Book Review: Investment Opportunities for a Low Carbon World (Cleantech Indexes, Funds and ETFs)
Charles Morand This is the third installment of my review of the book book "Investment Opportunities for a Low Carbon World". The second installment covered geothermal power and energy efficiency and the first installment covered wind and solar. This post reviews three interrelated chapters on the world of cleantech and alt energy indices, funds and ETFs. Two of these three chapters are my favorite in the book so far - they provide very useful information for the novice investor with an interest in alt energy investing but limited time and knowledge for successful stock picking. Cleantech...
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...
Green Energy ETFs Compared
UPDATE 3/4/2011: An up-to date article on selecting green mutual funds and ETFs can be found here. Green energy Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are the simplest way to invest in the sector at reasonable expense. Here is what you need to know to choose. Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA Why ETFs? Investors interested in a simple way to invest in a diverse basket of renewable energy and energy efficiency companies should consider Exchange Traded Funds (a.k.a. ETFs) first. Although green energy mutual funds will be more familiar to many investors, they come with costs that are difficult to justify...
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...
An Actively Managed Green ETF: HECO
Tom Konrad CFA Deepwater Horizon Oil slick, as seen by NASA satellite, May 24, 2010 For a growing number of people, ecological responsibility means more than just recycling and changing our light bulbs. Many have started to ask, “How much good does saving a few hundred gallons of gas with a hybrid car do, when the mutual funds in your 401k own companies that are allowing 6.6 million barrels of oil to spill into the Gulf of Mexico, or fund misinformation about climate change?” For most, the answer...
A Better Way to Play Green Stocks?
Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA My Quick Clean Energy Tracking Portfolio continues to outperform all benchmarks and expectations... is it luck, or did I stumble onto a better way to invest in green energy stocks? I continue to be stunned at how the portfolio which I intended as an easy way to duplicate green energy mutual fund performance at much lower cost continues to blow those green mutual funds out of the water. I last published an update on this portfolio at the end of May, and was shocked to find that it had beaten the funds it was...
In Clean Energy, Active Management Pays
Alternative Energy and Climate Change Mutual Funds, Part V Tom Konrad, CFA Actively managed clean energy funds have been producing better returns than index funds, despite much higher expenses. I've long been critical of the costs of Alternative Energy mutual funds, but I now regret that stance. Past Performance of Mutual Funds When I recently surveyed the performance of Alternative Energy mutual funds, I found the results were pretty good, at least in comparison to the oldest sector index fund, the Powershares Clean Energy Index (PBW). See the following chart below, which shows...
Do You Need To Invest In Oil To Benefit From Expensive Oil?
Two months ago, Tom told us how he'd dipped a toe into the black stuff (i.e. bought the OIL etf) on grounds that current supply destruction related to the depressed price of crude oil would eventually lead to the same kind of supply-demand crunch that led oil to spike during the 2004 to mid-2008 period. If you need evidence that the current price of crude is wreaking havoc in the world of oil & gas exploration, look no further than Alberta and its oil sands. The oil sands contain the second largest oil reserves in the world after...
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… ...
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...
Is the New Smart Grid ETF GRID All That Smart?
Tom Konrad, CFA First Trust Launched a Grid Infrastructure Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) on November 17th. Although the First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund (Nasdaq: GRID) is labeled a "Smart Grid" ETF to capture popular excitement around smart grid technology, it covers the whole grid infrastructure sector. This broader focus is good for clean energy investors. I've been an advocate of investing in electric transmission and smart gird stocks since early 2007, and for almost a year now, a regular reader has been telling me to create a transmission ETF so he can buy...
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...
Do Falling Alternative Energy Funds Returns Signal Danger?
By Harris Roen Green Mutual Fund Returns Falter Returns for green mutual funds have slid as of late. Longer term, however, alternative energy MFs are still showing strong gains. All MFs are in positive territory for the past 12 months, and 6 out of 14 funds are up double digits. Three year returns have faired even better, showing an annualized return of 14.3% on average. Short term, however, almost all the funds have given up a significant amount of their recent gains. For example, Firsthand Alternative Energy (ALTEX), the MF with the best one-year returns, gave up...
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...
Can Alternative Energy Mutual Funds and ETFs Continue to Beat the Market?
By Harris Roen Alternative Energy Mutual Fund Returns Alternative energy mutual funds have proven to be an excellent investment over the past year or more, but those gains have flattened out as of late. MFs are up 33% on average with even the lowest returning fund, Gabelli SRI Green AAA (SRIGX), up 15% for the year. The alternative energy sector is by far beating the overall market. For comparison, as of April 21 the tech heavy NASDAQ was up around 27% for 12 months, the S&P 500 by 20%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average...
Alternative Energy Funds: 2014 Review
By Harris Roen Mutual Funds (MFs) Falling fossil fuel prices have hampered 2014 returns for alternative energy mutual funds. Returns are slightly down on average for the past three-month, with a third of funds showing losses. Monthly gains fared worse, with only 2 out of 14 funds in the black. One-year returns are flat on average, and range from a high of 8.3% for Gabelli SRI Green AAA (SRIGX), to a low of -14.3% for Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy (GAAEX)… Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) Alternative energy ETFs had a wide range of returns for 2014,...
