Kenneth Lamont: The main investment thesis underlying an investment in global water equities revolves around the scarcity of fresh water as a commodity. Indeed, over recent years demand for fresh water has increased at more than twice the rate of global population growth, leading to dramatic predictions of future shortfalls between supply and demand.
Additionally, fresh water resources are not evenly distributed across the globe, with even highly developed regions such as California, not immune to crippling shortages. This environment is likely to provide an increasing number of opportunities for companies involved in the treatment and distribution of water globally.
One of the key attractions of ETFs is that they can provide transparent, low-cost equity sector exposure. Currently, the most popular ETF, in terms of assets under management, tracking the water equity segment, is the iShares Global Water ETF (IH20) – which physically replicates the S&P global water index – meaning that it physically holds all 50 stocks as per the index – and charges a management fee of 0.65%.
Investors may also wish to look at the Lyxor World Water ETF (WATL), which charges a slightly lower management fee of 0.60% and offers a narrower exposure of 20 companies.