Fitch Ratings has affirmed three DWS short-term money market funds (ST MMFs) at 'AAAmmf' and one standard money market fund (standard MMF) at 'AAf'/'S1'.

The ST MMFs and standard MMF are managed by DWS International GmbH and DWS Investment GmbH, respectively, which are subsidiaries of DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA (DWS Group).

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The affirmations are driven by the broad stability in the funds' credit, market and liquidity risk profiles since the last review in November 2020 for the ST MMFs and October 2020 for the standard MMF. The ratings also reflect the capabilities and resources of DWS International GmbH and DWS Investment GmbH as investment managers.

CREDIT QUALITY

The ST MMFs' portfolio credit factors (PCFs), Fitch's proprietary risk-weighted measure that considers the credit quality and maturity profile of the portfolio securities, were 1.01, 1.21 and 1.36, for the euro, sterling and US dollar ST MMFs, respectively, as of 30 July 2021. These are all within the 'AAAmmf' rating range of 0-1.5. The PCF for the US dollar fund had a limited number of breaches during the review period in March, May and June 2021. Fitch judged the breaches as temporary. The PCFs for the euro and sterling ST MMFs met Fitch's 'AAAmmf' rating criterion of 1.5 or less throughout the review period. Fitch rates ST MMFs, as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1131, under its Money Market Fund Rating Criteria.

The standard MMF's weighted average rating factor (WARF), Fitch's proprietary measure of credit quality under bond fund rating criteria, was 0.21 as of 30 July 2021, which is within the 'AAAf' rating range. Fitch's 'AAf' rating of the standard MMF is therefore lower than implied by the fund's latest WARF. This difference reflects our view that the fund's currently more conservative positioning than during pre-pandemic levels is temporary, particularly with investment guidelines allowing the fund to increase credit risk, including the ability to allocate a material portion of assets to 'BBB' category securities. Fitch rates 'standard' MMFs, as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1131, under its Bond Fund Rating Criteria.

LIQUIDITY RISK

The ST MMFs had at least 10% of total assets in securities offering daily liquidity and at least 30% of total assets in securities providing weekly liquidity, consistent with the 'AAAmmf' rating range, throughout the review period. Overnight liquidity was above 29% for the funds as of 30 July 2021 and one-week liquidity was close to 40%, based on liquidity metrics defined in Fitch's rating criteria. Fitch understands that the available liquidity provides a strong match to the largest and the three-largest individual investors in the funds.

MARKET RISK

The weighted average maturity (WAM) of all the ST MMFs was within the 'AAAmmf' rating range of 0-60 days as of 30 July 2021. The funds' weighted average lives (WALs) are short compared with Fitch's applicable rating range, albeit longer in the sterling and US dollar funds. The longer WALs in the sterling and US dollar funds contribute to these funds' higher PCF levels.

The standard MMF's market risk factor, Fitch's proprietary measure of market risk sensitivity under Bond Fund Rating Criteria, was 0.35 as of 30 July 2021, which is well within the 'S1' market risk sensitivity rating range of 0-2.

FUND PROFILES

The ST MMFs are sub-funds of the umbrella fund, DWS Deutsche Global Liquidity Series p.l.c., which is an investment company with variable capital that falls under the UCITS directive. The funds are authorised and supervised by Central Bank of Ireland as Low Volatility Net Asset Value money market funds as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1131. As of end-July 2021, the funds' total assets stood at EUR7.73 billion, GBP8.36 billion and USD10.78 billion, respectively.

Launched in 1999, and repurposed as an ESG money market fund on 7 October 2019, DWS Institutional ESG Euro Money Market Fund is a Luxembourg-domiciled standard MMF pursuant to the UCITS directive. As of end- July 2021, the fund's total assets stood at EUR3.97 billion. The fund has daily dealings with a T+1 day settlement period, whereas the ST MMFs have daily dealing with T+0 settlement.

