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...
Are Aspiration’s Deposits Really Fossil Fuel Free?
Fossil Fuel Free Claims
If you are reading this, you've probably also seen advertisements for Aspriation's “Fee-free and fossil fuel free” banking services. Like the advertisements the company's product page encourages visitors to “Earn high interest on what you save with an account that is fee-free and fossil fuel free.“
As a professional green money manager, I know that “fossil fuel free” is in the eye of the beholder. For many mutual funds, “fossil fuel free” simply means avoiding the 200 largest fossil fuel companies, but investing in the 201st largest fossil fuel company, even if its primary business is mining...
Alt Energy Mutual Funds and ETFs Shine, But Risk Remains
By Harris Roen Mutual Funds (MFs) All of the alternative energy MFs were up handsomely in the past three months. The biggest gainer was Firsthand Alternative Energy (ALTEX), up 27.3% for the quarter, which also moved ahead in its ranking. Even the lowest three-month gainer, Brown Advisory Winslow Sustainability Fund (BAWAX), was up an impressive 9.2%. One-year returns were more variable, ranging from a gain of 18.0% for AWATX, to a loss of 11.7% for ALTEX. This has much to do with the solar holdings in these funds. For example, companies in ALTEX...
Sharp Drops for Alternative Energy Mutual Funds and ETFs
By Harris Roen Alternative Energy Mutual Funds Down for the Quarter, Mixed for the Year Alternative energy mutual funds have turned sharply lower over the past three months. Of the 14 MFs that the Roen Financial Report tracks, all but one are down for the quarter. Five are posting double-digit declines. On average, the drop in MFs are similar to that of the S&P 500 and Down Jones Industrial Average, which fell 7.44% and 9.6% respectively. The only MF showing a gain… ETFs are Widely Lower Green ETFs are showing poor returns on both a...
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 III
Tom Konrad CFA Past performance of green energy mutual funds. In part I of this series, I looked at the full costs of alternative energy and climate change mutual funds. I concluded that they were quite expensive, ranging from over 2% per year, to almost 6%. In a stock market that has historically produced returns of about 10.5% per year, but has been flat for the last decade, even 2.5% in expenses per year would have resuted in a substantial loss of value. In order to make up for the drag on returns, these mutual funds will...
Endesa Reports 52 Percent Rise in Profit
ENDESA (ELE) reported a 52 percent increase in third-quarter profit Wednesday and said it will distribute almost 2.12 billion euros ($2.48 million) in dividends for the year. The company said it will pay out nearly 2 euros ($2.34) a share in dividends for 2005. The increased dividend is an attempt to ward off a hostile takeover attempt by Gas Natural. The stock way paying an almost 4% dividend yield and this move takes the divendend up near 12% with the special payout. Today I purchased the second third of my planned holdings for ELE in ...
Shares in Capstone Purchased
This morning I purchased shares of Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) in both my personal portfolio and the mutual fund. I have been waiting for the stock to show some strength after its recent declines. The stock appears to have some nice support at the $2.25 level as a bottom. They will be announcing quarterly earnings on November 10th. Capstone Turbine developments and manufactures microturbine generators. The company’s microturbines can also be used as generators for hybrid electric vehicle applications. It also offers Model C60 integrated combined heat and power systems (CHP). A one third stake have been purchased...
How the Gabelli Green Growth Fund Got Its Five Stars
Tom Konrad, CFA An interview with John Segrich, CFA, portfolio manager at the the Gabelli Green Growth Fund (SRIGX). When I did my recent past performance comparison of clean energy mutual funds, I found that the Gabelli Green Growth Fund (SRIGX and SRICX) beat all its rivals by a long shot over the last three years, earning a coveted five-star rating from Morningstar. In general, I'm a skeptic about short-term past performance: If you look at enough funds, sooner or later you'll find one that has had great performance by sheer luck. Even when a few years'...
Alternative Energy Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)
UPDATE 3/4/2011: An up-to-date article on selecting renewable energy ETFs can be found here. For investors looking for diversified exposure to Alternative Energy, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are the best option. I have not found any statistical evidence that actively managed alternative energy mutual funds can beat the market (and hence justify their higher fees,) so lower expense ratios make ETFs compelling. Since last year, the wide variety of Alternative Energy ETFs also makes it possible to even speculate on subsectors. People who expect Solar, Wind, or even Carbon Trading to do better than Alternative Energy...
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...
Alternative Energy Funds In The Lead
By Harris Roen Alternative energy MFs and ETFs posted record gains in the past 12 months. Guggenheim Solar (TAN) and Market Vectors Solar Energy (KWT) are the top two performers out of more than 1,500 ETFs. Firsthand Alternative Energy (ALTEX) and Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy (GAAEX) are in the top ten for over 28,000 mutual funds. Mutual Funds Returns overall have been spectacular for alternative energy MFs. Even the lowest performer is up 27% in the past 12 months. The best performers are those strongly invested in solar, specifically ALTEX and GAAEX,...
Oil & Alt Energy Redux
Charles Morand Last week, I conducted an analysis showing the lack of evidence supporting claims that oil and alt energy returns are strongly correlated (claims that sometimes come from outfits as reputable as Bank of America Merrill Lynch). I don't want to belabor this topic but I thought I would post the results of another, similar analysis I conducted following comments I received on how to improve the first one. In a nutshell, the comments suggested I do the following: 1) Look at daily correlations or even smaller periods, as "common knowledge" market...
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...
The Best Clean and Renewable Energy ETFs
Tom Konrad CFA For short term holders, the Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy ETF (PBW) is the best If cost is the most important factor, an individual investor without the time or expertise to build a clean energy stock portfolio should choose one of the clean energy Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). I recently reversed my former stance, and now believe that cost should not be the only factor, because the evidence suggests that, in clean energy at least, the active management available from a mutual fund or an advisor who works with individual stocks can...
529 Plans Without The Fossil Fuels
by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
The most popular way we have to save for our children's future education is destroying their future.
A 529 savings plan is a tax-advantaged savings plan designed to help pay for education. There are also prepaid tuition plans set up under the section 529 tax rules, but this article is focused on 529 savings plans, and will be what I mean by “529 plans” for the rest of the article.
The money in 529 plans can be used for college as well as K-12 education, apprenticeship programs, and paying off some student debt. Savings plans grow...
