Shares in Altair Nanotechnologies Purchased
I purchased shares in Altair Nanomaterials (ALTI) this morning for both my personal portfolio and also the mutual fund. ALTI is a holding company that specializes in nanomaterials and also contains a life sciences division. The materials company has research in high performance batteries, fuel cells, and photovoltaics. Altair announced earnings today and the stock is up on the morning trading. Revenue Increases 68 Percent for Third Quarter and 230 Percent for Nine-Month Period "An increase in revenue of 230 percent for the first three quarters of 2005 is representative of the significant progress Altair has...
Alternative Energy Mutual Fund and ETF Year End Update
By Harris Roen Alternative energy investing was very profitable in 2013. This article reviews how green mutual funds and ETFs performed in 2013, what stocks were most favored by these funds, and forecasts where funds should go in 2014 and beyond. Alternative Energy Fund Returns 2013 has been the year of the comeback for alternative energy mutual funds and ETFs. As of close last week, green mutual funds are up 37% on average. Without exception, not one of the 13 mutual funds ended down for the year. ETFs did even better on average, up 43%, with 14...
Shares of Hydrogenics Purchased
Hydrogenics Corp (HYGS) is a developer of fuel cell technology and hydrogen generation. They are also working with wind farm technology in the generation of hydrogen. Back in January of this year they successfully completed the purchase of Stuart Energy which compliments their product portfolio. Shares of the stock have been under pressure for the last couple of months due to missed expectations on Q1 revenue results. There is also some major concern about an increase in product backlog. In August, HYGS issued their most recent quarterly earnings and are attempting to reassure the...
Options on Clean Energy ETFs
In my recent article about Green Energy Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), I said that there were two main criteria investors should consider when choosing one (the fund's expense ratio, and its investment universe.) This is true for investors who are looking for a single investment in alternative energy, but if you are a more sophisticated investor or speculator, there's another important criterion: Is there a market for exchange traded options on the ETF? I personally love selling (a.k.a. "writing") options. If the stock market is a casino, option sellers are the house. Longtime readers will recall my article last...
ESG5 Summit brief
A conference hosted in NYC in early April, 2019 ESG5 SUMMIT showcased the issues of current concern to institutional asset managers. ESG as a term is a rebranding of SRI (socially responsible investing) and CSR (corporate social responsibility) now under broad headings of Environment Social & Governance, to reflect that it is more than just an investing style, but is concerned with risk management and value creation. ESG strategies are being pursued by a range of participants, including public and private pension funds, mutual funds and ETFs, family offices and sovereign wealth funds, and advisors and advocacy groups.
The goals are...
Alternative Energy and Climate Change Mutual Funds, Part II
Tom Konrad CFA Choosing the best green energy mutual fund. In part I of this series, I looked at the costs and expenses of eight Climate Change and Alternative Energy focused Mutual Funds. I concluded that four out of the eight, the Firsthand Alternative Energy Fund (ALTEX), the Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund (GAAEX), the Winslow Green Growth Fund (WGGFX), and the New Alternatives Fund (NALFX) each cost roughly 1.5% more in terms of expenses and trading costs per year than the typical Climate Change or Alternative Energy focused Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), with the other four...
Alternative Energy Mutual Funds and ETFs Returns Flatten
By Harris Roen Alternative Energy Mutual Fund Returns Alternative energy mutual funds have given back some of the gains they have enjoyed since the beginning of the year, though they are still up almost 20% on average. All MFs are in positive territory, with annual returns ranging from 9.8% to 40.9%. MFs are also up nicely for the week and month, but on average are down slightly in the past three months. These returns are very different than those of just five months ago, when alternative energy MFs were doing almost twice as well… ...
The Very Quick Guide To A Green Portfolio
Tom Konrad CFA For many, the decision to get out of fossil fuels is an easy one. It may be because it's the right thing to do, or because we see the risks of investing in businesses built around an unsustainable economic paradigm. This article is not about that decision; it's about what to do next. The Green Portfolio: What And Why To a lesser extent, it also depends on what we mean when we say "green." For simplicity, this article will focus on making your portfolio Fossil Fuel Free (FFF), meaning that the portfolio should...
