How to profit from the world's most plentiful resource

Philippe Rohner, senior investment manager of the Pictet Water fund, calls for a change in attitude towards water as a resource.

Why would anyone contemplate investing in something that is freely supplied, often falling in great quantities, onto a planet that is 70% covered in water? As the most vital of all commodities, water is probably also the most taken for granted and mispriced. While large parts of the globe are indeed under water, less than 3% of supplies are fresh. Most of this is locked in glaciers and permafrost and therefore unavailable for consumption. Consequently only some 0.25% of the earth’s water is suitable for drinking and supporting the entire global eco-system. Why does this matter? The wo...