Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should You Invest in the Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF (CGW)?

Read MoreHide Full Article

If you're interested in broad exposure to the Industrials - Water segment of the equity market, look no further than the Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF (CGW - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 05/14/2007.

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Industrials - Water is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 1, placing it in top 6%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Invesco. It has amassed assets over $971 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Water segment of the equity market. CGW seeks to match the performance of the S&P GLOBAL WATER INDEX before fees and expenses.

The S&P Global Water Index comprises of developed market securities including water utilities, infrastructure, equipment, instruments and materials.

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.57%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.37%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Xylem Inc/ny (XYL - Free Report) accounts for about 7.26% of total assets, followed by American Water Works Co Inc (AWK - Free Report) and Severn Trent Plc (SVT - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 52.22% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, CGW has gained about 6.05%, and was up about 0.44% in the last one year (as of 04/26/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $40.78 and $51.45.

The ETF has a beta of 0.94 and standard deviation of 19.25% for the trailing three-year period, making it a low risk choice in the space. With about 51 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Invesco S&P Global Water Index ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, CGW is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

First Trust Water ETF (FIW - Free Report) tracks ISE Clean Edge Water Index and the Invesco Water Resources ETF (PHO - Free Report) tracks NASDAQ OMX US Water Index. First Trust Water ETF has $1.27 billion in assets, Invesco Water Resources ETF has $1.73 billion. FIW has an expense ratio of 0.53% and PHO charges 0.59%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

Published in