companies, or are you going to exclude such purchases in terms of the coal policy? After two years of your coal policy, what's the track record?
Are you aware of any expansions of coal companies, and are you going to exclude them? Are there any plans to lower your threshold of 35%, which is fairly high, already before 2030? In 2024, you may remember, there was a discussion about so-called generational capital. DWS, in this context, called for a greater, higher priority of sustainable investment. What actually was that meant to be? Climate change is real, Mr. Hoops, as you said in your address, and I think everybody's going to agree with you. However, what's also real are allegations of serious human rights violations, environmental damage, for example, in the Papua LNG, Mozambique LNG, and the EACOP pipeline in the LNG business, which are massively pushed by ExxonMobil, for you. DWS has been massively invested in TotalEnergies and also ExxonMobil. With TotalEnergies, actually, DWS is even the biggest German investor.
For this reason, DWS here has a special responsibility in this regard. Mr. Hoops, which of the allegations on human rights violations and environmental damage in connection with the three projects I mentioned as examples are you familiar with? How can you make sure that such allegations are also known to your fund managers? Such findings, how do they impact the risk assessment of DWS for TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil? Does DWS consider these projects as sustainability or reputational risk? Which actions has DWS taken in order to call upon TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil to fully resolve these allegations and eliminate such situations? Will DWS support the request of Union Investment to initiate an independent investigation of the human rights situation? Will DWS also place this request towards TotalEnergies?
Dear Mr. Hoops, last year, at this point, you said that as part of your net zero ambitions, reducing emissions in the real economy is also one of your focal points. Now, selling shares, in your view, means that you cannot exercise any influence on companies anymore. Now, we've had numerous discussions on this. Now, which evidence does DWS have that your engagement has resulted in a reduction of emissions? What is the view as part of the Climate Action 100+ Association regarding the energy utilities? Now, in 2024, what was the highest escalation level during an engagement process with a company? Dear Mr. Hoops, now, I myself, I asked you last year at this very point about your engagement with ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil does not even try on paper to give the impression of taking climate objectives seriously. They've got no scope. You've got no scope.
Three emissions, and thus you fully disregard the biggest scope zero emissions. Now, in 2024, did you discuss the insufficient scope zero targets with that company, with ExxonMobil? What is your view of the climate-related efforts of ExxonMobil? When will you finally see a success in your engagement with that company? Do you feel that Exxon is subject to a transitional risk? If so, what is the specific aspect of that risk, and how high is the risk? Does DWS maybe consider excluding ExxonMobil from its investments like a competitor has recently done? Mr. Hoops. Mr. Behrens, I'm already finished. Now, we at Urgewald, we mainly focus on coal, oil, and gas companies. Of course, my questions are indicative of most companies which we have on our global coal exit list and the global exit list. I think you are familiar with both of these.
Now, most of these companies are currently expanding and do not have any credible transformation strategy. And what I've heard from you today, Mr. Hoops, I cannot see any credible transformation strategy of DWS in terms of carbonization either. You just followed the current anti-ESG trend, rather sending out a clear signal to these juggernauts that you're really serious about climate protection. Dear shareholders, please send out a clear signal to Mr. Hoops and DWS by not ratifying the acts of management of the management because we need real action in climate protection and not just further developed sustainability strategies. Thanks for listening.
Thanks, Ms. Dubslaff, for your statement. We will provide the answers later on. Right now, we just have two more speakers in the waiting room and no more shareholders in the pipeline. We will now take first Ms. Frederike Pottz, also of the Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre, and she is going to be followed by Markus Dufner, who also speaks on behalf of the same shareholder association. We have Ms. Potts first, and Ms. Dufner is asked to get ready. Ms. Potts, welcome to you.
Thank you very much. Dear shareholders, dear Members of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, my name is Frederike Potts. I'm Managing Director of the Finance Association, and I'm speaking today on behalf of the Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre, who assigned their speaking rights to me. I'm going to tackle two matters today. On the one hand, gender justice and equality and your investments in arms and defense companies because gender equality is not just a soft topic which you can discuss when you feel you've got the time.
It's rather a hard indicator for entrepreneurial responsibility, long-term success, and stability. Studies have shown that companies with a high gender diversity, especially in leadership positions, are more successful, more innovative, and better in identifying and managing risks. Therefore, let me praise you because since last year, DWS has been supporting proposals that want companies which they invest in to take action to reduce risks for people and the environment. Furthermore, such companies must commit themselves to zero tolerance towards harassment at the workplace and gender inequality. That is something which is highly welcome. What is less pleasing, however, in our view, is the fact that DWS in its investment decisions obviously does not have any clear requirements in terms of equality at companies.
Thus, a gender-sensitive zero tolerance policy towards discrimination in employment and job would be required, but DWS does not take this into account, nor does it pay attention to equal pay for different genders. The UN Women's Empowerment Principles of the United Nations are not being supported by DWS either. Therefore, my question is, why does DWS not ask the companies which invest in to take active action for equal pay and to fight gender-based discrimination? Why does DWS not support the Women's Empowerment Principles? Does DWS intend to change this in the future? If so, by when? If not, why not? Furthermore, how does DWS internally make sure that all genders receive the same pay for the same work? Are there any transparent reports and objectives on that matter?
In the last few years, DWS has made progress in terms of gender diversity in the portfolio companies, whereas in the past, no expectations had been stated. Now, at least for Europe and North America, 30% women's share in Supervisory Boards is expected and has also taken respective action against individual candidacies, which we highly welcome very much. However, this claim and ambition only applies to a certain part of the world, whereas in Asia and other countries, also Japan, such action is not that severe. Applying an international standard does not exist yet, nor does transparency on actual progress made. Therefore, my question here is, why do the expectations for gender diversity in portfolio companies only in different regions of the world? Does DWS plan to change its requirements towards a global standard? If so, if not, why not?
How do you make sure that gender diversification is not just a lip service on paper, but is actually implied in real life and in real work? So far, DWS, it seems, does not have any clear requirements for portfolio companies where complying with gender equality and justice to women is also required towards sub-suppliers because exploitation and violence towards women often occurs in the upstream areas of the supply chain, for example, in the textile or commodities sector. Why has DWS so far not stated any requirements for companies also along their supply chain to ensure the protection of women's rights across the entire value chain? Does DWS plan to change its approach? If not, why not?
Now, defense companies, DWS has stated that Article 8 managed funds which have ESG or similar phrases in the name and the DWS standard filters apply, and those that apply DWS basic exclusion filters that are acceptable. Now, which funds use the DWS investment standards filter, which continues to exclude defense? How many of the Article 8 funds are using the DWS basic exclusion filter where the defense exclusion has been removed? How much money has been vented in Article 8 funds which are allowed to invest in defense? How much resources are in funds where such investments are excluded? DWS has also stated that investment in manufacturers of controversial weapons, according to international conventions, such as cluster bombs, chemical, and biological bombs, and of quote, is excluded in funds with the DWS basic exclusion filters.
Is this a conclusive list, or are there other controversial weapons which are excluded? Have manufacturers of blinding laser weapons been excluded, and are manufacturers of white phosphor excluded as well? After the recent adjustments, funds with the DWS basic exclusion filters can not only invest in conventional weapons, but also in nuclear weapons and in weapons of depleted uranium. Now, why did DWS now decide to invest in these controversial weapons? What has changed for DWS now to assess manufacturers of depleted uranium in a different manner? Now, the decision to add companies into DWS basic exclusion filters, did you carry out a survey amongst clients before you did so? Does DWS believe that the majority in these DWS funds is satisfied with the change of direction? What was the response of investors and clients to this change of direction? If so, what was the response?
What is the role of the financial performance of defense shares since 2022? What was the influence on the decision to exclude us from the exclusion filter? To what extent was the underperformance fear relevant here? So far, DWS does not have any criteria against exports in regions violating human rights. However, European defense companies not only sell to Western countries, but also to countries in Yemen, Gaza, or Bergkarabach. Therefore, companies supporting violent action that goes against international standards can foster conflicts and violence in such regions. Therefore, my question is, does DWS intend to exclude investments in companies that support wars and violent activities in such regions? Does DWS also intend to exclude investments in companies which are involved in regions and companies which are subject to corruption allegations, which include HENSOLDT, General Dynamics, and others?
DWS also says that it needs to support the armies of democratic countries. Is DWS aware of publicly listed companies which produce arms only for democratic regions and do not supply any arms to regions where war is waged against the population? My last question, does DWS plan to influence companies not to deliver arms to regions where human rights are violated? Does DWS intend to exclude such companies from their funds activities? If not, why not? Thank you very much for answering my questions.
Thank you very much, Ms. Potts, for that cornucopia of questions. Later on, we will provide the answers. We have now one more speaker in the waiting room, which is Mr. Markus Dufner, also speaking on behalf of the Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre. Mr. Dufner, you have the floor.
If you, ladies and gentlemen, have further requests to speak, please register on the portal. At the moment, Mr. Dufner is the last speaker, and maybe after that, we can already start providing answers. Mr. Dufner, you've got the floor.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Behrens. Dr. Hoops, Mr. Behrens, members of the management, shareholders. My name is Markus Dufner. I am the Managing D irector of the Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre, and we have 30 member organizations involved in climate and environmental protection and human rights, and we represent parts of civil society in that regard. We also have the Klima-Allianz Deutschland with 155 membership organizations among our ranks. Ladies and gentlemen, together with Urgewald and Facing Finance, we have released a press release for this AGM where we address the empty promises of DWS regarding ESG.
