PowerShares Alternative Energy ETFs

An earlier article discusses the Ardour Indexes, which model various areas of the alternative energy industry and are weighted based on market capitalization. The Van Eck GEX ETF models the Ardour Global Index as accurately as possible, but the company PowerShares has a few products which also model areas of alternative energy. WilderShares, LLC. is a company that tracks various areas of alternative energy. Unlike the Ardour Indices, WilderShares Indices are not based on the overall market capitalization of the companies that comprise it. According to the WilderShares website, no single stock will make up more than 4% of an index at the start of a quarterly rebalance.

PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio- PBW

The PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio (PBW) aims to replicate the WilderHill Clean Energy Index (of course before any fees). The index is currently made up of 53 different stocks, which get rebalanced and reevaluated every quarter. The index has companies in the power generation, clean fuels, energy storage, and other alternative energy related industries. To be included in the index, the stock must trade over $1, have a three month average market capitalization over 50 million, and have significant exposure to the alternative energy industry. PowerShares replicates this index with PBW, which is down significantly year to date obviously due to the poor market conditions and sector performance.

http://www.invescopowershares.com/products/overview.aspx?ticker=PBW

PowerShares Global Green Energy Portfolio- PBD

The Global Green Energy Portfolio (PBD) is based on the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index. The index tracks worldwide clean energy companies, but has a global focus. It is similar to PBW above but a larger portion of the index is made up of international companies. The Global Green Energy ETF has less than 30% of its allocation in U.S. companies.

http://www.invescopowershares.com/products/overview.aspx?ticker=pbd

PowerShares has many different investment products to model various sectors and industries. The two mentioned in this article are both in the red for the year, but they are excellent representations of the alternative industries as a whole. Before considering investing, look at the links to see holdings in each ETF.