Caroline Pearson
About Caroline Pearson
Caroline Pearson is Chief Legal Officer of The European Equity Fund, Inc. (EEA) and a Managing Director at DWS. She is 63 years old and has served as EEA’s Chief Legal Officer since 2012. Her current roles include Co‑Regional Head, Americas Legal at DWS (since 2024), Chief Legal Officer of DBX Advisors LLC (since 2019), Assistant Secretary of DBX ETF Trust (since 2020), and Chief Legal Officer for various DWS U.S. registered investment companies (since 2010). EEA’s proxy does not disclose educational background, compensation metrics, or fund‑level TSR/financial performance tied to her compensation; the Fund pays no compensation to officers, who are employees of DWS .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact/notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| DWS | Legal (Co‑Regional Head, Americas Legal) | 2024–present | Senior legal leadership for DWS in the Americas region |
| DBX Advisors LLC | Chief Legal Officer | 2019–present | CLO for DWS’s U.S. ETF advisory platform |
| DBX ETF Trust | Assistant Secretary | 2020–present | Trust officer role supporting ETF governance and filings |
| Various DWS U.S. registered funds | Chief Legal Officer | 2010–present | CLO across multiple DWS U.S. registered funds |
| DWS (Legal) | Senior Team Lead | 2020–2024 | Legal leadership position within DWS Legal |
| DBX Strategic Advisors LLC | Chief Legal Officer | 2020–2021 | CLO for DWS strategy platform |
| DWS Service Company | Secretary | 2010–2017 | Corporate secretary responsibilities within DWS |
| DWS Distributors, Inc. | Secretary | 2002–2017 | Corporate secretary for distribution entity |
External Roles
No public company directorships or external board roles are listed for Pearson in EEA’s executive officer biographies (only internal DWS and fund-family roles are presented) .
Fixed Compensation
- The Fund pays no compensation to officers; officers are employees of DWS. Base salary, bonuses, or other cash compensation for Pearson are not paid by EEA and are not disclosed in the proxy.
“No compensation is paid by the Fund … to officers.”
Performance Compensation
- No fund-paid performance awards (cash or equity) are disclosed for officers. As EEA pays no officer compensation, there are no fund-level performance metrics (e.g., revenue growth, EBITDA, TSR) tied to Pearson’s compensation in Fund disclosures .
- As a closed‑end fund with no employees, EEA has no compensation committee at the Fund level .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Pearson’s beneficial ownership of EEA shares has been consistently disclosed as “None” over multiple years; no vesting schedules, RSUs/PSUs, options, or pledging disclosures appear in EEA’s proxy for officers.
| Metric | 2014 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EEA Shares Beneficially Owned (count) | None | None | None | None | None | None | None |
- Ownership context: all Directors, Nominees and Executive Officers as a group (13 persons) owned 5,396 shares as of May 2, 2024 (<1% of outstanding) and 3,930 shares as of May 16, 2025 (<1% of outstanding) .
Employment Terms
- EEA has no employees; officers (including Pearson) are elected annually by the Board following the Annual Meeting. There is no Fund‑level compensation committee given the absence of employees .
- Fund‑level employment contracts, severance policies, change‑of‑control provisions, vesting terms, clawbacks, or stock ownership guidelines for officers are not disclosed in the proxy; officers are employees of DWS, not the Fund .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Pearson holds no EEA shares; with no fund‑paid compensation or equity, direct pay‑for‑performance alignment and insider selling pressure at the fund level are minimal for Pearson. This reduces fund‑specific trading signals tied to vesting or 10b5‑1 activity .
- Retention and incentives: Her retention and incentives depend on DWS employment terms rather than EEA; Fund‑level severance/CoC economics are not applicable or disclosed .
- Governance: Officers are elected annually and EEA has no compensation committee due to having no employees; this shifts oversight relevance toward DWS’s governance rather than fund‑level comp design for officers .
- Insider activity context: The proxy’s Section 16(a) compliance note references late filings for other individuals (Kircher and Koepp) but does not cite Pearson, offering no incremental trading‑signal insight related to her .