AQWA vs TBLU: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Global X Clean Water ETF

AQWACNasdaq

Tortoise Global Water Fund

TBLUBNYSE

Overlap

47.4%by weight

Expense ratio

TBLU −0.10pt a year

AQWA0.50%TBLU0.40%

Avg volume · 30D

AQWA 2.9×the volume

AQWA5.29KTBLU1.8K

5Y return · a year

AQWA +0.5pt

AQWA+3.7%TBLU+3.2%

AQWA vs TBLU Performance

Oct 29, 2021 – Oct 30, 2026

+19.9%AQWA+17.1%TBLU

Expense ratio: AQWA 0.50%; TBLU 0.40%, better
Fund size: AQWA $21M; TBLU $55M
1Y total return: AQWA −3.2%; TBLU −0.5%, better
Yield (12M): AQWA 1.61%; TBLU 3.50%, better
Holdings: AQWA 42; TBLU 61
Avg volume (30D): AQWA 5.29K sh, better; TBLU 1.8K sh
NAV per share: AQWA $18.69; TBLU $50.92
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for AQWA, TBLU, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	AQWA	TBLU
Cost30% weight	B66	A88Higher
Mission25% weight	Not scored	Not scored
Risk15% weight	C51	B61Higher
Tradability15% weight	F23Higher	F21
Holdings10% weight	C46Higher	D36
Durability5% weight	F21	C42Higher

Rank among Water funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. AQWA and TBLU are both graded against the same 6 Water funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Water⁠

Category · 6 funds

See all 6 ›

TBLU ranks 2nd and AQWA 5th of 6 funds in the Water Category.

Rank 1BFIWFirst Trust Water ETFScore 67
Rank 2BTBLUTortoise Global Water FundScore 58
Rank 3CPHOInvesco Water Resources ETFScore 54
Rank 4CCGWInvesco S&P Global Water Index ETFScore 53
Rank 5CAQWAGlobal X Clean Water ETFScore 48
Rank 6DPIOInvesco Global Water ETFScore 33

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

AQWACGlobal X Clean Water ETF

TBLUBTortoise Global Water Fund

In short

AQWA Global X's 2021 entry into water, built narrower than the old guard: roughly 40 companies worldwide working on treatment, purification, storage and distribution. The pitch is pipes and filters, not a broad utility basket.

TBLU Tortoise didn't license a water benchmark, it built one. TBLU tracks its own global water index, ESG screened, for 0.40% a year.

Stated mandate

AQWA AQWA seeks to invest in companies advancing clean-water provision, including water treatment, storage and distribution infrastructure, purification, and efficiency strategies.

TBLU The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total-return performance of the Tortoise Global Water Net Total Return Index.

Why people hold it

AQWA Costs 0.50% a year, on the cheaper side of the water fund field. A fee edge is fixed and known, unlike anything else about a theme fund.
Follows a rules-based index (Solactive Global Clean Water Industry) rather than a manager's hunches, so the water definition is written down before the money moves.globalxetfs.com
Mandate is global and specific: treatment, purification, storage, distribution infrastructure and efficiency, wherever those companies are listed.globalxetfs.com

TBLU Costs 0.40% a year, at the low end of the water category and under the bigger water funds FIW, CGW and PHO.
Tracks the in-house Tortoise Global Water Net Total Return Index: water companies worldwide, with an ESG screen written into selection.
Trading since 2017, so it has a real operating history rather than a launch-week theme deck.
Stands in the upper half of a small water-ETF peer group, helped by the cheap fee.

Worth knowing

AQWA Small asset base and thin trading. Bid-ask spreads can widen, and tiny funds carry more closure risk than entrenched ones.
Roughly 40 stocks in one theme. A handful of names can drive the whole ride, up or down.
Launched 2021, so it is the newcomer against water veterans like FIW, CGW and PHO, and it sits in the lower half of our water group on the current review.

TBLU Thinly traded next to the category's largest funds, so spreads can be wider and big orders need more care.
The benchmark is Tortoise's own index, not a third-party one, so cross-provider methodology comparisons take extra digging.
One theme, global scope: it can move a long way from a broad world equity fund in either direction. Cash comes once or twice a year, not monthly.

