CNRG vs PBW

CNRGBState Street SPDR S&P Kensho Clean Power ETF

PBWCInvesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF

In short

CNRG A focused read on clean power: about 40 global stocks tracked to an S&P Kensho index, at a fee below the clean-energy midpoint. Small fund, sharp mandate, one of the stronger builds in the theme.

PBW The original clean energy ETF, listed back in 2005. Its index weights names evenly within each sector and caps any one stock at 4% at the quarterly rebalance, so small pure-plays get real say. Costs 0.63%, near the category median.

Stated mandate

CNRG The fund seeks to provide investment results that generally correspond to the total return performance of the S&P Kensho Clean Power Index before fees and expenses.

PBW The fund seeks to track the investment results of the WilderHill Clean Energy Index before fees and expenses. It normally invests at least 90% of total assets in common stocks comprising the index.

Why people hold it

• CNRG Charges 0.45% a year, under the 0.59% median for clean-energy funds and below pricier peers like FAN (0.61%) and ACES (0.55%).
• About 40 holdings, so each name carries real weight. This is a concentrated take on clean power, not a broad index with a green label stapled on.
• Rules-based and global: it tracks the S&P Kensho Clean Power Index rather than leaving the theme to a manager's judgment.ssga.com
• Live since 2018, giving it a longer record through the theme's boom and bust than most clean-energy launches.

• PBW Listed in March 2005, it is the elder of the clean energy group, with two decades of history across the theme's booms and busts.
• Modified equal-dollar weighting: holdings sit evenly within their sector and no single name may exceed 4% at the quarterly rebalance, so a few giants cannot run the show.wildershares.com
• About 70 US-listed clean energy names, with the index reset every March, June, September and December, which trims the quarter's winners and re-ups the laggards.wildershares.com
• One of the more actively traded funds in its category, and it pays distributions quarterly.

Worth knowing

• CNRG Thinly traded compared with the theme's headline funds, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads at the moment you transact.
• A concentrated slice of one policy-sensitive sector. Swings run harder than a broad equity fund's, in both directions.
• Distributions come quarterly, but yield is incidental here. The fund is built around the clean-power theme, not payout.

• PBW At 0.63% it lands near the category median, though index rivals run cheaper: ICLN charges 0.38%, FRNW 0.39%.
• Equal weighting inside each sector pushes money down the cap scale, so small pure-plays swing this portfolio far more than they would in a market-cap-weighted clean energy fund.wildershares.com
• The roster is set by qualitative calls at each quarterly rebalance (relevance to climate change, pollution prevention, technological significance), not a purely numeric screen.wildershares.com

Full CNRG profile⁠

Full PBW profile⁠