Alternative Energy Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
UPDATE 3/4/2011: An up-to date article on selecting green mutual funds and ETFs can be found here. Mutual funds are often touted as an inexpensive way to achieve diversification. With declining brokerage commissions, this is often no longer true. If you are interested in investing in alternative energy, is a mutual fund or ETF right for you? Here are the currently available mutual funds and ETFs of which I'm aware with alternative energy type themes: Fund Name Emphasis Mgmt Style Load? Turnover Ticker Expense Ratio Guinness Atkinson...
Renewable and Alternative Energy Mutual Funds Compared
If you can, you are better off in one of the clean energy ETFs, or even a portfolio of individual clean energy stocks (here are 10 clean energy picks for 2009.) However, it you want a mutual fund for the ease of investment, or you are looking to add one to a retirement plan, the Winslow Green Growth Fund comes out on top because of its emphasis on energy efficiency stocks (including these two Geothermal Heat Pump stocks), and its lower expenses.
List of Alternative Energy and Clean Energy ETFs
This list was last updated on 4/27/2022.
ETFs are Exchange-listed funds which pool investor's money for the purpose of making Alternative Energy investments. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) track a specified Alternative Energy index. This list also includes closed-end mutual funds and other pooled investments which trade on exchanges.
ALPS Clean Energy ETF (ACES)
ASN Groenprojectenfonds (ASNGF.AS)
Bluefield Solar Income Fund (BSIF.L)
Defiance Next Gen H2 ETF (HDRO)
Evolve Funds Automobile Innovation Index ETF (CARS.TO)
First Trust Global Wind Energy Index (FAN)
First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund (GRID)
First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (QCLN)
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL.L)
Global X Lithium...
Should “Green” Funds Invest in Fossil Fuels?
Marc Gunther Bill McKibben’s groundbreaking Rolling Stone story (Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math) and 350.org’s “Do the Math” divestment campaign raise important and difficult questions about fossil fuels. One that is starting to roil the world of socially-responsibly investing is this: How should mutual funds that strive to be “green” or “sustainable” or “socially responsible” deal with the fossil fuel companies in their portfolios? Should they divest, as McKibben argues? That was the topic of a column I wrote last week for the Guardian Sustainable Business, which generated some noteworthy responses. It’s part of the British newspaper...
Screening For the Best Clean Energy ETF
by Vic Patel
There are over a dozen major Clean Energy ETFs available to investors. But which one is the best one to put your hard earned money into? Best can mean different things to different people based on their investment preferences and risk profile.
In this article, I will provide a more empirical based reason behind why I believe that PZD is the most attractive Clean Energy ETF at the moment. I have based on my analysis of 4 primary factors: liquidity, diversification, recent price action, and last but not least expense ratio.
Liquidity has to be a major consideration in the...
Virtual Mutual Fund at Marketocracy.com
I finally got around to setting up a virtual mutual fund at Marketocracy.com. This virtual fund gives me 1 million in play money to prove my worth. If they like what they see, they will set up a real fund. Just like every real mutual fund you need to setup an investment charter and style. They will report on performance once you have maintained the mutual fund compliance rules. In a nutshell they are as follows: No position can exceed 25% of your total portfolio value.Half your portfolio must be comprised of positions under 10% each.Your cash...
Strong Returns Continue for Alternative Energy Mutual Funds and ETFs
By Harris Roen Alternative Energy Mutual Fund Returns Alternative energy mutual funds have posted extremely strong returns across the board. Gains have shown a wide breadth, with all MFs up for the last 12-month and 3-month periods. In the past year, all funds are up double digits. A new fund has been added to our tracking system, Calvert Green Bond A (CGAFX). This fund started trading in November 2013, and is the first green open end bond fund designed for retail investors. CGAFX focuses at least 80% of its assets on “…opportunities related to climate change...
Not All Alt Energy ETFs Were Created Equal
Charles Morand A few months ago, I conducted analyses of the wind and solar power ETFs. I've recently turned my attention to the general alternative energy ETFs, or those that span several sectors. The general alt energy ETFs fall into two categories: 1) US Only and 2) Global. The US Only ETFs are the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge US Liquid (QCLN) and the PowerShares Clean Energy (PBW). The Global ETFs are the iShares S&P Global Clean Energy Index ETF (ICLN), the PowerShares Global Clean Energy Portfolio (PBD) and the Van Eck Global Alternative Energy Fund (GEX). The chart below shows...
