Future Energy

Deutsche Bank: A Really Enthusiastic Carbon Market Player

There are not many carbon funds out there for retail investors but Deutsche Bank, through its DWS Investments arm, yesterday announced a fund that will invest in CO2 emission rights and related products. 

The fund is to be undertaken in partnership with Aquila Investments and will be managed by First Climate, a Frankfurt based carbon asset manager.  The initial announcements suggest that DWS expects to raise up to 250 million euros from European retail and institutional investors.

There is a significant question as to whether retail investors should be investing in a market as risky and uncertain as carbon.  My opinion: they shouldn't, full stop.  No one is even certain if this market will be around in its current form five years from now.

However, putting that question aside, Deutsche Bank is showing impressive enthusiasm for carbon market related products.  Just over a year ago, DWS Investments introduced a climate change fund that invests in companies likely to benefit from the global response to climate change such as wind power, electrical utilities, etc. (this makes a bit more sense for investors - the companies generally appear to be stable industrial companies with good prospects). 

And earlier this year (January to be exact) Deutsche Bank launched a custody, clearing and settlement service for carbon credit instruments issued under both the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme and the Clean Development Mechanism set up under the Kyoto Protocol. 

If you want to know what they think they know take a look at their Investing in Climate Change page.

A Good Time To Invest In Alternative Energy Mutual Funds?

Source: Canadian Hydro Developers Inc.

Yesterday’s Financial Times provides a report on alternative energy mutual funds (see Fund Management: Alternative Energy Fuels Long-Term Opportunity, Ruth Sullivan, February 4^th, 2008).  Citing the growing pressures of record high oil prices and increasing climate change problems, Ms. Sullivan concludes that “the case for investing in alternative energy is becoming more compelling”

She quotes a number of alt. Energy fund managers, including Ron Batchelor, co-manager of the BlackRock/Merrill Lynch New Energy Technology Fund:

“Investors have been shunning mainstream energy equities over the past 18 months on the back of worries in the US. Instead they are heading to alternative energy equities.”

That being said, there are not a lot of alternative energy mutual funds out there that investors can head to.  Including the four that are specifically identified in the FTimes article, I can only come up with eight.  I’ve included a list below.

Alternative Energy Mutual Funds

Fund	Launched	Country of Origin	Symbol
Calvert  Global Alternative Energy Fund	May, 2007	US	CGEAX
Creststreet Alternative Energy Fund	November, 2007	Canada	N/A
F&C Global Climate Opportunities Fund	September, 2007	UK	N/A
Firsthand Alternative Energy Fund	October, 2007	US	ALTEX
Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund	March, 2006	US	GAAEX
Merrill Lynch New Energy Technology Fund	February, 2000	UK	LON: MNE
New Alternatives Fund	September, 1982	US	NALFX
Sarasin New Power Fund	April, 2007	Switz.	N/A

Carbon Indexes Added to List of Sustainable Energy Indexes

                                       

                                        Source: JP Morgan

Barclays Global Carbon Index is the Newest Sustainable Energy Index

Last week, Barclays Capital announced the creation of their Global Carbon Index.  The Index will track the performance of carbon credits associated with the world's major emissions trading schemes.  The initial products tracked by the index include allowances traded on the European Union Emissions Trading System and Certified Emission Reductions created under the Clean Development Mechanism.  Barclays indicated that they would add other carbon credits as new trading schemes are created around the world.

This is the first index to track the emerging carbon market commodities that will play a growing role in the world's energy markets and Barclay's is to be commended for being the first to recognize the role carbon credits will play in the energy markets of the future.

Another sustainable energy index that I will be adding to my ongoing list (see the bottom of post) was launched much earlier this year.  In February, JPMorgan and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors jointly announced the launch of the JPMorgan Environmental Index-Carbon Beta (JENI-Carbon Beta).  While all of the indexes I have talked about to-date have focused on equities (with the noted exception of the Global Carbon Index, above), the JENI-Carbon Beta index is a corporate bond index designed to overweight the securities of issuers judged to have relatively lower risk exposure to the effects of climate change and to underweight those securites estimated to have relatively higher exposure.