Now my colleagues and I have listened to the addresses by DWS, and my previous speakers have also justified their criticism. Mr. Hoops, I heard in your address that you believe that the internal construction sites and problems in DWS not only want to be finished quickly, but also quietly. Does that mean that you're not going to say anything about that at all? That ought to be different. That ought to be dealt with differently. This should become part of your DNA, namely that errors that have been made in the past in conjunction with greenwashing are not repeated. Go beyond that. Do not just finish that chapter without any word on it. Mr. Hoops, now I would like to ask you a question about the economy. How can the EU increase its competitiveness and bolster itself against shocks?
Our possible answer would be, with 90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. That is not what climate activists are requiring, but 150 European companies and investors in an open letter to the EU, in this sign-on letter on the EU to set a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of at least 90% by 2040. In this letter to the EU Commission and to the delegates of the EU Parliament and to the heads of state of the member states of the EU, these entrepreneurs and investors say that we need a robust climate goal for decarbonization of our economies to make the EU more robust against shocks and to improve competitiveness in the EU. Regarding the signatories of the letter, we have SAP, the Otto Group, and Allianz, amongst others. Dr. Hoops, why is DWS not one of the signatories of this letter?
Now, can you envisage that you may indeed become a signatory? If not, why? Asset managers design the world in which we live by investing in the companies that they invest in. An investigation by Share Action showed that most of the biggest players on the market do not invest in a responsible way and continue to pursue a path towards fossil fuels, loss of nature, and the expansion of controversial weapons. As middlemen in the financial sector, your irresponsible investments are carried out almost exclusively with the money of other people. Under the title "Point of No Return 2025," Share Action published a ranking of the biggest asset managers in the world. DWS is not right at the bottom, but also not right at the top. It is at rank 18. This was looking at issues of climate, biodiversity, social governance, and stewardship.
Also a question of assuming responsibility with regard to biodiversity. DWS, it was in the red area and climate orange. So bad or not very good. Dr. Hoops, what are you going to do to make sure that DWS will soon have better results in this regard? That brings me to the counterproposals of the Dachverband on Agenda Item 3. DWS failed to take control in a responsible way and adequate way of the Greenwashing Affair. That is why we will not ratify the acts of the management of the General Partner for fiscal year 2024. Despite repeated public criticism, DWS made ESG pledges that did not equate with reality. At an early stage and without external investigation, DWS ought to have put an end to that. However, it first took the investigations of the public prosecutor's office to put an end to this.
The rating Morningstar, its parent rating on DWS, is interesting. I cite a questionable and unstable management led to the problems at DWS. The previous CEO, who had initiated the ESG investments, left in 2022 due to that. His successor, Stefan Hoops, is the fifth CEO in 10 years, which underscores the instability within the management of the company. This nomination also shows the permanent influence of the parent company even after the IPO of 2018. Hoops has spent most of his career at Deutsche Bank, but does not have a background in asset management. Ultimately, Morningstar reaches the conclusion that DWS needs to be monitored carefully to avoid further issues. My question in this regard would be, what has been the result of these discussions with Morningstar? What did you respond to with this not particularly good rating? What remedial actions will you take, Dr. Hoops?
Mr. Behrens t hat brings me now to Agenda Item 4 regarding the acts of management of the Members of the Supervisory Board. We also shall not ratify these acts. The Supervisory Board has a central role in the strategic positioning of the company and for the monitoring of the Executive Board, in particular looking at risks, sustainability, and long-term corporate goals. In this function, the Supervisory Board failed to fulfill its requirements adequately, particularly with regard to the insufficient climate strategy of DWS and the fact that there are so many funds still involved in fossil fuels. Mr. Behrens, because you have only been the Chairman of the Supervisory Board for one year, this is perhaps less to do with you and more to do with your predecessor, Karl von Rohr. Now, in your address before, you underscored the wonderful transition from Mr. Rohr to you and the transfer.
Perhaps you can explain in more detail in which regard you wish to give this seal of approval. In which regard did Mr. von Rohr talk about these sustainable investments? What changes will you make, if any? How does it feel for you that your predecessor, Mr. von Rohr, is now a simple Member of the Supervisory Board and is now accompanying your work and perhaps is also having a slightly critical eye on you? Do you feel safe in that environment? Finally, the counterproposal against Agenda Item 11. The Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre does not agree with the resolution or amendment to Section 21 of the Articles of Association to further facilitate virtual General Meetings and the authorization of the Management Board. After several years of experience of virtual AGMs, we still have the same opinion.
The format and the way in which such AGMs are carried out affect elementary rights of shareholders. Therefore, the AGM should be making this decision and not the Management Board or the Supervisory Board. It should be up to the AGM to decide in which format future AGMs are carried out. The AGM should be given the opportunity to decide as to whether a further option would be a hybrid format, which would marry up the advantages of an in-person event with a digital event. My question to you, Mr. Behrens, Mr. Hoops, would be, will the DWS provide for an in-person AGM next year or perhaps even a hybrid AGM? What about the years up to 2030? Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you, Mr. Dufner. I can see now that we have, and of course, we will, of course, respond to your questions, Mr. Dufner
I see that Ms. Julia Dubslaff has a further request to speak. Please, you can take the floor, Ms. Dubslaff.
Thank you, Mr. Behrens. You asked me to be as brief as possible, and I wanted to adhere to that. Because there is no one else on the speakers list, seemingly I have a few last questions, just two or three minutes. Thank you. Now, one of my previous speakers has already addressed this briefly. A few days ago, it became clear that BlackRock has stepped back from a number of climate initiatives. That is a fatal signal. How will DWS deal with this in their memberships of these initiatives? What position does DWS represent in the new or the repositioning of the Net Zero Asset Manager Initiative after BlackRock and others have left it?
What will be the effect of the repositioning of the reduction goals of DWS? Moreover, I'd just like to briefly allude to the SFDR EU regulation, the disclosure regulation there. In a DWS press release regarding the consultation on the state of affairs of the SFDR, I read in a small Excel sheet that the SFDR is considered by DWS as a labeling and marketing tool. That makes me feel that DWS only has 75 funds according to Article 6 and a considerable amount more according to Article 8. A labeling and marketing tool. What is the justification for this? How many funds did DWS have at the time, and how many were renamed at the time of the other regulation being introduced? How many of these renamed funds are directly managed by DWS? What reasons were there for the renaming of these funds?
Ms. Potts asked similar questions. Will any other investments in coal, oil, and gas companies be maintained? How many funds with sustainability, environmental, or impact names are still directly managed by DWS? And how many assets are managed there currently? That is two and a half minutes. That was it from me. Thank you. I am very much looking forward to your responses to my questions.
Excellent. Thank you, Ms. Dubslaff.
I would begin with the first answers. Perhaps just by way of introduction, thank you very much to all of you for your commitment and your questions, particularly to those known faces, Ms. Dubslaff, Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Schärfe. Thank you also for drawing this balance that you had, where you do provide praise for the progress that we have made, but also provide constructive criticism on those things where we could do better.
We do respect that very much indeed. In the interests of the shareholders, I will try to group things thematically. I am not going to go through the people A, B, C, but rather we will try and deal with things in thematic blocks. I will start with the business issues, perhaps just as a piece of information. Mr. Schmidt, Mr. Schärfe, thank you for the questions, some of which were impulses, you said yourselves. Please understand that we cannot exhaustively respond to every single question because some of these things are due to our daily business, and we do not know what the world is going to look like in 2030. I will start with our most important area, active business.
Mr. Schmidt, you asked about the risk of a too strong orientation towards actives with over 70% share of our overall revenues at DWS, and that is where we have our greatest revenues. You asked about our orientation and our positioning, particularly looking at bonds, and we have our multi-asset solutions, and we intend to increase this. At the same time, we are going to focus on strategic growth initiatives to make our business model more diversified and fit for the future with alternatives and passives and active ETFs. We do see further market potential there. Moreover, we are investing in digital trends, for example, asset management as an integrated service, as well as in digital assets. With this allocation of resources, we want to ensure that we can expand our business beyond the active segment and that we are also positioned in future-proof growth areas.
There was a whole host of questions about our phenomenal Xtrackers business and passive products there. I would like to start there with you, Mr. Schmidt. You asked about the development of our passives and their stability in price fluctuations and the earnings contribution and also the effect on the CIR there. Now, regarding the proportion of passives in new business, the proportion of passives in new business has increased significantly in recent years. In 2024, the net inflows from passives, including Xtrackers, we were talking about EUR 41.8 billion and thus over 100% of our overall net inflows. Also, in the first quarter of 2025, we have been able to see this positive trend increasing. Regarding the question of stability, neither for passive nor actively managed products do we have a generally applicable correlation between net outflows and decreasing prices on the share markets.
Passive products are considered to be stable, but of course, we can also see outflows there with strong fluctuations. DWS, with its ETF brand Xtrackers, profits from its broadly diversified product mix, which also offers customers the correct product in volatile market phases. Regarding the question of margin development, the average management fee margin was in 2024 at 16 basis points, and that was in comparison to 26% from the previous year, and that increased to EUR 472 million. We're currently assuming an increase of management fee for passives in the years to come as well. This increase could be driven by greater amounts of assets under management, whilst we could also see a compensatory effect for further decreasing margin. Now, regarding your questions about the CIR, we can't provide a CIR for individual asset classes because the cost management is carried out on the general level at DWS.
In passives, we expect positive economies of scale. We look at the marginal CIR there. Please understand the fact that we can't comment on hypothetical situations. Overall, we expect that the proportion of passives will continue to increase in the future. Also, looking at alternatives, we see long-term growth potential and, moreover, want to further reinforce our active business. With further cost management and further growth, we expect that our CIR will continue to improve in the future. Mr. Schmidt, this is slightly linked to the question that I just responded to. You were asking about all new investments in the passives. Please understand, as I've already said, we can't comment on any hypothetical model calculations. Overall, we expect that the amount of passives will increase in our assets under management, but also we do think that alternatives will provide further growth potential as well.
We will, of course, continue to be very disciplined in our cost management. We think that this will also have a positive effect on our CIR. You then asked a constructively critical question as to whether it's a good idea to focus on the CIR if the amount of new passives continues to increase. You also wanted to know what our priority is in management, whether it's the CIR or the lower margin revenue. Please understand if we can't comment on any hypothetical model calculations. Overall, we expect that the amount of passives in the assets under management will continue to increase in the future. As I've already alluded to, we think that there are further positive perspectives for the active business and alternatives in the future. We pursue two financial goals, the earnings per share and the cost-income ratio.
The earnings per share has the highest priority. That is the contribution that we can feed back to our shareholders. The CIR is a very important steering tool, in particular to be able to ensure that if there is a loss in earnings, we can still remain profitable. Every earning that is profitable and that can help with our earnings per share is a focus of management. You then, Mr. Schmidt, asked a question about private debt, and you commented on that as well. You asked us to elucidate our approach to private debt and the volume that we currently manage, our expectations and our control mechanisms, particularly with regard to our cooperation with Deutsche Bank. Now, on a global level, DWS manages over EUR 15 billion in structured and private credit. This includes structured loans and real estate credit.
Deutsche Bank and DWS have already been working together in origination of credit to medium-sized corporations in Europe since 2018, and we intend to further pursue this in the future. That will be in specific areas where we will have preferred access to asset-based finance, direct lending, or other credit origination, which is issued by Deutsche Bank. Regarding portfolio management of the respective DWS funds, it is still left free. That is the relevant point. They can decide freely as to whether they want to be involved in that. We, as the fiduciaries, are able to decide there. In any case, with every transaction, we will have an established monitoring process. The entire fiduciary responsibility, including management, remains with DWS exclusively.
Mr. Schärfe, you asked generally about growth perspectives, and we would like to just respond to that. Of course, we are very committed to increasing and realizing our growth potential in passives and alternatives, and we see great perspectives there. We also want to reinforce our very leading role in established markets, particularly in shares and bonds. You also asked to what extent we are affected by the increased protectionism. You also asked about U.S. policies and the effect thereof on our business. We believe that protectionist tendencies offer opportunities as well as pose risks. For example, the amended debt policy in Europe has made Europe more attractive to investors abroad. As I've already said in my address, we see great potential in our leading position as DWS to be positioned as a Gateway to Europe. This repositioning of U.S. policy has not changed anything about our commitment and our belief that we have to be global.
Thus, we maintain our position that we want to grow in China and India. Nevertheless, of course, we are continuously keeping an eye on global developments and take that into account in all of our strategy decisions. Moreover, you also asked about our structures in the Far East, and I already alluded to this in my address. We're talking about markets with increasing wealth, and that means that we want to further anchor our presence there in China. We can build upon our investment in Harvest Fund. We have been involved in that with 30% for many years, and this provides reliable value. We have already stated our intention to expand in China. India is a very interesting developing market for asset management, and we are pursuing our goals for strategic partnerships there.
Of course, in Japan, in addition to our general organic business with Nippon Life, we have continued this for a further five years in 2023. Now, as a segue here, Mr. Schmidt, you asked about the strategic positioning of our business between internalization and a further, even stronger focus on the German market. Germany is our domestic market, clearly. Our positioning here is our key success factor, and it is also the foundation for our sustainable success in the future. We are also, however, represented in the international markets. As I have already alluded to previously, we want to grow in the Asia-Pacific region to benefit from the market potentials there and to also further pursue our geographical diversification. We believe that there are opportunities in the digital business, be it in digital coverage or digital assets, and we are looking at these independently of the regional strategy.
Of course, we bear in mind all of the regionally deviating and differentiating regulatory requirements there. We, of course, welcome the reform for the pension schemes in Germany and also see that there are relevant areas of action for us as asset managers. For example, privately organized deposit accounts as has been set out in the coalition government agreement, which provides increased flexibility and attractiveness for private pension schemes.
Mr. Schärfe, you asked about our long-term AI and digitalization strategy and what we see as the major risks and opportunities. The topics digitalization and artificial intelligence have a continuous influence on the adjustment and further development of our strategic initiatives. We have a number of potential AI applications that we've identified, and we see the largest potential in the application of AI to process optimization.
We see further potential in possible efficiency increases and risk reduction across the entire value chain. We have identified a number of risks, which include algorithmic distortions and discrimination, hallucinations, or a lack of transparency and traceability with AI-supported decisions. Topics AI and digitalization are under constant development, so we focus on enabling and training our staff accordingly in order to make full use of the potential of those topics in competition. There were a number of questions which were not of a business nature but specifically addressed the topic of non-sustainability.
Mr. Schmidt, with a view to the takeover offer for STADA at the time in 2017 and the ruling of the German Federal Court in 2023, you asked whether DWS filed additional payment claims, and you want to know what the inventory of STADA shares was in the funds affected and whether any claims were asserted and if you want to do so retroactively. If not, you're asking for the reasons for why so far or in the future we did not and do not plan to do so. The Federal Court's ruling from 2023 on the STADA takeover offer in 2017 is something we're aware of, obviously. Generally, we do follow the German markets, so we're aware of it. DWS funds accepted the takeover offer for about 740,000 shares in 2017. The theoretical claim to additional payments amounts to a total of maximum EUR 6 million.
We're currently still looking into asserting such claims for the affected DWS funds. Our review includes, amongst others, weighing the risk of process and procedural and litigation costs to the funds with the prospects of success when asserting the claims. Of course, you were asking for the reasons for why or why not to take the corresponding steps. We think we can assert our claims until the end of 2026. Mr. Schärfe, you asked for the reasons for the repositioning of the DWS Invest ESG Women for Women funds and the renaming into DWS Invest ESG Social Focus. DWS regularly reviews their products in terms of development, net inflows, and investment policy. In this context, the social factor was adjusted as part of the investment guidelines.
In order to reflect that, the name of the fund was changed accordingly, which also allows us to approach a larger group of investors. Investors were informed about that change in March 2025 by written notification. Mr. Schärfe, you are making reference to press coverage, and we're asking whether, after the end of the ESG-related investigations in the U.S. and in Germany, there are other supervisory investigations to do with DWS in the field of sustainability and whether we need to be afraid of another Greenwashing 2.0 Affair. We ask you to understand that we will neither comment on the opinions voiced by individual employees nor the special audits covered by the press. However, we have no indication at the moment that your concerns might have any substance.
Also, Mr. Schärfe, you asked for how many compliance-relevant reports and notices we had in the 2024 financial year and so far in the 2025 financial year, and which ways of filing those reports were used, and whether, based on those reports, actual violations of legal requirements or policies were identified. You also asked for the number of investigations going on in the current financial year. Now, with our whistleblower system, we make sure that there can be an effective and anonymous reporting of potential misgivings and non-beneficial situations at any time. The reports received were reviewed by a specialized team in a timely manner, and our process ensures that they are reviewed accordingly. In the 2024 financial year, this whistleblower system resulted in 31 such reports. So far, no violations of legal requirements were identified. In two cases, we identified violations of internal guidelines and were addressed.
Over the first five months of the current financial year, we've so far registered 14 reports, which also are being addressed in keeping with our internal processes. We ask you to understand that we cannot comment on any specific measures and reports. We respectfully refer you to the explanations given on pages 121 and 124 of our Annual Report 2024. I am now going to answer the first questions asked by the Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre of DWS. Let me start with one contribution. Mr. Diaz asked whether we offer everything to our customers. I just want to make sure that, obviously, we do not just offer everything and anything. Customers cannot just tell us, "This is what I want to invest in," and we automatically offer it.
I think the way to see it is that we offer a range of products, a wide range of products, green but also conventional investments. Our customers decide what of that they want to choose. Mr. Dufner said that we're investing other people's money, and that is true. These people have to decide what they want. If somebody tells us, "I want a higher pension share and therefore more conventional investment," or, "I'm ready to accept a lower return but I strictly only want that type of investment," then it's those clients' decision. It's not something we can do for them. With all due respect, it would be misgiven and mistaken if we were to force our view of things on our customers. Let me repeat, we don't offer everything.
As part of our wide product range, we are obliged to have our customers decide themselves what happens to their money, and that is what we stand for. With that, I'd like to answer some of your questions, Ms. Dubslaff. I don't think we've been in conflict in recent years. We've been discussing controversially but productively. You asked for our conclusion regarding the implementation of our coal policy and reactions of coal companies and whether we plan to reduce the threshold of 25% before 2030. The implementation of the coal policy over the past two years led to a reduction of our investment into coal companies. This is due in particular to the adjustment of the investment limits in products managed by DWS. So far, we have had no reactions from expanding coal companies that were affected by that exclusion.
A reduction of the 25% sales or revenue threshold is not planned for the time being, but we do regularly review our coal policy, especially when it comes to regulatory developments and market standards. Ms. Dubslaff, you went on to ask up until when we would take oil and gas companies out of our portfolios, exclude them, and whether we have made any progress. Now, as an asset manager, we are always orienting ourselves along the investment targets and guidelines of our customers. Our customer groups can have different investment targets, which do include sustainability targets, but can also just be aimed at financial performance. In order to do justice to the many sustainability requirements of our customers, our European-based products are designed differently in keeping with Section 8 of the disclosure regulation.
Products that have names including ESG or sustainability-related terms fulfill the requirements of the ESMA guidelines, including a binding exclusion for fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas. Products which are reported according to Section 8 of the disclosure regulation but do not have those terms in their name also underlie certain exclusion criteria, for example, when it comes to oil sand or our DWS coal policy. Also, we're aiming to constructive dialogue with oil and gas companies as well as with companies who drive the demand for oil and gas. At the moment, we do not plan any additional oil and gas policy which would go beyond the approaches and activities already implemented today. You were also asking whether the expansion or extension of oil and gas production is a criterium for risk assessment.
The extension of oil and gas production can, to the extent it is material to a company's activity, be a factor in our risk assessment of such a company and can be addressed as part of our stewardship activities in a dialogue with our portfolio companies. Also, this matter, if it is material, can be taken into account in the active investment business in the various steps of the respective investment process, such as in the analysis of fundamentals of the issuers and portfolio management. You also asked whether we are considering to exclude the purchase of newly issued bonds of expanding oil and gas companies. I can confirm that at the current point in time, we have no such considerations. Also, Ms. Dubslaff, you asked for proof as to whether this has led to our engagement and this has led to a reduction in emissions.
Generally, it is difficult to trace back the progress of a specific commitment to one single investor because there are many other factors who can influence such changes. More information on our investments you will find in our Stewardship Report 2024 and on our website where we have investment letters or engagement letters, rather, catalogs of questions and also speeches held at AGMs. Next, you, Mr. Diaz, asked for the results of our cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund and what effect that has on us. One aspect of the cooperation with WWF on the topic of biodiversity was to further develop our capacities and expertise in the field of biodiversity and nature-related topics.
Based on the findings from that cooperation, we, for instance, have further developed our approaches when it comes to dealing with nature-related risks and opportunities to do with water and deforestation in connection with our stewardship activities. You then asked more specifically regarding our cooperation with WWF, what it gave us or how we benefited from it in terms of sustainability. I just formally refer you to the answer I just gave. Chairman, those are all of the answers I have in front of me right now. Thank you.
Thank you, Stefan, says the Chairman.
I continue.
G o on.
I've got one question asked by you, Mr. Philippe Diaz, also to do with the World Wildlife Fund.
Other employees at Zuckerberg, do you take them? Are you going to hold them liable, and is there a policy that covers this?
And Mr. Diaz, you asked for potential claims for damages against former employees or Members of the Board of DWS. Generally, we can say that we, of course, fulfill all auditory duties to do with claims for damages, but please bear with us that we cannot comment on that any further. I have a question asked by Mr. Wolfgang Schärfe.
You said, according to the qualification matrix of the Supervisory Board, you all covered the various fields, corporate social responsibility and other fields, and have basic knowledge about all of those, but in your majority, no enhanced expertise on those areas. Now, the statements made there, is that the result of the self-assessment of the respective members, or were those bits of information provided and tested by an external third party or by an internal body and suggested to the respective Supervisory Board member?
Does that apply to all fields of competence, or depending on the area of competence, are there differences?
Mr. Schärfe, you were asking whether the qualification matrix is based on the self-assessment of the Supervisory Board members or was reviewed by the company or an external third party. As described on page 257 of our 2024 Annual Report, the statements made on the qualification matrix are based on the self-assessment carried out by the Supervisory Board with the support and validation provided by an external consultant. This process applies equally to all fields of competence identified in the qualification matrix. There's another question asked by Wolfgang Schärfe. You asked for training measures for the Members of the Supervisory Board.
For internal education and training measures for the Members of the Supervisory Board of DWS Group GmbH & Co KGaA, we have a total amount of 7.5 hours per member for the 2024 financial year. In addition, there are the different trainings provided by external providers, which are split unevenly across the individual members. In total, the company bore the cost of that, amounting to a total of a few thousand EUR for the 2024 financial year. I have a question here and a somewhat longer answer addressing a question by Andreas Schmidt of German SdK Association. Dear Mr. Schmidt, you first asked whether DWS filed action against EY ourselves, what the amount under dispute is, and how we can prevent EY from learning about internal information about our process or trial and litigation strategy.
Your third question refers to why we propose EY as auditor to the General Assembly, who made that proposal, and whether all of these points were considered. To answer your first question, the damage claims filed against EY Germany are put forward exclusively at the expense of various funds which are not part of the consolidation group or group of consolidated entities within DWS Group, and the amounts in total refer to about EUR 550 million. Your second question, looking after and caring for those various legal proceedings does not lead to any business procedures which are part of the annual or group statements of DWS Group and therefore are not part of the audit. Regardless of that, we will make sure by adopting organization measures that in the future, EY in the course of future audits will not gain any insight into our litigation strategy.
Also, we'd like to stress that the funds audit is not the object of the mandate or a potential mandate of EY Germany. Your third question, we carried out a fair and transparent selection process in keeping with legal requirements. It was open to all external auditing companies. The selection criteria and their weighting were neutral and had already been defined in advance. They were aiming at assessing the quality, the expertise, and the independence of the applicants. The audit and risk expertise and the independence of the applicants.
The audit and 2026 and the AGM 2026 as the auditor potentially required auditor reviews. The appointment of a new legally appointed auditor and group auditor for DWS Group is going to be the topic of the AGM 2026. Thank you. With that, I have no further questions to be answered. Back to Stefan Hoops. Thank you. We now have a number of answers to different questions, and we'll try to group them by topic. I'll try to start with a more general one on a particular topic, and then sometimes your questions were addressing rather specific points on individual companies, for instance. I'll try to come from the general to the more specific points. First of all, starting with anything to do with World Wildlife Fund, then anything to do with sustainability, then questions to do with gender neutrality, diversity, and afterwards defense.
Now, Mr. Diaz, you asked for the profit that DWS do from fees for WWF funds and the profit per fund. We assume that you're referring to the admin fees that we retain for this, and we refer you to the Annual Report of DWS Concept ESG Blue Economy Fund in the section on costs and earnings. For the 2024 financial year on page 17, you will find expenses and in that admin costs. Also, you asked for us to confirm that cooperation with WWF was discontinued and terminated from the WWF side and asked us for a date about it. Our partnership, especially in connection with the Blue Economy Fund, was terminated on 21st May 2025. The termination was initiated by WWF Germany. Also, Mr. Diaz, you asked for the amount of donations that we made to WWF.
Since 2021, DWS has been supporting World Wildlife Fund with an annual project-related donation in the amount of EUR 200,000. Over three years, we were able to support the work of WWF along the Mesoamerican Rift near Belize and maritime protection as part of our societal engagement and commitment. You also asked for license fees that WWF paid as part of the contract on this fund, and you also asked for the size of the fund for the years 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and the income DWS generated from these funds. Generally, we do not comment on contractual details with partners.
As regards the assets under management and the amount of admin fees for the years 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, we would like to respectfully refer you to the Annual Reports of the respective funds that you will find for the respective last year on our homepage and which you can request for years before that. I then move on to climate change questions. Starting with you, dear Ms. Dubslaff. You asked about our self-understanding in our role fighting climate change. Climate change requires a general transformation of industry and economy and bears both risks and opportunities. We therefore see climate change as a potentially material risk to sustainability with direct and indirect financial impacts on companies, which can be materializing in physical risks and also transition risks.
At the same time, there are investment opportunities in the fields of infrastructure, energy efficiency, and green technologies, which promote growth and innovation. Therefore, we expect of our portfolio companies that they assess and manage material climate-related risks and opportunities. For that, they should implement appropriate governance structures and also provide transparency regarding transition strategies. Additionally, we offer to our customers investment competence and solutions, allowing them to manage the transformation to a low CO2 economy. Next to that, you ask for our self-image. DWS, as a responsible company, wants to contribute to a sustainable future, and as such, we manage the environmental impact of our own operating activities. You, dear Mr. Diaz, asked whether we generally stand by the objectives of the European Green Deal and whether we support any holistic view, not exclusively looking at that.