Full AQWA profile⁠

Full TBLU profile⁠

AQWA vs TBLU Holdings

As of Oct 13, 2026

How AQWA and TBLU differ

Overlap by weight

47.4%

Shared holdings make up 90.3% of AQWA and 47.4% of TBLU.

Level by level

Holdings30 in both47.4%
Countryby domicile76.2%
Sector7 Sectors82.2%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in AQWA and TBLU, widest gap first
Sector	More in AQWAMore in TBLU	AQWA	TBLU
Utilities	AQWA +12.6 points	39.9%	27.3%
Industrials	TBLU +11.2 points	51.1%	62.3%
Materials	TBLU +6.1 points	1.8%	7.9%
Consumer Staples	AQWA +2.1 points	2.8%	0.7%
Technology	AQWA +1.7 points	2.2%	0.5%
Consumer Discretionary	AQWA +1.5 points	2.3%	0.8%
Energy	TBLU +0.5 points	0.0%	0.5%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in AQWA and TBLU, widest gap first
Country	More in AQWAMore in TBLU	AQWA	TBLU
United States	AQWA +13.0 points	73.0%	60.0%
Switzerland	TBLU +9.3 points	0.0%	9.3%
France	TBLU +7.4 points	0.0%	7.4%
China	AQWA +4.5 points	5.9%	1.4%
Canada	TBLU +2.9 points	0.0%	2.9%
United Kingdom	AQWA +2.8 points	12.6%	9.8%
Brazil	TBLU +2.5 points	1.0%	3.5%
South Korea	AQWA +2.3 points	2.3%	0.0%
Other countries (2)	TBLU +0.5 points	5.2%	5.7%

Outside the US: AQWA 66% developed, 34% emerging. TBLU 88% developed, 12% emerging.

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

AQWA58.6%
TBLU62.4%

Securities held

AQWA41
TBLU59

Asset class

AQWA: Equity
TBLU: Equity

Holdings

Only in AQWA11
In both30
Only in TBLU29

Only in AQWA

11 securities, 9.7% of AQWA by weight

Coway Co Ltd2.38%
Beijing Capital Eco-Enviro-A1.87%
Cia Saneamento Minas Gerais1.49%
Keppel Infrastructure Trust1.17%
Chengdu Xingrong Environme-A0.81%
Beijing Originwater Techno-A0.59%
Vontron Technology Co-A0.45%
Chongqing Water Group-A0.32%
Alkhorayef Water & Power Tec0.28%
Miahona0.27%
Other Payable & Receivables0.11%

Only in TBLU

29 securities, 52.4% of TBLU by weight

Veralto Corp8.59%
Ecolab Inc8.15%
Veolia Environnement SA7.34%
IDEX Corp4.06%
Geberit AG3.99%
Cia Saneamento Basico Sponsored Adr3.42%
Belimo Holding AG3.22%
Stantec Inc2.88%
Georg Fischer AG1.86%
Tetra Tech Inc1.22%
Lixil Corp1.02%
Pennon Group PLC0.85%
Rinnai Corp0.83%
Miura Co Ltd0.75%
Fortune Brands Innovations Inc0.66%
Otter Tail Corp0.47%
Kitz Corp0.43%
Hayward Holdings Inc0.42%
First American Government Obligations Fund 12/01/20310.40%
Genuit Group PLC0.30%
Select Water Solutions Inc0.30%
WaterBridge Infrastructure LLC0.21%
METAWATER Co Ltd0.20%
Gorman-Rupp Co/The0.18%
Tsukishima Holdings Co Ltd0.17%
China Lesso Group Holdings Ltd0.14%
Lindsay Corp0.13%
Oyo Corp0.10%
Onterris Inc0.06%

