HEAD-TO-HEAD: DWS versus Fidelity

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Manager review

“The funds are run by talented portfolio managers and backed by ample resources,” said Schumacher.

At DWS, Thomas Schuessler has been at the helm for over 15 years, making him one of the longest tenured managers in the category. “He is a manager who has seen various investment cycles in which he has demonstrated his ability to pick reliable dividend payers,” said Schumacher.

Schussler heads the dividend team at DWS, which manages regional versions of the strategy and apply a similar conservative philosophy. The group has 11 members, who typically combine the portfolio manager role with coverage responsibility in the global analyst team of 50.

“Although resources are deep, we have seen more turnover in the dividend team in recent years than we like. With Schussler being the primary decision maker, key person risk is relatively high,”.

At Fidelity, Dan Roberts has been the portfolio manager since the fund’s 2012 inception. While this is Robert’s first stint on a global dividend fund, he has managed UK dividend strategies before, giving him about two decades of relevant experience.

Roberts is a member of the firm’s dividend team which manages regional funds, and while they share views and ideas, Roberts controls idea generation and is the sole decision maker on portfolio construction, according to Schumacher.

“Roberts makes good use of Fidelity’s deep global analyst bench, although he is also willing to differentiate from the analysts’ view based on his own research,” he said.

Since the performance of the strategy hinges much on the efficacy of Robert’s stock selection, key person risk is present, Schumacher added.

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