Germany's DWS Group in talks with Gulf sovereign funds over European deals

DWS Group, the asset management arm of German lender Deutsche Bank, is in talks with some of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East to invest in European infrastructure deals and private credit and real estate markets.

The Europe-focused asset manager, which has more than €1.05 trillion ($1.19 trillion) in client assets, is negotiating tailor-made deals with several sovereign funds, as well as some of the largest family offices in the GCC, DWS Group chief executive Stefan Hoops told The National.

The Frankfurt-based firm, which is to formally launch its first office in the Middle East at Abu Dhabi’s financial centre ADGM this week, expects to start announcing investment deals this year, especially on the European private credit front.

DWS and parent company Deutsche Bank have signed a €1 billion agreement with Al Mirqab Capital. Photo: Deutsche Bank

“Based on very specific situations, I'm very optimistic for private credit in 2026 and all of those discussions are with Middle Eastern investors,” Mr Hoops said. “When it comes to Abu Dhabi, I think the way the ruling family thinks about pension and long-term security, and also funding, it is quite interesting. Without naming names, you have large pension funds that have become very sophisticated investors over the last couple of years so there's obviously more than one interesting potential partner to cater to.”

Last month, DWS and parent Deutsche Bank signed a €1 billion agreement for a long-term investment collaboration with Doha-based private family office, Al Mirqab Capital, to launch a German Opportunities Mandate.