World Energy day: Funds to invest in Renewable Energy

Today we celebrate World Energy Day. We cannot imagine a world without energy, we use energy for everything, but as we know, the world is grappling with a number of global challenges, and one of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals is to ensure access to affordable, secure, sustainable and modern energy for all, that is why as a way to celebrate World Energy Day, we want to enhance the use of Renewable Energy.

Renewable energies are not a thing of the future anymore, they are the now, and today, to celebrate World Energy day we want to bring to you the best funds to invest in renewable energy. Here, we take a look at the Pictet-Clean Energy, DNB Fund Renewable Energy and BGF Sustainable Energy funds to find out what are the benefits of investing in renewable energy, and why it is so important.

Funds to invest in Renewable Energy

Source: Morningstar 08/02/2022

Pictet-Clean Energy

An to celebrate World Energy day we want to start with Pictet-Clean Energy is one of the best known funds investing in renewable energy. Pictet AM's objective is to achieve capital growth by investing at least two-thirds of its assets in equities issued by companies around the world that contribute to or benefit from the global transition to less CO2-intensive energy production and consumption.

More than half of its portfolio is invested in US equities, with a weight of 68.29%. Looking by sector, technology dominates the rest (34.11%), followed by industrials (25.88%) and utilities (25.56%), according to Morningstar. In terms of specific stocks, ON Semiconductor, NextEra Energy and TopBuild are the three companies with the largest weight in the portfolio.

Evolution of the fund since inception

Source: Pictet Asset Management a 09/02/2022. Índice actual: MSCI AC World (EUR).

Xavier Chollet, Fund Manager Pictet Clean Energy

Rapid technological innovation will allow greater electrification of transport, buildings and factories. To this is adds the legislation against air pollution and climate change.

Indeed, in the automotive sector, EU CO2 standards for 2025 and 2030 leave no choice but large-scale electrification.  It is the segment that can take most advantage of the new government plans, to the point that by 2030 the share of electric vehicles may be 20%. In this segment is noteworthy the new generation of power semiconductors, with fast growth, large barriers to entry, structurally higher margins and low competition from Asia. It should be borne in mind that transport accounts for 80% of oil consumption and manufacturers have a strong incentive to develop more efficient engines, which benefits companies specialized in spare parts, automation technologies and smart grids.  Even the demand for low-emission buildings and energy-efficient appliances is backed by stricter standards. For their part, factories are increasingly using sophisticated software to save resources and energy.

Although in clean energy there has been short-term profit taking from investors, the fundamentals are increasingly favourable.  The energy transition to solar and wind will occur, even in an environment of low economic growth.  They will be the main sources of the new electricity supply, favoured by the rapid decrease in costs, including energy storage with lithium batteries.  Our favourite values in renewables are utilities in transition from the fossil world to the renewable future.

DNB Fund Renewable Energy

The next idea for this world energy day we want to bring to you is the DNB Fund Renewable Energy, a great option when it comes to investing in renewable energy. This is a global equity fund that invests in companies that contribute to improving the environment. Launched in 1989 in Norway and in 2007 in Luxembourg by DNB AM, it focuses on sectors with good growth prospects, which enhance value creation and are attractively valued.

67% of the portfolio is invested in equities outside the US. Mostly focused on three areas: technology (34%), industrials and utilities (with a weight of 25% each). Enel, Amphenol and IMCD occupy the top three positions, according to Morningstar data.

Evolution of the fund since inception

Source: DNB Asset management at 09/02/2022

Christian Rom, fund manager of the DNB Fund Renewable Energy

We focus on an investment universe of around 3,000 stocks in which the improving of the environment is the engine of their business growth. Then we filter through the development of a bottom-up analysis model for each company, a Darwinian approach and a fundamental analysis to select between the 25 and 60 best ideas.

Prospects for the renewable energy sector 

We are still in the early stages of the energy transition and the prospects for growth in the renewable energy sector are still substantial. In addition to emissions reductions, the long-term drivers we see are, above all, the move towards a circular economy and the growing global demand for sustainably generated energy, supported by competitive prices.

