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ddpt:C000049879Member 2020-01-01 2020-12-31 0000088063 ddpt:ClassACR6ISMember ddpt:S000017996Member ddpt:C000049879Member 2021-01-01 2021-12-31 0000088063 ddpt:ClassACR6ISMember ddpt:S000017996Member ddpt:C000049879Member 2022-01-01 2022-12-31 0000088063 ddpt:ClassACR6ISMember ddpt:S000017996Member ddpt:C000049879Member 2023-01-01 2023-12-31 0000088063 ddpt:ClassACR6ISMember ddpt:S000017996Member ddpt:C000049879Member 2024-01-01 2024-12-31 0000088063 2025-05-31 2025-05-31 pure iso4217:USD 2025-05-31 DEUTSCHE DWS PORTFOLIO TRUST 0000088063 false 2025-10-01 N-1A 485BPOS -0.0259 0.0439 0.0142 -0.0073 0.0852 0.0074 0.0359 -0.0179 0.1140 0.0740 DWS Floating Rate Fund Investment Objective The fund seeks to provide high current income. Fees and Expenses These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy, hold and sell shares. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.You may qualify for sales charge discounts in Class A shares if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in DWS funds. More information about these and other discounts and waivers is available from your financial representative and in Choosing a Share Class (p. 17), Sales Charge Waivers and Discounts Available Through Intermediaries (Appendix B, p. 43) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund’s Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). You may qualify for sales charge discounts in Class A shares if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in DWS funds. 100000 100000 SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) 0.0275 0 0 0 0 0.0100 0 0 20 20 0 20 ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) 0.0055 0.0055 0.0055 0.0055 0.0025 0.0100 0 0 0.0045 0.0049 0.0036 0.0053 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0135 0.0214 0.0101 0.0118 -0.0028 -0.0032 -0.0019 -0.0031 0.0107 0.0182 0.0082 0.0087 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 18 months of purchase. “Other expenses” are restated to exclude fees related to proxy expenses. “Other expenses” would have been 0.46%, 0.50%, 0.37% and 0.54% for Class A, Class C, Institutional Class and Class S, respectively, had proxy expenses been included. The Advisor has contractually agreed through September 30, 2026 to waive its fees and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent necessary to maintain the fund’s total annual operating expenses (excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage, interest expenses and acquired fund fees and expenses) at 0.97%, 1.72%, 0.72% and 0.77% for Class A, Class C, Institutional Class and Class S, respectively. The agreement may only be terminated with the consent of the fund’s Board. September 30, 2026 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 $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 (including one year of capped expenses in each period) remain the same. Class C shares generally convert automatically to Class A shares after 8 years. The information presented in the Example for Class C reflects the conversion of Class C shares to Class A shares after 8 years. See “Class C Shares” in the “Choosing a Share Class” section of the prospectus for more information. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: 381 285 84 89 664 639 303 344 968 1120 539 619 1831 2246 1219 1404 You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: 381 185 84 89 664 639 303 344 968 1120 539 619 1831 2246 1219 1404 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 70% of the average value of its portfolio. 0.70 Principal Investment Strategies Main investments. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in adjustable rate loans that have a senior right to payment (“senior loans”) and other floating rate debt securities.Due to regulatory changes, effective June 11, 2026, the fund will replace the 80% investment policy and related disclosures set forth in this prospectus. Specifically, effective June 11, 2026, under normal circumstances, the fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in adjustable rate loans that have a senior right to payment (“senior loans”) and other floating rate debt securities.Senior loans typically are of below investment-grade quality and, compared to investment grade loans, may pay higher yields and have higher volatility and higher risk of default on payments of interest or principal. The fund invests in senior loans that may not be rated by a rating agency, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities commission or listed on any national exchange. Senior loans may have longer trade settlement periods than other types of investments.In addition, the fund may invest a portion of its assets in senior loans that are not secured by collateral. Such unsecured loans involve a greater risk of loss.In addition to investments in US-dollar denominated loans of US companies, investments may include US-dollar denominated loans of non-US companies and non-US dollar denominated loans of both US and non-US companies. The fund may acquire senior loans of borrowers engaged in any industry, but will invest no more than 25% of its total assets in senior loans of borrowers and securities of issuers in any one industry. The fund does not have a targeted maturity range for its portfolio.Under normal market conditions, up to 20% of the fund’s total assets may be held in cash and other investments, including, but not limited to, fixed-rate debt obligations, short- to medium-term notes, high-yield securities, which are those rated below the fourth highest credit rating category (that is, grade BB/Ba and below, commonly referred to as junk bonds), equity securities, hybrid and synthetic loans, collateralized loan obligations, and asset-backed securities.The fund may also invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and affiliated mutual funds. The fund may invest up to 5% of total assets in any single ETF and up to 5% of total assets in shares of DWS High Income Fund (which invests primarily in high-yield bonds commonly referred to as junk bonds) with a maximum of 10% of total assets in ETFs and DWS High Income Fund in the aggregate.Management process. Portfolio management focuses on cash flow and total return analysis, and diversification among sectors, industries and