DWS Group was awarded Equity Fund Manager of the Year, with judges hailing it for its impressive returns for investors.  

The fund manager was singled out for honours due to its launch of a GP-led secondary process to optimise fund exposure to existing assets and release capital to further diversify the fund portfolio, while retaining full governance. 

The submission said: “In the challenging 2023 fundraising market the team received commitments in excess of the €750 million hard cap with pricing at just a 3.5% discount to NAV, illustrating the strength and resilience of our portfolio.” 

The returns for investors were further demonstrated by the disposal of Dutch waste management and recycling company Attero by DWS’ Pan-European Infrastructure II (PEIF II) at a 30% premium to pre-process NAV, generating a gross IRR of 22.5% and MOIC of 2.7 times.  

The submission said: “This disposal, despite a slowdown in M&A transactions, demonstrated the team’s ability to realise attractive valuations and maintain competitive tension throughout the process. PEIF II has returned all invested capital to investors and has a DPI of c.1.2x as of 30 June 2024.” 

Furthermore, despite the challenging market and investor hesitancy, DWS’ infra platform raised €1.7 billion over the judging period, including €350 million for SGIF, a first-time energy transition small cap fund backed by the EIF, an innovative German retail strategy, and a GP-led secondary. 

DWS gave the example of the agreement for PEIF III to acquire its ninth investment in Global Ports Holding (GPH), the world’s largest independent cruise port operator managing 31 ports in 18 countries. 

The submission said: “PEIF III’s investment is a structured equity instrument offering downside protection and upside participation. It includes a €150m preferred equity with a 6% annual interest rate, and a Payment-In-Kind toggle increasing interest by 1.5% initially, then 3.0%. In liquidation, the fund prioritizes repayment, returning 1.70x in year 4, up to 2.15x in year 7. The second component is an equity upside sharing agreement with GIH, where proceeds above 2.0x MoM are split: 5% DWS/95% GIH (2.0-3.0x), 10% DWS/90% GIH (3.0-4.0x), and 25% DWS/75% GIH (above 4.0x).” 

Judges were particularly impressed with this deal, saying: “Case studies show three great outcomes in challenging markets. The use of structured equity is certainly an important trend.” 

Another judge says: “The fund manager has impressive realised returns for investors and interesting range of transactions.”