1. Are you currently engaging with Aurubis? If yes, does – or will – that include engagement on the topic of supply chain transparency?

Currently we do not engage with Aurubis. All engagements conducted in the current reporting period (year 2022) are documented in our Active Ownership: Engagement & Proxy Voting Report 2022: https://download.dws.com/download?elib-assetguid=85963db416824369817278b917aa0ece

Our engagement process is set out in detail in our Engagement Policy. According to this, DWS divides its activities with portfolio companies into three categories: "core", "focus" and "strategic" engagements. This categorization is based on our identification and prioritization process. Please also see: https://download.dws.com/download?elib-assetguid=e609c46cc03148eead59178e865d9fed

2. If applicable, did you vote for or against motions by Kritische Aktionäre and Ethius Invest calling for more supply chain transparency at Aurubis’ general assembly in 2023, and why? Will greater transparency be a priority topic for you for next year’s assembly?

We voted against the discharge of the entire Supervisory Board (agenda item 4). The countermotions are not displayed in ISS Proxyexchange and are therefore not part of the vote presented to us.

3. Do you incorporate sustainability considerations in your investment/financing model, and did you conduct ESG research and/or a due diligence analysis before deciding to finance/invest in Aurubis? If yes, what role, if any, did the issue of supply chain transparency play?

We have different ESG-related policies that provide guidance on the integration of ESG information into our investment processes, engagement, and proxy voting activities, where we combine our voting rights for active and passive funds. For DWS not only the engagement with companies plays an important role to achieve improvements regarding ESG factors, but with index providers as well. We are pursuing two goals here: Firstly, we want to achieve that sustainability criteria are increasingly integrated into existing indices, and secondly, that more new sustainable indices are developed for new products.