0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member dpt:C000049879Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member dpt:BeforeTaxMember dpt:C000049879Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member dpt:BeforeTaxMember dpt:C000049880Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member dpt:BeforeTaxMember dpt:C000049881Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member dpt:BeforeTaxMember dpt:C000049882Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member dpt:C000049881Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member dpt:C000049882Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member dpt:C000049880Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMember dpt:C000049879Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMember dpt:C000049879Member 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 0000088063 dpt:S000017996Member dpt:SAndPLstaLeveragedLoanIndexMember 2011-10-02 2012-10-01 pure iso4217:USD 2012-06-30 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesDWSFloatingRateFund column period compact * ~</div> EXAMPLE DWS FLOATING RATE FUND You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in DWS funds. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpensesDWSFloatingRateFund column period compact * ~</div> SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) 2007-06-29 2007-06-29 2007-06-29 2007-06-29 You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: Best Quarter: 19.06%, Q2 2009 Worst Quarter: -22.22%, Q4 2008 Year-to-Date as of 6/30/2012: 4.11% These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts 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 is available from your financial professional and in Choosing a Share Class (p. 12) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). DWS PORTFOLIO TRUST <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsDWSFloatingRateFundBarChart column period compact * ~</div> 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 for each class) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %) After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the 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. Index comparison began on June 30, 2007. How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) 485BPOS PRINCIPAL INVESTMENT STRATEGY Non-diversification risk. The fund is classified as non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. This means that the fund may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. Thus, the performance of one or a small number of portfolio holdings can affect overall performance. 2012-09-26 After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. 2012-05-31 INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE 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. 2008-12-31 2009-06-30 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. The fund may also borrow money in an amount up to 33⅓% of the fund's total assets for a range of purposes, including to create investment leverage. 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. The fund may invest assets in senior loans that are not secured by collateral. Such unsecured senior 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. 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. The investment process primarily involves a bottom-up approach using relative value and fundamental analysis to seek to select the best investments within each industry, and a top-down approach to assess the overall risk and return in the market and which considers macro trends in the economy. Global Tactical Asset Allocation Overlay Strategy (GTAA). In addition to the fund's main investment strategy, portfolio management may from time to time seek to enhance returns by employing a GTAA overlay strategy. The strategy attempts to take advantage of inefficiencies within global bond and currency markets. The strategy is implemented through the use of derivatives, which are contracts or other instruments whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities. The strategy primarily uses exchange-traded futures contracts on global bonds and currencies, and over-the-counter forward currency contracts. Derivatives. Outside of the GTAA strategy, the fund may also use various types of derivatives (i) for hedging purposes; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions. Securities Lending. The fund may lend securities (up to one-third of total assets) to approved institutions. PORTFOLIO TURNOVER After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. 0000088063 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. 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 a payment default, security downgrade or inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-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 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. The amount of public information available with respect to senior loans may be less extensive than that available for registered or exchange listed 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. 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 invests heavily in one category of loans, market risk is more pronounced for the fund than for funds that invest in a more diverse set of securities. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than 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. 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 it 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.) Senior loans typically have adjustable interest rates. As a result, it is expected that the value of senior loans held by the fund will fluctuate less in response to interest rate changes than will fixed-rate debt securities. This could result in less volatility than would be expected for a fund that invests primarily in fixed-rate debt securities. 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. Finally, a decrease in interest rates could adversely affect the income earned by the fund from its senior loans. 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, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. GTAA risk. The success of the GTAA strategy depends, in part, on portfolio management's ability to analyze the correlation between various global markets and asset classes. If portfolio management's correlation analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the GTAA strategy. Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing their full value. 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. 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 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. Conflict of interest risk. Affiliates of the Advisor may participate in the primary and secondary market for senior loans. Because of limitations imposed by applicable law, the presence of the Advisor's affiliates in the senior loan market 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. Borrowing risk. Borrowing creates leverage. It also adds to fund expenses and at times could effectively force the fund to sell securities when it otherwise might not want to. Derivatives risk. Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses. Non-diversification risk. The fund is classified as non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. This means that the fund may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. Thus, the performance of one or a small number of portfolio holdings can affect overall performance. Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security. September 30, 2013 Worst Quarter: FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A) <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedDWSFloatingRateFund column period compact * ~</div> false 2012-10-01 www.dws-investments.com 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. Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2012: 43%. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemptionDWSFloatingRateFund column period compact * ~</div> Past performance may not indicate future results. 2012-10-01 PAST PERFORMANCE The Advisor has contractually agreed through September 30, 2013 to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses (excluding extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage and interest expense) at 1.06%, 1.81%, 0.81% and 0.91% 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. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. 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. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws-investments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleDWSFloatingRateFund column period compact * ~</div> MAIN RISKS 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. Best Quarter: The fund seeks to provide high current income. How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number for your share class included in this prospectus. Year-to-Date 1270 1023 2225 1647 100000 590 263 320 626 590 263 320 626 380 184 83 93 380 284 83 93 1270 1023 2225 1647 459 1022 566 891 459 1022 891 566 0.0275 0 0 0 -0.0002 -0.0014 -0.001 -0.0011 0 0 0.01 0 0.0091 0.1906 -0.0332 -0.0121 -0.0186 0.0015 0.012 0.0152 0.01 0.0105 0.0083 0.0191 0.0117 -0.2806 0.01 0.0025 0 0 0.0104 0.0067 0.0254 0.0251 0.0342 0.0335 0.0386 0.0064 0.0064 0.0064 0.0064 0.0019 0.0027 0.0028 0.0041 0.4646 0.0411 -0.2222 0.43 0.0181 0.0081 0.0091 0.0106 0.1007