At the time that it launched the index, JPMorgan issued an introductory research report that outlines index and its rational.  It can be accessed here.

While JPMorgan's research outlines Innovest's Carbon Beta approach to some degree, the company's own research, released in October (see Carbon Beta and Equity Performance: An Empirical Analysis - Moving From Disclosure to Performance) provides both a discussion of the proprietary Carbon Beta analysis and the connection between companies' management of their climate change risk exposure and their financial performance.

Overall, Innovest's study found that companies with more robust risk management approaches and the ability to seize climate change opportunities have tended to financially outperform their peers over the past three years.  It also found that the "Carbon Beta premium" for leading companies appears to be growing as regulatory regimes with respect to climate change tighten around the world.   

The revised list of sustainable energy indexes is provided below (for more information, see previous posts October 22nd and November 16th).

Sustainable Energy Investment Indices

Index	Launch
1.    Ardour Global Index	Mar 2006
2.    Ardour Extra Liquid Index	May 2006
3.    Barclay Capital Global Carbon Index	Dec 2007
4.    Clean Edge U.S. Index	May 2006
5.    Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index	May 2006
6.    Credit Suisse Global Alternative Energy Index	Jan 2007
7.    DAXglobal Alt Energy Index
8.    Distributed Energy Stock Index	Jul 2005
9.    European Renewable Energy Index	Oct 2005
10.  HSBC Climate Change Index	Sep 2007
11.  HSBC Low Carbon Energy Production Index	Sep 2007
12.  HSBC Energy Efficiency & Energy Management Index	Sep 2007
13.  ISE-CCM Alternative Energy Index	Jan 2006
14.  Jeffries Global Clean Technology Composite Index	Dec 2006
15.  Jeffries Global Clean Technology Energy Generation Index	Dec 2006
16.  Jeffries Global Clean Technology Energy Storage Index	Dec 2006
17.  JPMorgan Environmental Index-Carbon Beta	Feb 2007
18.  KLD Global Climate 100 Index	Jul 2005
19.  Ludlow Alternative Energy Index	Aug 2006
20.  Ludlow Energy Small Cap Index	Aug 2007
21.  Merrill Lynch MLCX Biofuels Index	Oct 2007
22.  Merrill Lynch MLCX Biofuels Plus Index	Oct 2007
23.  Merrill Lynch Energy Efficiency Index	Aug 2007
24.  Merrill Lynch Renewable Energy Index	Mar 2006
25.  Merriman Next Generation Energy Index	May 2006
26.  Societe Generale World Alternative Energy Total Return Index	Aug 2006
27.  Standard & Poor’s Global Clean Energy Index	Feb 2007
28.  UBS Diapason Global Biofuels Index	Mar 2006
29.  UBS World Emissions Index	Nov 2006
30.  WilderHill Clean Energy Index	Aug 2004
31.  WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index	Jan 2006
32.  WilderHill Progressive Energy Index	Oct 2006

Social Funds Highlights Climate Change Funds

Last week, Social Funds highlighted new indexes and funds focusing on the investment opportunities associated with the response to climate change. 

The article, written  by Bill Baue of Social Funds (See Launch of Five Climate Change Funds May Enrich Investor, But Won't Change The World, Social Funds, November 15th, 2007) discusses the recent climate change paper by Deutsche Asset Management (see previous post, Banks Focus on Climate Change Investing, October 25th, 2007) and identifies five financial firms including Deutsche Asset Management, HSBC, Schroders, Virgin Money and F&C that have recently introduced some type of climate change related investment product.

See previous posts relating to Indexes & Funds for more related information.

Enjoy.

More Sustainable Energy Indexes

Source: Yellow Jacket Energy

Back in October, I compiled a list of the many sustainable energy (alternative) energy indexes that have been put together over the past three years.  I managed to track down 25 different indexes in that first review. 

Since then, I’ve come across five additional indexes and have updated the list, which I am providing below.

