Watts Water Technologies : Proxy Statement for the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders

April 3, 2023

Dear Stockholder:

It is my pleasure to invite you to attend our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be held on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. at our principal executive offices located at 815 Chestnut Street, North Andover, Massachusetts 01845. On the pages following this letter you will find the notice of our 2023 Annual Meeting, which lists the business matters to be considered at the meeting, and the proxy statement, which further describes the business matters listed in the notice. Following completion of the scheduled business at the 2023 Annual Meeting, we will report on our operations and answer questions from stockholders.

We are pleased to take advantage of the Securities and Exchange Commission rules that allow issuers to furnish proxy materials to their stockholders through the Internet. We believe these rules allow us to provide you with the information you need while lowering the costs of delivery and reducing the environmental impact of the 2023 Annual Meeting.

Whether or not you plan to attend the 2023 Annual Meeting, your vote is important and we encourage you to vote promptly. After you have read the attached proxy statement, please cast your vote by telephone or through the Internet. Instructions for voting by telephone or through the Internet are included on the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials you received in the mail. If you received printed copies of these materials, please mark your vote on the proxy card, sign and date the proxy card, and return it per the instructions on the card.

We hope that you will be able to join us at the 2023 Annual Meeting.

Sincerely,

ROBERT J. PAGANO, JR.

Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairperson of the Board

WATTS WATER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

815 Chestnut Street

North Andover, MA 01845

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

To Be Held on May 17, 2023

To the Stockholders of

Watts Water Technologies, Inc.

Notice is hereby given that the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Watts Water Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation, will be held at our principal executive offices located at 815 Chestnut Street, North Andover, Massachusetts 01845, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at 9:00 a.m., local time, for the following purposes:

• 1. To elect the nine directors named in the proxy statement to our Board of Directors, each to hold office until our 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until such director's successor is duly elected and qualified;

• 2. To approve, by a non-binding advisory vote, named executive officer compensation;

• 3. To approve, by a non-binding advisory vote, the frequency of future advisory votes to approve named executive officer compensation;

• 4. To approve an amendment to our Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, to provide for the exculpation of officers with respect to certain breaches of their duty of care; and

• 5. To ratify the appointment of KPMG LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm

• for the year ending December 31, 2023.

The stockholders will also consider and act upon any other matters that may properly come before the Annual Meeting. If any other matters properly come before the Annual Meeting, it is the intention of the persons named in the enclosed form of proxy to vote the shares they represent as the Board of Directors recommends.

Only stockholders of record at the close of business on March 22, 2023 are entitled to notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting or any continuation, adjournment or postponement thereof.

By Order of the Board of Directors

KENNETH R. LEPAGE

General Counsel,

Chief Sustainability Officer

and Secretary

North Andover, Massachusetts

April 3, 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

INFORMATIONABOUTTHEANNUALMEETING ................................... 1

InformationAboutthisProxyStatement ......................................... 1 Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the

Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be Held on May 17, 2023 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Information About Voting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Quorum; Required Votes; Abstentions and Broker Non-Votes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Solicitation of Proxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Other Business to be Considered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

PROPOSAL1:ELECTIONOFDIRECTORS ....................................... 5

InformationastoNomineesforDirector ......................................... 5

Director Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

OurCommitmenttoGoodCorporateGovernance .................................. 11

RoleofOurBoardofDirectors ............................................... 11

PerformanceofOurBoardandCommittees ...................................... 15

Business Ethics and Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Director Independence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Horne Family Board Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Corporate Governance Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

ExecutiveSessions ....................................................... 17

CommunicationswiththeBoard .............................................. 17

AnnualMeetingAttendance ................................................. 17

CommitteesoftheBoard ................................................... 17

Director Candidates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Restrictions on Hedging, Pledging and Other Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Policies and Procedures for Related Person Transactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

CompensationPhilosophy .................................................. 32

Benchmarking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Elements of Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

CompensationRecoveryPolicy ............................................... 41

EmploymentAgreements ................................................... 41

Post-Termination Compensation and Change in Control Arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Stock Ownership Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Impact of Regulatory Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

EXECUTIVECOMPENSATION ................................................ 44

CompensationSummary ................................................... 44

Grants of Plan-Based Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

OptionExercisesandStockVested ............................................ 49

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Pay Versus Performance Disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

PayRatioDisclosure ...................................................... 58

DELINQUENT SECTION 16(a) REPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

PROPOSAL 2: ADVISORY VOTE ON NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICER COMPENSATION . . . . . . . . 59 PROPOSAL 3: ADVISORY VOTE ON THE FREQUENCY OF FUTURE ADVISORY VOTES ON

NAMEDEXECUTIVEOFFICERCOMPENSATION ................................. 60 PROPOSAL 4: APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT TO CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION

REGARDING OFFICER EXCULPATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

i

Page
PROPOSAL 5: RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC
ACCOUNTING FIRM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	62
HOUSEHOLDING OF ANNUAL MEETING MATERIALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	63
STOCKHOLDERPROPOSALS ................................................	64
APPENDIX A: TEXT OF AMENDMENT TO CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION . . . . . . . . . . . . .	A-1
ii

WATTS WATER TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

May 17, 2023

PROXY STATEMENT

INFORMATION ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING

Our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 9:00 a.m., local time, at our principal executive offices located at 815 Chestnut Street, North Andover, Massachusetts 01845. If you have any questions about the Annual Meeting, you may contact our Investor Relations department by email [e-mail] by mailing a written request for information addressed to our Corporate Secretary at our principal executive offices.

INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PROXY STATEMENT

You have received this proxy statement because the Board of Directors of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (which we also refer to as Watts or the Company) is soliciting your proxy to vote your shares at the 2023 Annual Meeting and at any continuation, adjournment or postponement of the 2023 Annual Meeting. This proxy statement includes information that we are required to provide to you under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and is designed to assist you in voting your shares. Only stockholders of record at the close of business on March 22, 2023 are entitled to receive notice of and to vote at the Annual Meeting.

Beginning on or about April 3, 2023, we are mailing or making available to our stockholders of record as of March 22, 2023 a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, or Internet Notice, containing instructions on how to access our proxy statement, proxy and annual report for the year ended December 31, 2022, as well as how to vote. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 is available in the Investors section of our website athttps://investors.wattswater.com. If you are a stockholder and would like a copy of our Annual Report on Form 10-K or any of its exhibits sent to you, we will send it to you without charge. Please address all such requests to our Corporate Secretary at our principal executive offices.

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be Held on May 17, 2023

This proxy statement and our 2022 annual report to security holders are available athttps://materials.proxyvote.com/942749.

INFORMATION ABOUT VOTING

Each share of our class A common stock, par value $0.10 per share, outstanding on the record date is entitled to one vote on each matter submitted, and each share of our class B common stock, par value $0.10 per share, outstanding on the record date is entitled to ten votes on each matter submitted. As of the close of business on March 22, 2023, there were outstanding and entitled to vote 27,402,524 shares of class A common stock and 5,958,290 shares of class B common stock.

Stockholders of Record

Stockholders of record may vote in person at the Annual Meeting or by proxy. There are three ways to vote by proxy: