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1Letter of the Chief Executive Officer2GRI 2-223Frankfurt/Main, March 20244Dear Shareholders,52023 was another demanding year for the asset management industry, mainly driven by what 6one financial analyst described as a “flow-less” market recovery. Nevertheless, DWS managed 7to return to a positive flow picture. Supported by all of our three pillars – Active, Passive 8(including Xtrackers) and Alternatives – and all main regions, DWS generated high net inflows 9of € 28 billion last year. Excluding Cash, net new assets amounted to € 23 billion, enabling 10DWS to rank amongst the fastest organically growing asset managers worldwide by net new 11assets ex Cash growth in 2023. On behalf of the DWS Executive Board, I would like to thank 12our clients for their trust and all our employees for their great passion and focus last year.13The turnaround in flow momentum was achieved despite increased geopolitical crises and 14continued industry challenges in 2023, from a tough revenue environment to ongoing 15inflationary pressures. In this setting and due to market turmoil in 2022, we started last year 16from a low assets under management base, and despite a significant AuM growth of around 17€ 75 billion, the average AuM in 2023 remained lower compared to 2022. This was a main 18driver for reduced management fees, which resulted in lower adjusted revenues of 19€ 2,603 million and adjusted profit before tax of € 937 million in 2023. But with AuM of 20€ 896 billion at the end of 2023, we are almost back to 2021 record levels, as net inflows and 21positive market developments exceeded negative impacts from exchange rate movements. In 22an inflationary environment, our adjusted costs increased over 2022 only slightly by 232 percent, demonstrating our strict cost discipline. This resulted in an adjusted cost-income 24ratio of 64 percent, which was well in line with our outlook of below 65 percent for 2023.25Based on our solid financial performance, and in order to demonstrate our commitment to 26shareholder value, we will propose to the Annual General Meeting in June a higher dividend 27of € 2.10 per share for the business year 2023. And as committed at our Capital Markets Day 28in 2022, we will also propose an extraordinary dividend. This will be € 4.00 per share. This 29extraordinary dividend amounts to a total payout of € 800 million and forms part of our 30commitment to hand back capital to you, our valued shareholders, as promised.31While we saw delays in our IT transformation project in 2023, overall, we progressed well 32with our refined strategy announced in December 2022. In the first half of 2023, we focused 33on the “Reduce” part of our strategy: we sold certain businesses and made tough, but 34necessary, restructuring to de-layer our organization. Our top priority was to generate savings 35first, so that we could self-fund our investments into the strategic categories of “Value”, 36“Growth” and “Build”. We then concentrated on these three categories for the rest of the 37year. 38In the “Value” category, which covers our Active business, we focused on changes in Active 39Fixed Income, including to its management, leading to a strong year-on-year improvement in 40outperformance for our clients. As a result, we recorded net inflows in Active Fixed Income in 412023, marking a reversal from net outflows in 2022. For Active, in total we improved the 1-42year and 5-year outperformance rate compared to the relevant benchmarks. Furthermore, we 43increased the number of our Active funds with AuM of more than € 1 billion by 14 percent 44since the announcement of our refined strategy – scaling our funds and improving their 45profitability. For DWS overall, we also succeeded in 2023 in slightly raising the number of 46funds rated 4 or 5 stars by Morningstar with a volume of € 100 million or more.47We also continued to progress on our “Growth” strategy. Passive, including Xtrackers, 48generated strong net new assets of € 21 billion, reinforcing our position as the number two 49provider of Exchange Traded Products by net inflows in Europe in 2023. While investments 50into Passive, as expected, generated quicker returns, the commitment to our second growth 51area, Alternatives, is a long-term case. We continued our investments into Alternatives with 52strategic hires, the focus on infrastructure and the push into private credit. 53In the “Build” component of our strategy, we strengthened our position in 2023 with a 54strategic alliance with Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. (Galaxy), a financial services and 55investment management innovator in the digital asset and blockchain technology sector. The 56         57To our 58Shareholders59Summarised 60Management Report61Consolidated 62Financial Statements63Compensation 64Report65Corporate Govern-66ance Statement67Supplementary 68Information DWS 2023 Annual Report69 70Letter of the Chief Executive Officer71II