Water vs the S&P 500 (FIW): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, FIW has underperformed the S&P 500 by 2.0 points. Here is where that puts it in the sector rotation — updated daily.
Where FIW sits on the rotation map
Water highlighted against the 11 broad S&P 500 sectors. Vertical: 1-month spread vs the S&P 500. Horizontal: the longer, time-shifted window — the methodology explains the math.
FIW vs SPY: head-to-head returns
FIW (water) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means FIW won that window.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Water (FIW) is losing its lead. It built a 6.4-point advantage over the S&P 500 across the longer, time-shifted window, but over the past month it has slipped 2.0 points behind the market — the Cooling quadrant of the rotation map. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #67 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, FIW's momentum is weakening: the intraday trend that carried the move is cooling across the shorter windows. FIW's relative-strength line has broken below its long-term average — the long-term outperformance trend is no longer intact. Both signals point the same direction here: the market is not rewarding this group on either horizon.
The exposure comes via First Trust Water ETF, whose 37 tracked holdings are led by WATERS CORP, AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC and ROPER TECHNOLOGIES INC. Weighted by portfolio, the fund's holdings trade at roughly 31.4× earnings and 3.7× sales. The thing to watch from here is whether this is a pause or a handoff: cooling groups sometimes reset and reclaim leadership, but a deepening one-month deficit usually means rotation has moved on.
What's inside FIW
Top 5 of 37 tracked holdings, by portfolio weight.
Water vs the market — common questions
Is water outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, no: over the past month FIW has underperformed the S&P 500 by 2.0 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is FIW?
FIW is First Trust Water ETF, the fund Zensei uses to measure the water group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
Which stocks are in FIW?
FIW's largest tracked positions are WATERS CORP, AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES INC, ROPER TECHNOLOGIES INC, AMERICAN WATER WORKS CO INC, VERALTO CORP — 37 holdings in total. The full list, with each stock measured against the group, is part of Zensei Premium.
What quadrant is water in right now?
As of the latest daily data, water is in the Cooling quadrant — still ahead over the longer window, but behind the market over the past month. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.
Related sectors
Track water against the whole market
Zensei Edge maps 100+ sectors and themes against the S&P 500 — with the stocks inside each one, rotation history and alerts when leadership changes hands.