When you get under the hood, different ESG approaches are wildly diverse.
More often than not, ESG ETFs are crushed by the broader market, but 2017 was different. Why?
With options to natural gas likely to garner more attention during President Obama’s second term, investors need to brush up on the alternative energy sector to position themselves for future gains, according to an article on Commodity HQ.
Renewable energy ETFs were all the hype in the summer of 2008; crude oil prices topped $140 a barrel and investors searched for alternatives. The hype didn’t last, however. Crude prices crashed to the mid-$30s during the financial crisis later that year. The two largest green energy ETFs at the time, the PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (NYSE Arca: PBW) and the Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy ETF (NYSE Arca: GEX), both plummeted over 70 percent in share price. PBW’s assets under management (AUM) also fell, from $1.5 billion to under $500 million, while GEX’s AUM fell from $300 million to under $32 million.
A new type of ETF is becoming popular, offering alternatives to traditional sector funds in targeting different types of companies.