As a European asset manager, we welcome the target of the European Green Deal. The transition towards a more sustainable economy is important from our point of view, also for long-term stability and investment security. At the same time, we are in favor of a practicable and proportionate implementation. The regulatory framework should make change easier for companies, especially medium-sized ones, not make it more difficult. We need clarity, less complexity, and a stronger focusing on the effect of measures, not just reporting duties. We therefore actively advocate the further development and simplification of existing ESG requirements so that sustainable investments remain scalable and the capital efficiently gets to where it can have the most impact, which is the real economy. Also, you asked for our attitude towards the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, CSRD.
Now, although CSRD is not yet implemented into national legislation, we were one of the first asset managers worldwide to include a sustainability declaration based on standard EU standards for environmental and sustainability reporting, ESRS, as part of our combined management report. We follow the current discussion regarding the application of the scope of application of CSRD. We welcome the objectives of the European Commission to simplify the administrative effort generated by CSRD and to make the requirements simpler and easier. Our position paper on the omnibus proceeding is available on our public dialogue website. Ms. Dubslaff, with that, we move on to the more specific points and questions on sustainability.
Ms. Dubslaff, you were asking whether we had knowledge about allegations regarding human rights violations and environmental damage sustained in connection with specific LNG projects, which influence this information has on our risk assessment of TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, and whether we support an investigation into the human rights situation. We are aware of the alleged human rights violations and environmental damages in connection with the energy projects Papua LNG, Mozambique LNG, and the EACOP pipeline. We therefore welcome an investigation which will create larger transparency and help clarify matters. The fact alone that I might not have pronounced it properly does not mean that nobody in DWS knows about it. You will find the details on how we deal with human rights violations in our sustainability declaration as part of our Annual Report in the section on workers in our downstream value chain, pages 118 following.
You also asked which measures we adopted in order to require from TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil that these allegations be investigated transparently and any violations be removed and remedied. Generally, we address the topic of human rights as part of our stewardship activities. We expect of our portfolio companies to implement processes in order to identify violations of human rights, report them, and avoid them. For further information, we refer you respectfully to our stewardship report 2024. You also asked how we ensure that such allegations are also known to our fund managers. Our fund managers are provided with relevant ESG data provided by external data providers. They, amongst others, also assess whether a company is involved in violations of internationally recognized standards. Next, you, Mr. Diaz, asked when Ms. Fixler for the first time voiced her concerns internally.
As is publicly known, Ms. Fixler reported her concerns internally in March 2021. You also asked when discussions with WWF on the DWS Concept ESG Blue Economy Fund started. The contract was signed in April 2021. Discussions about it, however, were initiated in the fall of 2019. You also asked who was involved in setting up the fund and whether there was any personnel overlap in connection with the greenwashing allegations and DWS Concept ESG Blue Economy Fund. We would like to clarify that at no time were there any allegations against individual employees. Therefore, the question of personnel overlap is moot. Next, specific company-related questions. Ms. Dubslaff, you asked us about the ExxonMobil climate protection ambitions and our views, in particular, whether we believe that they are subject to transition risks and whether we can see any success in terms of engagement with ExxonMobil and whether we consider excluding ExxonMobil.
As other oil and gas companies, ExxonMobil is subject to transition risks. As a matter of principle, we address material transition risks in the form of dialogue with our portfolio companies. Detailed information about our engagement activities are available in our stewardship report 2024. Please bear with us for not providing you with any more far-reaching details regarding our interaction with portfolio companies. Products with ESG or sustainability-related terms in their designations also comply with all the requirements of the ESMA guidelines, including binding exclusions for fossil fuels such as coal, gas, and oil. Therefore, investing in Exxon is not possible. At this point, we are not planning any further exclusions regarding ExxonMobil. Ms. Potts, you had asked about the reasons for regional differences in terms of expectations regarding gender diversity for portfolio companies.
Regional changes in political and regulatory framework conditions can have an impact on our expectations, as they may have a material impact on the companies located there, and therefore, regional standards may be required. Political and legal developments in the U.S. have made it necessary for us to review our proxy voting policy for DWS investment DMBH for American companies, as DEI programs and guidelines and policies can lead to economic and legal risks for U.S. companies. At this point in time, gender and ethnicity are not explicitly taken into account in our voting decisions for U.S. companies. You have also asked us how we ensure that diversity targets are actively pursued in all the business divisions. We apply our requirements regarding diversity, in particular, wherever this is possible for us because we are shareholders. This primarily relates to supervisory and administrative councils. More far-reaching information very often is not available.
Ms. Potts, you also asked us about our expectations regarding our portfolio companies with regard to the compliance with gender justice and women's rights in the supply chain. Our mutual funds based in Europe and actively managed, and our Xtrackers ETFs, which report according to Articles 8 or 9 of the disclosure regulation, exclude companies, including companies that have shown severe violations of international standards, including, for example, the UN Global Compact or the OECD guidelines for multinational companies or the core labor standards of the ILO. We also reserve the right to ensure that for portfolio companies that do not comply with internationally recognized standards or where there are any indications of not addressing controversies in an appropriate manner, to vote against the re-election of the CEO. We reserve the right to vote against the re-election of the CEO or the chairman. Mr.
Diaz, you asked us about the EU supply chain and whether we are all in favor of continuing the requirements of the EU Supply Chain Act. We share the overall target of the EU Supply Chain Act, the CSDDD, to promote responsible entrepreneurial action along the value chain. Accordingly, we have not spoken out against the CSDDD as such. Our position was, however, that the specific roles and business models of individual service providers be taken into account in a more differentiated manner. Asset managers do not invest into their own supply chains, but rather have a fiduciary asset management function. For our investments, the SFDR requirements apply. Dual reporting obligations would not enhance transparency nor impact, but would above all create bureaucracy.
Therefore, we did not speak out against the target of the CSDDD as such, but rather we spoke out in favor of useful and proportionate implementation in terms of regulation. Our position paper is available on our website in the public dialogue section. Next, Ms. Potts, you asked us about our Article 8 funds and how many of them have already been invested. Our actively managed mutual funds based in Europe applying the DWS ESG investment standard filter or use ESG or sustainability-related terms in their name, continue to exclude investment in defense shares. These are more than 50 funds with assets fund volume managed of more than EUR 50 billion by the end of May 2025. Our Europe-based actively managed mutual funds applying the DWS basic exclusion filter, and which do not have any ESG or sustainability-related terms in their name, have been open for investment in defense shares.
The respective sales prospectuses have been adjusted for more than 100 funds with a fund volume of more than EUR 100 billion as of the end of May 2025. You, Ms. Potts, had also asked whether with our Article 8 funds we intend to exclude companies which, in your words, are involved in corrupt defense deals. The exclusions for defense companies can be found in the product-specific investment policy. At the moment, we do not plan to apply any further limitations for defense industries which report according to Article 8 of the disclosure policy or regulation, actually. Ms. Potts, you asked which role the financial performance of defense shares plays in the decision to eliminate the defense exclusion in the DWS basic exclusion filter.
Now, when we took the decision to adjust our DWS basic exclusions filter, we took the new and changing social consensus regarding the defense industry, the increasingly specific regulatory requirements in the sustainability context, as well as the respective adjustment of the target market concept in Germany into account. You also asked, Ms. Potts, why our Article 8 funds, which apply to DWS basic exclusions, can now also invest in nuclear weapons and depleted uranium. In the context of geopolitical developments, the expectations for the financial industries regarding funding the defense sector have changed. In this context, we now agree with the classification of the EU Commission and recognize the contributions of the defense sector to increase robustness, security, and peace.
In accordance with the ESG target market concept in Germany, we have therefore opened the Europe-based actively managed mutual funds which report according to Article 8 of the disclosure policy and apply the DWS basic exclusion filter. Now, we have opened that one for investment in defense shares. Controversial weapons such as anti-personnel mines, cluster ammunition, biological, and chemical weapons will continue to remain excluded for those funds that apply the DWS basic exclusions filter. Ms. Potts, you became more and more specific with these questions. You asked about our Article 8 funds which apply the DWS basic exclusion filter. Here, the question was whether, in addition to anti-personnel mines, cluster ammunition, chemical, and biological weapons, there are further controversial weapons that are excluded.
Controversial weapons in the context of international conventions related to anti-personnel mines, cluster ammunition, biological, and chemical weapons are excluded for those funds that apply the DWS basic exclusions filter, and that will remain so. Furthermore, funds which report according to Article 8 or 9 of the disclosure regulation and which have ESG or sustainability-related terms in their name exclude those companies which are involved in further controversial weapons or weapon systems. This includes nuclear weapons, weapons with depleted uranium, incendiary bombs with white phosphorus, blinding laser weapons, and weapons with non-detectable fragmentary ammunition. The two latter weapons were included in the respective sales prospectuses with the most recent adjustment of the ESG filter. Now, you, Mr. Dufner, had referred to one quote from my introductory talk, namely that we wanted to resolve the internal challenges quickly and quietly.
Now, this means that we want to tackle internal challenges efficiently and effectively in order to be able to fully focus on our business for the benefit of our customers and also our shareholders. Now, please give us one minute to gather further answers to your questions.
Thank you very much, Stefan. I've got two more questions. These are the last two which we currently have at the moment. That was a question by Mr. Dufner of the Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre.
