497K 1 k120119cint.htm DWS CROCI INTERNATIONAL FUND

Summary Prospectus | December 1, 2019
DWS CROCI® International Fund
Class/Ticker A SUIAX T SUITX C SUICX R6 SUIRX INST SUIIX S SCINX
Before you invest, you may want to review the fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund’s prospectus, reports to shareholders, Statement of Additional Information (SAI) and other information about the fund online at dws.com/mutualpros. You can also get this information at no cost by e-mailing a request to service@dws.com, calling (800) 728-3337 or asking your financial representative. The Prospectus and SAI, both dated December 1, 2019, as supplemented, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
Beginning on January 1, 2021, as permitted by regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, paper copies of the fund’s annual and semi-annual shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports. Instead, the reports will be made available on the fund’s Web site (dws.com), and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a Web site link to access the report.
If you already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications from the fund electronically anytime by contacting your financial intermediary (such as a broker-dealer or bank), or if you are a direct investor, by calling (800) 728-3337 or sending an email request to service@dws.com.
You may elect to receive all future reports in paper free of charge. If you invest through a financial intermediary, you can contact your financial intermediary to request that you continue to receive paper copies of your shareholder reports. If you invest directly with the fund, you can call (800) 728-3337 or send an email request to service@dws.com to continue receiving paper copies of your shareholder reports. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all funds held in your account if you invest through your financial intermediary or all funds held with DWS if you invest directly with the fund.
Investment Objective
The fund seeks long-term growth of capital.
Fees and Expenses
These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may be required to pay commissions and/or other forms of compensation to a broker for transactions in Class S shares, which are not reflected in the tables or the example below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in
Class A shares in DWS funds or if you invest at least $250,000 in Class T shares in the fund. More information about these and other discounts and waivers is available from your financial representative and in Choosing a Share Class in the prospectus (p. 23), Sales Charge Waivers and Discounts Available Through Intermediaries in the prospectus (Appendix B, p. 63) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund’s SAI (p. II-14).
SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment)
  A T C R6 INST S
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases, as % of offering price 5.75 2.50 None None None None
Maximum deferred sales charge (load), as % of redemption proceeds1 None None 1.00 None None None
Account Maintenance Fee (annually, for fund account balances below $10,000 and subject to certain exceptions) $20 None $20 None None $20
ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES
(expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment)
  A T C R6 INST S
Management fee 0.57 0.57 0.57 0.57 0.57 0.57
Distribution/service (12b-1) fees 0.24 0.25 1.00 None None None
Other expenses 0.36 0.32 0.32 0.21 0.32 0.34
Total annual fund operating expenses 1.17 1.14 1.89 0.78 0.89 0.91
1 Investments of $1,000,000 or more may be eligible to buy Class A shares without a sales charge (load), but may be subject to a contingent deferred sales charge of 1.00% if redeemed within 12 months of the original purchase date and 0.50% if redeemed within the following six months.
EXAMPLE
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest
 
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$10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Years A T C R6 INST S
1 $687 $363 $292 $80 $91 $93
3 925 603 594 249 284 290
5 1,182 862 1,021 433 493 504
10 1,914 1,601 2,212 966 1,096 1,120
You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares:
Years A T C R6 INST S
1 $687 $363 $192 $80 $91 $93
3 925 603 594 249 284 290
5 1,182 862 1,021 433 493 504
10 1,914 1,601 2,212 966 1,096 1,120
PORTFOLIO TURNOVER  
The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 101% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Main investments. The fund invests at least 65% of its total assets in foreign equities (equities issued by foreign-based companies and listed on foreign exchanges). Although the fund can invest in companies of any size and from any country, it invests mainly in common stocks of established companies in countries with developed economies (other than the United States).