The environmental challenges are becoming increasingly clear. Global temperatures have risen since industrialisation and will continue to rise unless action is taken. To achieve the energy transition, an annual investment of more than 2% of global GDP will be needed over the next decades, which is currently around 90 trillion dollars. Also, in 30 years, the way energy is generated will have to change completely. Fossil fuels currently account for approximately 80% of energy consumption and a transition to a model where electricity (renewables) accounts for 80% of energy consumption by 2050 is needed. 

In this respect, government policies and regulation are key. We see important catalysts such as the election of Joe Biden as US president, who has returned to the Paris Agreement, or the green recovery plan in Europe. At the same time, renewable prices are becoming cheaper and more competitive, not relying so much on government subsidies. 

In this context, we see opportunities in four main areas: clean energy (solar and wind), electrification (cars or buses), energy efficiency (insulation of a house or installation of LED lighting) and circular economy (better use of resources). 

BGF Sustainable Energy Fund

Finally, the third fund to celebrate world energy day, and therefore for investing in renewable energies is one from BlackRock: the BGF Sustainable Energy Fund. Globally, it invests at least 70% of its portfolio in shares of companies related to new energies. These include: renewable energy technologies, renewable energy developers, alternative fuels, energy efficiency, energy supply facilitation and infrastructure.

The BGF Sustainable Energy Fund's portfolio is once again in the technology (34%), industrials and utilities (25% each) sectors, according to Morningstar data. As we have seen in the DNB fund, Enel has the largest weight in the fund's portfolio (4.64%), followed by NextEra Energy and RWE.

Evolution of the fund since inception

Source: BlackRock a 09/02/2022

Alastair Bishop, Global Head of Sustainable Core Investing

We believe an active approach is key in accessing this theme as it requires deep forward-looking insight to identify those companies set to emerge as beneficiaries. We have a flexible investment style, always looking for growth, value and turnaround stories, and would therefore, not describe ourselves as having a particular style bias. We also believe that strong Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) is positively correlated with investment performance and embed these considerations into our investment process.

The BGF Sustainable Energy Fund is the largest fund within its Morningstar peer group.

The breadth and expertise of our research capability to identify companies with pure exposure to the sustainable energy theme.

A disciplined portfolio construction process that is risk optimised to ensure investments are diversified and reflect the portfolio managers’ highest conviction ideas.

The ability to leverage the broader fundamental equity platform of more than 200 investors globally.

We believe that markets are not fully efficient and through our research, we can find companies being undervalued by the market. We do not believe that simple, broad exposure to hundreds of companies connected to a theme is optimal as with disruptive themes, there are typically many losers and a few big winners.

As such, we feel the best way to play this theme is through a concentrated, focused portfolio targeting only those winners.

We see the sustainable energy theme accelerating with economic stimulus post COVID likely to be focused on green industries as evidenced by the EU Green Deal.

Sustainable Energy is supported by the acceleration of the transition to a lower carbon economy. Renewable energy costs for onshore wind and solar PV, are now at grid parity in certain markets and such power generation now represents the most economic technology choice, which is driving rapid adoption. We see similar cost competitiveness trends in other areas such as energy efficient lighting and energy storage solutions in automotive electrification.

The path to a lower carbon global economy is forecast to disrupt many industries and business models. However, this evolution is also expected to create remarkable opportunities. To quantify, the International Energy Agency estimates that over $20 trillion will be invested in the sector through 2040, an average of nearly $1 trillion per year.

The BGF Sustainable Energy Fund is positioned to capture such industry shifts and reap the benefits from this transition. Within transportation, the tighter CO2 emissions limits in Europe mean that 2021 is set to be a key year of transition for the auto industry.  New electric vehicle models from the major global auto manufacturers enter showrooms with significantly improved range and design.

We believe that the scale of the growth opportunity for the sustainable energy sector as a whole over the coming years has been under-appreciated both as a play on capital allocation and attractive long-term investment exposure.

Have a look at other topics around sustainability in our ESG section.