Mr. Dufner, you asked whether DWS will hold an in-person or even a hybrid AGM next year and what our plans up to 2030 are. The General Partner and the Supervisory Board have decided to propose to the AGM 2025 an authorization that takes the demands of some of our shareholders and leading voting advisors into account.
Now, we intend to hold a physical AGM already near 2026 and beyond that also at regular intervals which must not be longer than four years unless extraordinary circumstances prevent us from holding an in-person AGM. There is a second question of yours which I'd like to answer, Mr. Dufner. You asked about the handover from my predecessor, Karl von Rohr, to me in the capacity of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and you also asked about the assessment of my work on the Supervisory Board by Mr. von Rohr. You also asked about potential changes of the strategic focus of DWS initiated by me as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board. As I already stated in my address, the Supervisory Board elected me unanimously as their Chairman.
My predecessor, Karl von Rohr, has closely supported me in the first months of my office and really has made it very easy for me to familiarize myself with the work of the Supervisory Board Chairman. This also includes ESG matters. Up to the present day, Karl von Rohr is a member of the special committee which we set up in 2021, which deals with ESG matters, and he is also a highly recognized member of that body. Regarding the strategic direction of DWS, I'd like to emphasize that this is a matter to be handled by the Executive Board, which, of course, we closely monitor as the Supervisory Board. We do so not only during the two-day annual strategy offsite meeting, but on a continuous basis.
Furthermore, as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I'm having a continuous and direct exchange with the Chairman of the Executive Board, Dr. Stefan Hoops, on these matters. Let me also add a personal note. If you're worried about my personal well-being, I feel very much at ease in this setup. Thank you very much.
Now, at the moment, I think the Chairman wanted to give me a break, but as a father of three kids, I'm very resilient in reading matters, and therefore I'd like to continue right away. There were a couple of follow-up questions on the WWF and also questions on diversity and defense. Mr. Diaz, you asked about changes in our cooperation with the World Wide Fund. The collaboration with the WWF in Blue Economy was, as you all know, terminated on 21st of May 2025.
In the past four years, WWF Germany was an important partner in our cooperation in order to allow DWS to increase their know-how in the area of ocean economics. WWF Germany has supported us very much in defining and assessing the engagement approach, the assessment of the capability of transformation of companies, and the identification and assessment of the engagement candidates. You asked also whether in the future we want to leave the responsibility for investment strategies with our customers and clients themselves. I had already stated on this before. Our ambitions remain the same. We want to provide investment expertise and solutions, allowing our customers to master the sustainable transformation of the real economy. We manage the funds of our customers. In order to take investment preferences and legal specifics into account, we offer basically products with different investment criteria.
At the end of the day, our customers decide on their own by selecting a specific product to what extent ESG matters are to be taken into account when they invest their money. Mr. Dufner, you asked about our membership in the Net Zero Initiative NZAM, which position we hold after various competitors have left that initiative and which effect that realignment of the initiative has got on the reduction targets of DWS. In 2025, in January of that month, NZAM initiated a review of their initiative to make sure that their initiative also meets its targets in a changing global environment. During this review, the initiative has suspended its activities. We welcome the decision of NZAM to review its initiative considering the emerging political and macroeconomic environment.
In this context, it is our aim to also review our own approach in order to take the emerging regulatory market and customer-related developments into account. Of course, we will assess the results of the Enzym review as soon as they have become available. Mr. Dufner, you asked about our exchange with Morningstar regarding the corporate rating of DWS. Basically, the rating is the result of an independent analysis by Morningstar. In the context of the drafting of this assessment, we provide, of course, the information which Morningstar asked about. On the whole, we have a regular exchange with Morningstar regarding our company and our funds, and of course, it is our aim to respond to the aspects raised by Morningstar in a constructive manner.
Mr. Duffner, you asked in which areas DWS wants to improve after having received a critical assessment by Share Action on the subject of biodiversity, climate, and social affairs. As I mentioned before, we continuously evolve our processes in order to create long-term value for our customers. In the context of our stewardship activities, for example, we focus on climate-related risks and opportunities, matters related to nature such as water, biodiversity, and environmental contamination, and the compliance of international standards. Mr. Duffner, you asked how many funds which have changed their name by applying the SMART policy are directly managed by DWS and what the reasons for these name changes were. You also asked whether existing investments of these funds in coal, oil, and gas companies will remain. You also asked how many funds with sustainability, environmental, or impact-related names are directly managed by DWS.
Now, of our actively managed mutual funds, the investment policies we determine are our own. More than 50 of them meet the requirements of the SMART policies and have ESG or sustainability-related terms in their names. With a smaller number of such funds in the lower two-digit range, we have removed these terms from their names. In individual cases, there were adjustments which were independent of the SMART policies such as liquidations or repositioning. On the whole, more than 90% of the assets under management of our actively managed mutual funds, the investment policy we determined are our own and which initially had come under the scope of the SMART policies, meet the minimum requirements and continue to have ESG or sustainability-related terms in their names. Furthermore, more than 50 passive Xtrackers ETFs comply with the minimum requirements of SMART.
With a smaller number of passive Xtrackers ETFs in the lower two-digit range, ESG or sustainability-related terms were removed from the names. Here, changes of the index methodology or classification required that renaming. Minimum exclusions for fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas are covered by the minimum requirements of the SMART policies, and this has been taken into account in the funds with ESG or sustainability-related terms in their names. All in all, more than 100 funds in the areas of active, passive, and alternatives have ESG or sustainability-related terms in their names. By the end of May 2025, they managed a fund volume of about EUR 80 billion. Mr. Dufner, you asked why DWS had not signed the open letter of 150 companies and investors to the EU institutions to support ambitious climate goals and whether we still consider signing that letter retroactively.
Now, each statement of voluntary commitment which we sign must be cautiously analyzed regarding its specific impacts. That is why we cannot simply sign every statement of voluntary commitment, even if we fundamentally agree with its contents. However, we support and welcome any initiatives that aim for sustainable transformation of the economy. Mr. Dufner, you asked why, according to our website, we only have 70 funds reporting according to Article 6 of the disclosure policies, while 186 funds do so according to Article 8, although we consider the disclosure regulation as a labeling and marketing tool. Here, you refer to the contribution of DWS to the consultation of SFDR. Let me clarify one thing at this point. Disclosure, in our view, is not a mere labeling and marketing tool.
Quite in contrast to that, as part of the consultations, we clearly expressed that some market participants view it this way. In my address, I had stated that we are guided by the investment aims and decisions of our clients, which, of course, have their own individual interests and key priorities. That's why we offer a wide range of investment policies in order to be able to create long-term value for the benefit of our clients. This includes strategies that take sustainability aspects into account, as well as those serving conventional targets and which report according to Article 6 of the disclosure policy.
Ms. Potts, you asked about our expectations of companies regarding promoting equal pay and combating gender-specific discrimination. You also asked as to why we hadn't employed the women's empowerment principles of the UN and how DWS ensures that people are paid the same for the same work.
Now, as part of our stewardship activities, we address equal pay and gender-specific discrimination in dialogue with our portfolio companies if we're talking about a material subject for the respective company. As has already been mentioned in one of the previous answers, each declaration or self-commitment that we sign has to first be assessed with due diligence regarding its effects. That is a complex process. Thus, we cannot simply sign every declaration or self-commitment, even if we believe that its content is correct. The same applies here for the women's empowerment principles. Moreover, you also asked as to how we can ensure fair remuneration between men and women for the same work. You also asked for the transparent reports and goals in this regard.
The remuneration framework of DWS applies to all employees in the same way and is based on the principle of the same pay for the same work in order to ensure fair treatment of all employees. As part of our sustainability reporting, for the first time, we have published an adjusted and non-adjusted gender-specific pay gap. For fiscal 2024, in consideration of objective gender-neutral criteria such as seniority, business division, and region, we calculated an adjusted pay gap of 5.2%. We would like to respectfully refer to our management report, 2024, page 114. At the moment, there are no internal or external goals for the adjusted pay gap. Ms. Potts, you asked about listed defense companies who only provide for armies of democratic states and not to regimes carrying out wars and infringing human rights. As a parameter for the identification of defense companies, we use revenue limits.
These do not explicitly take into account production for democratic states or supply of weapons to warfaring regimes. The database for these exclusion criteria and the processes subject thereto can be found in the respective document for the respective asset investment product. Ms. Potts, you asked as to whether, according to our Article 8 funds, the DWS basic exclusions filter, whether customers, investors, and other stakeholders have been consulted regarding this. We are always committed to acting in the best interests of our clients. We want to provide solutions that fulfill the requirements of our customers, investors, and sales partners. Regarding investments in the defense sector, we have participated in the Federal Association for Investment and Asset Management in the discussion for adjusting the ESG target market concept.
Also, our decision was based on the changing geopolitical situation and the goal of providing a product portfolio for various customer preferences. For funds that have ESG or sustainability-related terms in their name, we see the role of a defense sector further in a differentiated way, and we do exclude investments in defense continuity. Ms. Potts, you also asked about shareholder engagement in defense companies and whether weapons are not supplied to warfaring nations or regimes. You also asked if we intend to change our approach here. As part of our stewardship activities, we fundamentally focus on topics which we believe are significantly instrumental to the ability for a portfolio company to provide long-term value, and protecting human rights is an important factor here. We therefore expect of companies that they implement processes to identify infringements of human rights and to report and prevent them.