Management process. Portfolio management will select stocks of companies that it believes offer economic value utilizing the Cash Return on Capital Invested (CROCI®) strategy as the primary factor, in addition to other factors. Under the CROCI® strategy, economic value is measured using various metrics such as the CROCI® Economic Price Earnings Ratio (CROCI® Economic P/E Ratio). The CROCI® Economic P/E Ratio is a proprietary measure of company valuation using the same relationship between valuation and return as an accounting P/E ratio (i.e., price/book value divided by return on equity). The CROCI® Economic P/E Ratio and other CROCI® metrics may be adjusted from time to time. The CROCI® strategy may apply other
measures of company valuation, as determined by the CROCI® Investment Strategy and Valuation Group. Portfolio management may use criteria other than the CROCI® strategy in selecting investments. Portfolio management will select stocks primarily from a universe consisting of the largest companies in developed markets outside North America represented in the CROCI® Investment Strategy and Valuation Group’s database of companies evaluated using the CROCI® strategy. Generally, this database has included approximately 400 stocks from developed markets outside of North America. The CROCI® strategy is supplied by the CROCI® Investment Strategy and Valuation Group, a unit within the DWS Group, through a licensing arrangement with the fund’s Advisor.
Portfolio management will periodically review and adjust the fund’s portfolio in order to maintain the desired balance between return potential and various risk factors, such as, without limitation: style, size, country and idiosyncratic risks. Portfolio management may refer to the output of various optimization tools and other portfolio construction techniques in order to help control for tax efficiency, unwanted portfolio exposure to the risk factors specified above versus the benchmark, as well as undesired levels of portfolio turnover, and other factors.
CROCI® Investment Process. The CROCI® Investment Process is based on the belief that the data used in traditional valuations (i.e., accounting data) does not accurately appraise assets, reflect all liabilities or represent the real value of a company. This is because the accounting rules are not always designed specifically for investors and often utilize widely differing standards which can make measuring the real asset value of companies difficult. The CROCI® Investment Process seeks to generate data that will enable valuation comparisons on a consistent basis, resulting in what portfolio management believes is an effective and efficient sector and stock selection process targeting investment in real value.
Portfolio management may consider information about Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues in its fundamental research process and when making investment decisions.
Derivatives. Portfolio management generally may use futures contracts, which are a type of derivative (a contract whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions. In addition, from time to time portfolio management may use forward currency contracts to hedge the fund's exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates on its foreign currency denominated portfolio holdings or to facilitate transactions in foreign currency denominated securities. Portfolio management generally may use structured notes to gain exposure to certain foreign markets that may not permit direct investment.
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The fund may also use other types of derivatives (i) for hedging purposes; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions.
Securities lending. The fund may lend securities (up to one-third of total assets) to approved institutions, such as registered broker-dealers, banks and pooled investment vehicles.
Active trading. The fund may trade securities actively and this may lead to high portfolio turnover.
Main Risks
There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund’s performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund’s performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.
Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments, as well as US and foreign government actions such as the imposition of tariffs, economic and trade sanctions or embargoes, could undermine the value of the fund’s investments, prevent the fund from realizing the full value of its investments or prevent the fund from selling securities it holds. In June 2016, citizens of the United Kingdom approved a referendum to leave the European Union (EU) and in March 2017, the United Kingdom initiated the formal process of withdrawing from the EU. Significant uncertainty exists regarding the United Kingdom’s anticipated withdrawal from the EU and any adverse economic and political effects such withdrawal may have on the United Kingdom, other EU countries and the global economy.
Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities.
Stock market risk. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Stock prices can be hurt by poor management on the part of the stock’s issuer, shrinking product demand and other business risks. These may affect single companies as well as groups of companies. The market as a whole may not favor the types of investments the fund makes, which could adversely affect a stock’s price, regardless of how well the company performs, or the fund’s ability to sell a stock at an attractive price. There is a chance that stock prices
overall will decline because stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising and falling prices. Events in the US and global financial markets, including actions taken by the US Federal Reserve or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, may at times result in unusually high market volatility which could negatively affect performance. Further, geopolitical and other events, including war, terrorism, economic uncertainty, trade disputes and related geopolitical events have led, and in the future may lead, to increased short-term market volatility, which may disrupt securities markets and have adverse long-term effects on US and world economies and markets. To the extent that the fund invests in a particular geographic region, capitalization or sector, the fund’s performance may be affected by the general performance of that region, capitalization or sector.
CROCI® risk. The fund is managed using the CROCI® Investment Process which is based on portfolio management’s belief that, over time, stocks which display more favorable financial metrics (for example, the CROCI® Economic P/E Ratio) as generated by this process may outperform stocks which display less favorable metrics. This premise may not prove to be correct and prospective investors should evaluate this assumption prior to investing in the fund.