Sustainable Energy Investment Indices

Index	Launch
1.     Ardour Global Index	Mar 2006
2.     Ardour Extra Liquid Index	May 2006
3.     Clean Edge U.S. Index	May 2006
4.     Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index	May 2006
5.     Credit Suisse Global Alternative Energy Index	Jan 2007
6.     DAXglobal Alt Energy Index
7.     Distributed Energy Stock Index	Jul 2005
8.     European Renewable Energy Index	Oct 2005
9.     HSBC Climate Change Index	Sep 2007
10.  HSBC Low Carbon Energy Production Index	Sep 2007
11.  HSBC Energy Efficiency & Energy Management Index	Sep 2007
12.  ISE-CCM Alternative Energy Index	Jan 2006
13.  Jeffries Global Clean Technology Composite Index	Dec 2006
14.  Jeffries Global Clean Technology Energy Generation Index	Dec 2006
15.  Jeffries Global Clean Technology Energy Storage Index	Dec 2006
16.  KLD Global Climate 100 Index	Jul 2005
17.  Ludlow Alternative Energy Index	Aug 2006
18.  Ludlow Energy Small Cap Index	Aug 2007
19.  Merrill Lynch MLCX Biofuels Index	Oct 2007
20.  Merrill Lynch MLCX Biofuels Plus Index	Oct 2007
21.  Merrill Lynch Energy Efficiency Index	Aug 2007
22.  Merrill Lynch Renewable Energy Index	Mar 2006
23.  Merriman Next Generation Energy Index	May 2006
24.  Societe Generale World Alternative Energy Total Return Index	Aug 2006
25.  Standard & Poor’s Global Clean Energy Index	Feb 2007
26.  UBS Diapason Global Biofuels Index	Mar 2006
27.  UBS World Emissions Index	Nov 2006
28.  WilderHill Clean Energy Index	Aug 2004
29.  WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index	Jan 2006
30.  WilderHill Progressive Energy Index	Oct 2006

If you are aware of any indexes that I’ve missed, I’d really appreciate it if you were able to provide some information on them back to me.

Investing in Sustainable Energy ETF's

A Little Less Nail Biting?

In an earlier post I talked about the explosion of sustainable energy indexes since 2004 (particularly during the past 12 months when 14 of the 29 indexes I listed have been announced – see A Quick Guide to Sustainable Energy Equity Indexes, October 22^nd).   Recently I went looking for Exchange Traded Funds (ETF’s) that might be based on these indexes. 

What I found was a bit of a surprise - at least for me.  Despite the creation of 29 sustainable energy indexes only six corresponding ETF’s appear to have been developed to date.  Admittedly sustainable energy is a small investment niche and perhaps six funds are plenty for meet the needs of interested investors.  However, based on the number of indexes, I was expecting see a wider range of new ETF’s.  Probably unrealistic on my part.

Powershares is clearly the most active fund manager in this regard, fielding four of the six sustainable energy ETF’s found. And WilderShares is the most popular provider of indexes in this sector, with three of the Powershares funds based on WilderShares indexes.  Briefly, the six funds are:

1.   Powershares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio Fund (AMEX: PBW)

Replicates the WilderHill Clean Energy Index, focusing on green and renewable sources of energy and technologies which facilitate cleaner energy.

2.   Powershares Cleantech Portfolio Fund (AMEX: PZD)

Tracks the Cleantech™ Index, which focuses on cleantech companies judged to have the greatest capital appreciation potential and includes a significant proportion of energy related businesses.

3.   Powershares WilderHill Progressive Energy Fund (AMEX: PUW)

Based on the WilderHill Progressive Energy Index, comprised of US-listed companies focused on transitional energy bridge technologies, with emphasis on improving use of fossil fuels.

4.   Powershares Global Clean Energy Fund (AMEX: PBD)

Based on the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index, composed of companies focusing on green and generally renewable sources of energy and technologies facilitating cleaner energy

5.  First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge US Liquid Series Index Fund (NASDAQ: QCLN)

Tracks the NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index, focusing on publicly traded, U.S. clean energy stocks companies engaged in manufacturing, development, distribution and installation of emerging clean-energy technologies. 