individual issuers. Portfolio management uses an active process, which emphasizes relative value and total return, using intensive research to seek to identify stable to improving credit situations that may provide yield compensation for the risk of owning below investment-grade, floating rate and other investments.Portfolio management utilizes primarily a bottom-up approach, where relative value and fundamental analysis are used to select securities within each industry, and a top-down approach to assess the overall risk and return in the market, including macroeconomic trends. Portfolio management typically considers a number of factors, including debt leverage and interest coverage, independent credit research, management visits and conference calls, as part of its analysis and research process. Portfolio management generally also considers financially material, environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, when available.Securities lending. The fund may lend securities (up to one-third of total assets) to approved institutions, such as registered broker-dealers, pooled investment vehicles, banks and other financial institutions. In connection with such loans, the fund receives liquid collateral in an amount that is based on the type and value of the securities being lent, with riskier securities generally requiring higher levels of collateral. 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. Market risk. Deteriorating market conditions might cause a general weakness in the market that reduces the overall level of securities prices in that market. In addition, an increase in demand for floating rate loans may adversely affect the rate of interest payable on loans acquired by the fund, thus reducing fund returns. During periods of limited supply of senior loans, the fund’s yield may be lower. Because the fund may invest heavily in one category of loans, market risk may be more pronounced for the fund than for funds that invest in a more diverse set of securities. Market disruption risk. Economies and financial markets throughout the world have become increasingly interconnected, which has increased the likelihood that events or conditions in one country or region will adversely impact markets or issuers in other countries or regions. This includes reliance on global supply chains that are susceptible to disruptions resulting from, among other things, war and other armed conflicts, tariffs, extreme weather events, and natural disasters. Such supply chain disruptions can lead to, and have led to, economic and market disruptions that have far-reaching effects on financial markets worldwide. The value of the fund’s investments may be negatively affected by adverse changes in overall economic or market conditions, such as the level of economic activity and productivity, unemployment and labor force participation rates, inflation or deflation (and expectations for inflation or deflation), interest rates, demand and supply for particular products or resources including labor, debt levels and credit ratings, and trade policies, among other factors. Such adverse conditions may contribute to an overall economic contraction across entire economies or markets, which may negatively impact the profitability of issuers operating in those economies or markets. In addition, geopolitical and other globally interconnected occurrences, including war, terrorism, economic uncertainty or financial crises, contagion, tariffs and trade disputes, government debt crises (including defaults or downgrades) or uncertainty about government debt payments, government shutdowns, public health crises, natural disasters, supply chain disruptions, climate change and related events or conditions, have led, and in the future may lead, to disruptions in the US and world economies and markets, which may increase financial market volatility and have significant adverse direct or indirect effects on the fund and its investments. Adverse market conditions or disruptions could cause the fund to lose money, experience significant redemptions, and encounter operational difficulties. Although multiple asset classes may be affected by adverse market conditions or a particular market disruption, the duration and effects may not be the same for all types of assets.Current military and other armed conflicts in various geographic regions, including those in Europe and the Middle East, can lead to, and have led to, economic and market disruptions, which may not be limited to the geographic region in which the conflict is occurring. Such conflicts can also result, and have resulted in some cases, in sanctions being levied by the United States, the European Union and/or other countries against countries or other actors involved in the conflict. In addition, such conflicts and related sanctions can adversely affect regional and global energy, commodities, financial and other markets and thus could affect the value of the fund's investments. The extent and duration of any military conflict, related sanctions and resulting economic and market disruptions are impossible to predict, but could be substantial.Other market disruption events include pandemic spread of viruses, such as the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19, which have caused significant uncertainty, market volatility, decreased economic and other activity, increased government activity, including economic stimulus measures, and supply chain disruptions, and may adversely affect the fund and its investments.In addition, markets are becoming increasingly susceptible to disruption events resulting from the use of new and emerging technologies to engage in cyber-attacks or to take over the Web sites and/or social media accounts of companies, governmental entities or public officials, or to otherwise pose as or impersonate such, which then may be used to disseminate false or misleading information that can cause volatility in financial markets or for the securities of a particular company, group of companies, industry or other class of assets.Adverse market conditions or particular market disruptions, such as those discussed above, may magnify the impact of each of the other risks described in this “MAIN RISKS” section and may increase volatility in one or more markets in which the fund invests leading to the potential for greater losses for the fund. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in the issuer not making timely payments of interest or principal, a security downgrade or an inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities.Because the issuers of high-yield debt securities, or junk bonds (debt securities rated below the fourth highest credit rating category), may be in uncertain financial health, the prices of their debt securities can be more vulnerable to bad economic news, or even the expectation of bad news, than investment-grade debt securities. Credit risk for high-yield securities is greater than for higher-rated securities.When purchasing senior loans, the fund faces the risk that the creditworthiness of the borrower may decline, causing the value of the fund’s interest in a loan to decline. In addition, a borrower may not be able to make timely payments on the interest and principal on the debt obligations it has outstanding. In the event of bankruptcy of a borrower, the fund could experience delays or limitations with respect to its ability to realize the benefits of the collateral securing a senior loan. Senior loans and other floating rate debt securities that are rated below investment grade are considered speculative because of the credit risk of the borrowers. Such borrowers may be more likely to default on payments of interest and principal in response to changes in economic conditions or circumstances. The value of senior loans made to such borrowers is likely to be more sensitive to adverse news about the borrower, markets or economy.Any non-payment of principal or interest could result in a reduction of income to the fund, a reduction in the value of the fund’s interest in the senior loan and a reduction in the fund’s net asset value. There can be no assurance that the liquidation of any collateral securing a senior loan would satisfy the borrower’s obligation in the event of non-payment of scheduled interest or principal payments or that such collateral could be readily liquidated. Senior loans risk. The fund invests in senior loans that may not be rated by a rating agency, registered with the SEC or any state securities commission or listed on any national securities exchange. Therefore, there may be less publicly available information about them than for registered or exchange-listed securities. The Advisor relies on its own evaluation of the creditworthiness of borrowers, but will consider, and may rely in part on, analyses performed by others. As a result, the fund is particularly dependent on the analytical abilities of the Advisor.Senior loans may not be considered “securities,” and purchasers, such as the fund, therefore may not be entitled to rely on the anti-fraud and misrepresentation protections of the federal securities laws. Senior loans involve other risks, including credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, and prepayment and extension risk.Because affiliates of the Advisor may participate in the primary and secondary market for senior loans, limitations under applicable law may restrict the fund’s ability to participate in a restructuring of a senior loan or to acquire some senior loans, or affect the timing or price of such acquisition. The fund also may be in possession of material non-public information about a borrower as a result of its ownership of a senior loan. Because of prohibitions on trading in securities of issuers while in possession of such information, the fund might be unable to enter into a transaction in a publicly-traded security of that borrower when it would otherwise be advantageous to do so. If the Advisor wishes to invest in the publicly traded securities of a borrower, it may not have access to material non-public information regarding the borrower to which other lenders have access. 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, and in extreme conditions, the fund could have difficulty meeting redemption requests.Senior loans may have longer trade settlement periods than other types of investments which could result in the fund not receiving the proceeds from a sale of a senior loan for an extended period after such sale. To the extent that other sources of liquidity are unavailable, the uncertainty of trade settlement periods could lead to shortfalls in cash needed to handle fund redemptions, especially during periods of heavy redemption activity. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the effective duration of the fund’s debt securities, the more sensitive the fund will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Interest rates can change in response to the supply and demand for credit, government and/or central bank monetary policy and action, inflation rates, and other factors. Changes in monetary policy made by central banks or governments are likely to affect the level of interest rates. Changing interest rates may have unpredictable effects on markets, may result in heightened market volatility and potential illiquidity and may detract from fund performance to the extent the fund is exposed to such interest rates and/or volatility. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the fund, which may force the fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses. Senior loans typically have adjustable interest rates. However, because floating rates on senior loans only reset periodically, changes in prevailing interest rates may cause a fluctuation in the fund’s value. In addition, extreme increases in prevailing interest rates may cause an increase in senior loan defaults, which may cause a further decline in the fund’s value. Conversely, a decrease in interest rates could adversely affect the income earned by the fund from senior loans. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods and the value determined for an investment may be materially 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. Inflation risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the real value of certain assets or real income from investments (the value of such assets or income after accounting for inflation) will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. Inflation, and investors’ expectation of future inflation, can impact the current value of the fund's portfolio, resulting in lower asset values and losses to shareholders. This risk may be elevated compared to historical market conditions and could be impacted by monetary policy measures and the current interest rate environment. 