# Water ETFs: 6 funds, largest first

> ETFIQ covers 6 water ETFs. The largest are PHO ($2.0bn), FIW ($1.8bn) and CGW ($1.0bn); fees run 0.40% to 0.75%, as of Oct 20, 2026.

Data as of Oct 21, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.

Data as of Oct 21, 2026 .

## Water ETFs: what each one holds

See every water ETF by what it holds, not by its name. Funds that hold water utilities, pipe and pump makers, and the treatment and testing businesses around them. 6 funds, largest first. Updated Oct 21, 2026. The typical fund carries 36% of its weight in S&P 500 names, the 20th most of the 53 themes with filed books.

6 US listed water ETFs

$2.0bn The largest, PHO

0.40% The cheapest, TBLU

+0.3% Best one year, CGW

### The short answers

Least like the S&P 500 AQWA , Global X Clean Water ETF, 25.4% of its weight in S&P 500 companies. Closest pair FIW and PHO , 75% of their weight in the same companies.

### What these funds actually own

Between them the 6 funds' ten largest holdings name 33 companies, of which 12 appear in more than one. Ecolab Inc is among the ten largest of 5 of them, at an average of 6.3% of the fund.

| Company | Among the ten largest of | Average weight where it is | Largest, and in which fund |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ecolab Inc ECL | 5 of 6 | 6.3% | 8.2% in PHO |
| Ferguson Enterprises Inc FERG | 4 of 6 | 7.0% | 8.2% in PHO |
| American Water Works Co Inc AWK | 4 of 6 | 5.8% | 8.3% in CGW |
| Xylem Inc/NY XYL | 4 of 6 | 5.7% | 8.0% in CGW |
| Veralto Corp VLTO | 4 of 6 | 4.5% | 6.1% in CGW |
| Veolia Environnement SA VIE | 3 of 6 | 5.3% | 8.2% in TBLU |
| Waters Corp WAT | 3 of 6 | 5.3% | 7.3% in PHO |
| IDEXX Laboratories Inc IDXX | 3 of 6 | 5.0% | 7.1% in PHO |
| Roper Technologies Inc ROP | 3 of 6 | 4.7% | 6.7% in PHO |
| Cia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo | 2 of 6 | 7.1% | 8.4% in PIO |
| Geberit AG GEBN | 2 of 6 | 5.5% | 7.0% in TBLU |
| Agilent Technologies Inc A | 2 of 6 | 4.6% | 4.6% in FIW |
| AMERICAN WATER WORKS COMPANY, INC. | 1 of 6 | 8.2% | 8.2% in AQWA |
| FERGUSON ENTERPRISES INC. | 1 of 6 | 7.7% | 7.7% in AQWA |
| XYLEM INC. | 1 of 6 | 7.6% | 7.6% in AQWA |

The 15 most widely held of 33. Each row counts the ten largest holdings of each fund, so a fund missing from a row may still hold that company lower down. Weights are of the funds that name it, not of the theme.

### The 6 largest water ETFs

ETFIQ covers 6 water ETFs. The largest are PHO ( $2.0bn ), FIW ( $1.8bn ) and CGW ( $1.0bn ); fees run 0.40% to 0.75% , as of Oct 20, 2026 .

- PHO Invesco Water Resources ETF $2.0bn 0.59%

- FIW First Trust Water ETF $1.8bn 0.50%

- CGW Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF $1.0bn 0.58%

- PIO Invesco Global Water ETF $270m 0.75%

- TBLU Tortoise Global Water ETF $53m 0.40%

- AQWA Global X Clean Water ETF $20m 0.50%

| Ticker | Fund | Issuer | Net assets | In the S&P 500 | Active share | Total return 1Y | vs its benchmark 1Y | Fee |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PHO | Invesco Water Resources ETF | Invesco | $2.0bn | 62.2% | 99.4% | −4.5% | not measured | 0.59% |
| FIW | First Trust Water ETF | First Trust | $1.8bn | 48.9% | 99.4% | −5.7% | −21.4 pts vs IWV | 0.50% |
| CGW | Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF | Invesco | $1.0bn | 27.8% | 99.8% | +0.3% | −13.4 pts vs EFA | 0.58% |
| PIO | Invesco Global Water ETF | Invesco | $270m | 39.4% | 99.5% | −2.4% | −16.2 pts vs EFA | 0.75% |
| TBLU | Tortoise Global Water ETF | Tortoise | $53m | 33.4% | 99.7% | −3.3% | −19.8 pts vs VOO | 0.40% |
| AQWA | Global X Clean Water ETF | Global X | $20m | 25.4% | 99.9% | −5.7% | not measured | 0.50% |

