Asset managers are on high alert following probes by US and German financial regulators into the sustainable investment claims from DWS, with the investigations predicted to act as a “serious wake-up call” for a sector that has attracted billions of dollars into ESG funds.

DWS, the listed asset manager majority owned by Deutsche Bank, has found itself at the centre of an ESG probe after its former head of sustainability, Desiree Fixler, claimed it overstated how much it used sustainable investing criteria to manage its assets.