ETF sponsors continue to add products in an effort to leverage the strong interest in sustainable energy.  Growing from PowerShares’ initial entry (PBW) in 2005, we saw two additional ETFs introduced in 2006, and an additional four in 2007.  Of the seven ETFs, only PBW with assets of $1.1 billion USD has attracted assets in excess of $100 million USD. And total trading volume for the seven securities is a relatively small $600k USD per day.   The table below summarizes our research:Â
| Symbol | YTD return (%) |
PE | Exp Ratio | Assets ($mil) |
ADV ($k) | ADV (%) | Ave MtkCap ($million) |
No of Sec. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QCLN | 25.35 | 32.3 | 0.6 | 24 | 11 | 0.5% | 2,579 | 53 |
| PBW | 33.37 | 24.27 | 0.7 | 1,138 | 401 | 0.4% | 1,574 | 43 |
| PZD | 27.24 | 24.72 | 0.71 | 54 | 42 | 0.8% | 6,991 | 48 |
| PUW | 15.77 | 17.09 | 0.74 | 47 | 16 | 0.3% | 3,665 | 46 |
| PBD | – | 27.02 | 0.75 | 57 | 35 | 0.6% | 3,348 | 84 |
| GEX | – | 30.04 | 0.5 | 84 | 32 | 0.4% | 4,058 | 30 |
| NLR | – | 26.7 | 0.5 | 36 | 72 | 2.0% | 2,656 | 37 |
| Â | Â | Â | Totals | 1,444 | 611 | 0.4% | Â | Â |
Notes:Â ADV = average daily volume.Â
Sources:Â Morningstar, Fund Sponsors, Yahoo FinanceÂ
We’re not sure what explains this slow start for index based investing in sustainable energy but the sector is still relatively new with little track record for many of the companies Camino tracks.  We think the lack of history, and the multitude of business strategies being pursued by sustainable energy companies, have made it difficult for many investors to understand the sector and to invest in the indicies.  That’s why Camino has worked hard to carefully determine what the companies are doing and to make this information available in our database and our PurePlay indicies.    Camino offers product licenses for the PurePlay indexes to investment product sponsors to serve their strategic needs.
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