6.   Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy Fund (NYSE: GEX)

Replicates the performance of the Ardour Global Index (Extra Liquid), which targets companies engaged in the alternative energy industry.

Although, the mandates differ (albeit within a narrow niche), there appears to be a lot of overlap in the holdings of the funds.  Looking at the top 10 holdings of each, 10 companies are held in two or more funds and the most popular stock, First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), is held by four of the six funds. 

Fund	Start Date	Net Expense Ratio (%)	Performance (% - since inception)
First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge US Liquid Series	January 2007	0.65	19.05
Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy	May 2007	0.60	25.50
Powershares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio	March 2005	0.70	15.73
Powershares Cleantech Portfolio	October 2006	0.71	28.38
Powershares WilderHill Progressive Energy	October 2006	0.73	17.74
Powershares Global Clean Energy	June 2007	0.75	12.43

Why ETF’s?

As I’ve noted previously, the risks associated with investing in individual stocks, particularly in the small and medium-cap stocks that make up much of the sustainable investment sector, may be greater than many investors are prepared to take on.  Small and medium caps are likely to be more volatile and less liquid than more established companies.  These companies and the sustainable energy sector in which they operate are still evolving, and while this offers greater growth potential than more established companies or sectors, it may also make the stocks more sensitive to changing market conditions.

Funds, including ETF’s and mutual funds offer the opportunity for partial diversification, escaping some of the risks in investing in individual equities.  (Although, because these funds are focused on a single industry segment they do not offer the same opportunity for diversification as a broad-based index such as the S&P 500 or a corresponding fund.)

Compared to mutual funds, which can offer similar diversification opportunities, ETF’s are generally more cost effective.  For example, while the average (net) expense ratio for the six funds discussed herein is 0.69%, the (net) expense ratio for the Calvert Global Alternative Energy Fund discussed in an earlier post (see Calvert on Alternative Energy, November 1^st) is 1.85%.

For small investors, investing in indexes and funds can also save you time researching and tracking individual stocks.  The index originators take on the task of finding acceptable companies so you don’t have to.

So, if you still want to invest in the sustainable energy sector, these funds offer a cost-effective alternative with a little less nail biting than you might otherwise experience.

Further Resources About ETF’s

How Mutual Funds Work: Exchange Traded Funds, Efficient Market Canada

Exchange-Traded Funds: A better alternative to mutual funds?, CBC News

Two Good Reasons to Invest in ETF’s (And One Reason Not To), Sonya Morris, Morningstar Investing Specialists

Exchange Traded Funds: A Low Cost and Tax Efficient Investment, Claymore Investments Inc.

Yahoo Finance – Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) Center

Calvert on Alternative Energy

If you are new to investing in alternative and renewable energy, you may be interested in a recent white paper from Calvert on the topic.  Calvert is a well established (since 1976) purveyor of socially responsible funds, with more than 400,000 investors who have over US$15 billion in assets with the company.

The white paper talks about five drivers behind the current bull market in alternative energy, including:

·         Increasing global energy demand

·         Scarcity of oil & natural gas (i.e. Peak Oil)

·         Investment in technology

·         Climate change

·         Changing regulatory landscape (to address environmental and energy security concerns

The impetus for the paper was the debut of Calvert’s Global Alternative Energy Fund, a mutual fund introduced May 31^st, 2007.  The Global Alternative Energy Fund, as the name suggests, invests in alternative energy companies both in the U.S. and internationally and is managed by KBC Asset Management Ltd.  As of September 30^th, the top three holdings of the fund included:

·         Gamesa Corporacion Technologica S.A. (MCE: GAM )      (5.16%)

Spanish manufacturer of wind turbines and photovoltaic panels and developer of wind farms worldwide.

·         Iberdrola S.A. (MCE: IBE)                             (5.05%)

Spanish based electric utility and world’s largest renewable energy operator.

·         Vestas Wind Systems A/S ( CPH: VWS )  (5.02%)

Danish wind turbine manufacturer is the world’s largest producer of wind power systems.

