The grid fund is more than five times the clean-energy flagship, and they barely overlap
On Oct. 26, 2026, the iShares global clean-energy fund touched a 52-week low. The larger fund's largest holdings are Johnson Controls, Eaton and Quanta Services, not a solar or wind company.
Key takeaways
The fund built for the power grid now holds 5.5 times the assets of the global clean-energy fund, and only 4% of the weight is the same in both.
As of Oct. 23, 2026, the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund, GRID, held $11.08 billion. The iShares Global Clean Energy ETF, ICLN, held $2.03 billion.
Nine companies sit in both. Those nine are 24% of ICLN and 4% of GRID. The grid fund holds each of them more lightly, so the weight that is the same in both is that 4%, not the 24%.
A clean-energy label can mean the utility that sells the power, the company that makes the equipment, or the contractor that strings the wire.
GRID is the companies that equip and build the network, and it is where the assets are. ICLN is a global book of power sellers and equipment makers.
The First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund, QCLN, is a U.S.-listed fund whose largest holding is Tesla. The Invesco Solar ETF, TAN, is the solar industry on its own. The First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF, FAN, is the turbines and the developers.
By 10:27 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, Oct. 26, ICLN was at $15.45 in regular trading, down 3.6% from Friday's close of $16.02 on Oct. 23, and the morning's low was a 52-week low.
What the two big funds actually own
GRID tracks the Nasdaq Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index. First Trust, citing the index provider, says the index follows common stocks in the grid and electric energy infrastructure sector: the electric grid, meters and devices, networks, energy storage, and software used by that sector. The net expense ratio is 0.56%, as of Feb. 2, 2026.
The portfolio does not look like a renewable-power fund. On Oct. 23 the largest holding was Johnson Controls, a building-systems company, at 8.79%, followed by Eaton, a power-management company, at 7.94%, and Quanta Services, which builds and maintains power lines and substations, at 7.84%.
ABB and Schneider Electric were next, at 7.32% and 6.60%. Those five were 38.5% of the fund.
ICLN tracks the S&P Global Clean Energy Transition Index. iShares says the fund seeks to track an index of global companies involved in clean energy. It charges 0.38%. On Oct. 23, iShares classified 26.82% of the fund as renewable electricity and 23.36% as electric utilities. That is just over half the portfolio, in companies that sell power.
First Solar was the largest holding, at 8.13%. Next was Nextpower, the solar-equipment company that until November 2025 was called Nextracker, at 7.66%. Iberdrola, the Spanish electricity company, was 6.69%, and Bloom Energy, whose fuel cells supply onsite power, was 5.65%.
First Solar and Nextpower are not in GRID. Johnson Controls, Eaton, Quanta Services, ABB and Schneider Electric are not in ICLN. What the two funds share is mostly utilities, held in size by the clean-energy fund and lightly by the grid fund.
Assets and largest holdings are as of Oct. 23, 2026.
The U.S. fund's largest holding is Tesla
QCLN is a third portfolio. It held $462 million on Oct. 23 and charges 0.59%, as of May 1, 2026.
Its index starts with companies listed in the United States. First Trust, citing the index provider, says a company has to fall into one of four groups: advanced materials, energy intelligence, renewable electricity generation and renewable fuels, or energy storage and conversion. That last group includes fuel cells and hybrid drivetrains. Weights follow a modified market capitalization.
On Oct. 23 the largest position was Tesla, at 9.27%. Then ON Semiconductor at 8.94%, Bloom Energy at 8.59%, Monolithic Power Systems at 8.24% and Rivian Automotive at 6.10%. Those five were 41% of the fund. Nextpower was sixth, at 4.41%. First Solar was 3.90%.
ICLN does not hold Tesla.
Bloom Energy is in ICLN, at 5.65%, and in QCLN, at 8.59%. It is not in GRID. In its third-quarter results release, Bloom says its fuel-cell systems provide onsite electricity for large customers, including data centers.
Five years with the market, six months against it
The comparisons below are share-price changes through Friday, Oct. 23, leaving out dividends.
Over the five years through that close, GRID was up 66%. The State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF, SPY, was up 68%. ICLN was down 32%. The larger fund roughly matched the broad market. The clean-energy fund did not.
Over the six months through the same close, GRID fell 12% and SPY rose 7.3%. ICLN fell 20%, so the grid fund's lead over the clean-energy fund got wider. The new gap is with the S&P 500 fund.
GRID tracked SPY over five years, then fell while the market rose
- GRID
- SPY
- ICLN
- 5 years
- GRID +66%
- SPY +67.7%
- ICLN −32%
- 6 months
- GRID −12%
- SPY +7.3%
- ICLN −20.5%
This year, through Oct. 23, GRID is still up 6.3% and SPY is up 11.4%. The decline is the last six months, not the year.
Wind's strong stretch is three years, not five. FAN tracks the ISE Clean Edge Global Wind Energy Index and charges a net 0.60%, as of Feb. 2, 2026. Assets were $187 million on Oct. 23. Orsted, which develops and operates offshore wind farms, was the largest holding, at 8.15%.
Over the three years through Oct. 23 the share price was up 62%. Over five years it was down less than 1%. Over the six months through Oct. 23 it fell 17%.
TAN tracks the MAC Global Solar Energy Index. Its price fell 30% over those six months and 54% over the five years through Oct. 23.
GRID matched SPY over five years; wind, solar and ICLN did not
The names sit near the same word. The portfolios are different businesses, and the past five years followed that difference. The last six months widened the grid fund's lead over the clean-energy fund, and they opened a gap with the broad market that those five years did not have.
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