The same expectation is valid for defense companies. For portfolio companies that infringe internationally recognized standards, we reserve the right to vote against the re-election of Members of the Executive Board or Supervisory Board. For further details, please consult the corporate governance and proxy voting policy of DWS Investment GmbH that can be found on our website. A similar question, but a little more specific, I believe. Ms. Potts, you asked regarding our Article 8 funds whether we for the future intend to exclude companies that supply weapons to parties that are carrying out wars against international rights. Now, looking at the sustainability context, we still view this in a nuanced way such that our products have different asset and investment criteria.
Accordingly, in our actively managed mutuals that are according to Article 8 or 9 of the disclosure regulation or have ESG or sustainability-related terms in their name, we still exclude companies that are involved in controversial weapons or weapon systems or that also generate considerable revenue with defense goods. We also, at the moment, are not providing for a general exclusion regarding defense exports, assuming that this is not provided for in the product-specific investment policy. Two questions from you, Mr. Diaz. You asked as to whether we planned to leave the United Nations Supported Principles for Responsible Investment. We are currently not intending to withdraw from the United Nations Supported Principles for Responsible Investment. Moreover, you also asked whether we intend to do away with existing ESG policies. We understand that you mean our ESG-related self-commitments.
As I've already said in other responses, we are looking at the inspection of the Enzam initiative and will then take this into account. Mr. Diaz, you asked about our attitude to the proposed value chain cap Voluntary SME standard, for short, VSME. We fundamentally welcome the intentions to protect small and medium-sized enterprises from disproportionate reporting requirements. Our position paper on the omnibus proceedings can be found on our website. Thank you.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, we have reached the end of our session answering the questions and are approaching the vote. Therefore, I would like to point out already at this point that granting and changing instructions to the company's proxy and also voting by post vote are no longer possible as soon as I have once again explained the voting procedure.
Therefore, please make sure that you cast your votes and instructions over the next few minutes. With the end of the vote, the access to the change function will also be closed for the postal votes, and the postal vote data will be recorded to determine the voting results. I would like to thank the speakers for their contributions and questions and Stefan Hoops for his comprehensive answers and hereby close the debate. Okay. I've just seen that there are two more requests to speak. There's Mr. K. W. Freitag in the waiting room. Are you ready and prepared to speak, Mr. Freitag? Mr. Freitag is still in the onboarding process, so we'll take a quick break here of five minutes. Thank you.
The Sound of Finance, [Forein language] . Okay, we can continue with the next questions. Mr. Freitag has registered to speak, but we cannot reach him, unfortunately. He is also not visible to us on the portal. Mr. Freitag, if you want to make a contribution, please let us know. Also, I would like to point out that in about 10 minutes' time, we are going to close the list of speakers. Let me ask you again to register to speak if you wish to do so. Explicitly, Mr. Freitag, please let us know if you want to speak. We were not able to reach you. You had logged off the portal. We will start with you, Markus Dufner, for a second round of questions. Welcome back for your second additional questions.
Thank you, Mr. Behrens, for giving me the floor once again. Firstly, let me make a remark regarding your answers.
I have to say some of your answers had a purely formal nature without going into any detail regarding the content. Let me just give you one example: the open letter signed by 150 companies and investors. That is a bit too little, I find, as an answer. We cannot go into the details of all initiatives and open letters, and we are thoroughly reviewing that. I mean, Allianz is not a no-name company and others of the signatories, so it is not just any initiative. I would think DWS would have to also review that if they are serious about climate protection and decarbonization. Let me urge you to please review and check this once again and also comment on it in a more substantial manner. We are not satisfied with the rather offhand answer provided by Mr. Hoops.
I leave it at that, although I would have some other points of criticism. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dufner. I think we can react to that directly. Mr. Hoops will answer. Stefan?
Yes, I'll happily do so. Mr. Dufner, first of all, I'm sorry if it came across as us not taking the time for looking at them all. So your request, your question was for us to re-check it thoroughly. I can give you my personal commitment and promise that we'll look at that matter once again and then make the decision on the DWS side that we find apt.
Right. At the moment, I can see no further requests for the floor or requests to speak. Okay. Once again, I would like to thank the speakers for their contributions and questions, and also Stefan Hoops for the comprehensive answers provided, and all of you for this debate.
With this, since there are no further questions, I close the debate. With that, we come to the voting procedure. First of all, I'd like to briefly take you through the voting process. At today's Annual General Meeting, only the voting proxy appointed by the company casts votes as part of the voting procedure and on the basis of the powers of attorney and instructions issued to him. The instructions stored in the system are released to the voting proxy during the vote. The authorizations and instructions issued or changes to instructions made before the corresponding function of the shareholder portal is closed are, of course, taken into account and transferred to the electronic accounting system.
The function for casting votes or making changes will now be available to you for a short time until I have once again summarized the various Items on the Agenda. Of course, the postal votes will also be fed into the electronic accounting system and will be included in the voting result together with the votes cast today by the voting proxy appointed by the company. Voting is carried out using the addition procedure. That means that the yes votes and the no votes are counted. In view of the fact that the company's voting proxy representative has been appointed, I will vote on all resolution Items in one single ballot as follows. For Agenda Items 1 - 11, the proposed resolutions as published in the Federal Gazette on 30th April 2025 as part of the invitation to today's Annual General Meeting are authoritative in each case.
The resolution on Agenda Item 1 comprises the adoption of the Annual Financial Statements. The General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose that the Annual Financial Statements of DWS Group GmbH & Co KGaA for the 2024 financial year be adopted. Under Agenda Item 2, the General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose that the distributable profit of EUR 942,891,126.30 be used to distribute a dividend of EUR 2.20 per no-par value share on the 200 million no-par value shares entitled to dividends for the 2024 financial year and to use the remaining amount of EUR 502,891,126.30 as profit to be carried forward to a new account. Item 3 on the Agenda is the vote on the formal approval of the actions of the General Partner for the 2024 financial year. The General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose that discharge be granted.
In this vote, the General Partner, the Managing Directors, and the Shareholder of the General Partner may not exercise voting rights from their own shares or those of third parties, nor may third parties exercise voting rights from shares belonging to the General Partner, the Managing Directors, or the General Partner's Shareholder. The persons concerned have ensured that the voting prohibitions are complied with. A counter motion to the management's proposal has been submitted by the Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre, which proposes that the actions of the General Partner for the 2024 financial year be denied discharge. Anyone wishing to vote in favor of this motion should vote no. Agenda Item 4 is the vote on the formal approval of the actions of the Members of the Supervisory Board for the 2024 financial year. The General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose that discharge be granted.
In this vote, Members of the Supervisory Board may not exercise their voting rights from their own shares or those of third parties, nor may third parties exercise voting rights from shares belonging to Supervisory Board members. Moreover, the General Partner, the Managing D irectors, and the Shareholder of the General Partner may not exercise voting rights in this vote from their own shares or those of third parties, nor may third parties exercise voting rights from shares belonging to the General Partner, the Managing Directors, or the Shareholder of the General Partner. The individuals concerned have ensured that these aforementioned voting prohibitions are complied with. A counter motion to the management's proposal has been submitted by the Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre, which proposes that the actions of the Supervisory Board for the 2024 financial year be denied discharge.
Anyone wishing to vote in favor of this motion must vote no. Under Agenda Item 5, the Supervisory Board, based on the recommendation of the Audit and Risk Committee, proposes under Agenda Item 5.1 that KPMG Aktiengesellschaft Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft Berlin be elected as auditor and group auditor for the 2025 financial year and for the review of the condensed financial statements and the interim management report as of 30th June 2025, and if applicable, other interim financial information prepared with reporting dates prior to December 31st, 2025. Under Agenda Item 5.2, to elect EY GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft Stuttgart as auditor for the review of any other interim financial information with reporting dates after December 31st, 2025, insofar as this is to be prepared before the Annual General Meeting in 2026.
I propose under Agenda Item 5.3 to appoint KPMG Aktiengesellschaft Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft Berlin as auditor for the purpose of confirming the sustainability reporting for the 2025 financial year with effect from the entry into force of the Act implementing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive into German law, the CSRD Implementation Act. In this respect, the Supervisory Board should only implement the resolution if the appointment of the auditor of the sustainability reporting for the 2025 financial year is requested by the Annual General Meeting in accordance with the CSRD Implementation Act. When voting on Items 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3, the General Partner, the Managing Directors, and the Shareholder of the General Partner may not exercise voting rights from their own shares or from third-party shares, nor may third parties exercise voting rights from shares belonging to the General Partner, the Managing Directors, or the Shareholder of the General Partner.
The individuals concerned have taken precautions to ensure that the aforementioned voting prohibitions are complied with. Under Agenda Item 6, the General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose that in accordance with Section 162 in conjunction with Section 278 (3), that you approve the compensation report prepared in accordance with this. Under Agenda Item 7, the Supervisory Board proposes, based on the recommendation of the shareholder representatives and its Nomination Committee, that Mr. Tomohiro Yao be elected to the Supervisory Board as a shareholder representative until the end of the Annual General Meeting that resolves on the discharge for the 2026 financial year.
