DWS launches an equity fund to invest in essential materials producers
3 JUL, 2026
By Joanna Piwko from RankiaPro Europe
DWS has launched the DWS Invest Essential Materials Producers, an actively managed equity fund designed to give investors access to companies linked to essential or critical materials.
The vehicle invests exclusively in listed securities, offers daily liquidity and aims to capture opportunities arising from structural trends such as energy transition, electrification and the increasing industrial demand for raw materials.
A fund focused on the value chain of critical materials
The strategy of the new fund is particularly focused on producers and developers in the mining sector, with exposure to extraction, production and processing of materials. According to the information provided by the manager, at least 70% of the assets will be allocated to shares of global companies included in relevant benchmark indices, such as the S&P TSX Energy Transition Materials Index and the S&P Global Essential Metals Producers Index, and that operate along the value chain of the so-called critical materials.
Among these materials are lithium, copper, nickel, aluminum, cobalt and rare earths, considered key elements for numerous modern technologies and industrial applications. Their role is especially relevant in areas such as electromobility, data centers, artificial intelligence and defense, segments that are driving a sustained increase in the demand for raw materials.
A thematic proposal for medium and long term investors
DWS frames this launch in a context where the security of the supply of critical materials has acquired a growing geopolitical dimension. The concentration of extraction and processing in a limited number of countries and manufacturers has led governments and supranational institutions to strengthen their strategies to ensure more resilient and independent supply chains, through support programs and regulatory initiatives such as the European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act.
In this scenario, the manager presents the fund as a specific complement for thematic diversification within an equity portfolio. The product is aimed at investors with a medium or long-term investment horizon, capable of assuming higher volatility and fluctuations inherent to this theme, and who seek to benefit from an active selection of securities within a segment closely linked to major economic and industrial transformations.
Energy supply, data centers, and defense face the same structural bottleneck: dependence on critical materials poses significant risks to supply chains. Expansion in these sectors is driven less by demand than by the availability of these materials, and it is precisely around this bottleneck where the main value-generating factors can arise.
Taylor Smith, portfolio manager of the DWS Invest Essential Materials Producers and co-head of Commodity and Natural Resources Equity at DWS