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, ESG factors, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. 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 foreign investments, prevent the fund from realizing the full value of its foreign investments or prevent the fund from selling foreign securities it holds.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. In addition, because non-US markets may be open on days when the fund does not price its shares, the value of the foreign securities in the fund’s portfolio may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or sell the fund’s shares. Prepayment and extension risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund’s assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any changes or unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund’s share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. 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. ETF risk. Because ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. An ETF is subject to the risks of the assets in which it invests as well as those of the investment strategy it follows. The fund may incur brokerage costs when it buys and sells shares of an ETF and also bears its proportionate share of the ETF’s fees and expenses, which are passed through to ETF shareholders. Securities lending risk. Securities lending involves the risk that the fund may lose money because the borrower of the loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. A delay in the recovery of loaned securities could interfere with the fund’s ability to vote proxies or settle transactions. Delayed settlement may limit the ability of the fund to reinvest the proceeds of a sale of securities or prevent the fund from selling securities at times and prices it considers desirable. The fund could also lose money in the event of a decline in the value of the collateral provided for the loaned securities, or a decline in the value of any investments made with cash collateral or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the securities. 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. For example, the fund’s or its service providers’ assets or sensitive or confidential information may be misappropriated, data may be corrupted and operations may be disrupted (e.g., cyber-attacks, operational failures or broader disruptions may cause the release of private shareholder information or confidential fund information, interfere with the processing of shareholder transactions, impact the ability to calculate the fund’s net asset value and impede trading). Market events and disruptions also may trigger a volume of transactions that overloads current information technology and communication systems and processes, impacting the ability to conduct the fund’s operations.While the fund and its service providers may establish business continuity and other plans and processes that seek to address the possibility of and fallout from cyber-attacks, disruptions or failures, there are inherent limitations in such plans and systems, including that they do not apply to third parties, such as fund counterparties, issuers of securities held by the fund or other market participants, as well as the possibility that certain risks have not been identified or that unknown threats may emerge in the future and there is no assurance that such plans and processes will be effective. Among other situations, disruptions (for example, pandemics or health crises) that cause prolonged periods of remote work or significant employee absences at the fund’s service providers could impact the ability to conduct the fund’s operations. In addition, the fund cannot directly control any cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by its service providers, fund counterparties, issuers of securities held by the fund or other market participants. 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 market performance as measured by one or more indexes. The fund’s average annual total returns are compared to a required broad-based securities market index and may also be compared to a more narrowly based index that the Advisor believes more closely aligns with the fund’s investment strategy. 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. How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to market performance as measured by one or more indexes. The fund’s average annual total returns are compared to a required broad-based securities market index and may also be compared to a more narrowly based index that the Advisor believes more closely aligns with the fund’s investment strategy. Past performance may not indicate future results. dws.com 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. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. ReturnsPeriod endingBest Quarter6.18%June 30, 2020Worst Quarter-11.09%March 31, 2020Year-to-Date2.39%June 30, 2025 Best Quarter 0.0618 2020-06-30 Worst Quarter -0.1109 2020-03-31 Year-to-Date 0.0239 2025-06-30 Average Annual Total Returns (For periods ended 12/31/2024 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. 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. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. 2007-06-29 0.0445 0.0358 0.0285 0.0091 0.0129 0.0078 0.0257 0.0172 0.0122 2007-06-29 0.0561 0.0339 0.0238 2007-06-29 0.0781 0.0445 0.0340 2007-06-29 0.0772 0.0435 0.0331 0.0125 -0.0033 0.0135 0.0895 0.0586 0.0515 The Morningstar® LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index is a more narrowly based index that reflects the market sector in which the fund invests. The Morningstar® LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index is a more narrowly based index that reflects the market sector in which the fund invests. 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 18 months of purchase. “Other expenses” are restated to exclude fees related to proxy expenses. “Other expenses” would have been 0.46%, 0.50%, 0.37% and 0.54% for Class A, Class C, Institutional Class and Class S, respectively, had proxy expenses been included.