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DWS Small Mid Cap Value VIP Investment Risks - Class B [Member] - DWS Small Mid Cap Value VIP
Apr. 24, 2026
Risk Stock Market [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] Stock market risk. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Stock prices can be hurt by poor management on the part of the stock’s issuer, shrinking product demand and other business risks, such as rapid technological developments or widespread adoption of emerging technologies (such as artificial intelligence) impacting the issuer’s competitive position, cybersecurity incidents, financial leverage and labor and supply shortages. These may affect single companies as well as groups of companies. The market as a whole may not favor the types of investments the fund makes, which could adversely affect a stock’s price, regardless of how well the company performs, or the fund’s ability to sell a stock at an attractive price. There is a chance that stock prices overall will decline because stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising and falling prices. Events in the US and global financial markets, including actions taken by the US Federal Reserve or foreign central banks to stimulate or stabilize economic growth, may at times result in unusually high market volatility which could negatively affect performance. High market volatility may also result from significant shifts in momentum of one or more specific stocks due to unusual increases or decreases in trading activity. Momentum can change quickly, and securities subject to shifts in momentum may be more volatile than the market as a whole and returns on such securities may drop precipitously. To the extent that the fund invests in a particular geographic region, capitalization or sector, the fund’s performance may be affected by the general performance of that region, capitalization or sector.
Risk Market Disruption [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] 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 and other armed conflicts, 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.Ongoing trade disputes between the United States and other countries may lead to tariffs and investment restrictions, negatively impacting affected companies and their securities. These disputes can also harm the economies of the United States and its trading partners, as well as financial markets overall. 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, among others, 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 or other armed 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, such as artificial intelligence, 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.
Risk Small Company [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile than medium-sized or large company stocks. Because stock analysts are less likely to follow small companies, less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on small companies, since they may lack the financial resources of larger companies. Small company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks.
Risk Medium Sized Company [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] Medium-sized company risk. Medium-sized company stocks tend to be more volatile than large company stocks. Because stock analysts are less likely to follow medium-sized companies, less information about them is available to investors. Industry-wide reversals may have a greater impact on medium-sized companies, since they may lack the financial resources of larger companies. Medium-sized company stocks are typically less liquid than large company stocks.
Risk Value Investing [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] Value investing risk. As a category, value stocks may underperform growth stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time and may shift in and out of favor with investors generally, sometimes rapidly, depending on changes in market, economic and other factors. In addition, value stocks selected for investment by portfolio management may not perform as anticipated.
Risk Quantitative Model [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] Quantitative model risk. The fund’s strategy relies heavily on quantitative models and the analysis of specific metrics to construct the fund’s portfolio. The impact of these metrics on a stock’s performance can be difficult to predict, and stocks that previously possessed certain desirable quantitative characteristics may not continue to demonstrate those same characteristics in the future. In addition, relying on quantitative models entails the risk that the models themselves may be limited or incorrect, that the data on which the models rely may be incorrect or incomplete, and that the Advisor may not be successful in selecting companies for investment or determining the weighting of particular stocks in the fund’s portfolio. Any of these factors could cause the fund to underperform funds with similar strategies that do not select stocks based on quantitative analysis.
Risk Security Selection [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] 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.
Risk Focus [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors may have a significant impact on the fund’s performance. The fund may become more focused in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy as a result of changes in the valuation of the fund’s investments or fluctuations in the fund’s assets, and the fund is not required to reduce such exposures under these circumstances.
Risk Foreign Investment [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] 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.
Risk Real Estate Securities [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] Real estate securities risk. The value of real estate securities in general, and REITs in particular, are subject to the same risks as direct investments in real estate and will depend on the value of the underlying properties or the underlying loans or interest. The value of these securities will rise and fall in response to many factors, including economic conditions, the demand for rental property and changes in interest rates. In particular, the value of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and will also be affected by the real estate market and by the management of the underlying properties. During periods of rising interest rates, real estate securities may lose appeal for investors who may be able to obtain higher yields from other income-producing investments. Rising interest rates may also mean that financing for property purchases and improvements is more costly and difficult to obtain. Further, real estate companies may be negatively impacted by liabilities or losses due to environmental problems, extreme weather or natural disasters. In addition, real estate values have been subject to substantial fluctuations and declines on a local, regional and national basis in the past and may continue to be in the future. Highly leveraged real estate companies are particularly vulnerable to the effects of rising interest rates and/or an economic downturn. REITs may be more volatile and/or more illiquid than other types of equity securities.
Risk Pricing [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] 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.
Risk Securities Lending [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] 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.
Risk Derivatives [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] Derivatives risk. Derivatives involve risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other more traditional investments. Risks associated with derivatives may include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the underlying asset, security or index 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, which risk may be heightened in derivative transactions entered into “over-the-counter” (i.e., not on an exchange or contract market); 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.
Risk Counterparty [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] 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.
Risk Liquidity [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] 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.
Risk IPO [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] IPO risk. Prices of securities bought in an initial public offering (IPO) may rise and fall rapidly, often because of investor perceptions rather than economic reasons. To the extent a mutual fund is small in size, its IPO investments may have a significant impact on its performance since they may represent a larger proportion of the fund’s overall portfolio as compared to the portfolio of a larger fund.
Risk Operational And Technology [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] Operational and technology risk. The fund and the entities with which it interacts directly or indirectly, including the fund’s service providers and counterparties, issuers of securities held by the fund and other market participants, are susceptible to operational and technology risks, including those related to human errors, processing errors, communication errors, system failures, cybersecurity incidents, and the use of artificial intelligence, among others, which may impair the fund’s operations and/or result in losses for the fund. 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, including artificial intelligence, put in place by its service providers, fund counterparties, issuers of securities held by the fund or other market participants.
Risk Lose Money [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] 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.
Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Member]  
Prospectus [Line Items]  
Risk [Text Block] 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.