Do AQWA and FIW hold the same stocks?

By their latest filings, 38% of their books are the same securities at the same weight, which is a meaningful overlap. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.

Which is more different from the S&P 500, AQWA or FIW?

AQWA has 20% of its weight in S&P 500 names and FIW has 48%, so AQWA differs more from the index.

Which is cheaper, AQWA or FIW?

AQWA charges 0.50% a year and FIW charges 0.50%, so AQWA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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AQWA vs FIW: which is really different?

AQWA and FIW hold 38% of their weight in the same names, and AQWA returned −6.1% over the year. Global X Clean Water ETF and First Trust Water ETF.

19.5%

AQWA in the S&P 500

48.5%

FIW in the S&P 500

−6.1%

AQWA total return, 1 year

−6.9%

FIW total return, 1 year

AQWA · 1 year to Sep 30, 202681% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

20% of AQWA's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 81% is outside the index

FIW · 1 year to Sep 30, 202652% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

49% of FIW's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 52% is outside the index

ETFIQ Off-Index Score · AQWA scores higherHow much of it is not the index it is sold as an alternative to?

AQWA 82.3

FIW 67.9

0.1, the lowest in this set92.0, the highest

A percentile among the 375 thematic ETFs with a holdings filing. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All thematic ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, AQWA and FIW hold 38% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026.

50%

half

38% in common

Positions both hold, largest shared weight first

Holding AQWA FIW

FERGUSON ENTERPRISES INC 7.92% 4.20%

AMERICAN WATER WORKS CO INC 8.28% 3.96%

XYLEM INC 7.37% 3.89%

ADVANCED DRAINAGE SYSTEMS IN 4.08% 3.46%

WATTS WATER TECHNOLOGIES-A 4.48% 3.07%

PENTAIR PLC 3.89% 2.78%

ZURN ELKAY WATER SOLUTIONS CORPORATION 4.17% 2.06%

CORE & MAIN INC-CLASS A 4.38% 2.04%

FRANKLIN ELECTRIC CO INC 2.41% 2.03%

SMITH (A.O.) CORP 3.75% 2.02%

BADGER METER INC 2.18% 1.93%

PRIMO BRANDS CORP 2.74% 1.77%

Only in AQWA

UNITED UTILITIES GROUP PLC 7.34%

ESSENTIAL UTILITIES INC 6.17%

SEVERN TRENT PLC 4.77%

KURITA WATER INDUSTRIES LTD 2.95%

COWAY CO LTD 2.30%

GUANGDONG INVESTMENT LTD 1.89%

BEIJING CAPITAL ECO-ENVIRO-A 1.83%

ORGANO CORP 1.27%

Only in FIW

Agilent Technologies, Inc. 4.75%

Waters Corporation 4.48%

Ecolab Inc. 4.10%

Veralto Corporation 4.05%

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. 3.97%

Jacobs Solutions Inc. 3.84%

IDEX Corporation 3.69%

Mueller Industries, Inc. 3.60%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed.

38% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Performance, window by window

	Total return		vs the S&P 500		vs the Nasdaq-100
Window	AQWA	FIW	AQWA	FIW	AQWA	FIW
3 months	−7.0%	−4.0%	−9.6 pts	−6.6 pts	−9.2 pts	−6.2 pts
6 months	−5.8%	0.0%	−22.8 pts	−17.0 pts	−32.7 pts	−26.9 pts
1 year	−6.1%	−6.9%	−21.8 pts	−22.6 pts	−29.9 pts	−30.7 pts
3 years	+32.0%	+28.1%	−53.0 pts	−56.9 pts	−78.0 pts	−81.9 pts
Since launch AQWA Apr 2021 · FIW Jan 2010	+26.9%	+519.2%	−72.5 pts	−285.5 pts	−100.0 pts	−1218.4 pts

AQWA and FIW over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →

On the same fields

AQWA

Global X Clean Water ETF · Holds 44 stocks in water, 20% of its weight in S&P 500 companies

FIW

First Trust Water ETF · Holds 38 stocks in water, 48% of its weight in S&P 500 companies

Issuer Global X First Trust

Theme Water Water

In the S&P 500 19.5% 48.5%

Active share vs the S&P 500 99.9% 99.4%

In the Nasdaq-100 0.0% 7.4%

Holdings 44 38

Top ten, share of the fund 59.0% 40.9%

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.50%

Fee for the differing part 0.50% 0.50%

Total return, 1 year −6.1% −6.9%

vs the S&P 500 −21.8 pts −22.6 pts

vs the Nasdaq-100 −29.9 pts −30.7 pts

Below its high −13.4% −9.9%

Net assets $20m $1.7bn

AQWA and FIW on the same fields, as of Sep 30, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

AQWA in plain words

By weight, 20% of AQWA's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 59% of the fund across 44 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 30, 2026. Over the year to Sep 30, 2026 the fund returned −6.1% with distributions reinvested against +15.7% for the S&P 500, so a holder was behind by 21.8 pts. It sits 13.4% below its all-time high of Feb 26, 2026.

FIW in plain words

By weight, 48% of FIW's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 99%. The top ten holdings are 41% of the fund across 38 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 30, 2026. Over the year to Sep 30, 2026 the fund returned −6.9% with distributions reinvested against +15.7% for the S&P 500, so a holder was behind by 22.6 pts. It sits 9.9% below its all-time high of Jan 22, 2026.

Questions people ask

Do AQWA and FIW hold the same stocks?: By their latest filings, 38% of their books are the same securities at the same weight, which is a meaningful overlap. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.
Which is more different from the S&P 500, AQWA or FIW?: AQWA has 20% of its weight in S&P 500 names and FIW has 48%, so AQWA differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, AQWA or FIW?: AQWA charges 0.50% a year and FIW charges 0.50%, so AQWA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

AQWA vs CGW AQWA vs PHO AQWA vs PIO FIW vs PHO FIW vs PIO FIW vs CGW

AQWA on its own →FIW on its own →How every figure is computed →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

AQWA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗AQWA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗Global X page for AQWA ↗FIW filings on SEC EDGAR ↗FIW prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗First Trust page for FIW ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page

ETFIQ, AQWA against FIW, data as of Sep 30, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/aqwa-vs-fiw

Open data

Free to use with attribution. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.