In 2019, German asset manager DWS continued to develop new ESG products and solutions, while also providing stakeholders with greater ESG data transparency.

Its 2019 Sustainability Report, delivered in March 2020, was the second annual report since its IPO in March 2018. Furthermore, combining DWS's Annual and Sustainability Report into a single document will be an important step towards the asset manager's goal of fully integrated reporting in the future.

Highlights of the report include:

• Further details of the group-wide sustainability strategy and introduction of sustainability key performance indicators (KPIs) and ambitions.
• A move towards greater transparency by enhancing the chapter on Sustainable Finance, ESG products and Responsible Investing and disclosing new CIO-specific ESG KPIs, targets and metrics.
• Analysis to measure DWS's impact on the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. DWS's ESG subject matter experts were able to identify three SDGs where DWS could have the greatest impact: SDG 8, "Decent Work and Economic Growth", SDG 10, "Reduced Inequalities" and SDG 13, "Climate Action".

The report forms part of an overall strategy by DWS, which in October 2019 pledged a 50% carbon reduction for its European real estate office portfolio. If accomplished, this measure would result in an estimated reduction of 61,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

DWS also developed a group-wide sustainability strategy and roadmap backed by a comprehensive set of new sustainability KPIs intended to track meaningful progress on delivering commitments.