Fitch considers the legal and regulatory framework of the funds satisfactory.

INVESTMENT MANAGER

The ST MMFs and standard MMF are managed by DWS International GmbH and DWS Investment GmbH, respectively, which are subsidiaries of DWS Group, the asset management subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG (BBB/Positive/F2).

DWS Group had EUR820 billion assets under management as of March 2021, including EUR65.6 billion managed in liquidity products. Fitch considers DWS International GmbH and DWS Investment GmbH suitably qualified, competent and capable of managing the rated funds.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive rating action/upgrade:

The ST MMFs are rated at the highest possible rating level and therefore cannot be upgraded.

For the Fund Credit Quality Rating of the standard MMF, an upgrade is unlikely unless the fund changes its investment strategy to focus only on the highest-rated securities and reduce the maximum permissible duration. For the Fund Market Risk Sensitivity Rating of the standard MMF, the rating is at the highest possible level on Fitch's rating scale, and cannot be upgraded.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative rating action/downgrade:

The ratings may be sensitive to material adverse changes in the credit quality, market risk or liquidity profile of the funds. A material adverse and continued deviation from Fitch guidelines for any key rating drivers could cause the ratings to be downgraded. Strategic portfolio allocation with high exposure to securities with longer maturity and relatively lower credit quality may put pressure on a ST MMF's PCF, which could cause the ratings to be downgraded if it led to continued deviation from Fitch's guidelines.

Considering the history of breaches in the US dollar ST MMF as an aggravating factor, further PCF breaches could negatively affect Fitch's view that the fund will be sustainably managed within the 'AAAmmf' rating range, and therefore could cause negative rating action. Fitch views a material reliance on the Deutsche Managed Dollar Treasury Fund by the Deutsche Managed Dollar Fund for its liquidity management as a rating sensitivity.

CRITERIA VARIATION

The Deutsche Managed Dollar Fund invests in another DWS MMF (Deutsche Managed Dollar Treasury Fund). Investment in other MMFs affiliated with the manager is typically not consistent with a 'AAAmmf' rating under current Fitch's Money Market Fund Rating Criteria due to the conflict of interest that may occur, especially under stressed market condition.

However, in this case, Fitch believes incremental risk resulting from this exposure is mitigated, as the invested fund is a Treasury-only public debt constant net asset MMF (including direct exposures to US government and reverse repos backed by US Treasuries), the Treasury fund in question represents a limited portion of the US dollar fund's assets (typically 3-4%), and the Deutsche Managed Dollar Fund had on average close to 40% of overnight maturing assets during the review period based on surveillance data.

European MMF Regulation caps the investment of a MMF in another single eligible MMF at 5% of the investing fund's assets. Fitch has varied from its rating criteria in defining a limited exposure to a Treasury fund affiliated with the manager as consistent with a rating of 'AAAmmf', taking into consideration other factors, including the natural liquidity levels of the rated fund. Fitch has full visibility into this US dollar treasury MMF as part of the surveillance process. Deutsche Managed Dollar Fund owned around an 80% share of the Treasury fund as of end-July 2021 (up from around 60% at end-August 2020).

RATING ACTIONSENTITY/DEBT	RATING		PRIOR
DWS Deutsche Global Liquidity Series p.l.c - Deutsche Managed Dollar Fund	MMF	AAAmmf 	Affirmed		AAAmmf
DWS Institutional ESG Euro Money Market Fund	Fund Cr Qual Rtg	AAf 	Affirmed		AAf
	Sensitivity	S1 	Affirmed		S1
DWS Deutsche Global Liquidity Series p.l.c - Deutsche Managed Euro Fund	MMF	AAAmmf 	Affirmed		AAAmmf
DWS Deutsche Global Liquidity Series p.l.c - Deutsche Managed Sterling Fund	MMF	AAAmmf 	Affirmed		AAAmmf

VIEW ADDITIONAL RATING DETAILS

Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com

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