From Barron's Focus on Funds:
Activist billionaire investors Nelson Peltz is giving a boost to a cadre of water-themed exchange-traded funds on Tuesday.The referenced Levisohn 'Stocks to Watch' post, Pentair: Don’t Chase Trian, is probably correct.
U.K.-based Pentair (PNR), whose shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, jumped 5% after Peltz’s Trian Fund Management revealed a 7.2% stake in the company. Barron’s Ben Levisohn notes that at least one analyst is less than enthusiastic.
Pentair, which makes pumps and valves, is a top holding in water-themed ETFs including the PowerShares Global Water ETF (PIO), PowerShares Water Resources ETF (PHO) and Guggenheim S&P Global Water Index ETF (CGW), all of which are edging the SPDR S&P 500 ETF’s (SPY) gains....MORE
Possibly also of interest:
A Look at the World's First Water-focused Hedge Fund
Since the first Earth Day in April 1970 and more importantly since the establishment of the EPA in December of that year, folks have been trying to make money out of water in the U.S..A Look At A Second Water Focused Hedge Fund
Put simply, the returns have not been market-beating.
Because so much of the opportunity was my-little-crony stuff, at the whim of politicians, there was no consistency of growth at a time when other portfolio investments offered very competitive comparisons.
The alternative was to own the cash flow, private equity style, but unless one felt a passion for grit chambers and sludge pans it was pretty pedestrian, utility type ROI.
In fact the most reliable water investment in the U.S. has probably been York Water Company of York PA.
They've been paying dividends for 199 consecutive years and just announced their 575th divi.
The announcement carries the boilerplate "This release contains forward-looking statements".
Anyhoo, here's a piece we've been sitting on since January, from Mother Jones:...
Aug. 2012
It's So Hard to Find a Decent Bet on Water (investment vehicles)
May 2013
Swiss Private Bank Pictet Making Money in the Water Biz (XYL; DHR)
July 2013
"Can Powdered Water Cure Droughts?"
October 2010
Muni's: "Water Scarcity a Bond Risk, Study Warns"
And many more, use the search blog box if interested.