FAN vs FRNW

FANBFirst Trust Global Wind Energy ETF

FRNWAFidelity Clean Energy ETF

In short

FAN Wind, and only wind. Tracking a global index since 2008, FAN reserves 60% of the weight for pure-play turbine makers and wind-farm operators, with diversified multinationals taking the rest.

FRNW Fidelity wrote its own clean energy index, then priced the fund at 0.39% a year, matching the category's cheapest heavyweights and undercutting most rivals. Roughly 60 global stocks: solar, wind, and the grid gear behind them.

Stated mandate

FAN The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the ISE Clean Edge Global Wind Energy Index, an equity index focused on companies active in wind energy.

FRNW The fund seeks returns that generally track the Fidelity Clean Energy Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• FAN Broad clean-energy funds blend solar, storage and grid hardware. This index stays on wind: farm developers, power producers, and machinery built specifically for the industry.ftportfolios.com
• The 60/40 split is deliberate, keeping smaller wind-only names (50%+ of revenue or generating capacity from wind) from being drowned out by multinationals with a wind division.ftportfolios.comsec.gov
• Trading since June 2008, it predates most of the clean-energy shelf and has run through the theme's full boom and bust. Roughly 50 stocks worldwide, distributions paid quarterly.
• One of the stronger overall builds in a crowded clean-energy peer group, and among the steadier ones in that group on measured risk.

• FRNW 0.39% a year ties the low-cost leader of the group (ICLN) and comes in under CNRG at 0.45% and FAN at 0.61%. In a theme where fees often run higher, that is real money kept.
• Global by mandate, not US-only. The index reaches clean energy companies worldwide, so the fund follows the industry rather than one country's subsidy calendar.
• A plain index fund, not a stock-picking bet: it aims to track the Fidelity Clean Energy Index before fees, so what you own is spelled out in the methodology.
• One of the stronger builds in a crowded clean energy shelf on our review, with the low fee and a spread-out portfolio doing the heavy lifting. Pays quarterly.

Worth knowing

• FAN 0.60% net of a waiver through January 31, 2027 (0.61% gross) sits near the category median, but above ICLN at 0.38% and FRNW at 0.39%, neither waiver-dependent.
• One industry, roughly 50 global names. Turbine order books, power prices and policy shifts move this more than they move a diversified energy fund.
• Assets and volume are moderate next to the category's largest funds, so spreads can widen; worth checking the quote before trading.

• FRNW One theme, one industry. Clean energy names swing with interest rates, policy shifts, and equipment prices, so the ride is far choppier than a broad market fund.
• Roughly 60 stocks. That is focused enough that a handful of names and a couple of countries carry real weight in the outcome.
• Not one of the giants. A mid-size asset base and moderate trading activity can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the category's most heavily traded funds.

Full FAN profile⁠

Full FRNW profile⁠