Fourth Quarter 2015 GEOS Review – Clean Technology: Unloved and Underestimated

As 2015 comes to a close, we find ourselves asking an existential question: can one achieve competitive returns while investing in clean energy technologies that have the potential to substantially change the world.  We are prompted to consider this question as the Wilderhill Clean Energy Index was down a little more than -10% for the year 2015, the fifth time in the last six years that this Index has ended the year in negative territory.  This, during a period that has been favorable to the overall stock market – the MSCI World Index is up more than 186% since it bottomed in March 2009 following the financial crisis.  The good news is that, despite the significant headwinds buffeting the clean energy sector, Essex’s Global Environmental Opportunities Strategy (“GEOS”) has performed substantially better than the Wilderhill Clean Energy Index since the inception of our Strategy in mid-2009.

Q4_2015_GEOS_Review.pdf