Weight gaps

All 30 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in AQWA and TBLU, widest gap first
Holding	More in AQWAMore in TBLU	AQWA	TBLU
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions CorporationZWS	AQWA +3.37 points	4.18%	0.81%
Core & Main Inc-Class ACNM	AQWA +3.25 points	4.27%	1.02%
Watts Water Technologies-AWTS	AQWA +3.24 points	4.42%	1.18%
United Utilities Group PLCUU.L	AQWA +2.91 points	7.37%	4.46%
Smith (A.o.) CorpAOS	AQWA +2.89 points	3.74%	0.85%
Advanced Drainage Systems InWMS	AQWA +2.86 points	4.03%	1.17%
Pentair PLCPNR	AQWA +2.52 points	3.82%	1.30%
Primo Brands CorpPRMB	AQWA +2.11 points	2.75%	0.64%
Essential Utilities IncWTRG	AQWA +2.08 points	6.13%	4.05%
Franklin Electric Co IncFELE	AQWA +1.98 points	2.46%	0.48%
Kurita Water Industries Ltd	AQWA +1.88 points	2.91%	1.03%
Badger Meter IncBMI	AQWA +1.79 points	2.32%	0.53%
Mueller Water Products Inc-AMWA	AQWA +1.62 points	2.06%	0.44%
American States Water CoAWR	AQWA +1.56 points	1.98%	0.42%
California Water Service GrpCWT	AQWA +1.35 points	1.72%	0.37%
Xylem IncXYL	AQWA +1.13 points	7.42%	6.29%
H2O AmericaHTO	AQWA +1.13 points	1.40%	0.27%
Guangdong Investment Ltd	AQWA +0.91 points	1.88%	0.97%
Organo Corp	AQWA +0.72 points	1.36%	0.64%
American Water Works Co IncAWK	AQWA +0.71 points	8.24%	7.53%
Severn Trent PLCSVT.L	AQWA +0.64 points	4.77%	4.13%
Middlesex Water CoMSEX	AQWA +0.47 points	0.60%	0.13%
Nwpx Infrastructure IncNWPX	AQWA +0.44 points	0.56%	0.12%
Cadiz IncCDZI	AQWA +0.31 points	0.34%	0.03%
Consolidated Water Co-Ord ShCWCO	AQWA +0.27 points	0.32%	0.05%
York Water CoYORW	AQWA +0.25 points	0.31%	0.06%
Energy Recovery IncERII	AQWA +0.23 points	0.27%	0.04%
Nomura Micro Science Co Ltd	AQWA +0.18 points	0.39%	0.21%
Beijing Enterprises Water Gr	AQWA +0.13 points	0.45%	0.32%
Ferguson Enterprises IncFERG	TBLU +0.03 points	7.80%	7.83%

All 40 AQWA holdings⁠All TBLU holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

AQWA vs TBLU Cost

Overpaying AQWA vs TBLU

$1,889

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

AQWA 0.50%
$9,979
TBLU 0.40%
$8,090

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

AQWA 0.50%
TBLU 0.40%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	AQWA	TBLU	Overpaying
10	$900	$723	$177
20	$3,460	$2,793	$667
30	$9,979	$8,090	$1,889

Expense ratio

0.50%AQWA
0.40%TBLU, cheaper

TBLU0.40%AQWA0.50%

0.40%0.75%

Middle half of Water funds
Median 0.54%

TBLU cheapest of 6 funds

AQWA 2nd cheapest of 6 funds

AQWA vs TBLU Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): AQWA 1.61%; TBLU 3.50%, better
Payout (12M): AQWA $0.30; TBLU $1.78
Last payment: AQWA $0.13; TBLU $0.50
Ex-dividend: AQWA Jun 29, 2026; TBLU Jun 25, 2026
Paid on: AQWA Jul 7, 2026; TBLU Jun 26, 2026
Frequency: AQWA Twice a year; TBLU Twice a year

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

AQWATwice a year · 11 paymentsAll AQWA payments⁠

TBLUTwice a year · 23 paymentsAll TBLU payments⁠

AQWA vs TBLU Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

AQWA
TBLU

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: AQWA 15.4%TBLU 15.3%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: AQWA 0.51TBLU 0.62, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: AQWA −29.5%, betterTBLU −35.4%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: AQWA 0.82TBLU 0.92; Market = 1

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