Alternative energy guru preps regional indices

Date: Monday, July 31, 2006
Author: FINalternatives.com

In an exclusive interview with FINalternatives, founder and ceo of two clean energy incidences, Dr. Robert Wilder, had some good news and some bad news for hedge fund managers eager to take advantage of the growth in clean energy. The bad news is that it is unlikely that Wilder will attach his name to a hedge fund any time soon. The recent spike in interest among hedge fund managers and the investment community in general is making Wilder, who has a Ph.D. in environmental policy, a little anxious. However, the good news is that Wilder is in the process of creating new indices with his partner in the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index (NEX), London-based New Energy Finance. The indices will be specific to select geographic regions, specifically in Asia and Europe.

When NEX launched in January, the pool of publicly traded stocks available to choose from numbered a couple hundred. (NEX tracks 86 stocks that operate in nine sectors, among them power storage, renewable energy, hydrogen and fuel cells. It is up 14% since inception and had a market capitalization of $248 billion as of July 27.) Bozkurt Aydinoglu, founder and director of New Energy Finance, speculates that the number has increased dramatically.

“Since the time we launched the index, stocks have proliferated, and with interest increasing, there should be many more public stocks,” Aydinoglu said. “Given this, there should be an opportunity to construct many geographical indices. In next few months, it is quite reasonable to expect different indices dedicated to Europe and Asia.”