Investing in the world’s water future

Where would we be without water? It’s not only crucial for our personal wellbeing, but also plays a vital role in agriculture around the world.

However, there are plenty of issues in this sector that need tackling, such as pollution levels, water scarcity, and access to clean supplies. It’s why annual events such as World Water Week are so important in bringing hundreds of interest organisations together to raise awareness.  

Here we take a closer look at the aims of this conference and highlight some investment funds that have a particular interest in helping to safeguard our planet.

What is World Water Week? 

World Water Week has been organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) every year since 1991. This year’s gathering, which runs from August 24-28th, is taking place at the Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre in Sweden. The non-profit event brings together a diverse mix of delegates from across the world, each with their own unique skills and backgrounds. This year the theme is ‘Water for Climate Action’, which will focus on addressing climate change, environment degradation and biodiversity loss.

According to the organisers, many of the world’s greatest challenges are “inextricably linked to water, its use and management and water-related solutions are key to delivering the sustainable development goals by 2030 for a sustainable future.”

Sustainable future

There are 17 such goals, as laid down by the United Nations, that need to be achieved in order for everyone – and our planet – to enjoy a better future. These include eradicating poverty and hunger, promoting gender equality and quality education, ensuring affordable and clean energy, and focusing on climate action. Another goal is ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for everyone, which the UN has marked down as one of its priorities. According to the UN, currently 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water, while more than 4.2 billion people don’t have access to decent sanitation.

Four funds tackling global water solutions 

The good news is that people can help support these ambitions – and the companies involved in such vital sectors – by putting their money into certain investment funds. There are plenty of portfolios with green or sustainable ambitions. Some will put their money into companies that are developing technologies to help these areas. Others will invest in companies in other sectors that are sympathetic to the cause and have pledged to run their businesses in more responsible ways.

Let’s start with Regnan Sustainable Water and Waste. As the name suggests, this fund invests in the listed shares of sustainable companies that provide solutions to global water and/or waste-related challenges. A high-conviction, diversified portfolio, the team are pioneers in combining exposure to both water and waste value chains, including companies developing new technologies; this means the fund typically has an extremely low overlap with global equity portfolios. 

Another specialist equity for investors is the Ninety One Global Environment fund. This portfolio only invests in companies that are contributing to the decarbonisation of the world economy. The fund’s managers, Deirdre Cooper and Graeme Baker, run it with complete conviction and hold between 20 and 40 holdings. These include Iberdrola, a Spanish utility company whose interests include hydroelectric power*. The company also actively manages its own water consumption.

There are also a couple of bond funds from Rathbones that are worth considering by anyone wanting their investment portfolio to be viewed through a green lens. The first is Rathbone Greenbank Global Sustainable Bond. This focuses on themes aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The fund is run by a hugely experienced team, with every potential investment undergoing a thorough sustainable screening process before being accepted. They will invest globally in a portfolio of fixed income. At least 60% must be in government bonds, corporate bonds and investment grade credit. However, it can have high yield exposure.

There’s also the Rathbone Ethical Bond fund. This invests in quality investment grade bonds but excludes holdings in areas such as mining, arms, gambling, pornography and nuclear power. In addition, all positions must have at least one positive environmental, social or corporate governance quality.

*Source: FE Analytics, fund holdings at 30 April 2025