The calculation of financial metrics used by the fund (such as, among others, the CROCI® Economic P/E Ratio) are determined by the CROCI® Investment Strategy and Valuation Group using publicly available information. This publicly available information is adjusted based on assumptions made by the CROCI® Investment Strategy and Valuation Group that, subsequently, may not prove to have been correct. As financial metrics are calculated using historical information, there can be no guarantee of the future performance of the CROCI® strategy. The measures utilized by portfolio management to attempt to reduce portfolio turnover, market impact and transaction costs could affect performance. In addition, certain regulatory restrictions (e.g., limits on percentage of assets invested in a single industry) could constrain the fund’s ability to invest in some stocks that may have the most attractive financial metrics as determined by the CROCI® Investment Process.
Currency risk. Changes in currency exchange rates may affect the value of the fund’s investment and the fund’s share price. To the extent the fund’s forward currency contracts are not successful in hedging against such changes, the fund’s US dollar share price may go down if the value of the local currency of the non−US markets in which the fund invests depreciates against the US dollar. This is true even if the local currency value of securities in the fund’s holdings goes up. Furthermore, the fund’s use of forward currency contracts may eliminate some or all of the benefit of an increase in the value of a foreign currency versus the US dollar. The value of the US dollar measured against other currencies is influenced by a
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variety of factors. These factors include: interest rates, national debt levels and trade deficits, changes in balances of payments and trade, domestic and foreign interest and inflation rates, global or regional political, economic or financial events, monetary policies of governments, actual or potential government intervention, global energy prices, political instability and government monetary policies and the buying or selling of currency by a country’s government.
In order to minimize transaction costs or for other reasons, the fund’s exposure to non−US currencies of the fund’s investments may not be hedged at all times. Currency exchange rates can be very volatile and can change quickly and unpredictably. Therefore, the value of an investment in the fund may also go up or down quickly and unpredictably.
Security selection risk. The securities in the fund’s portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters.
Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors may have a significant impact on the fund’s performance.
Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment and/or the fund may sell certain investments at a price or time that is not advantageous in order to meet redemption requests or other cash needs. Unusual market conditions, such as an unusually high volume of redemptions or other similar conditions could increase liquidity risk for the fund.
Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different from the value realized upon such investment’s sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares.
Derivatives risk. Risks associated with derivatives may include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses.
Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund.
Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security.
ESG investing risk. When portfolio management considers ESG factors in its fundamental research process and when making investment decisions, there is a risk that the fund may forgo otherwise attractive investment opportunities or increase or decrease its exposure to certain types of issuers and, therefore, may underperform funds that do not consider ESG factors.
Operational and technology risk. Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the fund’s service providers or counterparties, issuers of securities held by the fund, or other market participants may adversely affect the fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the fund or impairing fund operations.
Active trading risk. Active securities trading could raise transaction costs (thus lowering returns) and could mean increased taxable distributions to shareholders and distributions that will be taxable to shareholders at higher federal income tax rates.
Past Performance
How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends and distributions were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to dws.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the telephone number included in this prospectus.
Prior to February 28, 2014, the fund had a different investment management team that operated with a different investment strategy. Performance would have been different if the investment strategy described above had been in effect.
The performance figures for Class T shares prior to class inception are based on the historical performance of the fund’s Institutional Class shares adjusted to reflect the higher expenses and applicable sales charges of Class T.
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CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A)
These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here.
    
  Returns Period ending
Best Quarter 22.81% September 30, 2009
Worst Quarter -22.30% September 30, 2011
Year-to-Date 9.01% September 30, 2019
Average Annual Total Returns
(For periods ended 12/31/2018 expressed as a %)
After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan.
