Dividend funds

After years of dominance by growth stocks, dividend funds had slowly become the wallflowers of the investment universe. Investors flocked to technology, e-commerce and internet companies, which emerged as the stars in the stock market firmament partly due to the corona crisis and the resulting generous monetary policy of central banks. Barring some brief periods of outperformance, value stocks slid deeper and deeper into the mothball bin. However, a value renaissance began in late 2020, which received a firm tailwind in 2022.

With their stable income and preference for defensive stocks, conservative dividend strategies can be seen as an alternative to government bonds at times of stock market uncertainty. Are they really? Yes, says fund manager Thomas Schüssler of the well-known DWS Top Dividende. But it is the equity markets that are currently driving the inflow.