The ALPS Clean Energy ETF (ACES) is one of the best-performing industry exchange traded funds this year, a sentiment that extends behind the confines of the renewable energy segment.
An important fact of ACES is that its 2020 bullishness isn’t new. It produced a stellar showing last year, too, confirming that investors can be rewarded for taking a longer view of alternative energy assets. Other data points validate that thesis.
“Even as the pandemic continues to drive down consumer spending and depress oil prices, investors are spending big on clean-tech companies. Shares are now at or near record highs, the latest sign that wind and solar are no longer fringe bets,” reports Brian Eckhouse for Bloomberg.
ACES Aces Plenty of Tests
ACES takes a different approach than what is seen in other traditional clean energy ETFs. Many of the legacy funds in this space focus on one alternative energy concept, such as solar or wind power. Buoyed by double-digit growth rates in global solar installations over the next decade, ACES, with a substantial solar weight, could be a long-term winner.
The road back to prominence for renewable energy equities is impressive. For its part, ACES is topping high-flying technology and growth benchmarks this year.
“It’s a remarkable swing from the last big economic slump, in 2008, when investors fled a renewables industry that was then almost completely reliant on government subsidies—and viewed by many as science experiment,” according to Bloomberg.
ACES’ components provide the products and services that enable the evolution of a more sustainable energy sector. The green energy companies are engaged in renewable energy sources, including solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity, geothermal energy, biomass, biofuels, and tidal/wave energy; clean technologies, including electric vehicles, energy storage, lithium, fuel cell, LED, smart grid, and energy efficiency technologies; and other emerging clean energy activities and technologies.
Moreover, renewables are proving steady in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Then the coronavirus hit, oil prices collapsed and stocks fell across the board. Yet unlike a decade ago, renewables shares bounced back in an almost V-shaped recovery after it became clear that demand for wind and solar wasn’t fundamentally weakened by the pandemic,” reports Bloomberg.
Other alternative energy ETFs include the First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF (FAN) and the SPDR Kensho Clean Power ETF (CNRG).
For more on cornerstone strategies, visit our ETF Building Blocks Channel.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.