  Class
Inception 		1
Year 		5
Years 		10
Years
Class A before tax 8/2/1999 -19.55 -1.33 4.33
After tax on distributions   -20.12 -2.59 3.49
After tax on distributions and sale of fund shares   -11.03 -1.20 3.39
Class T before tax 6/5/2017 -16.71 -0.68 4.72
Class C before tax 12/29/2000 -15.26 -0.91 4.15
INST Class before tax 12/29/2000 -14.38 0.15 5.34
Class S before tax 6/18/1953 -14.43 0.08 5.24
MSCI EAFE Value Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)   -14.78 -0.61 5.50
Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Europe, Australasia, Far East (EAFE) Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)   -13.79 0.53 6.32
MSCI EAFE US Dollar Hedged Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)   -8.96 4.64 8.09
    
  Class
Inception 		1
Year 		Since
Inception
Class R6 before tax 12/1/2014 -14.30 -0.15
MSCI EAFE Value Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)   -7.42 -0.25
Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Europe, Australasia, Far East (EAFE) Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)   -13.79 1.02
MSCI EAFE US Dollar Hedged Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)   -8.96 1.17
The MSCI EAFE® Value Index has replaced the MSCI EAFE® Index as the fund's primary benchmark index, and will no longer serve as the fund's secondary benchmark index. The Advisor believes that the MSCI EAFE® Value Index better represents the fund's investment strategy and is therefore more suitable for performance comparison. On April 5, 2019, the MSCI EAFE® Value Index replaced the MSCI EAFE® US Dollar Hedged Index as the fund's comparative secondary benchmark index because the Advisor believes the MSCI EAFE® Value Index is more consistent with the fund's investment approach.
Management
Investment Advisor
DWS Investment Management Americas, Inc.
Portfolio Manager(s)
Di Kumble, CFA, Managing Director. Portfolio Manager of the fund. Began managing the fund in 2014.
John Moody, Vice President. Portfolio Manager of the fund. Began managing the fund in 2016.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Minimum Initial Investment  ($)
  Non-IRA IRAs UGMAs/
UTMAs 		Automatic
Investment
Plans
A T C 1,000 500 1,000 500
R6 None N/A N/A N/A
INST 1,000,000 N/A N/A N/A
S 2,500 1,000 1,000 1,000
For participants in all group retirement plans for Class A, T, C and S shares, and in certain fee-based and wrap programs approved by the Advisor for Class A, C and S shares, there is no minimum initial investment and no minimum additional investment. For Section 529 college savings plans, there is no minimum initial investment and no minimum additional investment for Class S shares and Class R6 shares. Certain intermediaries that offer Class S shares in their brokerage platforms may be eligible for an investment minimum waiver. In certain instances, the minimum initial investment may be waived for Institutional Class shares. There is no minimum additional investment for Institutional Class and Class R6 shares. The minimum additional investment in all other instances is $50.
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To Place Orders
Mail New Accounts DWS
PO Box 219356
Kansas City, MO 64121-9356
  Additional Investments DWS
PO Box 219154
Kansas City, MO 64121-9154
  Exchanges and Redemptions DWS
PO Box 219557
Kansas City, MO 64121-9557
Expedited Mail DWS
210 West 10th Street
Kansas City, MO 64105-1614
Web Site dws.com
Telephone (800) 728-3337, M – F 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET
TDD Line (800) 972-3006, M – F 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET
  
The fund is generally open on days when the New York Stock Exchange is open for regular trading. Initial investments must be sent by mail. You can make additional investments or sell shares of the fund on any business day by visiting our Web site, by mail, or by telephone; however you may have to elect certain privileges on your initial account application. If you are working with a financial representative, contact your financial representative for assistance with buying or selling fund shares. A financial representative separately may impose its own policies and procedures for buying and selling fund shares.
Class T shares are closed to new purchases, except in connection with the reinvestment of dividends or other distributions where Class T shares have been issued. Class R6 shares are generally available only to certain qualifying plans and programs, which may have their own policies or instructions for buying and selling fund shares. Institutional Class shares are generally available only to qualified institutions. Class S shares are only available to a limited group of investors as well as through firms that have an agreement with DWS Distributors, Inc. to offer the shares on an agency basis on brokerage platforms.
Tax Information
The fund's distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains, except when your investment is in an IRA, 401(k), or other tax-advantaged investment plan. Any withdrawals you make from such tax- advantaged investment plans, however, may be taxable to you.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and
Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund, the Advisor, and/or the Advisor’s affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and
your salesperson to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s Web site for more information.
No such payments are made with respect to Class R6 shares. To the extent the fund makes such payments with respect to another class of its shares, the expense is borne by the other share class.
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