FRNW vs TAN

FRNWAFidelity Clean Energy ETF

TANDInvesco Solar ETF

In short

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.

TAN The purest way to buy the sun. Since 2008 this fund has tracked one index of roughly 40 solar companies, panel makers to installers, rather than blending solar into a mixed clean-energy basket.

Stated mandate

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

TAN The fund seeks to provide exposure to the MAC Global Solar Energy Index.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• TAN One theme, taken literally: about 40 solar names via the MAC Global Solar Energy Index, with no wind or hydro riding along.invesco.com
• Trading since April 2008, it has run through solar's full boom-and-bust cycles and sits in the upper half of its clean energy peer group.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so building or exiting a position rarely means wrestling with a thin order book.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• TAN The 0.70% fee sits above the clean energy median. Broader rivals ICLN and FRNW charge 0.39% for wider coverage of the theme.
• Roughly 40 stocks in a single industry: moves here land harder than in a diversified fund, in both directions.
• Not an income holding. The fund has recently gone without paying distributions.

Full FRNW profile⁠

Full TAN profile⁠