I’ll look at how Calvert and other green energy and clean energy mutual funds compare to each other and to exchange traded funds in a later post.

A Quick Guide to Sustainable Energy Equity Indexes

Is there anyone who isn't trying to start an alternative energy index?

 

Investors wanting to participate in the sustainable energy sector should be thankful for the explosion in the number of equity indexes tracking different groups of alternative (renewable, clean) energy companies.  Since 2004, more than 20 indexes (I found 25 in my research for this post, there are probably more) tracking different, but often overlapping, groups of sustainable energy companies have been developed by everyone from major financial institutions to individuals with a strong interest in alternative energy. 

Unlike broad-base indexes such as the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P/TSX Composite, which are intended to represent the performance of the equity market or markets as a whole, the emerging sustainable energy indexes are designed to represent performance of a small but growing segment of the market.

Why form an index focusing on sustainable energy?   Certainly the indexes set benchmarks for easily measuring and communicating the sector’s performance relative to the broader market.  They also provide a basis for creating exchange traded funds (ETF’s) and other more specialised financial instruments that individual investors and others can use to manage the risks associated with investing in the individual companies. 

The small size of many alternative energy companies, the complex nature of their technologies and the policy environment in which they are being developed, makes investing in any single company a bigger risk than many investors are willing to take.  Index-based funds give individual investors a shot at the sector’s growth prospects without the risk of betting on any single company’s approach.  Usually at a lower cost than would be possible with actively managed mutual funds that do the same job.

Take for example, the Wilderhill Clean Energy Index, the granddaddy of all indexes in the sustainable energy sector.  Established in August, 2004, this index serves as the basis for the Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy ETF (AMEX: PBW). 

Similarly, the more recently formed NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index, established in 2006, underlies the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index Fund (NASDAQ:QCLN).

More recently, HSBC announced the start of its Global Climate Change Benchmark Index on September 27^th of this year.  This index is complimented by four investible, special focus sub-indices  (HSBC Climate Change Index, HSBC Low Carbon Energy Production Index, HSBC Energy Efficiency & Energy Management Index and HSBC Water, Waste and Pollution Control Index). 

The HSBC Climate Change Index follows in the footsteps of KLD’s Global Climate 100 Index, both of which are not solely focused on energy but include a high proportion of alternate energy companies.

Creation of this many indexes focusing on sustainable energy gives already gives investors a host of options for investing in sustainable energy and offer the promise of further proliferation of ETF’s that will give individual investors more opportunities to capture the growth prospects of the sector.  More on those funds later.

Sustainable Energy Investment Indices

Index	Launch
Ardour Global Index	Mar 2006
Ardour Extra Liquid Index	May 2006
Clean Edge U.S. Index	May 2006
Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index	May 2006
Credit Suisse Global Alternative Energy Index	Jan 2007
Distributed Energy Stock Index	Jul 2005
European Renewable Energy Index	Oct 2005
HSBC Global Climate Change Benchmark Index	Sep 2007
HSBC Climate Change (sub) Index	Sep 2007
HSBC Low Carbon Energy Production (sub) Index	Sep 2007
HSBC Energy Efficiency & Energy Management (sub) Index	Sep 2007
ISE-CCM Alternative Energy Index	Jan 2006
Jeffries Global Clean Technology Composite Index	Dec 2006
Jeffries Global Clean Technology Energy Generation Index	Dec 2006
Jeffries Global Clean Technology Energy Storage Index	Dec 2006
KLD Global Climate 100 Index	Jul 2005
Ludlow Alternative Energy Index	Aug 2006
Ludlow Energy Small Cap Index	Aug 2007
Merrill Lynch Energy Efficiency Index	Aug 2007
Merrill Lynch Renewable Energy Index	Mar 2006
Merriman Next Generation Energy Index	May 2006
Societe Generale World Alternative Energy Total Return Index	Aug 2006
Standard & Poor’s Global Clean Energy Index	Feb 2007
WilderHill Clean Energy Index	Aug 2004
WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index	Jan 2006