Understanding Green ETFs
In 2009, investors didn’t have to be great stock pickers to see their stocks rise, but some sectors (and stocks) performed much better than others. Although clean energy stocks rose about 40%, that only reversed about a third of the losses from 2008. Energy efficiency, grid and energy storage stocks were the place to be, pre-empting more "traditional" clean energy solar and wind stocks. 2009 winners had spectacular share price performance, including: LED Lighting: Cree (255%) and Dialight (100%) Smart Grid: EnerNOC (308%); Comverge (128.6%) Energy Efficiency: Johnson Controls (64.64%); Baldor Electric (57%) Energy Storage: BYD Company (439%); Maxwell Technologies (252%). Geothermal Heat Pumps: LSB Industries (69.9%); WaterFurnace (60.22%) Let’s look at the green stock landscape through some of the leading green Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). When we look at the performance of green ETFs in 2009, most rose 30-40%, easily beating the S&P at 28.8%, but underperforming the Nasdaq at 43.9% and a multitude of individual stocks. Still, ETFs are a great, inexpensive place to invest for those hesitant to pick stocks. For investors not very familiar with the advantages of ETFs, they have the compelling advantages of being convenient, low cost, diversified, transparent and liquid investment vehicles. Over […]