Water is the most valuable resource

[pscot]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-little-water-helps-portfolios-spring-to-life-2009-10-21

-----

"Water is simply the most valuable resource of the 21st century," said Steve Hoffmann, director of Palisades Water Index Associates LLC and principal architect of the index, on which exchange-traded funds PowerShares Global Water /quotes/comstock/13*!pio/quotes/nls/pio (PIO 17.86, +0.11, +0.62%) and PowerShares Water Resources /quotes/comstock/13*!pho/quotes/nls/pho (PHO 16.44, +0.06, +0.37%) are based.

"The value of water across a broad range of socio-economic aspects will rival oil. By most accounts the water industry is the third or fourth largest industry in the world (behind electricity, oil and gas, and perhaps tourism)," said Dallas, Texas-based Hoffmann in an email interview.

For investors who want to dip into the water, there seven actively managed and exchange-traded funds to choose from, all of which were started in the last two years.

PowerShares Global Water, which launched in mid-2007, is among those. It saw net outflows from September 2008 through March of this year, but has seen steady inflows since, and is up 49% on a one-year basis, versus 21% for Water Resources.
------(more)