The General Partner, the Managing Directors, and the Shareholder of the General Partner may not exercise voting rights from their own shares or from shares held by third parties, nor may third parties exercise voting rights from shares belonging to the General Partner, the Managing Directors, or the Shareholder of the General Partner. Here again, the persons concerned have taken precautions to ensure that these voting prohibitions are observed. Under Agenda Item 8, the Supervisory Board proposes that you approve the compensation system for the Managing Directors of the General Partner. Under Agenda Item 9, the General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose that you approve the compensation for the Members of the Supervisory Board, including the underlying compensation system, and amend Article 14 of the Articles of Association accordingly.
A brief interjection, and for the sake of good order, at this point of time, we close the list of speakers. Thank you for understanding. Under Agenda Item 10, the General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose that a resolution be passed to amend Section 19 of the Articles of Association with regard to the compensation of the Members of the Joint Committee. Under Agenda Item 11, the General Partner and the Supervisory Board propose an amendment to Section 21 of the Articles of Association. This is intended to further authorize the General Partner to provide, if necessary, for a virtual Annual Meeting to be held without the physical presence of shareholders or their proxies at the venue of the Annual General Meeting. Any decision to hold a virtual Annual General Meeting should only be made by the General Partner with the approval of the Supervisory Board.
The authorization shall apply to the holding of virtual Annual General Meetings for a period of two years after entry of these provisions of the Articles of Association in the company's commercial register. A counter motion to the management's proposal has been submitted by the German association Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre, which requests that the management's proposed resolution to reauthorize the General Partner to decide on the holding of a virtual Annual General Meeting be rejected. Anyone wishing to vote in favor of this motion should vote no. So much for the Agenda. As already announced, at this point in time, you can no longer issue instructions to the company's proxy. I would now like to ask the company's voting representative to cast the vote.
Let me point out once more that the possibility to change the voting behavior for postal votes ends with the closing of the vote. I'm now waiting for a signal from the voting proxy to continue. Thank you. We have received the signal from the proxy. I can see that the company's proxy has had an opportunity to carry out the voting on all Agenda Items in line with the instructions given to him. I hereby close the voting process. It will take a couple of minutes to determine the results of the vote. We will therefore briefly interrupt for about 15 minutes, and in 15 minutes' time, we will start by declaring the results of the vote. Thank you. I'll see you in a moment.
It's an amazing day. It's a day of joy and pride for DWS.
We're going to talk afterwards about the financial journey, but that is only one aspect. It's about the journey of DWS, of a great strategy, and our people that make it happen every day by connecting the dots. Today is a great day for DWS Group. We've just celebrated our promotion into the MDAX, and this is the result of great work by 4,500 people across the globe. A big thank you. Now, this has been a long journey. We've been around for almost 70 years, and our focus has always been the same: clients, markets, investing. All of us are building long-term, trusted relationships with our clients. We are passionate about markets, and we love investing our clients' money as a fiduciary. Now, we do that with discipline in good times and in tough times.
I just want to say that the great work by everyone across the value chain, across 23 countries, that's why we've been included into the MDAX. While we should properly celebrate that great day, always remember we are a growth company, and the best for our great company is yet to come. Thank you, and let's celebrate. The Sound of Finance. [Foreign language] . It's an amazing day. It's a day of joy and pride for DWS. We're going to talk afterwards about the financial journey, but that is only one aspect. It's about the journey of DWS, of a great strategy, and our people that make it happen every day by connecting the dots. Today is a great day for DWS Group.
We've just celebrated our promotion into the MDAX, and this is the result of great work by 4,500 people across the globe. A big thank you. Now, this has been a long journey. We've been around for almost 70 years, and our focus has always been the same: clients, markets, investing. All of us are building long-term, trusted relationships with our clients. We are passionate about markets, and we love investing our clients' money as a fiduciary. We do that with discipline in good times and in tough times. I just want to say that the great work by everyone across the value chain, across 23 countries, that's why we've been included into the MDAX. While we should properly celebrate that great day, always remember we are a growth company, and the best for our great company is yet to come. Thank you, and let's celebrate.
Ladies and gentlemen, in the meantime, I have received the results of the vote. Let me now turn to the announcement of the resolutions adopted. After announcing the results, I will immediately close the AGM. Today, as last year, you will be shown the exact number of yes and no votes in the video transmission. So you will mostly hear me, but not see me on the screen. You may wish to use the full screen mode or at least enlarge your screen view to see the results. We will also provide you with details regarding the results shown on the screen. As we will make the results visible to everybody in announcing the results, I will just state the required majority of votes received for each of the Agenda Items.
The charts shown on the screen are part of my announcement of the result of the vote, and I expressly embrace them. The results of the vote will also be shown on the company's website shortly. Let me once again announce the current attendance of the capital stock of the company of EUR 200 million divided into 200 million no-par value shares, a total of 179,339,347 no-par value shares with the same number of votes represented at today's AGM. This corresponds to 89.67% of the share capital. In addition, absentee postal votes have been cast for a total of 74,352 no-par value shares. In total, this means that 179,413,699 no-par value shares, or 89.71% of the share capital, are represented here today in the vote. Let me now turn to the results of the voting process. Shareholders, this takes us to the end of our Agenda of today's AGM.
Oops, sorry. I state and announce for each resolution as follows: The voting related to the resolution proposals of the General Partner and the Supervisory Boards, or the resolution proposal of the Supervisory Board as announced in the Federal Gazette of 30th of April 2025. Regarding Agenda Item 1, adoption of the Annual Financial Statements for 2024, the AGM adopted the proposal with the required majority of votes. This resolution, according to Section 286(1) of the German Stock Operation Law, requires the approval of the General Partner. As I can see, the representatives of the General Partner, Dr. Kuder and Dr. Hoops, are granting this approval. Next, Agenda Item 2, appropriation of distributable profit for financial year 2024. The Annual General Meeting has adopted the proposal with the required majority of votes.
Regarding Agenda Item 3, ratification of the active management of the General Partner for financial year 2024, the Annual General Meeting has adopted the proposal with the required majority of the votes. This means that the counterproposal has become obsolete. Regarding Agenda Item 4, ratification of the active management of the Members of the Supervisory Board for financial year 2024, the Annual General Meeting has adopted the proposal with the required majority of the votes. This means that the counterproposal has become obsolete or moot. Regarding Agenda Item 5.1, election of the auditor of the Annual Financial Statements and Consolidated Financial Statements and Interim Financial Statements, the AGM has adopted the proposal with the required majority of the votes. Regarding Agenda Item 5.2, election of the auditor for the limited reviews of Interim Financial Reports, the AGM has adopted the proposal with the required majority of the votes.
Regarding Agenda Item 5.3, election of the auditor for the sustainability reporting, the Annual General Meeting has adopted the proposal with the required majority of the votes. Regarding Agenda Item 6, resolution on approval of the compensation report, the Annual General Meeting has adopted the proposal with the required majority of the votes. Regarding Agenda Item 7, election to the Supervisory Board, Tomohiro Yao, the Annual General Meeting has elected Tomohiro Yao to the Supervisory Board with the required majority of the votes. Mr. Yao had already announced in the run-up to the election that he was going to accept the election result. Regarding Agenda Item 8, resolution on approval of the compensation system for the Managing Directors of the General Partner, the AGM has adopted the proposal with the required majority of the votes.
Regarding Agenda Item 9, resolution on the compensation of Supervisory Board members, including the compensation system and corresponding amendments to the Articles of Association, the AGM has adopted the proposal with the required majority of the votes and the required capital majority. This resolution requires the approval of the General Partner, which was minuted and has just been passed to me in the run-up to this AGM by the notary public in accordance with Section 285 (2) and (3) of the German Stock Operation Act. This is the certificate that contains the approval. Regarding Agenda Item 10, amendment to Section 19 of the Articles of Association regarding the remuneration of the Joint Committee meetings, the AGM has adopted the proposal with the required majority of the votes and the required capital majority.
Here, too, the approval of the General Partner is required and had already been minuted by the notary in the run-up to the AGM in line with Section 285 (2) and (3) of the German Stock Operation Act, and this is also part of the notary deed that has just been passed to me. Regarding Agenda Item 11, amendment to Section 21 of the Articles of Association to further facilitate virtual General Meetings, the Annual General Meeting has adopted the proposal with the required majority of the votes and the required capital majority. This means that the counterproposal has become mute.
Here, too, the approval of the General Partner is required and has already been minuted by the notary public in the run-up to this AGM in line with Section 285(2) and (3) of the Stock Operation Act and has been part of the notary deed which has just been passed to me. Shareholders, this takes us to the end of the Agenda for today's AGM. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your interest in DWS and the virtual meeting that we have held here today. I would also like to once again thank Stefan Hoops and all Board Members for answering the questions, and I would like to thank all employees involved in preparing and implementing this Annual General Meeting. I hereby close the meeting. We're looking forward to the Annual General Meeting of DWS to be held in 2026. It will once again take place in June.
See you then. I wish you all the best. Enjoy the summer.