Clean Energy ETFs

Investing money in clean energy ETFs can be one of the many ways to make a difference whilst still growing your own wealth. But when you look at green energy or alternative energy ETFs, it’s easy to lose yourself.

On this page, you can find providers by size, links to the individual ETFs for review & tips on how to choose your clean energy ETF(s). If you haven’t already, make sure you understand what ETFs are and how to dissect ETFs.

Clean energy ETF investigation

All ETFs start by being issued by an official ETF provider. These companies manage the money you choose to invest into an ETF. Let’s review the clear energy ETF providers so have an idea who is offering what.

It is up to you to choose how deep you want to investigate these companies. A helpful hint in choosing a provider is ordering by AuM (assets under management).

This refers to the total money invested by all investors into the ETF. When AuM is high, it minimizes the risk of bankruptcy, thus the safer your investment. You could pick one of the below, to play it ‘safe’:

Largest US Energy ETF providers

Alternatively, if you are in search of an Energy ETF that isn’t ‘green’ in name but rather focused on one or several types of energy like wind or water, your best bet is picking one of the below:

Choosing your clean energy ETF

Many considerations go into choosing an ETF, but when you decide to make a difference with your money, how the money is spent can make or break your investment decision.

ETF distribution

Every ETF invests in several stocks, bonds or other individual instruments, that make up the ETF. Most providers categorize clean energy ETFs as thematic.

A theme is a rather vague definition in most cases. Hence, the distribution of the fund should be looked into to ensure you agree with it on a personal level. As an example, below you can see how ALPS visualizes the distribution of its clean energy ETF:

ETF distribution can refer to anything from geography split to individual instruments. But in this case, specifically highlights the energy sectors.

Although you cannot influence an ETF to change its distribution to your liking, you can decide to pick another one from the same, or a different, provider. This is essential in making sure you feel ethically & emotionally confident of your investment.

ETF Holdings

As hinted at above, individual instruments form an ETF. This is called its holdings and gives you an idea of how diversified the fund is, as well as which companies or initiatives you support by investing.

Oftentimes, the individual holdings are stocks or ETFs you can also directly invest with. However, you will have to manage every ETF individually and might incur more transaction costs this way.

ETF costs

The last priority when investing in clean energy ETFs is the costs involved. Normally, this is the top priority for overall ETF offerings. The limited green energy ETFs available and the ‘ethical niche’ it serves, for now, has deprioritized cost for the sake of ethics.

Ongoing cost figure (OCF), ETF expense, Management fee and more. Several synonyms all hinted towards the cost of owning the ETF. A common mistake people make is that they believe they have to pay this cost yearly.

Instead, the cost is taken out of the funds total cash yearly, to pay for its management. Although this can reduce your yearly return and is ideally kept low. As an investor, you hardly notice this ‘fee’ and should be more concerned with your broker commission fees.

Clearn energy ETF live pricing

Through the below chart from TradingView, you can follow several clean energy ETF prices live! These correspond with the above table, so you have an idea on what to expect if you choose any or all.

Energy ETFs Frequently Asked Questions

Due to the nature of ETFs and thematic investing, many (new) investors have wondered about the investing possibilities, what ‘clean’ really means and the overall concept of an ETF. Below, you can find two additional questions on top of this page’s content around the topic.