### How much of each pair is the same fund

The closest pair is FIW and PHO , which hold 75% of their weight in the same companies. The furthest apart is AQWA and PIO at 28%. The middle pair of the 15 is 42%.

| | PHO | FIW | CGW | PIO | TBLU | AQWA |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PHO | · | 75% | 31% | 45% | 46% | 35% |
| FIW | 75% | · | 35% | 37% | 42% | 38% |
| CGW | 31% | 35% | · | 39% | 57% | 56% |
| PIO | 45% | 37% | 39% | · | 47% | 28% |
| TBLU | 46% | 42% | 57% | 47% | · | 49% |
| AQWA | 35% | 38% | 56% | 28% | 49% | · |

Weight overlap adds the smaller of the two weights for every company both funds hold. Funds with a cut-short book are left out, not compared short.

### What each fund holds alone

| Fund | Largest holding it alone has | Weight | All of its own names |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PHO | Trimble Inc TRMB | 4.2% | 4.2% |
| FIW | Masco Corporation MAS | 3.7% | 5.6% |
| CGW | YTL Power International Bhd YTLP | 1.1% | 7.8% |
| PIO | Ebara Corp | 7.0% | 13.3% |
| TBLU | Lixil Corp 5938 | 0.9% | 2.9% |
| AQWA | Beijing Capital Eco-Environment Protection Group Co.,Ltd. | 2.0% | 7.2% |

### Questions people ask

How many water ETFs are there? ETFIQ covers 6 US listed water ETFs as of Oct 21, 2026. That is every one it can measure from the fund’s own published holdings. What is the largest water ETF? PHO , Invesco Water Resources ETF, at $2.0bn in net assets as of Oct 20, 2026, the largest of the 6 water ETFs with a published size. What is the cheapest water ETF? TBLU , Tortoise Global Water ETF, at 0.40% a year by its prospectus filed Mar 30, 2026, the lowest fee of the 6 water ETFs that publish one. Which water ETF has performed best over the past year? CGW , Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF, at +0.3% total return over the year to Oct 21, 2026, the highest of the 6 water ETFs with a full year of trading behind them. Past returns do not predict future ones. What do water ETFs hold? Funds that hold water utilities, pipe and pump makers, and the treatment and testing businesses around them. Between them the 6 water ETFs ETFIQ can read name 33 companies in their ten largest holdings, by holdings dated May 31, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, most widely Ecolab Inc, which is among the ten largest of 5 of them. Do water ETFs hold the same companies? It depends which two. Across the 15 pairs of the 6 water ETFs with a full published book, by holdings dated May 31, 2026 to Oct 20, 2026, FIW and PHO hold 75% of their weight in the same companies, AQWA and PIO hold 28%, and the middle pair holds 42%. Two funds sold on one theme are not the same fund.

### What the issuers say about this theme

The issuers behind these water funds publish their own work on this theme. These are their pages and words, not ETFIQ’s. A fund company writing about a theme it sells is making a case.

| Issuer | What they publish | Kind |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Invesco | Invesco insights | Their research index |
| First Trust | First Trust Investment Insights | Their research index |
| Global X | Global X Insights, including The Next Big Theme | Their research index |

### Where to next

### Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement.

ETFIQ is an independent publisher and makes no recommendations. Standards and sources

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Source: ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.
Cite: ETFIQ, Water ETFs: what each one holds, data as of Oct 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/themes/water
Licence: https://etfiq.com/license/ Figures ETFIQ computes are free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.
HTML: https://etfiq.com/themes/water