This analysis is a peer-group study of all existing water funds. It aims to shed light on the water investment theme, its funds, and its strategies. They invest in the water sector which is a composition of many industries serving the needs of our water infrastructures: Industrials, Healthcare, IT, and Utilities. The main finding is that these funds have very attractive risk-return profiles and make them ideally suited to become asset allocations in their own right. Their relative-over performance and lower correlations to global markets make them further great allocation to increase a portfolio's performance and reduce its volatility. The analysis also shows how they have very different risk-return profiles, sector allocations, and ways to integrate sustainability in their portfolio. Finally, the analysis discusses how water funds catalyze resources to water solving technologies and contribution to sustainable development goals.

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You can find a sample version of the research published by the Swiss Water Partnership here.

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The full analysis includes:

• The Funds' Investment cases and universes.

• Funds' details (names, ID, fees, etc..).

• Risk-return profiles of all different funds

• Sectors' allocation and sustainability ratings of the funds.

• Macro perspective on the theme and contribution to sustainable developments.

Holy Water is a series of in-depth articles about the what, how and why investing in water. It takes the perspective of investors and shows how investing in water is investing in the future and offers multiple benefits. The five first chapters are already out and published on LinkedIn:

 

I) Holy Water I: A Long Trend (the investment case of water):

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/holy-water-i-long-trend-nicola-lei-ravello/

 

II) Holy Water II: A Place of its Own (its advantages in portfolio construction and income security)

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/holy-water-ii-place-its-own-nicola-lei-ravello/

 

III) Holy Water III: A Source of Value (the fundamental value opportunities in water investing):

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/holy-water-iii-source-value-nicola-lei-ravello/

 

IV) Holy Water IV: The New Testament (the new technologies and innovations in the water VC/PE space):

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/holy-water-iv-new-testament-nicola-lei-ravello/

 

V) Holy Water V: A New World (study cases of water and climate risks in the global economy and how this is changing investing):

 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/holy-water-v-new-world-nicola-lei-ravello/

White Stag Investing regularly write about climate and water risks on its LinkedIn feed. You can find a selection below. If you are interested in a comprehensive package of such stories, my book Stories in #Water, #Sustainability and #Investing: How to approach the new investment landscape after climate change is available on the store.

 

 

1) Tesla laughed about the water situation for its new € 5 billion factory and now does not have enough water to run it: 

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nlr-whitestaginvesting_elon-musk-laughed-at-the-idea-of-tesla-using-activity-6905118311529410561-pe-J

 

2) Constellation Brands’ brewery got its water license revoked and is now left with $900 million of assets to scrap:

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nlr-whitestaginvesting_mexican-city-rejects-plans-for-giant-us-owned-activity-6891341949744283648-5qht

 

3) TSMC is running short of water to produce chips and has to resort to a costly solution:

 

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6793489310449442816/

 

4) Greenflation, how climate change is set to reshape global supply-chain and harbour new levels of inflation:

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nlr-whitestaginvesting_the-rise-of-greenflation-activity-6896404184137052160-R9jQ

 

5) Harvard's endowment fund: how investing in water rights might not be such a good idea:

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nlr-whitestaginvesting_harvard-quietly-amasses-california-vineyardsand-activity-6873585081500344320-fzaY

 

6) How climate change threatens agriculture and food security in Europe:

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nlr-whitestaginvesting_newinthehood-investing-climatechange-activity-6852189592301404160-5uVc

 

7) Climate change forces farmers to rethink their crop selection and business model:

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nlr-whitestaginvesting_newinthehood-investing-water-activity-6826096526620684288-yXcV

 

8) California hydropower Utility does not have enough water to run its turbines:

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nlr-whitestaginvesting_newinthehood-investing-water-activity-6825365697502183424-8Gty

 

9) Climate change is changing the economics of insurance in Florida and is reshaping its market:

 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nlr-whitestaginvesting_onthehorizon-investing-markets-activity-6829001737001566208-zKBq

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This analysis screens every company in the water sector and connected industries. It is an investment universe of the companies involved in the water sector with their finances and their sustainable ratings. It shows this is an investment universe with robust and responsible companies investors can pick and bring stability to their portfolio with. It finally shows how this universe can be a source of alpha for investors by selecting the companies that have the best solutions to overcome water challenges.

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The analysis includes:

• Description of the water sector and all related industries.

• List of water stocks and start-ups with their financials and sustainable ratings.

• Financial and sustainable differentiation analysis across the universe.

• Top-Picks: the most promising assets that contribute to solving water challenges.

This market analysis covers the landscape of ESG funds and explains how they differ greatly in their approach to sustainability. It discusses the various type of strategies  (Thematic, ESG Value, ESG Integration, BIC, ESG Risk Premia, Exclusion, and Ethical Investing) and their differences. The analysis makes a short selection of the most genuine and promising funds from a universe of 400 and shows they have attractive risk-return profiles for investors. The analysis further provides examples of how the low correlations across these ESG themes allow for portfolio breath and can increase diversification when considered together. It concludes how these funds contribute to foster sustainability and drive on long-term economical drivers.

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The analysis includes:

• Funds' details (names, ID, fees, etc..) from the short selection.

• Risk-return profiles, correlations, and sustainability ratings of the funds.

• Portfolio construction and enhancement example with ESG Funds.

• Macro assessment of ESG long-term drivers and contributions to sustainable goals.

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An analysis of the financial resilience of the S&P 500 companies. The analysis discusses how financial soundness is a strong requirement for sustainability and for companies to be autonomous. Companies build financial resilience by managing their finances to serve their goals in the long-term and not by maximizing profits to investors in the short term. This value creation process is eventually more rewarding for both companies and investors. The analysis suggests a way to measure this through solvency, liquidity, innovation, and profitability measures. The analysis finally shows how financially resilient companies were a source of protection during the Covid-19 crisis.

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The analysis includes:

• Financial resilience insights.

• Measures to compute a resilience ratio.

• Performance charts of financially resilient companies during the Covid-19 Crisis.

• Top 10 resilient companies.

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