COMPANY

WATER POLITICS

Water Politics Limited is one of the world’s first global water-related geopolitical risk advisory and consulting firms. We cover environmental, political, social, security and economic developments worldwide as they relate to the scarcity of, competition over, and sharing of limited freshwater resources, and also examine issues arising from the water/energy/food nexus. Water Politics delivers critical knowledge and independent analysis on strategic water issues, geopolitics, industry trends, and strategy.

Our coverage is organized into five geographic practices – Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, and North America – as well as a Transnational Issues Group. We offer our clients Advisory Services, Publications, and Tailored Consulting, as well as direct access to Water Politics analysts. Our analytical team covers geopolitical water developments and their impact on business and financial markets on a daily basis.

Montgomery Simus, Founder and President

Before founding Water Politics in 2007, Montgomery Simus spent much of his career deploying catalytic philanthropy, innovative social finance, and equity investment to purpose-driven enterprises serving emerging market consumers and businesses. He served as Executive Director, Global Growth for World Fish, an international non-profit reducing hunger, malnutrition and poverty worldwide, and as Director of The Bayat Foundation, an organization dedicated to the health and education of vulnerable Afghans. Prior to these roles, Mr. Simus served as Vice President of Business Development for a family office focused on sustainable infrastructure in fragile markets, leading investments in emerging and frontier markets such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Mongolia, and the Republic of Georgia, and evaluated opportunities in dozens of other markets in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Mr. Simus also launched World Fish’s efforts to commercialize the organization’s considerable genetic improvement intellectual property, and also considered issues related to commercializing IP in nations such as Nigeria and Bangladesh.

A graduate of Yale (Bachelor of Arts in History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy), Mr.Simus served as a Senior Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow at Harvard from 2015 – 2017, focusing on research related to the water-energy-food nexus, and returned to Harvard as one of three inaugural Advanced Leadership Impact Leaders In Residence in 2023. He is a frequent writer and speaker on issues of freshwater scarcity; the geopolitics of our thirsty world; the linkages between water, energy, and food; sustainable investment and blended finance; and emerging markets.

Mr. Simus’ 2023 work at Harvard focuses on global water policy, conflict, and collective hope for a water-just future. In 2017 – 2019, Mr. Simus also served an Associate in Environmental Science and Engineering at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, and co-led an American-Moroccan team of Harvard researchers examining the value of water and potential for new “smart” trading platforms to quench growing urban thirst in the MENA region in 2018 – 2019. Mr. Simus works from Miami Beach with his wife and son, and has work experience in more than 100 nations around the world.